July Monthly Mix

This monthly mix comes to you from a local Denver musician Brotherhood of Machines. With many years under his belt as an experimental electronic artist Tyler Knapp continues to build music with echoes of everyday life and many of the sounds you can’t quite place.

Vol 1. Non-Rock Purposes

“This first playlist explores some of my favorite tracks from the
genre known as ‘post-rock’ which Wikipedia describes as a
‘music genre characterized by the exploration of textures and
timbres as well as non-rock styles, sometimes placing less
emphasis on conventional song structures or riffs than on
atmosphere, for musically evocative purposes.’”

“This style can contain many different moods and genre
influences. From the apocalyptic symphonies of ‘Godspeed
You Black Emperor’ to the more jazz influenced beats of ‘Do
Make Say Think’ and “The Samuel Jackson Five” post rock has
something for everybody.”

Vol 2. Trip Machines

“Upon moving to Colorado from the plains of eastern Montana I
discovered a genre of music that would forever change my life.
Known as ‘trip hop’ similar to post rock in that it is a kind of a
big umbrella. But it is usually characterized by heavily
atmospheric instrumental (but not always) hip hop or electronica
music. Because who needs words anyway? They just get in
the way of the textures and nitty gritty of the music. I don’t even
pay attention to words when I listen to music most of the time.
But anyway, a lot of these songs use samples which are pieces
of other songs that are then warped and used to make new
tracks. It’s all very cool and a way of making music that still
blows my mind!”

Vol 3. Art Uknown

“My last playlist for you is going to try to get out there. Really out
there! Have you noticed a pattern with these lists yet? We are
slowly but surely tearing away at the edges and preconceptions
of what music and genres are. You could say that post rock
and trip hop were my gateway drugs to this point. Before I was
a respectable jazz studies major, now I’m just some weirdo in
an apartment listening to the same loop over and over again for
hours. But I wouldn’t change it for all the world.”

“This list features some of my favorite sound artists both past
and present. People that are pushing the boundaries of music
and art. Enjoy!”

Check out all things Brotherhood of Machines on Soundcloud or Spotify to expand your knowledge of the Denver local scene.

With the recent sprinkle of singles it is clear that much more music is on the way. Catch an exciting live show August 2nd at GLOB (8:30PM).

All photography by Tyler Knapp.

Stay tuned to see next month’s mixes and who we are listening to these days.

Are you interested in sharing a month of music with us? Send an email to [email protected] to let us know.