This mixtape is called Angry... Very Angry

If you asked the dude in the picture above about "angry music" he would have fallen all over himself to provide you with a non-sensical answer that would cover why Kill Rock Stars is such a great record label and how he just could never get into Minor Threat. Later that night he'd lie awake thinking "oh man what I should've said was...".

Aggression in music is a fascinating subject to me. There is so much that I like and so much that I dislike making it difficult to understand where I draw my own lines. I do know that I never really cared for anything that fell under the umbrella of "hardcore". It always felt too "jockish" and "tantrum-y". There was also that undercurrent of violence that wasn't super appealing to me.

However, so many bands that I love will discuss how they come from a "hardcore" background. Perhaps that's what the term "post-hardcore" is supposed to mean but I call bullshit on that. I mean doesn't that mean that current music is "post-classical" by that definition?

The concept of "jockish" is one of the biggest issues that I had with certain bands, and often it wasn't their fault. This would change when Nu Metal emerged and courted the "jocks" by assuring the fans that girls r mean and breaking things is dope.

However, looking back to bands like Nirvana and Rage Against The Machine it was so weird to see these bands embraced by the early days of what would come to be known as "bro culture" when their output was clearly at odds with large swaths of their fanbase. I struggled with these bands. Not so much because of their music but more due to their fanbase. It was a limiting and kinda shitty way to be but it has also been well documented that these bands had similar issues about the situation. I was also an elitist snob so that didn't help things either.

What am I even talking about at this point... well I guess I wanted to make an "Angry" mixtape because I've been angry and frustrated lately. A lot of the things I am angry and frustrated about are the same things that the dude in the picture above was angry and frustrated about.

I recognize that this very much might not be everyone's cup of tea but I encourage everyone to make a mix/playlist of whatever you deem to be "angry" songs. You might not need it right now but it's a good thing to have in your back pocket.