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Meth
I'm not entirely joking.


Member 565

Level 26.04

Mar 2006


Old Aug 2, 2008, 08:55 PM Local time: Aug 2, 2008, 07:55 PM #151 of 201
Grandaddy - Under the Western Freeway
Release: October 21, 1997
Label: V2 North America
Genre: Indie Rock



Track Listing

1. Nonphenomenal Lineage
2. A.M. 180
3. Collective Dreamwish Of Upperclass Elegance
4. Summer Here Kids
5. Laughing Stock
6. Under The Western Freeway
7. Everything Beautiful Is Far Away
8. Poisoned At Hartsy Thai Food
9. Go Progress Chrome
10. Why Took Your Advice
11. Lawn & So On


Recently introduced to me by a buddy; I have no idea how I missed these guys before. The "Nintendoish" synth in A.M. 180 is nostalgic and charming. It was actually used in that flick 28 Days later about zombies. The other one that I seem to keep playing over and over is Summer Here Kids.

ENJOY!

FELIPE NO
wvlfpvp
I'm going to write the most erotic, graphic, freakiest friend fiction ever


Member 122

Level 55.02

Mar 2006


Old Aug 4, 2008, 05:31 PM #152 of 201
Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - Like, Love, Lust & the Open Halls of the Soul
Label: Barsuk/Southern Lord
Release Date: February 6, 2007
Genre: Dark Country/Rock/Stuff



Tracklist:
01. Eisenhower Moon
02. LLL
03. You Might Walk Away
04. The Air Is Thin
05. Spectral Beings
06. How Will We Know?
07. Hard Not To Believe
08. Aftermath
09. Station Grey
10. I Like The Sound
11. Morning, It Comes
12. The Open Halls Of The Soul

Review:

From Amazon because I haven't actually listened to the whole album yet, but I love her sound so much.

Quote:
Jesse Sykes is hard to pin down--and that's a good thing indeed. She overlaps with current trends, but is completely her own artist. There are elements of alt-country, psych-folk, and singer-songwriter-troubadour, but also others that add alluring breadth to her sound, most notably in the band's penchant for drawing upon the best aspects of Haight-Ashbury ballroom sonics. "How Will We Know" swirls and builds with guitar tones that evoke John Cippolina (Quicksilver Messenger Service) and Barry Melton (Country Joe & the Fish). Sykes has taken those sounds (which were often the best part of the era's rather feeble cowboy machismo) and added finesse, poetics, and a woman's vantage point. Her lyrics are rife with cold winds and loneliness, but never without hope, even if that element is handled by the warm glow of the music. The band is a sympathetically balanced entity with supple power and grace. They move between loud and soft without the now cliched extreme dramatics originally pioneered by the Pixies--another example of Sykes eschewing trends and forging her own path.
Holy christ, her voice.

Download here

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?
It was lunchtime at Wagstaff.
Touching butts had been banned by the evil Headmaster Frond.
Suddenly, Tina Belcher appeared in the doorway.
She knew what she had to do.
She touched Jimmy Jr's butt and changed the world.
Wall Feces
Holy Cow! What Happened!


Member 493

Level 46.34

Mar 2006


Old Aug 17, 2008, 04:09 PM #153 of 201
Into Eternity - The Incurable Tragedy
Label: Century Media
Release: 2008
Genre: Melodic/Progressive Death Metal




Track Listing:

1. Prelude to Woe
2. Tides of Blood
3. Spent Years of Regret
4. Symptoms
5. Diagnosis Terminal
6. The Incurable Tragedy I (September 21, 2006)
7. Indignation
8. Time Immemorial
9. The Incurable Tragedy II (November 10, 2006)
10. A Black Light Ending
11. One Funeral Hymn for the Three
12. The Incurable Tragedy III (December 15h, 2006)

When I saw Dream Theater in 2007, Into Eternity opened up for them. I as blown away by their stage presence, and above that, their absolutely awesome music. After getting and obsessing over their 2006 album, The Scattering of Ashes, Into Eternity quickly became one of my favorite metal outfits. Their punishing music combined with the incredible vocal stylings of Stu Block made this album one of my all-time faves.

This is their new album, set to release next month. I am blown away. It is a powerful album both in how it kicks your ass, and also how it actually carries some pretty decent emotional weight. It's a concept album about someone with a terminal illness from what I can gather. It's stunning, and a worthy listen. I will post The Scattering of Ashes sometime in the near future, but for now, enjoy my 2nd favorite release of 2008 so far.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Last edited by Wall Feces; Aug 17, 2008 at 04:37 PM.
Schadenfreude
grave danger


Member 819

Level 17.58

Mar 2006


Old Aug 22, 2008, 04:37 AM Local time: Aug 22, 2008, 05:37 PM 1 #154 of 201
Dev/Null - Lazer Thrash
Year: 2007
Label: Cock Rock Disco
Genre: Digital Hardcore / Breakcore




1. Hiphop2
2. Alien Washcloth Tumor
3. Real Ultimate Power
4. Goblin
5. Symphonies of Suckness
6. I'd Rather Mainline Preperation H Than Listen to Your Shitty, Shitty Music
7. Track 7
8. Christmas Themed Horror Movie from the 80's
9. Old Extra-Wanky Break Thing
10. Hello Japan!!
11. Banal Universe
12. Bolt Thrower in a Chinese Restaurant

Prepare to have your brain mashed to bits. This album is a mass of beats chopped up, sped up, re-arranged, rewound and, well, fucked with. The amount of complexity in some of the loops is pretty mind-boggling and certainly very, very impressive. However, no, it's not 42 minutes of pure drum-based noise. Oh no. There's a sort of playful melodic thread running through the entire album, from wonderful 8-bit/chiptune-esque synthwork to epic string backings and even some horror movie-esque vibes. Another quality release from Cock Rock Disco.

DOWNLOAD

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Last edited by Schadenfreude; Aug 22, 2008 at 04:47 AM.
Helloween
aguywholikestovideogames


Member 607

Level 33.17

Mar 2006


Old Aug 27, 2008, 11:21 PM Local time: Aug 27, 2008, 10:21 PM #155 of 201
Split Lip Grin - In Possession of Willpower
Year: 2008
Label: Unsigned
Genre: Southern Thrash Metal


(Thumbnail cause it's fucking big)

1. Broken Fisted
2. Behind the Mask
3. Sick of Being Told
4. Death Before Suicide
5. Chemically Imbalanced

Split Lip Grin is a local, undiscovered band from my city. They've been kind enough to have my band open for them for a few shows. The most recent one we did together was their CD release party where they released this EP. It really is a solid recording considering they did it all themselves. I think very highly of this group as they have really melded Southern Rock and Thrash Metal into something that works. Their singer has a great baritone voice, mixed with death growling, their guitarist and bassist love to fuck with your sense of rhythm, and their drummer, while keeping things on the simpler side, is nothing short of solid. I suggest checking this group out.

Download Here

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.
Dark Nation
Employed


Member 722

Level 44.20

Mar 2006


Old Sep 9, 2008, 06:50 AM Local time: Sep 9, 2008, 04:50 AM #156 of 201
Nujabes - Hydeout Productions 2nd Collection

Label: Hyde-Out Productions
Release: November 11th, 2007
Genre: Hip-Hop, Jazz




Track listing

1. "Voice of Autumn"
2. "Sky Is Falling" (featuring CL Smooth)
3. "Waltz for Life Will Born" (featuring Uyama Hiroto)
4. "Imaginary Folklore" (featuring Clammbon)
5. "Hikari" (featuring Substantial)
6. "Counting Stars"
7. "Another Reflection"
8. "Fly By Night" (featuring Five Deez)
9. "Old Light (Voices from 93 Million Miles Away Remix)" (featuring Pase Rock)
10. "With Rainy Eyes" (featuring Emancipator)
11. "Luv (Sic)(Modal Soul Remix)" (featuring Shing02)
12. "Windspeaks" (featuring Uyama Hiroto)
13. "Winter Lane (Nujabes Remix)" (featuring DSK)
14. "After Hanabi (Listen To My Beats)"

INFO:
Originally Posted by Wikipedia
Hydeout Productions 2nd Collection is the followup album to 2003's Hydeout Productions 1st Collection.

It is largely produced by Nujabes, with support from features artists CL Smooth, Uyama Hiroto, Clammbon, Substantial, Five Deez, Pase Rock, Emancipator, Shing02, and DSK.

DOWNLOAD (ZIP, 192kbps CBR)

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?
Audiophile
Surrealist


Member 16745

Level 22.01

Dec 2006


Old Sep 25, 2008, 11:37 PM Local time: Sep 25, 2008, 10:37 PM #157 of 201
OutKast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

Genre: Hip-hop/rap

Track List
Speakerboxxx
  1. Intro
  2. Ghetto Musick
  3. Unhappy
  4. Bowtie
  5. The Way You Move
  6. The Rooster
  7. Bust
  8. War
  9. Church
  10. Bamboo (Interlude)
  11. Tomb of the Boom
  12. E-Mac (Interlude)
  13. Knowing
  14. Flip Flop Rock
  15. Interlude
  16. Reset
  17. D-Boi
  18. Last Call
  19. Bowtie (Postlude)

The Love Below
  1. The Love Below (Intro)
  2. Love Hater
  3. God (Interlude)
  4. Happy Valentine's Day
  5. Spread
  6. Where Are My Panties?
  7. Prototype
  8. She Lives in My Lap
  9. Hey Ya!
  10. Roses
  11. Good Day Good Sir
  12. Behold a Lady
  13. Pink and Blue
  14. Love in War
  15. She's Alive
  16. Dracula's Wedding
  17. The Letter
  18. My Favorite Things
  19. Take Off Your Cool
  20. Vibrate
  21. A Life in the Day of Benjamin André (Incomplete)

These are really good albums. I got it just a few weeks ago, and it's quickly become one of my favorites.
Review
Spoiler:
So is it one album or two albums? Is it good? Whose is better? Are they gonna break up? Are they gonna wake up? What's up with Andre -- is he in a cult, is he on drugs, is he gay?

The new OutKast album raises a lot of questions, not the least of which is: will it be their last? But here's what we do know: as of now, OutKast is still a functioning entity, one which has earned the status as one of the all-time great rap groups over the course of four stellar records. The duo's fifth, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, is a double-album, with a separate effort conceived and constructed by each member: Big Boi and Andre 3000, respectively.

And my, are they different.

OutKast's foundation has always been the dichotomy of its two members -- Big Boi and Andre, the player and the poet. The group's breakthrough third album Aquemini was a celebration of the pair's zodiac signs Aquarius and Gemini. But they always existed side by side, and in any given song, the two were able to express different viewpoints to enlighten and entertain the listener.

This approach reached a fever pitch on the group's 2000 multiflavored hip-hop stew of an album, Stankonia. But for its follow-up, they chose a different path -- each was to individually create an entire album, with little help from the other, splitting the OutKast personality down the middle and giving the public a clear view of the rawest expression each member was capable of.

Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is the album you knew he could make -- bangin' beats, top-draw guest appearances, addictive horn breaks, and of course, the unimitable rapid-fire rhyming style of Mr. Antwan Patterson. His strongest moment is the lead-off track, "Ghettomusick," an inferno of skittery beats, machine-gun choruses, tempo shifts, well-placed samples and memorable raps. Other highlights include the steady-pumping first single "The Way You Move," the laid-back social commentary "Unhappy" and the ramshackle, horn-drenched "The Rooster," which chronicles Big Boi's home life, juggling single fathership and his addiction to the "wax, tapes, and CDs" that are his livelihood.

Speakerboxxx is almost a great OutKast album by itself. Its flow gets a bit choppy, but the sheer amount of innovation and memorable hooks make up for that. The one thing it really lacks is a healthy dose of Andre, and Big Boi seems to concede as much, peppering his lyrics with references to the fact that the two are on good terms and OutKast is not finished. Still, flaws aside, Speakerboxxx more than lives up to its billing.

Andre 3000's The Love Below, however, is a revelation. As he told the New York Times, he didn't so much make a hip-hop album as an album made by a hip-hop person. The record contains charged electro-funk, sex romps a la mid-'80s Prince, breezy acoustic ballads, haunted-house themes and cabaret experiments. Lyrically, the whole album is predictably love-themed, but the precocious Andre stretches within his boundaries, from the explicitly erotic "Spread" to the sentimental "Take Off Your Cool" (with Norah Jones) to the biting send-off "Roses." He also gets cartoonish on the electro-vamp "Dracula's Wedding" and the funked-up "Happy Valentine's Day," on which he plays the part of a modern-day gangsta Cupid, aiming his pink gun to blast playas off the street and onto the altar.

He waxes personal on the album-closing freestyle "A Day In The Life Of Benjamin Andre," but the most advanced tracks on The Love Below are its two centerpieces: bubbly first single "Hey Ya!," on which Andre plays acoustic guitar and keyboards and programs the beat, and the flawlessly constructed "Roses," which has a little bit of just about everything that makes OutKast great -- it's the only song on either album to feature rap verses by both Andre and Big Boi.

So really, we get two great OutKast albums for the price of one: one that reminds us of what makes the old OutKast so good, and the other which hints at future possibilities. The only disappointing thing about Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is the splitting of the band members. Is Andre really, as rumors have suggested, planning a move to Los Angeles to work on an acting career? Will that disband the group? Again, the questions arise. I guess the best way to deal with it is to listen to both albums and revel in their excellence. If this is the last OutKast record, the world will have lost one of rap's shining stars. But whatever the future holds, the fifth chapter in the book of OutKast adds admirably to the group's legacy.-Troy Carpenter,
Download

I was speaking idiomatically.
nabhan
Good Chocobo


Member 679

Level 17.09

Mar 2006


Old Oct 8, 2008, 02:14 PM Local time: Oct 8, 2008, 03:14 PM #158 of 201
I come bearing gifts!

Shugo Tokumaru - Exit
Label:Almost Gold
Release: September 2, 2008
Genre: Japanese Alternative




Tracklist
1. "Parachute"
2. "Green Rain"
3 ."Clocca"
4. "Future Umbrella"
5. "Button"
6. "Sanganichi"
7. "D.P.O"
8. "Hidamari"
9. "La La Radio"
10. "Wedding"

In true form, I can't write musical descriptions for shit. This is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist, and I would say it's funky pop that oddly reminds me of animal collective or panda bear. If you're not satisfied with my bad description, here's a full review

Spoiler:
As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in my little part of the house. Years of use are present: the fading and drooping armchairs; the small pencil drawings on the wall; and the pins in various shapes and positions, a face smiling from the knee. What sounds like a backwards bagpipe is playing through the speakers in front of me, a pot banging from the kitchen in the background, and I feel more comfortable than I have for days. While I won’t dwell on the Issues that Plagued 07-08, I can tell you that finding myself in this room wasn’t a rare occurrence, listening to Shugo Tokumaru because maybe, I don’t know, he was so good to just trip out to, maaaaan, or Night Piece was the perfect way to come down off another long, summer day, or Exit got me get ready in the early mornings, even more so on the way to school. Not many albums inspire that kind of attention from me, fewer artists even, and Shugo Tokumaru manages to do just that. That I can’t understand Japanese seems pretty irreverent.

Craig Eley over at Cokemachineglow described Tokumaru this way: “Listening to Shugo is like watching a foreign film with the subtitles off. You can't ‘know’ what's being said (as if you can ‘know’ anything, man, shit), but you can ‘understand’ what's happening. You can feel. And at the end, you can say ‘that was delirious and beautiful and fun.’” More so than anything, this is what makes Exit Tokumaru’s best album to date (his "singles album" as opposed to his subdued, atmospheric debut), each song a different template and story. I’m not to assume the dirty, Nintendo-fronted acoustic bash “D.P.O.” is meant to be profound, but when the song guides its way to the softer, effect-laden “Hidamari,” Tokumaru’s falsetto-prone performance becomes poignant and palpable after the frustrated wails in “D.P.O.”

When Tokumaru switches to English to sing the title's refrain in “Parachute,” his enunciation is a hook in itself; when in “Button” his voices rises into a passionate wail, it barely matters what he’s saying as long as we can feel it. This is such a large appeal to Exit that it’d be easy to overlook the fact that the reason the album works so well against the language barrier is Tokumaru’s abilities as a songwriter. “Parachute” makes this immediately apparent, jumping full-throttle into the layered acoustic song, outlined with kitchen noises and bells, though Tokumaru never indulges the quirks; the clank and slides on the acoustic guitar are always audible. His ability to use any sound at his disposal is indelible, like the cowbell that keeps tempo in the clunky, passionate “Button.”

Even when the tracks become abrasive, almost a little too saccharine as the jangling "Future Umbrella" presents, they still manage to work as beautiful compositions, dense and off-the-wall. When woodwinds blow in spurts through “Clocca,” they are fascinating because of how they read on paper: annoying, irritating, indulgent. In practice, in the universe that Exit exists in, they are just a part of the landscape, more beautiful details to a design that seems to always be expanding.

As I’m writing this, “La La Radio” has begun the transition from innocent folk-rock to sparkling electronica, replete with a jazzy guitar and another transitional acoustic solo, where Tokumaru marks the passage into a full-blown rock song. It ends. The silence is overbearing until a guitar chord thumbs through the fog, and Tokumaru suddenly, quietly, creates a folk instrumental. At this stage of the album, following Tokumaru’s magnum opus, a more fitting conclusion couldn’t be created; though, as “Parachute” begins once again to vibrate through the floor beneath my feet, it serves perfectly as the cooling off period before we indulge, once again, in expertly crafted pop. Exit is a classic, a refreshing and rewarding experience that is sweet and euphoric and brilliant. Exit should make Tokumaru a star.

LINK

Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
Label: Warp Records
Release: September 5, 2006
Genre: Experimental Folk?




Tracklist
1. "Easier" – 3:43
2. "Lullabye" – 5:14
3. "Knife" – 5:14
4. "Central and Remote" – 4:54
5. "Little Brother" – 6:24
6. "Plans" – 4:16
7. "Marla" – 4:56
8. "On a Neck, On a Spit" – 5:46
9. "Reprise" – 3:19
10. "Colorado" – 6:1

All I'll say is that I always liked this album, but after it a while it grew on me and I adore it now.

REVIEW
Spoiler:
Grizzly Bear’s woozy, sea-drunk folk has been skirting the ‘freak-folk’ line since their debut, Horn of Plenty, in late 2004. But where Devendra, Animal Collective, and company live up to the oddity implied by the tag, at least musically, Grizzly Bear has always sounded like a slightly less deranged crew of roustabouts, one whose three day sleep of hair may just be the weirdest thing about them. I’d guess they take their coffee black and their cereal wet. They owe as much to traditional psychedelic music as to the hirsute escapism of their genre-mates, but there’s an ascetic lividity to their spirituality that gives these often rough, imperfect gems their hymnal quality.

Their songs are smothered in gushes of sound and atmosphere; they take their time in coming to the heart of the matter, allowing the tracks to simmer and smoke before they fire. Near-silence, a rough-note, an overly eager moment in a spot of quiet comes together perfectly, beautifully awkward. It’s this concentration on the long-form over the short, which comes off at first listen as a collection of songs with no real center-point—no moment where the album finds definition as a whole—which may lead critics to write it off as more carelessly tuned, formless indie wankery. But like a precisely stacked pile of kindling, all the twigs and the odd pieces of dry wood have to hold their place for the rest to catch.

No longer just the effort of singer/songwriter Edward Droste, Grizzly Bear’s now a foursome, and the rest of the band puts some shadow in his sketches. Though Yellow House—recorded in a house off Cape Cod, one which, yes, just happens to be yellow—maintains their debut’s DIY aesthetic, its blood is thicker, with plenty of strings, subtle electronic flourishes, and a more rhythmic base. The result is a prodigious leap for the band, combining their deft sense of atmosphere with a renewed attention to songcraft and, perhaps more importantly, album-craft. After all, Yellow House is more an astounding record than an astonishing set of songs, which was how Horn of Plenty ultimately sounded. For every “Easier,” with its sleepy background chorus, marching drums, and ambergris quiet, there’s the wavering, closed-door singalong of “Lullabye.” For every soaring gust like “Knife” or “Central Remote,” two of the album’s few songs that adhere to a traditional sense of melody and motion, there’s a shaky, flickering nod to the nod like “Little Brother,” with its whistling, stumbling drums, and the ocean-borne sickness of its progress.

Grizzly Bear pair the dizzying with the clairvoyant, and back the mellow moments of prayer with deafening, prodigal excess. Tracks take on several different moods, often through dogleg turns in pace, without noticing the shift. “Marla,” perhaps the album’s most stunning moment, was actually penned by Droste’s great-aunt in the thirties; Grizzly Bear shape it into a waltz whispered in the mire, a crude fever of strings (courtesy of Final Fantasy), piano, and Droste’s coy vocals. It’s drugged and deprived of sense, a mystery of ten million parts and too many characters with too few faces. But it’s addictive, absolutely maddening, like a tune whistled by the straitjacketed in the cinderblock hole, with a melody that wormholes your dreams. When followed by the stubby guitars of “On a Neck, On a Spit,” a barrel-leaping trot by comparison, the two form a seemingly senseless couplet whose connection, though tenuous, is oddly necessary for the album’s late progress. Elsewhere, the mushroomed layering of “Reprise,” finds purpose in its end, giving out to the reverbed piano and staccato effects of “Colorado,” the album’s closer. Fittingly, Grizzly Bear founds an irresolute, unnavigable place in the space of ten songs: laying to rest in the canyon after taking shape in a sea of weeds. A masterful record from a yellow house where every bit of timber is damp and ready to take fire.

LINK

Also whoa just realized that Animal Collective is referenced for both previous albums but no one has ever uploaded Animal Collective. This must be done.

Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Label: Domino
Release: September 11, 2007
Genre: Experimental? It's weird




Tracklist
1. "Peacebone" – 5:13
2. "Unsolved Mysteries" – 4:25
3. "Chores" – 4:30
4. "For Reverend Green" – 6:34
5. "Fireworks" – 6:50
6. "#1" – 4:32
7. "Winter Wonder Land" – 2:44
8. "Cuckoo Cuckoo" – 5:42
9."Derek" – 3:01

This album seems to be love or hate.

REVIEW
Spoiler:
Just when you thought 2007 was going well in terms of new music, two of the decade's defining bands drop new albums and turn the whole year on its head. I'm talking about Animal Collective and Liars. These two experimental rock behemoths have chartered unique and fascinating courses through the 00s and are surely two of the most accomplished bands operating today. Curiously, coincidentally, if the critical consensus is to be trusted, they've both just released their big 'pop' records within one month of another. We've already established that Liars is really, really good. Could Strawberry Jam be even better still? I think so.

Fans of the Collective have already had one record to cherish (Panda Bear's Person Pitch, which for my money deserved a couple more points than the six we gave it but, hey, this site's a democracy) and one to be slightly confused by this year (Avey Tare and Kria Brekkan's Pullhair Rubeye). Strawberry Jam comfortably surpasses both.

The fun begins with Peacebone, the lead single, which sounds something like Feels' Grass on Ritalin. (At this point in their career, comparing Animal Collective to anyone other than Animal Collective is a futile act.) The melody is equally buoyant, but crisper production allows it to flourish rather than, dare I say, irritate slightly. For Reverend Green is the next major highlight. Its reverberating, delay-drenched guitars lock into a gorgeous drone which provides the backdrop for Avey Tare's most impressive vocal to date (he sings, he shouts, he screams, he murmurs nonsense...) and the trademark AC harmonies. At around the 4:40 the wheels sound like they're about the fly off, only for the band to tighten it all up for a thrilling finale.

After this, I'd have settled for filler. Instead the band offers up Fireworks, perhaps its strongest, most fully realised track to date. Featuring inventive percussion, another cracking Avey vocal, more enthusiastic harmonies and an inspired change of pace three minutes in, this classic centrepiece arguably makes for 2007's most rewarding seven minutes of new music.

Strawberry Jam's final four tracks are less immediate, but no less impressive. The eerie Cuckoo Cuckoo is the record's most overtly experimental moment, sounding unlike anything in the AC catalogue with its sombre piano and jarring bursts of noise. Crucially, it works, which is even more impressive. #1 displays a more subtle approach to innovation, a swirling, multilayered soundscape that's propelled to a higher level by Panda Bear's soaring vocals. Winter Wonder Land sounds like a traditional indie-rock band put through a blender, where as the whimsical, folky Derek offers a refreshingly different finale, raising an intriguing question: what next for Animal Collective?

But that's for another day. For now let's just bask in the glory of Strawberry Jam, 2007's strongest album so far.

LINK

and one more for good measure

Asobi Seksu - Citrus
Label: Friendly Fire
Release: May 30, 2006
Genre: Shoegazing




Tracklist
1. "Everything Is On" – 0:17
2. "Strawberries" – 3:57
3. "New Years" – 3:01
4. "Thursday" – 4:17
5. "Strings" – 5:27
6. "Pink Cloud Tracing Paper" – 3:27
7. "Red Sea" – 7:45
8. "Goodbye" – 3:44
9. "Lions and Tigers" – 4:08
10. "Nefi+Girly" – 4:37
11. "Exotic Animal Paradise" – 4:06
12. "Mizu Asobi" – 2:40

REVIEW
Spoiler:
A colleague of mine noted recently, "There are no immature or trite topics—only immature and trite approaches." Though this didn't necessarily relate to music, it does illustrate the problem with most rock bands today. Because of the third-generation looting and pilfering, entire genres of music (post-punk, jangle pop, classic rock, fucking indie rock itself) have, quite simply, become clichés.

In reviews of Asobi Seksu's Citrus, close to every single piece of writing used the word "reverb," the dreaded statement "walls of guitars," and tiresome allusions to My Bloody Valentine. So it's understandable that a first impression of the album would prompt throwing it in with The Radio Dept. and every other blatant shoegaze rip-off outfit that wanks with their whammy bar. And that’s fair, to a degree.

But what seemingly hasn't been talked about regarding Citrus is that the songwriting is great: real, fleshed-out paintings in place of the basic sketches that littered their self-titled debut. OK, so the sound is bigger, but that's obvious. What's not recognizable is not what those sounds are, but how they're executed. There are a plethora of quirky tricks and brief, memorable riffs, mostly thanks to guitarist James Hanna. Listen, for example, to when the guitar interrupts its clean, ringing pattern with an Isn't Anything-style bend on "Strawberries" or the echoing, bare-bones slide figure on "Strings." What separates Citrus from the horde of shoegazer or other rock releases is that each song possesses tons of those ornamentations and idiosyncrasies. That might not be special; the Fiery Furnaces also have hook after hook on a single track. But on Citrus, each passage feels like a logical progression of its antecedent, and, simultaneously, every advancing section is completely unexpected.

"Thursday," the album's first single, is an ideal illustration. Gently gliding in on a fractured, ambient sound fragment, a sprightly bass plays over a muffled 4/4 kick/hi-hat beat. Singer Yuki Chikudate (who sings in both Japanese and English), coos a verse with a funerary tone, until the band launches into a breathtakingly ethereal chorus. When they repeat the first verse, rather than reverting to the basic template, they add a strong snare and intertwining guitars straight out of Turn on the Bright Lights. As if that wasn't enough, they crank the second go-round of the chorus up a notch, drop a chiming, bell-laced breakdown, and then decide to usher in the de facto enveloping sound and aching vocal melody for an overwhelming finale. That's just one song. And pretty much every track (with the exception of the drab "Exotic Animal Paradise") here shares the same qualities: multi-part structuring, addictive melodies, and clever overdubs.

I can't understand the lyrics when Yuki's singing in Japanese, but I do understand when she's singing in English. I can't imagine that the Japanese lyrics are very much different from cloyingly maudlin, neo-romantic lines like, "In drops on the dew / I wished they were you," or schmaltzy psychedelic pop statements like "disconnect the feeling factory." What could be a massive detraction, however, turns into a minor flaw, for Yuki doesn't focus on what she's saying, but how she delivers it. Her voice, which was incorrectly placed front-and-center, with no effects, on Asobi Seksu, is applied differently on Citrus. Though there are a million tricks going on all around her, the focus is always directed squarely on her instrument, which—regardless of the shape or path it takes—is always the eye of the storm.

One might say that what Citrus does well is draw from shoegazer's ability to control noise and clamor so that it creates beauty, but that wouldn’t exactly be it. The fundamental difference between is that even though Asobi Seksu employ noise into their aesthetic, it's never to such an extensive degree that it feels like discord. Citrus is an outstanding record because it doesn't fixate on what makes great shoegazer music but what makes great pop music, thus proving that approaches are what make albums—not the genre.

LINK

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Last edited by nabhan; Oct 8, 2008 at 02:28 PM.
Audiophile
Surrealist


Member 16745

Level 22.01

Dec 2006


Old Oct 13, 2008, 06:00 PM Local time: Oct 13, 2008, 05:00 PM #159 of 201
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2
Genre: Ambient Techno, Experimental

This is a one of Richard D. James' (Aphex Twin, in case you didn't guess) most acclaimed albums. Papa Haydn ripped it for me by request, and by his permission, I'm reposting it here for everyone.

Here's his review of the album:
Spoiler:
-Notes from Papa Haydn-
Well, ladies and gentleman, I know that my release style here is a bit odd and uncoventional, but what the hell?! I am an immense enthusiast of unorthodox modus operandi (and oddity). These are sometimes the best methods! I implement them in my daily work ethics at the job, in spite of the pissin and moanin of my coworkers, and fulfill a pretty good quota.

So I reckoned that a complete "compiled" release of Selected Ambient Works Vol. II would be of some interest. I personally ripped the US Sire edition of of this double CD album, and found high quality or lossless encodings of the unincluded tracks from other versions of the album. And then I unintentionally discovered supa high quality scans of the covers. These extra files are located in seperate folders from the original rip, so things should be organized enough for ya.

Well, about the music. This was a very early encounter encounter with ambient music, perhaps the first encounter with this form of ambient music, mellow and eerie. I gradually found this to be wonderfully strange music. The style is minimal and there are no beats, unlike most other Aphex related releases. At some points, the sedate tone and monotonous sounds seems to exude an gloomy, almost clinical atmosphere, while at other points (like with the track Rhubard) can be completely calming with the gentle unfolding of its simple melody, while still maintaining this latent perception of hauntedness.

After a few repeated and pensive listenings, the it seems to capture the more abberant and esoteric conjurings of your imagination-- it doesn't feel the soundtrack to anything pleasant and sweet, but enamors a drearier dimsension in our cerebrums.

I wanna say more, but I better wrap this up. I hope you enjoy the music and the presentation.

He's also very nicely included several rare bonus tracks, which everyone should enjoy. I would recommend finding a post of his and propping it if you want to thank him.

Download Here

FELIPE NO
Skexis
Beyond


Member 770

Level 34.03

Mar 2006


Old Oct 29, 2008, 10:12 PM Local time: Oct 29, 2008, 10:12 PM #160 of 201
Pop Pistol - Pop Pistol EP
Year: 2008
Genre: Electronic Rock/Alternative
Label: Unsigned


1. Angela Awake
2. Triggers
3. All Heart No Head
4. Calm Little Center
5. Purple Eyes
6. You Will Fall
7. Jealousy Dance
8. Urban Hope
9. Influential Devil
10. Angela Asleep
11. Io

This band is made up of three unknowns, all native to my own San Antonio, and they are badass. I recently saw them when I went to see Dredg on tour. They were the first band up, and believe you me, they blew the other guys out of the water. They had a great energy and band rapport with one another, using the stage for the performance, instead of making the mistake that the stage should be used like the studio. The lead singer/lead guitarist in particular is one of those visible presences as a lead man, and pours his energy into the guitar as he plays, alternatively headbanging or sinking to his knees. I could tell it was difficult for him to manage two parts at once, because there were a couple of times it seemed like he forgot where the mic was, but he was still completely professional and played on, basically handled himself well.

As for the music itself, they mix some pop rock, some sampling, and some nice rock beats, making it easy to listen to, and, I've found, hard to forget. According to the trio, this album was a couple years in the making, and I feel like the finished product is great for a first release. It might just be that good recording equipment is becoming cheaper for the little guys to buy, but this album suffers from little distortion or "garage" sounding hollowness.

One or two of my friends was put off by the singer's voice, which sounded a bit whiny live, but I feel like a lot of that is thankfully gone here. Some people might still take issue with the way the singer's voice sounds, but if you're anything like me, the first impression will get bowled over in the midst of the tasty groove.

These guys have their single, Angela Awake on iTunes, but unfortunately because this is a garage EP, there's no place to buy the full album. I'm just trying to get these guys a bit more exposure.

Favorites: "All Heart, No Head", "Calm Little Center", "Jealousy Dance", "Angela Awake", "Triggers"

You pull triggers in my mind.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Last edited by Skexis; Oct 29, 2008 at 10:15 PM.
Gameguardian
Sci-fi novel in progress


Member 2626

Level 32.75

Mar 2006


Old Nov 9, 2008, 07:48 AM #161 of 201
Hey guys, here are two albums I've gotten hold of. The first is Final Fantasy Distant Worlds by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. I ripped it from the CD in 320 kbps, and the music is wonderful. Sorry, no covers though:

Sendspace Link:
Send big files the easy way. Files too large for email attachments? No problem!

And the second one is the Video Games Live album from 2007 I think, which surfaced here on GFF some time ago, but only in M4A and lousy mp3 80 kbps-quality. Therefore I converted the files into 192 kbps and here they are, enjoy:

Sendspace Link:
Send big files the easy way. Files too large for email attachments? No problem!

Jam it back in, in the dark.
"We Must Appreciate What This World Allows Us To Have"

Last edited by Gameguardian; Nov 9, 2008 at 07:56 AM.
Wall Feces
Holy Cow! What Happened!


Member 493

Level 46.34

Mar 2006


Old Nov 19, 2008, 08:07 PM #162 of 201
Van Der Graaf Generator is one of a handful of incredible bands that came from the big progressive rock surge in the 60s/70s. Not only was their sound unique, but their vocalist, Peter Hammill, is one of the most gifted vocalists ever. This quote from Wikipedia sums up his talents nicely:

Quote:
Hammill's voice is a very distinctive element of his music. He sings in an emotional, often even dramatic way. As a former Jesuit chorister, his delivery is usually (a notable exception is the track "Polaroid") middle class English (rather than Americanised), and ranges in tone from peacefully celestial to screaming rants (which are nevertheless highly controlled). Singing in registers from baritone to high falsetto, he growls, croons, shrieks and shouts in ways that have drawn comparison with the guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix
I have for you today four albums that defined Van Der Graaf Generator and their style. All of them are compelling, deep, and enjoyable works of art, and are timeless albums that transcend musical standards.

-

Van Der Graaf Generator - H to He, Who Am the Only One
Label: Charisma Records
Year: 1970
Genre: Progressive Rock




1. Killer
2. House With No Door
3. The Emperor in his War-Room
4. Lost
5. Pioneers Over c.

This oddly titled album is probably the most easily accessible of the four I have here. Robert Fripp of King Crimson lends his guitar to the excellent track The Emperor in his War-Room.

Download H to He, Who Am The Only One

-

Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
Label: Charisma Records
Year: 1971
Genre: Progressive Rock




1. Lemmings
2. Man Erg
3. A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers

Widely considered to be VDGG's masterpiece. This album is a scant three songs, but the musical experience is as full as it gets. The monster concept song, A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers, features Robert Fripp on guitar again.

Download Pawn Hearts

-

Van Der Graaf Generator split up after this album was released, but thankfully reunited for their strongest, strangest, and most haunting works yet.

Van Der Graaf Generator - Godbluff
Label: Charisma Records
Year: 1975
Genre: Progressive Rock




1. The Undercover Man
2. Scorched Earth
3. Arrow
4. The Sleepwalkers

My favorite of the four VDGG classics. There is not one dull moment on this record. Hammill experiments with the Clavinet in this album and puts it to great use. This is easily the darkest of the 4 albums, not just in subject matter, but sonically it's as black as the album cover. Stunning music.

Download Godbluff

-

Van Der Graaf Generator - Still Life
Label: Charisma Records
Year: 1976
Genre: Progressive Rock




1. Pilgrims
2. Still Life
3. La Rossa
4. My Room (Waiting for Wonderland)
5. Childlike Faith in Childhood's End

Parts of Still Life were recorded during the Godbluff sessions, and it shows. This is as close to a follow-up as you can get. It shares many of the same sounds, keeps most of the darkness, but throws a few curveballs at you in the process. The title track is one of the most heart-wrenchingly beautiful songs I've ever heard in my life.

Download Still Life

There's nowhere I can't reach.
el jacko
nobody knows


Member 838

Level 18.30

Mar 2006


Old Dec 2, 2008, 01:06 AM Local time: Dec 2, 2008, 03:06 PM 1 #163 of 201
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
electronic dance :: Modular Interscope :: 2008



1. Feel the Love
2. Out There on the Ice
3. Lights and Music
4. We Fight for Diamonds
5. Unforgettable Season
6. Midnight Runner
7. So Haunted
8. Voices in Quartz
9. Hearts on Fire
10. Far Away
11. Silver Thoughts
12. Strangers in the Wind
13. Visions
14. Nobody Lost, Nobody Found
15. Eternity One Night Only

Download Here

I was in the mood for some dance music, and came across this on Last.fm while listening to stuff similar to Ladytron. It's got quite the beats, all across the album; the album itself is also great because each song blends into one another, so it feels like a consistent whole (instead of just a bunch of cool songs). It's quickly become one of my favorite albums.

Allmusic:
Spoiler:
In Ghost Colours announces itself, calmly but majestically, with a wash of hazy voices and fluttering keyboards giving way to crystal-clear acoustic strums, languid indie pop vocals, a sturdy dance-rock groove, pulsating electro-disco synths, swirling Caribou-style psychedelics, and an ethereal, vocoded chorus melody. Squeezing all of that into one song — the effervescent "Feel the Love" — is an ambitious move: in most hands it would come out sounding like a bewildering mess, or at least a hammy, hyperactive pastiche, but Cut Copy manage to keep it light, breezy, and utterly ebullient. Even more impressive is that they're able to replicate the trick repeatedly across this remarkably assured sophomore album. Colours boasts at least a half-dozen potential summer anthems for dancefloors and headphones alike, seamlessly strung together with subdued interstitial mood pieces that help make it more of a nuanced work than a straightforward collection of relentlessly upbeat dance jams. Undeniably, though, the dance jams are at the throbbing heart of the album, from the unstoppably glittery opening trio (leading up to the anthemic slow-burn disco of single "Lights and Music") to the rough-edged rock drive of "So Haunted" to the pure synth pop bliss of "Far Away." Indeed, this is in many ways a perfect summation of the dynamic, multifaceted, hipster-associated independent dance music of the 2000s, a motley interweaving of pop, rock, and electronic dance elements into a kaleidoscopic array of interconnected styles, some strands of which have been summarily, imprecisely tagged ("disco-punk," "electro-house," "new rave,") but which as a whole remain resolutely, gloriously nebulous and undefined. (Though nevertheless undeniably prevalent, and never more so than in 2008, following triumphant runs by LCD Soundsystem, Justice, and Simian Mobile Disco; the months just preceding In Ghost Colours' release saw eminently enjoyable new albums by Hot Chip, Hercules and Love Affair, Neon Neon, and Does It Offend You, Yeah?, to name a few.)

Cut Copy's music bears all the prominent hallmarks of its era: giddily omnivorous stylistic appropriation, a sensuous, sybaritic (though not, in their case, seedy) demeanor, and the distinct evocation of bygone decades, most palpably the ubiquitous post-punk/post-disco '80s, without succumbing to the pitfalls of overzealous eclecticism, empty hedonism, sugary glut, and blatant derivativeness. Or rather, they do show traces of all of these things, but they play each one off as a strength, always in moderation, and never to the detriment of the music. The eclecticism is there but it's fluid and cohesive rather than distractingly showy; their influence-dogging plays like affectionate homage rather than pointless mimicry; there's an abundance of gleaming, even gaudy surfaces, but they're just too rapturously enticing to entertain qualms about superficiality. It surely helps that they have one of the primary architects of this sprawling scene, the DFA's Tim Goldsworthy, on board as a producer and mixer. More importantly though, beneath its perfectly formed surfaces this is truly an album of songs — a surprisingly rare thing in this milieu — with simple but resonant melodies, carried by Dan Whitford's appealingly casual delivery, which help alleviate a slight tendency toward sonic sameness. This is evident not only on the gentler guitar-based numbers, like the loping "Unforgettable Season" and the oddly country-inflected "Strangers in the Wind," which temporarily scale back the dancefloor euphorics, but the out-and-out burners as well, combining with the peppy basslines and nagging chorus hooks to create something all the more transcendent. To be sure, In Ghost Colours is a triumph of craftsmanship rather than vision — a synthesis and refinement of existing sounds rather than anything dramatically new and original — but it is an unalloyed triumph nonetheless, and one of the finest albums of its kind.



Stereolab - Margerine Eclipse
electronic :: Elektra :: 2003



1. Vonal Declosion
2. Need to Be
3. ...Sudden Stars
4. Cosmic Country Noir
5. La Demeure
6. Margerine Rock
7. The Man With 100 Cells
8. Margerine Melodie
9. Hillbilly Motobike
10. Feel and Triple
11. Bop Scotch
12. Dear Marge

Download here

Did I upload this before? It's fun electronic stuff. The lead singer has a strange voice (very French) but she's cool and the music is really fun.

Allmusic:
Spoiler:
Stereolab's music is so consistent, and so consistently pretty, that it has become nearly criticism-proof; the band do what they do so completely that it's almost a matter of accepting or rejecting their music whole instead of analyzing it. But while Stereolab's mix of '50s and '60s lounge, vintage electronic music, and Krautrock may have crossed over into easy listening indie pop a few albums ago, they still can't be dismissed easily. Margerine Eclipse, the band's tenth full-length, can sound a bit like a collage of pieces from their nine other albums, but the overall effect is more retrospective than repetitive. It's arguably the most direct work Stereolab have done since Emperor Tomato Ketchup (and at just under 54 minutes, it's one of the shortest of their later albums) and it continues Sound-Dust's trend of gathering the sounds the band explored on their previous work and tweaking them slightly. All of this is to say that Margerine Eclipse is a strong album, even if the nagging feeling that the band aimed a little low with their artistic goals takes a small amount of pleasure out of listening to it. The album trades in the bright yet somehow bittersweet pop at which the group have always excelled, albeit in a more streamlined form than it's taken over the course of their past few albums. The busy beats, whimsical noises, unconventional melodies, and, of course, lovely harmonies that define Stereolab are all present and accounted for, and they're all very pretty, even if many of them are pretty similar to each other. But Margerine Eclipse's best songs are good enough that they resemble a greatest-hits collection from an alternate universe: "...Sudden Stars" is as coolly lovely as it was on the Instant 0 in the Universe EP, with its delicate, measured synth and vocal lines rising and falling in graceful arcs of sound. "Vonal Déclosion"'s twangy guitars and lush strings nod to Sean O'Hagan's involvement, and the layers of Laetitia Sadier's vocals are seamless, but on songs like this, Mary Hansen's voice is missed more than ever ("Feel and Triple" is a sweet tribute to her). "Cosmic Country Noir" is another of Margerine Eclipse's standout tracks, and indeed one of the best Stereolab songs in a long time; on paper, its percolating percussion, chiming synths and guitars, and simple lyrics about the pleasures of the country might not seem all that special, but in practice it's exceptionally beautiful.

Perhaps Margerine Eclipse's greatest accomplishment is that it isn't nearly as overcooked as some of Stereolab's other recent work. None of the songs bring the album to a halt; the closest Margerine Eclipse comes to the band's previous noodly excursions is "La Demeure," a fascinating but somewhat formless track mixing Raymond Scott-like synth sparkles with brass and unpredictable rhythmic and melodic shifts. Just as importantly, the fizzy "Margerine Rock" and "Hillbilly Motorbike," which sounds like the theme to a very stylish game show, restore some of the effortless fun that informed all of Stereolab's work before Dots and Loops. Likewise, "Bop Scotch"'s mix of surf rock and synths -- as well as the sassiest vocals from Sadier in a long while -- suggests that there's still plenty of life in Stereolab. O'Hagan's presence on the album is used judiciously, adding some warmth to the production but not indulging his own noodly tendencies either. Margerine Eclipse's final track, "Dear Marge," is heavily influenced by O'Hagan's work, both with the High Llamas and his previous collaborations with Stereolab. Its languid guitars and silky vocals threaten to slide off into a blissful haze, but then the band reprises the surprisingly convincing disco interlude they introduced on Instant 0 in the Universe's "Mass Riff." It would've been nice to hear that part of the song developed into a full-fledged track, but it still makes the song one of the freshest on the album. Margerine Eclipse can't really be called a return to form since Stereolab didn't really deviate from the form to begin with, but it still offers a reinvigorated sound that rewards the patience of fans who have stuck with the band this long.


This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.
Skexis
Beyond


Member 770

Level 34.03

Mar 2006


Old Dec 5, 2008, 12:25 AM Local time: Dec 5, 2008, 12:25 AM #164 of 201
Portal - Blood Red Tape
Year: 2008
Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: Unsigned


1. Jebel Moon
2. Splizkrein
3. Your Kettle
4. The Kingdom
5. Six Degrees
6. The Simple Things
7. Enemy
8. We Kuffar
9. Back in the Day
10. The Light


Portal uses some of the same elements bands like Tool and Porcupine Tree utilize, like ethnic drums, song lengths most radio stations would balk at, socially conscious lyrics, and odd time signatures. So, in a sense this is nothing really new.

However, a frontman can make a big difference in how the music is heard, and the same is true here. With a clear, call-to-arms voice piled on top of the already great syncopation between guitar and drums, this band makes the mundane memorable. I personally favor their longest running songs because it allows for more crescendos, and more opportunities to build tension in the song. I like to compare the structure of songs like "Your Kettle," or "The Kingdom" for instance, to Blackwater-era Opeth.

I also personally really enjoy the singer/songwriter's style. It's layered, and poetic, but in a way that makes it accessible instead of being the kind of confrontational with us or against us notion that I see often times with Tool's songs.
Portal's lyrics are made to work well in the context of the song, which tells me that the songwriter wanted his work to be a part of something greater, to complement the work from the other band members. (Listen to the end of "The Kingdom" to understand where I'm coming from.)

It's hard to say why I enjoy this band so much, truthfully. The sound design is certainly top-notch, but perhaps it's that when Portal puts something to paper, it becomes more than the sum of its parts. They just tend to do the crescendo moments so well, and the pieces fit together so neatly, that I find myself coming back to listen again and again. Even remote fans of bands like the ones I mentioned should do themselves a favor and listen, too.

Favorites: "The Kingdom", "We Kuffar", "Your Kettle", "The Light", "Enemy"

If it breaks like waves on the shore...

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?
Will
Good Chocobo


Member 4221

Level 18.81

Mar 2006


Old Dec 12, 2008, 02:54 AM #165 of 201
Anathallo - Floating World
Label: Nettwerk
Release: 2006
Genre: Indie



Track Listing:

1. "Ame" – 0:49
2. "Genessaret (Going Out Over 30,000 Fathoms of Water)" – 5:32
3. "Hoodwink" – 5:48
4. "By Number" – 5:08
5. "Dokkoise House (With Face Covered)" – 6:00
6. "Hanasakajijii (Four: A Great Wind, More Ash)" – 4:44
7. "Hanasakajijii (One: The Angry Neighbor)" – 3:10
8. "Inu (Howling)" – 1:20
9. "Hanasakajijii (Two: Floating World)" – 4:57
10. "The Bruised Reed" – 6:04
11. "Yuki! Yuki! Yuki!" – 1:14
12. "Hanasakajijii (Three: The Man Who Made Dead Trees Bloom)" – 4:26
13. "Cuckoo Spitting Blood" – 3:05
14. "Kasa No Hone (The Umbrella's Bones)" – 2:08


It's taking a lot to catch my ear lately, but these guys really did...

Spoiler:
The brilliantly inconsistent ambiance on Floating World meets somewhere between a tribal symphony and modern theatre. While delicate shifts between trombone toots and piano chords flow exquisitely, therein lies an orchestra of vocals, not just male, not just female, nor just singluar or group but a combination of all, breeding an inventive composition that encapulates art, spirituality and redemption. For the youthful group, their maturity transcends through their music with the ability call upon Japanese culture, Judeo-Christian and biblical stories and modern American application. - Absolute Punk

Floating World


Woven Hand - Consider the Birds
Label: Sounds Familyre
Release: 2004
Genre: Alt-Country



Track Listing:

1. "Sparrow Falls" – 4:45
2. "Bleary Eyed Duty" – 4:30
3. "To Make a Ring" – 4:33
4. "Off the Cuff" – 3:31
5. "Chest of Drawers" – 3:53
6. "Oil on Panel" – 5:36
7. "The Speaking Hands" – 4:00
8. "Down in Yon Forest" – 3:08
9. "Tin Finger" – 3:54
10. "Into the Piano" – 3:38


I decided I had to find something likable in country music. This was not what I expected. It's alternative, that's for sure. The review sums it up pretty well...I didn't even notice the religious aspect until I read it.

Spoiler:
hile the quote unquote Evangelical religious right continues to seemingly alienate all under the epithetical label of "non-believers", somehow a branch of no less fervent believers has emerged and had success in the atheism-drenched alternative rock scene. Somehow these artists have managed avoid sacrificing even an iota of their beliefs, and at the same time appeal to an audience notorious for hostility towards the Christian faith.

Take, for example, David Eugene Edwards, lead singer of the band Sixteen Horsepower and who’s third record under his solo moniker of Woven Hand, entitled Consider the Birds, is easily the most Christ-influenced work he has conceived of yet (which, for those familiar with his past work both solo and with 16HP, is quite an accomplishment.) The grandson of a fiery Nazarene preacher in Colorado, it can be assumed that the only book allowed in his house as a child was the holy one. Thus, Edwards has an intense and innate knowledge of the Bible. It's not uncommon to find at least for or five scriptural references in his lyrics, often times not references at all, but literal transcriptions of lines into song. - Stylus

Consider the Birds


Blu & Exile - Below the Heavens
Label: Sound in Color
Release: 2007
Genre: Hip-Hop



Track Listing:

1. My World Is...
2. The Narrow Path
3. Simply Amazin' (Steel Blazin')
4. Juice N' Dranks (Featuring Ta'Raach)
5. In Remembrance
6. Blu Collar Workers
7. Dancing in the Rain
8. First Things First (Featuring Miguel Jontel)
9. No Greater Love
10. Good Life (Featuring Aloe Blacc and Joseph)
11. Soul Rising
12. Cold Hearted (Featuring Miguel Jontel)
13. Below The Heavens Pt. 1
14. Below The Heavens Pt. 2
15. I Am...


This is the kind of stuff that makes hip-hop one of my favorite genres. Blu's delivery and Exile's production are a match made in heaven (ha ha).

Spoiler:
Where 2007’s other great hip-hop album, Pharoahe Monch’s Desire, dealt on a grander scale (tackling New Orleans and conspiracy theories), Blu and Exile’s Below the Heavens is very much its counter-balance. More homebound and ambitious with the excited newcomer naivety, Blu and Exile, making their auspicious debut (in an album too long for the casual listening) are more interested in the war behind their walls and in their streets. Blu might berate you (the guys figure you should have heard of the album, and if you haven’t, you’re the motherfucking idiot who put the motherfucking ‘e’ on the motherfucking poster), but when need be, Blu is more down-to-earth than cocky. Clocking in at 60 minutes, Below the Heavens runs the risk of drawing itself out to a breaking point, belittling its greater moments by surrounding them in fluff. But Blu, sticking close to the unexceptional meaning of the title, is more interested in realism while Exile is more interested in fiddling with concept, keeping things simple without making it an exercise in minimalist.

Aside from the self-indulgent album opener found in the form of ‘My World Is…,’ a catchy, sample ridden, ego stroking number devoted to Blu and his abilities as a rapper (more tongue-in-cheek than self-gratifying), Blu is content in penning and discussing real world stories. In the album highlight, ‘Narrow Path,’ he details the growing difficulties to be a young underground MC in modern times, toeing the edges of the “narrow path.” Here, in the superb chorus, diluted almost to a whisper, Blu sings, “I need a pen, I need a pad, I need a place to go to get this shit lifted off of my soul.” It’s this same mentality that plagues the chronicling of an average Joe’s routine life in ‘Dancing In The Rain;’ it’s atypical insights like these, ones that branch out from Blu’s typical topic (sometimes that of, but not limited to, religion), that fuels Below the Heavens. And even if Blu stoops to generics (his argument that it’s love not lust[!] that drives his relationship in ‘Greater Love’), Exile’s production rounds it out well (‘Greater Love’ features prominent samples of “greater love!” in an airy tone, giving a slight romanticism to Blu’s otherwise blunt delivery). He even inserts a little humour into 'Good Life,' a song that finds its protagonist a new father ("When it comes to being a man, shi, I'm barely getting my feet wet").

But really, it’s DJ Exile’s production that makes the ends meet, the key behind Below the Heavens success. ‘Soul Rising’’s production wouldn’t seem out of place in Nas’ line-up, while ‘First Things First’ slides down easy on its laid back atmosphere, riding smooth with Blu’s flirty, party mood. Mostly, Below the Heavens calls to mind the hip-hop that rose in the early ‘90s, fitting snugly with the nostalgic ‘In Remembrance’ that seems peculiar in the one-off feel of Blu’s delivery; you can almost hear others agreeing with him when he starts detailing the drama of his high school years. Below the Heavens, sorely overlooked in a wave of new, almost equally tasty hip-hop, battles its running time with consistency; it builds in both Blu and Exile’s repertoire, ending on its best foot. Beginning with ‘Below the Heavens.. Pt. I,’ the album ends gracefully with the stripped bare ‘I Am…’ that is decidedly low key after the two-part title track that throws in as much production as it can get before toppling over. It may get graphic (violence, sex, C-sections, oh my!), but it’s tighter than that, never letting itself become memorable for its shock value. - Sputnik

Below the Heavens


Thomas Dybdahl - ...That Great October Sound
Label: CCAP/EMI
Release: 2002
Genre: Pop/Rock



Track Listing:

1. "From Grace"
2. "All's Not Lost"
3. "That Great October Sound"
4. "Life Here Is Gold"
5. "Tomorrow Stays The Same"
6. "Postulate"
7. "Adelaide"
8. "John Wayne"
9. "Love's Lost"
10. "Dreamweaver"
11. "Outro"


More proof that Norwegians are good at music. =P

Spoiler:
If you like listening to guys like Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley, Becks Sea Change album....you'll cream your pants hearing this guy. He's that good. Aside from the two weak spots (Postulate and Love's Lost) every song is absolutely perfect into the very detail. It's rare to find such replayability in this type of music. I sure hope you won't be turned off by the fact that this guy is relatively unknown outside Europe...because he's definately worth checking out. - Sputnik

That Great October Sound

I was speaking idiomatically.

Last edited by Will; Dec 12, 2008 at 02:57 AM.
Wall Feces
Holy Cow! What Happened!


Member 493

Level 46.34

Mar 2006


Old Jan 17, 2009, 10:40 AM #166 of 201
John Frusciante - The Empyrean
Label: The Record Collection
Year: 2009
Genre: Alternative




1. Before the Beginning
2. Song to the Siren
3. Unreachable
4. God
5. Dark Light
6. Heaven
7. Enough of Me
8. Central
9. One More of Me
10. After the Ending
11. Today [Japan Bonus Track]
12. Ah Yom [Japan Bonus Track]


After many years, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante is back with his latest solo work, The Empyrean. Like most of his solo albums, this is vastly different from his work with the Peppers. This is probably the most haunting work he's done since his first solo effort, recorded when he was strung out on heroin.

From John's website:

Spoiler:
The Empyrean is a story that has no action in the physical world. It all takes place in one persons mind throughout his life. The only other character is someone who does not live in the physical world but is inside it, in the sense that he exists in peoples minds. The mind is the only place that anything can be truly said to exist. The outside world is only known to us as it appears within us by the testament of our senses. The imagination is the most real world that we know because we each know it first hand. Seeing our ideas take form is like being able to see the sun come into being. We have no equivelent to the purity of that in our account of the outside world. The outer world appears to each of us as one thing and it is always also a multitude of others. Inside to outside and outside to inside are neverending. Trying and giving up are a form of breathing.


Enjoy this, the first awesome release I've heard since 2009 began.


Download It!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?
Audiophile
Surrealist


Member 16745

Level 22.01

Dec 2006


Old Feb 10, 2009, 12:02 AM Local time: Feb 9, 2009, 11:02 PM #167 of 201
Here are some Ed Alleyne-Johnson albums (all of them, in fact).
For those who don't know who he is, he is an amazing electric violinist who uses very ethereal sounds and tape loops in his music. That description doesn't really do him justice, though, so here's a YouTube link of him busking in Chester. Absolutely beautiful.

Anyway, this is his complete solo discography. It's all pretty good quality, and covers are embedded in the mp3's. Enjoy!

Purple Electric Violin Concerto
Purple Electric Violin Concerto 2
Ultraviolet
Reflections
Echoes


FELIPE NO
NovaX
๏o๏o๏o๏


Member 603

Level 25.61

Mar 2006


Old Mar 4, 2009, 03:39 AM Local time: Mar 4, 2009, 07:09 PM 1 #168 of 201
No Age - Weirdo Rippers
Label: Fat Cat
Released: 2007
Genre: Noise Pop




Track Listing
1. Every Artist Needs a Tragedy
2. Boy Void
3. I Wanna Sleep
4. My Life's Alright Without You
5. Everybody's Down
6. Sun Spots
7. Loosen This Job
8. Neck Escaper
9. Dead Plane
10. Semi-Sorted
11. Escarpment

Review:
Since the group is named after that late 70’s collection of purposely unmusical New York noise (where Sonic Youth found the inspiration to write their first couple of impossibly jagged albums), this should sound absolutely terrible. However, by some strange miracle of balance from the musical forces that be, Weirdo Rippers just pretty much rules. Atmospheric, formless, and unconventional, yes. But uninviting, never.

No Age craft screaming garage-leaning melodies only to hide them behind brick walls of distortion. Bits and pieces of songs reveal themselves more with each listen, but none of these songs will ever seem “normal” to anybody. That’s mostly due to the small segues between sonic blasts that utilize every guitar effect in the world to transport the listener into outer space before violently shaking his ass out of it.

These guys basically sound like if Pyramids were music, like if there were ever a resolution to that band’s neverending tension buildup. Where Pyramids are like a long and winding joke that has no punchline, No Age is like a well-balanced and logical riddle that is, you know, actually worth your time. The balance is what makes the album work: half oceanic noise and half modern indie rock a la Broken Social Scene.

Although every one of these songs is unique for one reason or another, “Dead Plane” sticks out the most because it sounds like it could have fit right onto Boris’s Pink – which is not a claim that most mellowish indie groups can make. It's chaotically distorted rock-n-roll sound is supported by purposely lousy sound quality and a kind of flat vocal melody that will cling to your brain all day (even while you’re listening to other songs by other bands). Especially in this type of music, the earnestness and honesty of “real” sounding vocals always tends to add a whole new level of energy to the mix.

A lot of experimental groups get caught up in their indulgence and record whatever sprawling mess comes to mind in the studio, but that’s not the case here. Like Guided By Voices, every No Age song is only as long as it needs to be to get its point across. The tracks still flow into each other like it was one long piece, but it’s a pretty tight sounding one that doesn’t take too much effort or energy to appreciate.

Totally disorienting and psychedelic in the out-of-body experience sort of way, Weirdo Rippers is as weirdo as indie music gets right now, maybe ever. It’s creepy like the soundtrack to some insane Independent Film Channel movie, and you’ll seriously feel the suspense in your stomach.

Review Link

This is a collection of 5 vinyl EPs that the group released on the same day, each one on a different label. Pretty cool stuff.

DOWNLOAD LINK

================================================== ===============
No Age - Nouns
Label: Sub Pop
Released: 2008
Genre: Noise Pop




Track Listing
1. Miner
2. Eraser
3. Teen Creeps
4. Things I Did When I Was Dead
5. Cappo
6. Keechie
7. Sleeper Hold
8. Errand Boy
9. Here Should Be My Home
10. Impossible Bouquet
11. Ripped Knees
12. Brain Burner

Review:

If it wasn’t certain before, it’s gosh darn near undeniable now: No Age have got this stuff down. The duo’s debut, last year’s FatCat release Weirdo Rippers, was certainly something to marvel at. Largely a collection of past vinyl releases, Rippers extolled the virtues of pairing ambient drones with abrasive punk rock. Really, the title of the album said it all: while those songs were at the very core unabashed basement anthems, there was still something downright odd about them. Granted, this peculiarity only added to the record’s charm, and its wide critical and popular regard catapulted No Age’s Dean Spunt and Randy Randall into some sort of underground spotlight. Now signed to Sub Pop, the band has fast recorded a follow-up in Nouns: another bite-sized portion of blistering, fuzzy, DIY rock.

For what it is and what it aims to be, Nouns is a perfect record. It’s 12 tracks that rush by in a flash, each awash in layers of lo-fi guitar and percussion. Spunt and Randall’s ability to seamlessly transform pretty ambient textures into fist-pumping explosions of noise is on full display across the record’s span. A more streamlined collection than Rippers, here the band includes a few more straightforward rock songs than ambient collages, allowing them to flex their pop sensibilities more regularly. However, the band still blends their airy soundscapes into the mix with a masterful touch, unifying these songs more successfully than they had probably imagined.

“Miner,” “Sleeper Hold,” “Ripped Knees,” and “Brain Burner” are the songs that aren’t afraid to scuff themselves up, supplying pummeling doses of the band’s signature bass-less drum and guitar. No Age also don’t shy away from pure pop fare, as the clever hooks on “Here Should Be My Home” attest. The album’s first single, “Eraser,” is by far the most surprising and complex, as a loop of feedback and jumpy acoustic strings give way to an aural barrage. “Keechie” and “Impossible Bouquet” are strong ambient offerings, providing lush tones and a much-needed break in the attack. Similarly, “Things I Did When I Was Dead” is the softest the band has been, with a few lonely piano notes amongst a swirl of mechanical loops and slight vocal moaning. Spunt and Randall weren’t afraid of these kinds of experiments on their early releases, and its proving that they certainly aren’t about to stop now.

It’s ultimately comforting that Spunt and Randall haven’t shown any interest in bending their personal ethics in order to produce something more easily digestible by a mass audience. Nouns sounds as homemade as something released on a Warner Music affiliate could be. It’s crafted with a sense of pleasant haphazardness, gelling into one of those rare situations where everything that is thrown at the wall sticks. The album’s beautiful packaging and 68-page full-color photo booklet is a visual dedication to the people on the road and in the venues that allow music like that of No Age’s to thrive. There’s a genuine enthusiasm inherent in all of the band’s recordings, and Nouns sounds as much like a love letter to music itself as like a slew of sharp-edged punk songs. Lord knows the opportunity to clean up their act was in front of the band after the surprising popularity of Weirdo Rippers. But perhaps no amount of acclaim would have ever persuaded them to relent. Maybe, just maybe, there’s still some genuine articles left in this fuzzy world.

REVIEW LINK

DOWNLOAD LINK

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?
wvlfpvp
I'm going to write the most erotic, graphic, freakiest friend fiction ever


Member 122

Level 55.02

Mar 2006


Old Mar 26, 2009, 06:44 PM #169 of 201
The Wesley Willis Fiasco - spookydisharmoniousconflicthellride
Label: Urban Legends
Release date: 1992, rereleased September 10, 1996
Genre: Wesley Willis + punk. Fuck yes.



Tracklist:
  1. Get On The Bus
  2. I'm Doing It Well On The Side Of The REA
  3. Pop That Pussy
  4. Casper The Homosexual Friendly Ghost
  5. I Can't Drive
  6. He's Doing Time In Jail
  7. Bar Is Closed, The
  8. Jesus Is The Answer
  9. Blood, Guts & Fire Trucks
  10. She Loves Me Truly
  11. Drink That Whiskey
  12. Steve Albini
  13. Steve Albini (reprise)
  14. I'm Sorry That I Got Fat

Review:
Umm. Yeah. This is Wesley Willis. With his punk band. That should be all you need to know to download this album. If you don't know what I mean by that, then you need to download the album. You get my drift?

CASPER THE HOMOSEXUAL FRIENDLY GHOST

Jam it back in, in the dark.
It was lunchtime at Wagstaff.
Touching butts had been banned by the evil Headmaster Frond.
Suddenly, Tina Belcher appeared in the doorway.
She knew what she had to do.
She touched Jimmy Jr's butt and changed the world.
Paco
????


Member 175

Level 58.82

Mar 2006


Old Apr 7, 2009, 01:43 PM Local time: Apr 7, 2009, 11:43 AM #170 of 201
Rafter - Sex, Death, Cassette
Year: 2008
Label: Asthmatic Kitty
Genre: Folksy/Brassy Indie Rock



1. Zzzpenchant
2. Sleazy Sleepy
3. Adventurers
4. I Love You Most Of All
5. Love Time Now Please
6. Cudding Raccoons
7. Chances
8. Slay Me
9. Breathing Room
10. Candy Sprinkles
11. Breeze
12. Casualty Of BOC
13. Thunderclap
14. Tropical
15. Kindness
16. No-One Home Ever
17. Asking
18. Casualty Of Dance Music
19. How To And Why

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Review blatantly plagiarized from Pitchfork


Rafter Roberts plays in indie pop band Bunky, pals around with Sufjan Stevens, and engineers albums by California bands like Black Heart Procession and Pinback. But "jingle writer" is his most salient CV line regarding his new album, Sex Death Cassette. It's an eclectic reel of curios and bagatelles that stick in your head the way good jingles do, though since they aren't selling anything besides Rafter's sensibility, their compositional craftiness is wedded to a lo-fi humility. Some of them are just little jags of inspiration: "I Love You Most of All" is a half-minute refrain for spooky falsetto and awkward acoustic guitar, like a lost Shudder to Think interlude. "Cuddling Raccoons" is a minute-long burst of handclaps and knob-twiddled garage riffs. And "Adventures" is a verse in search of a chorus, with a tripping groove and hearty brass flares making its concise point.

While the brief songs are satisfying fun-- they sound more economical than half-cooked-- Rafter does a good job of building more spacious scaffolding around his little lightning flashes when he cares to. The frilly vocal refrain of "Sleazy Sleepy" is parroted by horn line that would've made a nice little mini-song in itself. "Sleazy Sleepy" also features the kind of staticky, simple groove-- a simple template ready to receive Rafter's judicious embellishments-- that characterizes the album, from "ZZZPenchant", a baggy lockstep with snapping brass banners, to "Love Time Now Please", a Caribbean cameo with more of Rafter's beloved, jubilant horns.

The album's title is two-thirds red herring: It has indie rock's typically circumspect relationship to sex, and good luck finding it on cassette. "Death" is the key word here, as the lion's share of these overcast yet stubbornly sunny songs revolve around it, albeit usually in a playful, almost irreverent manner. This is largely because Rafter practices a sort of laughing-to-the-gallows eschatology; he rages against the dying of the light with a smirk. "They left us here to die," he sings on "Asking", "but we're not ready to die!" The sentiment is exactly opposite to the one prevailing in current big-ticket indie rock, exemplified by the Arcade Fire, where the magnitude of the end of self is tacitly conflated with the magnitude of global apocalypse.


Rafter doesn't wallow in, despair of, or mythologize death; he healthily accepts it as a natural and absolutely necessary facet of life, which perhaps explains how such a death-obsessed record can be so innocent of grand statements and undue angst. He celebrates life by acknowledging its brevity. "Life is good, you can't complain," he shrugs during the quicksilver indie-rock of "Chances". "We are the lucky ones." And on the junkyard indie-blues of "Slay Me", he gently chastises musicians who "throw it all away for a sad melody that you can't even hum." While everyone needs a sad melody sometimes-- Rafter gets off a few himself, although they're always hummable-- it scans as a subtle dig against the kind of self-serious, dour indie rock that Sex Death Cassette is such a relief from.

SO WAKE UP BEFORE YOU DIE

There's nowhere I can't reach.
Dullenplain
Life @ 45RPM


Member 2299

Level 38.16

Mar 2006


Old Apr 11, 2009, 09:58 PM Local time: Apr 11, 2009, 08:58 PM #171 of 201
Non Disco Bee Gees

Best of Bee Gees (1969)
Best of Bee Gees Vol. 2 (1973)
Label: Polydor
Genre: Rock



track listing:
Best of Bee Gees

01 - Holiday
02 - I've Gotta Get a Message to You
03 - I Can't See Nobody
04 - Words
05 - I Started a Joke
06 - Tomorrow, Tomorrow
07 - First of May
08 - World
09 - Massachusetts
10 - To Love Somebody
11 - Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You
12 - New York Mining Disaster 1941


Best of Bee Gees Vol. 2

01 - How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
02 - I.O.I.O.
03 - Don't Want to Live Inside Myself
04 - Melody Fair
05 - My World
06 - Let There Be Love
07 - Saved by the Bell
08 - Lonely Days
09 - Morning of My Life
10 - Don't Forget to Remember
11 - And the Sun Will Shine
12 - Run to Me
13 - Man For All Seasons
14 - Alive

The two albums were the first two compilation albums of the Bee Gees career, chronicling most of the singles and important songs of their early career once they became known internationally. The first Best album deals with 1967-1969 while the second contains material from 1968-1972.

While they emigrated from the UK to Australia as children, they were pretty much part of the later British rock scene in the 60s, along with contemporaries like The Moody Blues, but the Bee Gees primarily chose more eclectic sources, settling on a pop/rock style that would be their hallmark for their early career.

These two Best albums offer a decent sampling of their work from before the seminal "Main Course" album which marked the major shift towards disco that the band became most famous for. The first one deals mostly with their successful late 60s singles, which showcase their talent for songwriting. The second Best album extends into their tumultuous period when the band briefly only had two of the brothers, as well as a few early solo forays from Robin and Barry.

These should offer a good foundation for the band's early career and help dispel a bit of the bad legacy they obtained during the disco era; probably one of the more overlooked aspects of the band and in rock music history in general.

Download Best of Bee Gees

Download Best of Bee Gees Vol. 2


Most amazing jew boots

Classic J-Pop Volume 31
Add your location here at the ------> GFF Members Geographic Database
Moon
River Chocobo


Member 34

Level 23.53

Mar 2006


Old May 11, 2009, 07:58 PM #172 of 201
Christ, I leave for ONE year and the thread goes apathetic...

Various Artists - Music from One Earth
1. Dona Rosa - Quando eu era costureira
2. Sarband - Cados Cados
3. L.A. Compagnie performs Black Slavics - Zeleneye
4. Sergey Starostin's Vocal Family - Traveling Tartars
5. Sarband - Chanson Médiévale
6. Hamlet Gonashvili - Shen, Bicho, Anagurelo
7. La Voce - Tango Tragico
8. Trinovox - Fainetai Moi
9. Huun-Huun-Tu with Bugarian Voices Angelite - Early Morning with my horse
10. Dona Rosa with Bulgarian Voices Angelite - Maria dos olhos lindos
11. Bulgarian Voices Angelite - Holy God & Svjatij Boje

General Review:
You know how most vocal songs insist on homophony / one voice at a time? This CD shows different styles saying nuts to that.

Track Review:
1. It would almost be meditative if the woman's voice wasn't so haunting. I'm at a loss to describe it really.
2. Nice ye olde polyphonic Christian song. Far too short.
3. Slavic-African choir. Not a huge fan of it, but it's different.
4. Russian song superimposed on an old Bulgarian folk melody = trance-like work. Second favorite track on the CD.
5. Oriental mixed with renaissance music I think. I liked it.
6. I'd say this has the most religious feel of anything on the CD even though I have no idea what it's about. It's apparently by a famous Georgian singer, and it has an arab feel to it.
7. If you like someone screaming over the sound of a trumpet, I guess...
8. Not a fan of the song itself, but this really shows the versatility of the human voice. Everything in it is just people using their voices, and it's amazing what they can do.
9. This is my favorite track on the CD, and I recommend you listen to this track first. The contrast between Huun-Huun-Tu and the Bulgarian choir made my ears weep tears of aural joy. And the tears, when hitting the carpet beneath me, caused the fibers to twang like a duclimer.
10. Same haunting effect as the first, but contrasted with the clarity of the Bulgarians.
11. Two words: surround sound. Find a way to do it for this song; it greatly enhances the experience, as it's kinda blah on headphones.

Download link

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?
Paco
????


Member 175

Level 58.82

Mar 2006


Old May 22, 2009, 09:50 PM Local time: May 22, 2009, 07:50 PM #173 of 201
Kutiman - ThruYOU
Year: 2009
Label: N/A
Genre: Funk/Soul Mashup



1. The Mother of All Funk Chords
2. This Is What It Became
3. Babylon Band
4. I'm New
5. Someday
6. Wait For Me
7. Just A Lady

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


I know music I like when I hear it. I've never been able to enumerate a list of things I like or don't like in music, and I don't always necessarily know why I like something-- it just flips that switch we all have inside of us. Ultimately, I don't think it's important to know why we like the music we do, because the act of liking it is self-justifying. I'm saying all this in part because I couldn't immediately think of a way to describe what's so great about Kutiman. I know one thing, though: I like this.

Ophir Kutiel (the Kutiman moniker stems from his family name, but could as easily be read as admiration for Nigerian Afrobeat icon Fela Kuti) is a solo act from Tel Aviv, Israel, a one-man band who occasionally brings in his friends when he thinks they can improve the sound or he needs some horns (he needs them often). His music is something like Israel itself, a mishmash of things from all over the world, the old and the new side by side, a melting pot with a common overarching identity. He's schooled in the funk and fusion of the 1970s, Afrorock and Afrobeat, heavy psych from the 60s, hip-hop and modern R&B, a bit of reggae and dub, a couple decades of electronic music, and the general art of the groove.

There's not much else to say about this album. It's not sold in stores and it's freely available on the internet to anyone wishing to enjoy these tunes.

If you'd like to see the actual mashup videos, head on over to his website.

OTHERWISE, CUT THRU

I was speaking idiomatically.
Zip
Desert Camel


Member 1607

Level 25.92

Mar 2006


Old May 23, 2009, 03:51 PM Local time: May 23, 2009, 10:51 PM 3 #174 of 201


N.A.S.A - The spirit of Apollo
1. Intro
2. The People Tree (feat. David Byrne, Chali 2na, Gift of Gab & Z-Trip)
3. Money (feat. David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge & Z-Trip)
4. N.A.S.A. Music (feat. Method Man, E-40 & DJ Swamp)
5. Way Down (feat. RZA, Barbie Hatch & John Frusciante)
6. Hip Hop (feat. KRS-One, Fatlip & Slim Kid Tre)
7. Four Rooms, Earth View
8. Strange Enough (feat. Karen O, Ol' Dirty Bastard & Fatlip)
9. Spacious Thoughts (feat. Tom Waits & Kool Keith)
10. Gifted (feat. Kanye West, Santigold & Lykke Li)
11. A Volta (feat. Sizzla, Amanda Blank & Lovefoxxx)
12. There's a Party (feat. George Clinton & Chali 2na)
13. Whachadoin? (feat. Spank Rock, M.I.A., Santigold & Nick Zinner)
14. O Pato (feat. Kool Kojak & DJ Babão)
15. Samba Soul (feat. Del tha Funkee Homosapien & DJ Qbert)
16. The Mayor (feat. The Cool Kids, Ghostface Killah, Scarface & DJ AM)
17. N.A.S.A. Anthem (at 7'20" there is a skit lasting about 4 seconds. Then at 10'26" there's a ghost track called "Electric Flowers" featuring Nina Persson from The Cardigans and RZA)


Cool, never saw this topic before. I posted this in my gurnal but not enough people saw this.
NASA is a Dj duo (North America South America) that has been working on this project for roughly 5 years. It's all based on funky Brazilian records over heavy urban drums. But the real dope shit is the different artists on the tracks, it's almost as they went out and picked 2 opposite genres and mashed them together. Rza and Nina Persson? Sizzla and Amanda Blank? Crazy... but it works! Doesn't sound like hip-hop at all, it's just different and funky!

Since I've pretty much only listened to hip-hop for the last few years, this was a breath of fresh air since hip-hop started sucking hard the last 2 years. Give it a try, I know you won’t get disappointed! Only bad point is that the album sometimes lacks focus, it goes everywhere without really pulling in the same direction. But I get the feeling that the album is more of a experiment then a whole set piece. But the experiment is so tasty and lush that it's forgivable.

Click here!

no homo
Paco
????


Member 175

Level 58.82

Mar 2006


Old May 27, 2009, 11:24 AM Local time: May 27, 2009, 09:24 AM #175 of 201
NoNoBeats - Soul Da Beat Vol. 1
Year: 2009
Label: N/A
Genre: Hip Hop



1. Keep On Real
2. Expresión Musical
3. Algo Mas Moderno
4. Blackmaga Soul
5. Enlace
6. A La Mente
7. Introducción
8. Outro: Los Vivos No Se Detienen
9. Orquestal
10. Lo Simple
11. Otra
12. Krall
13. It's All
14. Good Time
15. Beat Souldiers
16. Inteludeo: Perdida En Los Cajones

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I don't know anything about this kid other than he's Chilean and produces dope beats. This is a free download to all on his website which I can't find the link to anymore but, as with all artists of this nature, he is buried among the talentless halfwits somewhere in that Dystopian clusterfuck everyone knows as MySpace. His page is right here.

DOPENESS CONFIRMED, YOU GOT SOUL



Dialect Music - La Spéciale
Year: 2009
Label: BL Music
Genre: Hip Hop



1. Parano Star
2. Mélodie A Offrir
3. Aquarium
4. Pénétration
5. Avant Que Les Spots S'éteignent
6. Espoir
7. Parano Star (Live)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dialect is a seven-piece French jazz band. No, it's not really "jazz" because they're a sextet with a dope MC. Blending equal parts soul and jazz and adding a cherry rhyme topping, this outfit captures quite a unique sound that I didn't know how to stop listening to. The one complaint you'll have about this EP will simply be that it's far too short.

VOYAGE, VOYAGE, VOYAGE



Fatlip - The Loneliest Punk
Year: 2005
Label: Delicious Vinyl
Genre: Hip Hop



1. Fat Leezy
2. Fatlip Intro
3. First Heat
4. The Bass Line
5. Today's Your Day
6. Freestyle
7. Joe's Turkey
8. I Got The Shit
9. Writer's Block
10. M.I.A.
11. The Story of Us
12. Cook
13. Walkabout
14. All On Fly
15. Lyrical Styles
16. Freaky Pumps
17. He's an Outsider
18. What's Up Fatlip?
19. Dreams

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Former member of The Pharcyde's solo album. It's good. It has that classic Pharcyde with more mellow beats and fun lyrics to bob your head to. Also, you might enjoy this little skate video directed by Spike Jonze featuring the song "Today's Your Day".

WHATCHUGONNADOOOOOOO~

FELIPE NO
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