Gamingforce Music Exposure Club™

The Mountain Goats - Zopilote Machine
(1995, Acoustical Awesome)



Track List:
1. Alpha Incipiens
2. Azo Tle Nelli in Tlalticpac?
3. Alpha Sun Hat
4. Black Ice Cream Song
5. Sinaloan Milk Snake Song
6. We Have Seen the Enemy
7. Standard Bitter Love Song #7
8. Quetzalcoatl Eats Plums
9. Orange Ball of Love
10. Orange Ball of Hate
11. Bad Priestess
12. Going to Bristol
13. Young Caesar 2000
14. Going to Lebanon
15. Grendel's Mother
16. Song for Tura Santana
17. Alpha in Tauris
18. Going to Georgia
19. Quetzalcoatal Is Born

Props to el jacko for the original upload.

Review (from here:)

Quote:

If you are reading this review, you probably already know how much John Darnielle rocks. A lot, just to clarify. This first album is absolutely no exception, and although it lacks the refinement of songwriting of his later albums, it makes up for it in raw passion. Darnielle plays just about every song on this album like its the last time he will ever touch a guitar. This raw and powerful playing style is accentuated by the fact that this album was literally recorded on a stereo system with a mic plugged in. The songs on this album also exhibit the fantastic lyrics-writing that Darnielle is renowned for from the bitter sweet half-love poems of 'Going to Georgia' and 'Orange Ball of Love,' to the clever historical and literay references in 'Young Caesar 2000' and 'Grendel's Mother.' This is certianly one of the best Mountain Goats albums, and worth having for every fan. Maybe not a good place to start your collection though, if you are looking to get hooked, look to 'The Sunset Tree.'

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P.S Links to the old thread posts (well, 250 of them) are here.

P.P.S If you want to repost an album from the old thread, all of the albums from the old thread are stored here

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Akiko Shikata - Raka
(2006, World)



Track List:
1. Pulse Of The Earth
2. Kinkanshoku
3. Haru Tsuge ~Raggi di primavera~
4. Mahoroba
5. Souheki no Mori
6. Reimei ~Aurora~
7. Inori ~Monram~
8. Luna piena
9. Utakata no Hana
10. Haresugita Sora no Shita de
11. AVE MARIA
12. Utau Oka ~EXEC_HARVESTASYA/.~

Review:

Quote:

Props to bishop743 for the upload.

Short version: Ar Tonelico Hymmnos Concert Side Green, done by the Japanese version of Azam Ali.

Long version: This albums is all over the place in terms of style. It's got celtic, choral, a hint of African, and just generally wipes the floor with your eardrums in awesomeness. Akiko is a classically trained vocalist, and it shows jsut with the expressiveness her voice carries. Granted, I have no diea what the words mean, but they sure sound good. And ending the album with a throwback to Ar Tonelico (which she was a contributing artist for) was nice. Heck, it's almost better than the version that was in the game.

At either rate, this has been deemed REQUIRED LISTENING. A question on this album will be on the midterm. It will count towards your final grade.

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Various Artists - The Best Choral Album in the World...Ever!
(2005, Choral)



Track List:
Disc: 1
1. Gloria In Excelsis Deo - Academy And Chorus Of St Martin In The Fields
2. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring - Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
3. Zadok The Priest - Ambrosian Singers
4. Miserere Mei, Deus - Gerald Finley
5. Veni Creator Spiritus - Choir Of The Monks Of The Benedictine Monastery Of Santo Domingo De Silos
6. Lacrimosa - London Philharmonic Choir
7. For Unto Us A Child Is Born - Ambrosian Singers
8. The Heavens Are Telling - John Shirley-Quirk
9. Panis Angelicus - Halle Choir
10. Ave Maria - Groupe Vocal De France
11. Ode To Joy - The Westminster Choir
12. Va, Pensiero - Chorus Of the Royal Opera House
13. Chorus Of Slave Girls - Chorus Of The National Theatre Of Sophia
14. Coro De Romanticos - Coro Cantores De Madrid
15. In Paradisum - Choir Of Kings College, Cambridge
16. Totus Tuus - Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
17. Song For Athene - Winchester Cathedral Choir
18. Celebration - London Symphony Chorus
19. Jerusalem - Royal Choral Society

Disc: 2
1. Zion Hort Die Wachter - South German Madrigal Choir
2. Pleni Sunt Coeli Et Terra - Charles Brett
3. Hallelujah Chorus - Ambrosian Singers
4. Thou Knowest, Lord - Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
5. Veni Sancte Spiritus - Choir Of The Monks Of The Benedictine Monastery Of Santo Domingo De Silos
6. Awake The Harp - City Of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
7. And Then Shall Your Light Break Forth - New Philharmonia Chorus
8. L'Adieu Des Bergers - Choeurs Rene Duclos
9. Agnus Dei - Peter Barley
10. Cantique De Jean Racine - MONKS AND CHOIRBOYS OF DOWNSIDE ABBEY
11. Ave Verum Corpus - Schutz Consort
12. Begluckt Darf Nun Dich, O Heimat - Bavarian State Opera Chorus, Munich
13. Vedi! Le Fosche Notturne Spoglie - Chorus Of the Royal Opera House
14. Laudamus Te - Radio France Chorus
15. Chichester Psalms - Rachel Masters
16. The Lamb - Vasari Singers
17. Agnus Dei - Winchester Cathedral Choir
18. Requiem Aeternam - Choir Of Kings College, Cambridge
19. Dies Irae - Philharmonia Chorus
20. O Fortuna - London Philharmonic Choir
21. Pomp And Circumstance March No. 1 (Land Of Hope Glory) - Royal Choral Society

Review:

Quote:

The title is true, and self-explainatory. This is the best damn choral compilation I have ever heard.

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I'm not a Gun - We Think As Instruments
(2006, Instrumental Rock)



Track List:
1. Soft Rain in the Spring
2. Ripples in the Water
3. Move
4. Long Afternoon
5. Letter from the Past
6. Rush Hour Traffic
7. Unseen Moment
8. Blue Garden
9. As Far as Forever Goes
10. Continuous Sky

Review (from here):

Quote:

MICHAEL UPTON's igloomag.com REVIEW ::
(05.01.06) This is the third album by electronic producer Jon Tejada and guitarist Takeshi Nikimoto. It's the most straightforward instrumental rock album they have released, with the electronic aspects largely functioning as a backdrop on which Nikimoto gets to pick, strum and riff away. There are no massive solos, but layers of clean electric guitar providing both harmonies and melodies. Tejada often accompanies on acoustic drums as well.

It would be a mistake to call We Think As Instruments "post-rock," even if that phrase gets used to describe almost any instrumental music now. This really is solidly rock, and has more in common with quiet, 80s art rock from artists such as The Durutti Column, Daniel Lanois (yes, U2's most famous producer), and perhaps Michael Brook than with Tortoise or anything on Kranky. Of course, there are elements of contemporary electronica in Tejada's production - the CD-skip minimalism of "Rush Hour Traffic" reduces what I can only imagine were once guitar notes into stammering harmonic layers - but on most of the album the clicks and synthetic rhythms are the icing on a cake made to a much more traditional recipe.

The album's finest moment is "A Letter From The Past," the track on which Nikimoto puts aside his guitar in favor of a sarod and gets his freak on. Well, in an Indian classical style, at least. Tejada provides a Geiger counter click which builds into a strong techno pulse and builds the tension gently with live ride cymbals and an electronic drone.

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Lau Nau - Kuutartha
(2005, Finnish Free-Folk)



Track List:
1. Jos minulla olisi 3:53
2. Kuula 4:14
3. Plakkikanteletar 4:33
4. Tulkaa! 5:31
5. Puuportti rautaportilta 4:09
6. Johdattaja-Joleen 2:48
7. Hunnun 4:38
8. Kuljen halki kuutarhan 3:48
9. Kivi murenee jolla kävelee 4:25
10. Sammiolinnut 3:06

Review (from here):

Quote:

One of the key aspects to the Finland artists working around this ‘free folk’ area is the importance of female vocalists. Within a few weeks of each other we have here two releases by female vocalists from Finland. Lau Nau is a vocalist with Finnish bands like ‘Kiila’, ‘Päivänsäde’ and ‘The Anaksimandros’. Islaja is a member of legendary bands Avarus (click here for new Avarus review) and Kemialliset Ystävät here on her second solo album, the first being ‘Merite’ from 2004. As experimental as their solo albums are they are not as far out as their collective bands but instead are intimate, highly personal exploratory works.

Finnish ‘free folk’ albums often feel simultaneously familiar and distant, using song structure and instruments that are recognisable but in the Finnish language, with folk instruments and amazing low-fidelity electronics that take it into other realms. It is therefore not surprising that the music is often tagged that which would be played deep in the forests at night, as animals move and unseen forces become manifest. It does sound ancient, alien, unknowable and mysterious to those growing up in primarily English speaking countries. For the reviewer they evoke the strangeness close at hand in the works of Algernon Blackwood or Arthur Machen, the races of unhuman people who dwell unseen in forests. This would sound a cliché until the music starts to seep through the speakers and a sudden change in the atmosphere takes place.

Both artists make music that to the initiate would appear to be similar, acoustic instruments, haunting voices, rumbling percussion, subtle electronics and noises combine into a sublime textured music that appears slightly out of reach. This is informal music, sounding loose and evolving at its own pace to a logic of its own. It often feels trance like, with similar feelings evoked to some music of the Indian sub-continent. After a while this music can seem to recede into the shadows, hanging just at the edge of audible perception. That is not to say it lacks power, but it the form to become part of the air, changing the atmosphere itself.

Lau Nau’s album is perhaps the more acoustic of the two, with stringed instruments that don’t sound anything like guitars or cellos, working in keys that seem different to the norm. Drones, overtones, soft plucking, tiny chimes, slow sitar sounds, deep percussive tones, restrained electric guitar and whispers form this music. It’s closest comparison would be the early work of Norway’s Stina Nordenstam or even moments from Mary Margaret O’Hara. It’s simplicity and innocence occasional evokes the memory of Bridget St John or Anne Briggs but really this is a folk music all of its own connecting as easily to 1920s wax recordings of blues with the hiss and simple communication as it does to modern music.

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There's nowhere I can't reach.

Flying Saucer Attack - Rural Psychedelia
(1994, Experimental Indie Rock / Psychedelia)



Track List:
1. My Dreaming Hill
2. A Silent Tide
3. Moonset
4. Make Me A Dream
5. Wish
6. Popol Vuh 2
7. The Drowners
8. Still
9. Popol Vuh 1
10. The Season Is Ours

Review (from here:)

Quote:

On my first listen, I was going "huh?" I was hearing this really cool psychadellic spaced-out alternative indie rock (think Porcupine Tree meets Pink Floyd meets Mogwai). But mysterious noisy static keyboard effects were layered over this music. I was wondering if the keyboard were suppose to have this much feedback. I was asking myself that question until the music grew on me. I didn't care anymore, I realized how briiliant these experimental rockers were. What sounded like a mistake was actually an elaborately structured new expression of rock music. My main beef with this album is the times when the filler tracks play. There are tracks where the band is just playing around with obscure sounds, no real melody, just a wall of noise. As for the vocals, it's kind of buried and soft spoken yet isn't boring. It's not like the singer is just blurting out a bunch of words. He puts effort in making the words flow at ease with the music and it's sort of mellow too. Beautiful haunting voice is what it is. This is an album that manages to be real calm but also crazy, the atmosphere fills with blurry fuzz. They don't call this "Flying Saucer Attack" for nothing because I felt a flying saucer was attacking the music.

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Nahrayan - The End
(2007, Post Metal)



Track List:
1. The Last Sunrise
2. A Dying Sun
3. The End

Review:

Quote:

This personally reminds me of Pelican mixed with a hint of Mogwai and a good dash of metal. The first track starts off with some bleak ambient guitar and then hits you with a wave of power. Then the bleakness returns with but with gusto, and then another wave of power. Tracks two and three are like that, and it makes for a pretty rocking album.

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

Frank Zappa - Sleep Dirt
(1979, Progressive Rock / Jazz)



Track List:
1. Filthy Habits [instrumental] (7:33)
2. Flambay (4:54)
3. Spider of Destiny (2:33)
4. Regyptian Strut [instrumental] (4:13)
5. Time Is Money (2:48)
6. Sleep Dirt [instrumental] (3:21)
7. The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution [instrumental] (13:18)

Moon Note: WARNING: This album will get you completely and insatiably hooked on Zappa. Fortunately, knkwzrd can get you your fix

Review (from here:)

Spoiler:

In my youthful Zappa explorations, I became increasingly wary of later releases, and glossed this one over, among a few others. A few years ago, I read a review of this slab, which touted it as holding true to some of Zappa's greatest instrumental work. Since I don't remember where I read that, I'll repeat it here for others who were unaware:

This is a great Zappa album.

As became the norm for his late '70s work, Zappa compiled this album from recordings of various line-ups, set to tape over the course of years; in this case 1974-76. If you find the vocals in Zappa's work often annoying and obtrusive, you won't be surprised by Harris' work here. Her voice and style are right in line with Frank's and Ray's and Ike's, although a tad less goofy. The four tracks featuring her vocals aren't completely forgettable, and are certainly not out of place. Sometimes operatic, sometimes loungey, she provides some of the best vocals ever set to Zappa's work. However, the true gems here are the first and last tracks.

"Filthy Habits" teams Zappa and Bozzio with Dave Parlato on bass. Parlato comes in with a dark and haunting bass line, which shifts key and cadence occasionally, but is basically repeated throughout the song. As the other half of the rhythm section, Bozzio is given carte blanche by this repetition to go absolutely ape-shit on drums. And he does. Over all that, Frank sets up some keyboards for filler and then goes to town with multiple guitar tracks. He combines a Hot Rats like style with some distorted feedback, and pollutes the bass line with astounding grace. This easily could've been on one of the Guitar comps.

"The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution" is also driven by Bozzio's drums, but Patrick O'Hearn is brought in to add an explosive dynamic to the bass. These three present an instrumental orgy with sonic climaxes happening all over the place, leaving you to either clean up or sleep in the wet spot afterward. Bozzio shuffles along, conducting percussive experiments with bonus snare work and a flashy kick drum pattern in 5/8 that resolves the chaos from time to time. For the first half of the song, Frank's comping and strumming only ceases momentarily to let O'Hearn bust out some super fancy bass riffage. The liners only credit him with bass, but it sounds like an acoustic double bass and brings Mingus to mind. After O'Hearn's explosions, Zappa gains a partner in another double guitar track, and adds an extensive solo throughout the second half of the song. With a few changes in pace and energy, this song ebbs and flows all the way to the disc's delta, where it quietly fades out, leaving resonance in your head and your hand reaching toward the play button to repeat the whole thing again.

I may be biased toward his instrumental compositions, but I wouldn't hesitate to call these two of my favorite Zappa songs ever.

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Qua - Painting Monsters On Clouds
(2007, Electronica / Post Rock)



Track List:
1 Painting Monsters (1:53)
2 On Clouds (4:30)
3 Luckybuster (4:45)
4 Devil Eyes (3:57)
5 Night Sailing (3:49)
6 Watercolour (5:01)
7 Stranger Comforts Have Slipped By (Pt 1 & Pt 2) (10:01)
8 Happy Domestika (4:01)
9 Low Hanging Fruit (1:10)
10 Output (5:29)
11 Secret Space (6:24)

Review (from here:)

Spoiler:

Australia's Cornel Wilczek has been releasing music under the name Qua for several years now, but none of it has seen release inside the United States until Mush Records decided to remedy that situation by re-releasing a couple of his albums to hopefully introduce his music to a wider audience. While his debut Forgetabout from 2002 was a decent little release (that definitely still sounds like an artist who's trying to find his way), it's his follow-up of Painting Monsters On Clouds that really finds him stretching out and exploring some unique sounds.

The two-part album opening tracks of "Painting Monsters" and "On Clouds" are a perfect introduction to his sound as he explores rhythm, melody and texture in ways that call to mind a slew of different artists without sounding directly like any of them. The former track mixes soft waves of feedback, clicky percussion and billowy ambience into a nice introduction, while the latter mingles together ramshackle drumming, playful melodies (that include filtered harps and twangy guitars), and warm textures in a way that calls to mind Caribou or Four Tet.

From there, the album continues to play things light and loose, and "Luckybuster" mixes some pretty guitar melodies with soft keyboards and some rather hyper programming into a track that falls somewhere between The Books and melodic IDM. The middle of the release slows things down a bit with quieter tracks like "Watercolour" (that blends field recordings, warm melodica, and some nice programming) and "Happy Domestica," which mixes clean playful tones and organic instrumentation in a way that sounds a bit like Nobukazu Takemura or Motohiro Nakashima.

Also a multimedia artist, Wilczek really sounds as if he's literally taking small steps with each song on his albums. Painting Monsters On Clouds fittingly ends with two of the best tracks on the entire release, with "Output" finding quirky melodies dancing off more textural backdrops and some nice acoustic guitar while the closer of "Secret Space" builds from an intro that recalls Mum into a more band-like second section with muffled drums, bright guitars, chimes, and loads of electronics. Considering the nice leap he made from his first album to his second, and that this eleven song release originally came out in 2004, here's hoping for yet another chapter in the evolving sound of Qua in the near future.

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

Minus The Bear - Planet of Ice
(2007, Math Rock)



Track List:
1. Burying Luck
2. Ice Monster
3. Knights
4. White Mystery
5. Dr. L'Ling
6. Part 2
7. Throwin' Shapes
8. When We Escape
9. Double Vision Quest
10. Lotus

Review (from here:

Quote:

Minus the Bear's Planet of Ice marks the Seattle band's third full-length release (not counting three EPs and a remix album), and achieves an effect as spacious and blinding white as the landscape the title evokes. Psychedelia and math rock are here in equal parts, making for a somewhat bi-polar listening experience--the excellent "Part 2" opens with a downright Pink Floydian acoustic guitar before winding up to a driving circuitous conclusion, while nine-minute closer "Lotus" reels all over the stylistic map, starting and stopping in a mini-suite of hammering guitars and vaporous keyboards. Most songs keep well away from a standard verse-chorus structure, with lyric and instrumental passages stitched together like some indie rock Frankenstein (tracks are occasionally book-ended by wittily realized sonic manipulations that might cause the listener to check the CD for skips), but Minus the Bear keeps the melodies potent and the emotion high enough to prevent Planet of Ice from drifting into impenetrable shoe-gazer territory. --Ben Heege

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Sunkings - Soul Sleeping
(1998. Electronica)



Track List:
1 Tongues of Fungus (3:35)
2 Flesh Canvas (6:54)
3 Isle of the Departed (6:49)
4 Tang (7:28)
5 Eden Reprised (9:50)
6 Polyglot Man (10:09)
7 Divine Inferno (9:52)
8 Talisman (15:39)

Review (from here:

Quote:

\As a line of verse is recited, various pads and layers of sound are built as percussion and subsonic swoops bring the energy levels up to nominal. Finally breaking into an overdriven digital age looping dirge as Flesh Canvas carries you deeper, tones falling and tumbling all around as a death rattle hammers away in the near distance.

And don't expect things to get lighter from here on in as the Sunkings throw all they can at you, the unsuspecting listener. Moments of virtual ambience are quickly chipped away by pounding rhythms and wider than wide multi-level synthetic landscapes.

Made available by Blue Room Americas, the U.S. division of a U.K. label (Blue Room Release) originally set up to help promote those ultra cool Pod design speakers by B&W, Soul Sleeping is the debut full-length album from a band that promises to do even more great things way out there in the future.

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I was speaking idiomatically.

Panda Bear - Person Pitch
(2007, Experimental Beach Boys rock)



Track List:
1. Comfy in Nautica
2. Take Pills
3. Bros
4. I'm Not
5. Good Girl
6. Carrots
7. Search for Delicious
8. Ponytail

Review (from here)

Quote:

Like another reviewer on here, I was not all that impressed with Panda Bear's first solo record, Young Prayer. It was overly simple and lo-fi. There's not much that I can say about it that hasn't been said before. However, with Person Pitch, Panda Bear has created an amazing audio tapestry of hazy samples and sun-drenched guitarscapes. If I had to reduce this review to as few words as possible, I would say this: Fennesz's Endless Summer meets the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds in Animal Collective's basement. I hesitate to mention AC here but this album is definitely reminiscent of the more melodic parts of Feels. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this is more accessible on the first listen than any AC release.

There are only 7 tracks here, but there is no filler on the album and two of the tracks exceed the 10-minute mark. It opens with Comfy In Nautica - a repeated choral loop on top of simple 1-2-3-4 factory-noise percussion that floats underneath Noah's (Panda's real name) nostalgic singing. The next track, Take Pills, reminds me of Banshee Beat from Feels in that it begins slow and lurching but becomes upbeat about 3 minutes into it. "I don't want for us to take pills anymore..." is the catchy refrain to this one. Next comes Bros, the album's centerpiece. It starts with the sound of an owl hooting, but jumps into the melody very quickly. It desolves into lovely, hazy AC territory about halfway through, and the owl comes back for some background vocal work.

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Cocteau Twins - Lullabies To Violaine (Volume One)
(2006, Dream Pop)



Track List:
1-01 Feathers-Oar-Blades (4:26)
1-02 Alas Dies Laughing (3:38)
1-03 It's All But An Ark Lark (8:04)
1-04 Peppermint Pig (7" Version) (3:24)
1-05 Laughlines (3:19)
1-06 Hazel (2:49)
1-07 Sugar Hiccup (12" Version) (3:37)
1-08 From The Flagstones (3:38)
1-09 Hitherto (3:52)
1-10 Because Of Whirl-Jack (3:26)
1-11 The Spangle Maker (4:40)
1-12 Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops (Alternate Version) (4:47)
1-13 Pepper-Tree (3:58)
1-14 Aikea-Guinea (Alternate Version) (3:57)
1-15 Kookaburra (3:18)
1-16 Quisquose (4:10)
1-17 Rococco (3:05)
2-01 Pink Orange Red (4:37)
2-02 Ribbed And Veined (3:55)
2-03 Plain Tiger (4:01)
2-04 Sultitan Itan (3:49)
2-05 Great Spangled Fritillary (4:02)
2-06 Melonella (4:01)
2-07 Pale Clouded White (4:59)
2-08 Eggs And Their Shells (3:04)
2-09 Love's Easy Tears (3:35)
2-10 Those Eyes, That Mouth (3:38)
2-11 Sigh's Smell Of Farewell (3:34)
2-12 Orange Appled (2:49)
2-13 Iceblink Luck (3:15)
2-14 Mizake The Mizan (3:00)
2-15 Watchlar (3:16)

Review (from here)

Quote:

The Cocteau Twins were one of those mysterious bands that the really cool kids in High School were into. You know, the ones with lots of black clothing, complicated footwear, hip hairdos, and surprisingly easy access to mind-altering substances. In other words, not me.

In spite of this, I once unwittingly ended up with a Cocteau Twins album of sorts called The Moon and the Melodies via my obsession with the rather uncool music of Harold Budd. I didn't realize it at the time, though, since that record was credited to Mr. Budd with "Simon Raymonde / Robin Guthrie / Elizabeth Fraser" and I was way too uncool to realize that those three people were actually the Cocteau Twins.

I continue to grow older and more uncool each day, but I nevertheless decided to pick up Lullabies to Violaine -- a four CD retrospective of singles and other "non-album" tracks by this band from 1982's Lullabies to, well, Violaine in 1996. (It's available as either two double-CD sets or as a "limited edition" four-CD set with the same track listing and strange shiny rubbery packaging they call "Curious Soft Touch Milk" for some reason...)

Knowing that the Cocteau twins are considered one of the original and definitive "dream / ambient pop" bands, I was more than a little surprised (and somewhat annoyed) by the first six tracks on disc one -- "Lullabies" is not a title I would have chosen for these dissonant, distorted, agitated electro-punk tunes.

When "Sugar Hiccup" (there's a great title!) arrives, however, the clouds part and the Cocteau Twins hit on what would be their signature sound going forward. You soon find out why the adjectives "ethereal," "blissful," "dreamy," and "atmospheric" are always used to describe their music: massively echoed, reverbed, and chorused layers of pulsing guitars and synthesizers... unintelligible sweeping soprano vocals... piles of major 7th chords... and, so the kids can dance to it all, a steady drum machine beat.

Over time, the Cocteau Twins tinker with this appealing formula without straying too far from it. But sometimes this stuff is too saccharine and radiant for its own good, sounding a little too much like the ideal soundtrack to a Volkswagen commercial or something. Also, while it's nice to understand the words Elizabeth Fraser is singing for a change, these versions of "Winter Wonderland" and "Frosty the Snowman" just sound really silly.

Otherwise, there is plenty of genuinely sublime music to be heard throughout this collection, including several great tracks from the band's often dismissed and maligned later years. I especially enjoy it when they turn the drum machine down (or off) and let the music and vocals expand and breathe a little more. The alternate "acoustic versions" of some songs are also a welcome inclusion, allowing you to better appreciate the unique sound of this band without all the layers of production and processing.

So whether you're a die-hard fan needing to round out your collection or a newcomer looking to take the plunge into the Cocteau Twins ocean, Lullabies to Violaine is an ideal (and affordable) way to do it.

In a word, it's... cool.

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The Flashbulb - Kirlian Selections
(2005, Hard Drum & Bass plus like 10 bajillion other things)



Track List
1. Eyes of June (1:15)
2. Binedump (3:42)
3. Passage D (2:00)
4. Lawn Wake IX (2:35)
5. Mellann (2:11)
6. Kirlian Isles I (1:37)
7. Kirlian Isles II (3:35)
8. Dishevel (2:26)
9. My Life of Loving Ghosts (2:09)
10. Kirlian Shores (3:19)
11. At One Last Night (1:19)
12. Blackout (2:25)
13. Creep (3:05)
14. Autumn Insomnia Session (3:25)
15. Shortcuts (2:50)
16. Kirlian Choices (5:03)
17. East Highways (1:51)
18. West Highways (3:19)
19. Dakota June (1:53)
20. Parkways (2:48)
21. Lifeless Indoors (1:43)
22. Six Months Without Light (3:03)
23. (Unknown Cherokee script) (2:32)
24. California Dreaming (3:43)
25. Kirlian Changes (1:46)
26. Kirlian Isles III (2:13)
27. Miles and Miles (3:03)
28. Five Karots (1:45)

MOON NOTE: This is my favorite album OF ALL-TIME. It's not so much due to the songs, but the way the songs integrate each other into an album.

Review (from here)

Quote:

I will forgo the general cliche of comparing this artist to others. Instead, imagine that you are knocked down by an incurable cancer and are thus frozen in order to keep you "alive" until a cure becomes available.

The year is now 2060 and half of the world is desert. The other half is in the midst of a steady global crisis; stricken with famine and the anarchy of small wars. Despite this apocalyptic future, a cure is found and you are brought "home" after 55 years of stasis.

Your psychiatrist is going to get you through the lonliness with music and history. You have been presented a basket containing a list of present day recordings and at random, choose Kirlian Selections. The music fills the empty halls of your home, drilling and atmospheric. The smart wallpaper cues to the sound and displays a field of flowers beneath a crystaline sky that reflects a myriad of colors from a distant and alien sun. Phantom children dance frenetically and a family that appears to have once been your own, is enjoying a picnic in absolute peace. The music changes at times, like a passing cloud laden with violent rain, but returns to the pristine calm that can only be found in simulation.

The tracks of this album mesh and bring you through a wonderful collection of soundscapes. It denotes a level of maturity that unfortunately, seems to be elusive to others who share this particular genre of music. In short, when I think of ideal intelligence electronic composition, this is what my mind hears. This album shares the accessibility of Red Extensions and contains similar elements of drillnbass mixed with piano and string based instruments. Anyone who is a fan of Ben's other releases will find this at the top of their list.

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Most amazing jew boots

Kiss The Anus of a Black Cat - If the Sky Falls We Shall Catch Larks
(2007, Experimental Folk)



Track List:
1. Sevenfold - 5:31
2. Nihil, As In Nihilism - 8:14
3. Sighing, Seething, Soothing - 19:16
4. Almost, Silver - 5:58

Review:

Quote:

This album is a very dark and hard hitting folk album, something that I didn't think was possible of the genre unless it's mixed with metal. And this album has no metal in it. The lyrics a sort of rhythmic quality to them, and each song is unique from the rest.

The CD starts with sevenfold, which has a chorus that's reminiscent of a chain gang "call and response" sort of deal. This also sets the tone for the rest of the album: dark, yet not depressing. The next song continues form the previous song with the chorus lyric "Who on the seven, the seventh day," which I though was cool. It then goes to power acoustic guitar mode and makes it impossible to not headbang to for the next few minutes of the song.

Sighing,Seething,Soothing is not just a 19 minute droney sort of song. It starts slow, then gets fast, then gets slow like many other songs; it's just over a longer scale, meaning that the song reaches a black tentacle into your eardrums and wraps itself on your brain. I almost want to say the concluding song Almost Silver"starts with an almost upbeat feel in that the guitar and feel seems lighter. Yet it's not, and let me be the first to say that it will take you a few listens to really like the song. Like the second track, there is a real sense of power to the song, and it's a fitting end to the album.

Overall, this album is required listening in every sense I can think of, even if you think you don't like folk. I NEVER write my own reviews for the albums I post, and judging by the size of the review I just gave for this one alone, you can tell I think this album is pretty freaking awesome.

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Junius - Forcing the Silence (EP)
(2004, Alternative / Psychedelic Rock)



Track List:
1. [Élan Vital] (1:12)
2. Hiding Knives (5:27)
3. From The Isle Of The Blessed (5:15)
4. [Élan Fatale] (2:13)
5. Forcing Out The Silence (7:34)

Quote:

This is another one of those albums that I can never seem to stop listening to. Forget the perfect use of the reverb pedal, and the way the one album could be considered a single piece. The songs are just pain awesome. They aren't afraid to put immense power into their guitar and vocals, but they don't overdo it. Lyrically, the songs are incredible, but they don't make the mistake of putting too much emphasis into their lyrics and leave the background instrumentation o0ut of the picture. I only have one fault with the album and that the recording quality could stand to be better.

[Élan Vital] builds up a sense of power for Hiding Knives, which is the climax and resolution to that power build up. From The Isle Of The Blessed starts on a clean slate essentially, as the previous track cleansed the aural palette at the end. Aside from being a great song, ti is also the perfect middle song in a very gestalt kind of way. [Élan Fatale] is essentially the band flipping out with their instruments and balancing echoy vocals with screaming vocals. Seriously cool shit, in other words, and ends with an almost ethereal feel to lead up to the conclusion. Forcing Out The Silence, man, there's a reason it's the name of the EP. I cannot describe beyond that is the perfect encapsulation to the previous songs and just a great song in general that has seen many of my listening tracklists ever since I heard it several months ago.

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How ya doing, buddy?

Ultimate Opera: The Essential Masterpieces



This compilation really speaks for itself. A 5 CD collection of great opera, including both well-known and lesser known works, and recorded with high quality in mind. Listening is highly recommended, both for those just getting into opera and opera fans.

This is a lossless rip. Opera + lossless = 6 hours, 4 minutes and 21 seconds of solid aural orgasm.

<track no>. <track name> (<Composer>: <Opera>)
CD 1:
1. Oh! mio babbino caro (Puccini: Gianni Schicchi)
2. Va, pensiero (Chorus of the Hebrew slaves) (Verdi: Nabucco)
3. Dove sei, amato bene? (Handel: Rodelinda)
4. Una furtiva lagrima (Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore)
5. Où va la jeune indoue (Bell song) (Delibes: Lakmé)
6. E lucevan le stelle (Puccini: Tosca)
7. Regina coeli laetare (Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana)
8. Morgenlich leuchtend (Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg)
9. Beglückt darf nun dich, o Heimat (Pilgrims chorus) (Wagner: Tannhäuser)
10. Mrsicku na nebi hlubokém (Song to the moon) (Dvorák: Rusalka)
11. Intermezzo sinfonico (Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana)
12. Spirto gentil (Donizetti: La Favorita)
13. Che farò senza Euridice? (Gluck: Otphée et Euridice)
14. Recondita armonia (Puccini: Tosca)
15. Bella figlia dell'amore (Quartet) (Verdi: Rigoletto)
Download Disc One

CD 2:
1. Che gelida manina (Puccini: La Bohème)
2. Viens, Mallika,... Sôme épais (Flower duet) (Delibes: Lakmé)
3. Non più andrai (Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro)
4. Soave sia il vento (Trio) (Mozart: Cosí fan tutte)
5. O Dieu! que de bijoux... Ah je ris de me voir (Jewel song) (Gounod: Faust)
6. C'est toi... Au fond du temple saint (Duet) (Bizet: Les Pêcheurs de perles)
7. Ebben? Ne andrò lontana (Catalani: La Wally)
8. Oh! fede negar potessi ... Quando le sere al placido (Verdi: Luisa Miller)
9. I zampognari! ... Don din don (Leoncavallo Pagliacci)
10. Pourquoi me réveiller (Massenet: Werther)
11. Son vergin vezzosa (Bellini: I Puritani)
12. Prelude... Si può? Signore! Signori! (Leoncavallo Pagliacci)
13. Vissi d'arte (Puccini: Tosca)
14. Un d ì felice (Verdi: La traviata
15. Cielo e mar (Ponchielli: La Gioconda
16. Tre sbirri... una carozza... Presto - Te Deum (Puccini: Tosca)
Download Disc Two

CD 3:
1. The Ride of the Valkyries (Wagner: Die Walküre)
2. Die Todesahnung ... O du, mein holder Abendstern (Wagner:Tannhäuser)
3. Che puro cie, che chiaro sol (Gluck: Orphée et Euridice)
4. Là ci darem la mano (Mozart: Don Giovanni)
5. Ah sì ben mio (Verdi: Il trovatore)
6. Ritorna vincitor! (Verdi Aida)
7. La fleur que tu m'avais jetéee (Bizet: Carmen)
8. Humming Chorus (Puccini: Madama Butterfly
9. Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix (Saint-Saëns Samson et Dalila)
10. Sérénade: Vous qui faites l'endormie (Gounod: Faust)
11. O don fatale (Verdi: Don Carlo)
12. Signore, ascolta (Puccini: Turandot)
13. La dolcissima effigie (Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur)
14. Belle nuit,ô nuit d'amour (Barcarolle) (Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann)
15. Morro, ma prima in grazia (Verd:@ Un ballo in maschera)
16. Vivat! Vivat le torero!...Votre toast (Toreador Song) (Bizet: Carmen)
Download Disc Three

CD 4:
1. La donna è mobile (Verdi: Rigoletto)
2. Una voce poco fa (Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia)
3. Deh! vieni alla finestra (Mozart: Don Giovanni)
4. Vedi! le fosche notturne spogli (Anvil chorus) (Verdi: Il trovatore)
5. Quando m'en vo (Musetta's Waltz Song) (Puccini: La Bohème)
6. Dove sono (Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro)
7. Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja (Mozart: Die Zauberflöte)
8. Casta Diva (Bellini: Norma)
9. Stride la vampa! (Verdi: Il trovatore)
10. Recitar! ... Vesti la giubba (Leoncavallo: Pagliacci)
11. Fin ch'an dal vino (Champagne aria) (Mozart: Don Giovanni)
12. In questa reggia (Puccini: Turandot)
13. Près des remparts de Séville (Bizet: Carmen)
14. Mi batte il cor ... O Paradiso! (Meyerbeer: L'Africaine)
15. Suicidio! (Ponchielli: La Gioconda)
16. Solenne in quest'ora (Verdi: La forza del destino)
17. Mild und leise wie er lächelt (Isoldes Liebestod) (Wagner: Tristan und Isolde)
18. Loge hör! (Magic Fire Music) (Wagner: Die Walküre)
Download Disc Four

CD 5:
1. Un bel dì vedremo (Puccini: Madama Butterfly)
2. Se quel guerrier io fossi! ... Celeste Aida (Verdi: Aida)
3. Prelude (Verdi: La traviata)
4. Libiamo ne' lieti calici (Brindisi) (Verdi: La traviata)
5. Questa o quella (Verdi: Rigoletto)
6. Chi il bel sogno di Doretta (Doretta's Dream Song) (Puccini: La Rondine)
7. O mio Fernando, della terra il trono (Donizetti: La Favorita)
8. Ch'ella mi creda (Puccini: La fanciulla del west)
9. Tu che di gel sei cinta (Puccini: Turandot)
10. Squilli, echeggi la tromba Il trovatore
11.Donna non vidi mai (Puccini: Manon Lescaut)
12. Merchè, dilette amiche (Verdi: I vespri siciliani)
13. Ronde du veau d'or (Gounod: Faust)
14. Colpito qui m'avete ... Un dì all'azzura spazio (Giordano: Andrea Chénier)
15. Fuoco di gioia! (Verdi: Otello)
16. E la solita storia (Cilea: L'arlesiana)
17. Qui Radames verrà! ... o patria mia (Verdi: Aida)
18. Di Provenza il mar, il suo! (Verdi: La traviata)
19. Voi lo sapete, o mama (Romanza) (Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana)
20. Di quella pira (Verdi: Il trovatore)
Download Disc Five

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

Well, Christmas time's a comin', so here's some Christmas music

Christmas With The Brady Bunch



Track List:
1. First Noel, The
2. Away In A Manger
3. Little Drummer Boy, The
4. O Come All Ye Faithful
5. O Holy Night
6. Silent Night
7. Jingle Bells
8. Frosty The Snowman
9. Silver Bells
10. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
11. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
12. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Review:

Quote:

Here's essentially how this whole thing came about. The year was 1970, and the Brady Bunch was a successful television program. Wanting to capitalize on this success, a producer decided a Christmas album would be a great way to do so. So he heard all six of the Brady bunch kids into a studio without much notice, and ordered them to sing a list of songs. The thing is, though, none of them really sang before. Also, Greg Brady was currently going through the wonders of puberty, so he of course was the perfect candidate to sing "O Holy Night."

The Brady kids went on to produce several other albums with some success. However, this one is bad. It's really, REALLY bad. Greg Brady's voice mangles O Holy Night to the point where it'll make your ears bleed at higher volumes. The girls mangle dang near everything they sing, and while the background music is ok, it does not cover up the vocals at all.

Thankfully, the whole recording is only 21 minutes long, but after a listen through, you'll have even more of a reason to hate commercial Christmas music.

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After you give the above a good listen through, here's something you can wash the taste out of your brains with:
Various Artists - Fantasies: Trance Opera



Track List:
1. Theme From Rain Man
2. Ebben/La Wally
3. Libiamo/Brindisi
4. Time To Say Goodbye
5. Un Bel Di Vedremo
6. La Donna E Mobile
7. Conquest Of Paradise
8. Chariot Of The Sun
9. Habanera
10. Miss Sarajevo
11. Scene Et Legende De La Fille Du Paria
12. Sous Le Dome Epais Le Jasmin
13. Pomp & Circumstance Opus 39. No.1 D-Major

Review:

Quote:

This CD is just what the title says: trance remixes of opera pieces with a hint of europop. It walks the line between cheesy (track 13) and awesome (track 5 and 8), but it's overall quite good.

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Jam it back in, in the dark.

Mike Birbiglia - My Secret Public Journal Live
(2007, Stand-up Comedy)



Track List:
1. Celebrity Golf
2. Joe Bags
3. Landfill Pretzels
4. Orange Asian Tigers
5. Like Fun!
6. Catholic School Sunglasses
7. Old Mill Pond Story, The
8. Porno For Parents
9. Jack & Irma`s Magic Phones
10. Sleepy Karl
11. You Can`t Shoot the Shooter
12. Pachoo!
13. Roger Clemens Hates Me
14. Put It On Paper

Review:

Quote:

A rare example of a comedian who doesn't have to work blue or make up wild situations to be funny. Everything he uses in his routine has happened to him, and it's hilarious. He even tells the stories in a relaxed way, which usually involves suck but not in this case.

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Moloko - Do You Like My Tight Sweater?
(1997, Electrofunk)



Track List:
1. Fun For Me
2. Tight Sweater
3. Day For Night
4. I Can't Help Myself
5. Circus
6. Lotus Eaters
7. On My Horsey
8. Dominoid
9. Party Weirdo
10. Tubeliar
11. Ho Humm
12. Butterfly
13. Dirty Monkey
14. Killa Bunnies
15. Boo
16. Where Is The What If The What Is In Why?
17. Who Shot The Go Go Dancer?

Review (from here):

Quote:

Welcome to the world of creepshow funk, music filled with buttery veins of bass and gloomy back-murals of fun house soul. You'd never guess (if you didn't already know) that the spooky rhythms of this quirky album were slapped and crafted by a white European couple. In fact, the title -- "Do You Like My Tight Sweater?" -- is supposedly the pick-up line Murphy used when she first met Brydon at a party in Sheffield.

That's the sort of fun you're dealing with here, and the songs are also thrumming with the dark, risky trebles of uncertain affection, too, in keeping with the fact that it was recorded at the start of their romantic and professional unions. Although the songs are infused with the same gleeful experimentation and shadowy flirtations that those kinds of beginnings suggest, there is none of the hesitation and uncertainty you might expect. This might be their debut album, but it sounds like the seasoned work of a couple of people who've already been around the block a few times.

The lyrics are mostly senseless. The rhyme schemes are fluffed and tweaked to hang like dark curtains around a dark, chewy center. The very first track, "Fun For Me," is fun for everyone, an in-your-face inside joke that everyone can get. "Lotus Eaters" features prominently a wickedly creepy industrial backdrop, tickled with strange phantom screams and a repetitive synth-twisted whining voice that sounds like it would be annoying and is anything but. "Party Weirdo" is a spiritually trippy track that sounds exactly like a name like "Party Weirdo" would suggest it sounds. "Ho Humm" makes excellent use of deep undercurrents of sexy (kinda sweaty) soul; and if you listen carefully, those spine-tingling electro-screams are still present.

This album is a great and new kind of funky (okay, well, "new" to those who've never heard them before) that is both vibrant and vicious, fun and frightening, catchy and creepy-crawly. It's not for everyone -- the album thrives on melodies and tones that are as electronic as they are soul-funky -- but I dare say it IS for most. "Do You Like My Tight Sweater?" Well, Moloko, it's hard not to.

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There's nowhere I can't reach.

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

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