United Nations - United Nations (V0)

Can't say I remember when was the last time I posted, or what was the last thing I posted. I remember posting though.

During a consistently hectic two months I find myself here now, for the first time in my life with an actual direction in life and actually putting my potential to use; and all I want to do now is listen to experimental and hectic music, one following the footsteps of Karl Marx's conflict theory where harmony can only come from conflict between... well, everything. No, opposites do not attract; but they create something beautiful in the process of repelling each other.

Out of these messes of days came into my hands this, an album I only picked up due to its cover art. At the time, I looked at it and saw it as a short story that mirrored exactly what I felt, The Beatles walking in across Abbey Road one way, where they created a beautiful piece of pop music, and then leaving it on fire, finished. No, I didn't create a beautiful piece of pop music, but I had something nice and it was over and left me burned.

But this isn't an album about anything beautiful, or anything pop, or anything related to anything. It's an album of experimental grindcore, power-violence, and post-hardcore that isn't meant to make you forget about problems, or fight about them, but to make you yell incoherently at whatever you'd like, and make you want to punch someone, and maybe you will punch someone; I'd like to punch someone myself.

So take this home with you (Sample)
and tell everyone to go fuck themselves. (Download)

Also, take a look at the bands website; it's hilarious.
http://www.unitedfuckingnations.com/faq.html

Gregor Samsa - 55:12 (V0)

Sometime last week I posted Rest, an album by Virginian post-rock band Gregor Samsa. Well, I have to be honest. While Rest is certainly a fantastic album, it's not the one I would liked to have posted. I didn't come into this digital copy until last night, and so I thought I would share it with you all. Some of you might be familiar with Gregor Samsa's fusion of vocals and post-rock. If you aren't, then what this album is... it's second wave post-rock along the lines of Sigur Ros's now famous Ágætis Byrjun. While the other albums they released were slightly more subdued, this one is not lacking in its ability to captivate the listener. It has a higher energy than their other albums (especially Rest), so if you are completely wary of any sorts of crescendos or "walls of sound" then you might be more inclined to check out their other albums.

It's clear, as you listen to this, that Gregor Samsa sweats the details. The album was self-produced, as well as mixed by the legendary Brian Paulson, who has also worked with Wilco, Beck, and Slint. It's teeming with ambience, soaring sounds and breathy vocals, and it all seems to fit together like one of those little puzzles that you try to take apart and put back together.

The moral of the story is that if you ever wake up and find yourself transformed into a hideous bug-like monster that you should immediately start up this record and wait for your father.

Download here, buy it here.

Find Rest here and find 27:36 here.

California Wives - Affair EP (320)

Well. I wasn't expecting this.

I initially heard this band because I saw that they were opening for The Helio Sequence at a show I'm going to in January. Needless to say, my love for The Helio Sequence impelled me to check out the opening bands, and what I found was pretty awesome.

California Wives are a band that is still in the process of publicizing their music, and I thought it would be nice to contribute to that. Their music is what could best be described as shoegaze done by a pop band. They don't have the thin and foggy sound that similar bands like Wild Nothing have, but they seem to have absolutely no apprehensions about cranking their phase shifters to 11. The melodies that their multiple vocalists spin over the hazy guitars are catchy but leave a sizable distance between themselves and the listeners. The Affair EP, which is the most representative selection of their songs available, is really worth the short 21 minutes it will take to listen to it.

You can acquire it here and purchase it here.

They Might Be Giants - Here Comes Science (V0)

The most recent children's album from They Might Be Giants, Here Comes Science, is only a children's album in the sense that it celebrates the curiosity and thirst for knowledge that children have before bickering, cynical adults take it away from them. Don't expect complexity; this album is joyously simple, infectious and heartfelt.

Come on, come on and meet the elements,
You and I are complicated but we're made of elements!

Pomegranates - Everybody Come Outside! (V2)

If you ask Wikipedia what pop music is, you'll get this.

Pop music (a term that originally derives from an abbreviation of "popular") is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented towards a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short and simple love songs and utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.

I think that, however articulate this definition may be, 'pop' has come to mean a whole new thing in relation to modern music. And yes, genres are something that people love to hate. Hell, I posted an album review a couple of days ago while using the term slowcore. What the hell is slowcore? (Click here to find out.)

Well, the fact is, these things exist as a way for us to communicate the sounds of a particular piece of music or art to other people. Genres, as silly as they seem, serve those of us who can't describe the way something 'sounds' accurately. I don't think that Seurat said to himself one day, "And now I will create Pointillism." It was Seurat being Seurat. Don't quote me though.

So. That said, Pomegranates are indie pop. They are basically soft rock with catchy lines and plenty of hooks thrown in. Isn't that what people usually say? Hooks, lines, riffs, themes, melodies?

2009's Everybody Come Outside! is a sonically rich album, full of swelling guitars, textural melodies and the poignant croon of frontman Joey Cook's falsetto. The album, their second LP released on Afternoon Records, will take you places that pop doesn't always take people, places that seem emotionally relevant, places that seem awkward, places that seem hopeful, and places that seem like they are just happier than they should be. These guys are rising in popularity, due to some really lucky breaks, and more importantly, a cohesive artistic direction that is heading towards something great.

Download here, buy it here.

The high school swimming pool never seemed so far away.

Cerberus Shoal - The Land We All Believe In (V0)

Probably the most apt display of Cerberus Shoal's transition between their long form, eclectic and somewhat improvisational early albums and the newer, more accessible and folksy Fire on Fire releases. The Land We All Believe In is essentially a precursor to The Orchard. It reminds me of Eugene Hütz, particularly his work on movie soundtracks and his band Gogol Bordello.

Download.

Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma (FLAC)

Over the last few years, the boys over at Warp Records have been continuously putting out high-quality music. This year, Cosmogramma joins other landmark releases from Warp as a shining example of what a good electronic music producer is capable of doing. Flying Lotus has created an expansive, attention grabbing work eerily similar in its aspirations to 2007's Untrue. Although certainly less isolationist and perhaps more spiritual, Cosmogramma and Untrue serve fundamentally to answer the same contemplative existentialist questions.

It has been mentioned before that probably the first sign of quality in this album is that Steven Ellison put so much effort into the introduction to his album, which spans across four of the album's incredible seventeen tracks. Within the first ten seconds of the introduction, Ellison demonstrates his orchestral mastery with a fluttering introduction of the bassline, alluding perhaps to the latent themes of metamorphosis, as with a butterfly, or eternity, as with the continually expanding and contracting universe.

Thom Yorke makes an excellent guest appearance, quelling the dangerously unfocused tendency of Ellison's themes towards the astronomical with his own brand of meditation and isolationism. This same delicate attention to balance between intro- and extroversion is paid throughout Cosmogramma, notably between Laura Darlington's cameo in Table Tennis and Galaxy in Janaki, a song which, for all of its allusions to the womb of the Goddess Sita and the spiritual womb of the universe, comes across as Ellison's greatest exposition into the eternal and encompassing nature of the seemingly biological, pulsating universe.

Cosmogramma commands attention. A work of such depth should be listened to with the same attitude that went into producing it, but if you're looking for something less engaging, Cosmogramma can accomplish that task just as well.

Get it in FLAC.

The Knife - Silent Shout (FLAC)

The Knife's Silent Shout is one of the most innovative albums I've ever heard. Ranging from very atmospheric, almost ambient songs like "The Captain," to synthpop songs with a focus on vocals such as "Marble House," this album is all over the electronica map. It's dark, it's pop, it's dance, everything. Karin Dreijer Andersson is probably the best vocalist in the electronic scene right now. That voice will be in your head for days to come. Although her and the other half of The Knife - Olof Dreijer - are both Swedish, this album is sung entirely in English. Even so, I can't quite tell you what all this album is about. I've heard that the album is based off of the Black Hole comics by Charles Burns. The extent of what I know is that it has to do with a fictional STD that causes it's victims to become mutated... quite strange, I know. The album definitely portrays that strangeness, no doubt, in a whole new light.

To summarize, if you're at all interested in the electronic music scene, I highly recommend this album. It will hold your attention for most - if not the whole 11 track ride, and the constant change of sound should keep you guessing as to what's coming next.

Highlights: Silent Shout, Marble House, Forest Families

Music, tonight. I just want your music tonight.

Download in V2.

The Microphones - The Glow Pt. 2 (FLAC)

It was Saturday, October 30th to be exact, and it must of been around 3:40 am as I stood out on the corner of some barely alive street with a few other people waiting for the same bus as me to take us to Washington D.C. for what would end up being a hugely disappointing John Stewart/Steven Colbert rally. I got on the bus that was already full and found the only open window seat and sat down, my friend sat next to me and I promptly told him:

"As soon as the bus gets out of the streets and onto the highway, I'm turning on music and completely losing my connection to reality."

The bus reached the highway around 4:40 am at which point I was still completely awake. I turned on The Glow Pt. 2 and was ready to give an album that I had been interested in for over 2 years its first listen. By the end of it I was confused and had no fucking clue whether I liked it or not, so I turned it on again. After that second listen, I was certain.

This was my new favorite album ever. For 5 years In Utero stood as the greatest album I had ever heard, but finally, I found something better. Folk incorporating noise rock, experimenting with song structure, using enough crunchy distortion (some of it sounding unintentional, which made it seem even better) to make me think I was chewing a never-ending amount of Dorito's (possibly Cool Ranch, but ever since they changed the packaging cool ranch tastes like shit).

It's been 7 days now since I first heard this album, and it's only 30 plays away from being my most listened album on my last.fm.

If you haven't heard it, prepare to be amazed.
v0 here

Gregor Samsa - Rest (V0)

Hello, folks. Chances are you've realized there has been a lack of posting in the past two or three weeks, which is something that was probably due to the overwhelming period of time that is finals week. I hope everyone did alright, both high schoolers and college-goers know the pain that is finals. You can expect more frequent posts starting about now, because the ugly three-headed beast of a week is finally over for most kids.

So yeah. Gregor Samsa. Man. I've been on a Sigur Rós kick recently, and I have been lucky enough to find a similar band with a few more reservations about their sound. Gregor Samsa is a Virginian post-rock band who utilize dual vocalists to make a very mellow but powerful combination of slowcore and post-rock. Rest is a truly remarkable album full of intertwining melodies and sounds that will make your ears beg for more, and if you have the chance, look into their other albums, they are equally amazing. This isn't your typical crescendo-core, so if you're fresh off the Explosions in the Sky boat then this might be a good opportunity to branch off a bit.

Perfect music for the winter, hope all is well in your land, wherever that is.

Get this album here, and buy it here.

Also, I just realized that my fellow blogmate fauna posted another album by these guys sometime during the last month, so if you're intrigued please check that post out here.

Dimlite - Runbox Weathers (V0)

"A while before he was exposed to music from his present genre colleagues Prefuse 73, Dabrye or Forss, Dimlite already created and looped clicks, cuts as well as odd samples and during this process developed his own technique to express his harmonious destiny. It would be more than unfair to reduce this album to dope hip-hop beats that make your head nod because Runbox Weathers has surely more to offer. The music of this self-made man is deep and personal but at the same time very accessible and not too head driven arty. His environment and his musical background are well reflected and transformed into touching little stories that all blend together as one. His DJ sets also mirror this narrative ability when he cleverly switches from down- to uptempo and from past to present and future.

Dimlite's pendatic affection for analogue sound bites results in a warm and organic atmosphere that builds the foundation for his compositions. Whether it is a traditional Swiss choir he plays the Rhodes to ("Lueget"), him distorting his own voice to such an extend that you think Darth Vader is singing his ballad of loneliness into outer space ("Back To The Universe Pt. 1") or a fragile intonation moving in the background to come right up front in order to pull you away into the stream ("Aurora, Stay Close") – Dimlite's symphonies follow different directions but are always plausible. While it is not recommended to quickly skip through the individual tracks we assure that you will be rewarded when taking the time to fully dig in."

Full review.
Download here.

Keaver & Brause - The Middle Way (320)

Keaver & Brause, known for being half of the magical duo known as Kona Triangle, is a fresh new face in the glitch scene, and one that is warmly welcomed. If you're at all familiar with an artist called Lone (the other half of KT), you will see a great amount of similarities between his early work and this album.

The Middle Way is quite remarkable for being a debut album, full of catchy and enjoyable songs from beginning 'til end. Another one of those albums that are hard to describe, so take my word for it and enjoy.

Download here.

Mimas - The Worries (V0)

Mimas are are a dark independent band from Denmark. Their sound is something like if you took the post-rock progression and intensity found in Godspeed You! Black Emperor and mixed it in a broken blender with 90's emo and a horrifying male post-surgery Tegan and Sara. I've heard people say they also sound like Sigur Rós's take on Built to Spill. They call themselves "death indie," which normally is grounds for being presumed annoying but it's okay because I heard their music before I read the description on their last.fm page.

Seriously though, these guys fuse vocals with post-rock in a way I wasn't really sure was possible before hearing them. It's almost like post-rock pop, and it's delicious.

And they don't skimp on the brass. <3. Download here, buy it here.

Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Heart In Your Heartbreak (320)

For anyone who is a fan of Pains of Being Pure at Heart or related projects, here's a new single out from their upcoming album Belong. It's going to be released in 2011, hopefully early in the year.

No matter what you take, you're never gonna forget.

Gregor Samsa - 27:36 (V0)

For something so limited to be able to so powerfully transform a moment, for an arrangement of sounds to actually define an instant of space and time, a great deal of emotion and skill must be exerted. I urge you to download this, but wait until the appropriate time to listen to it. When you're alone in the dark, or looking at the sky at night, walking or driving through your town with someone else, staring at flickering lights in the distance, play 27:36, and let it change you.

Here.

Time of Orchids - Namesake Caution (V0)

Time of Orchids remind me a lot of Kayo Dot. They use many of the same timbres and angular melodies, and Time of Orchids use the same abrupt changes in rhythm. Lyrically, though, they differ in that Time of Orchids seem to prefer a more choral approach to their arrangements of vocals and lyrics. The interplay between the multiple vocalists often complements the usually spiraling guitar lines, accented by the drums and, occassionally, more eccentric instruments. Although their arrangements are very similar to progressive rock bands, they are definitely less dogmatic in their approach to songwriting. There's a lot to analyze here, but mostly Namesake Caution just sounds really, really good.

In time, your weapon grows for you.

Japandroids - Heavenward Grand Prix (320)

So having been contacted by two labels and asked to take down two different posts, I'm now back and starting to post again – and picking up where I left off: the Japandroids singles.

This last one here shows the best of the Japandroid single collection (hence why it was last) showing a huge change in songwriting compared to everything they did in Post-Nothing. On the B-side there is a cover of PJ Harvey's "Shame," and both sides are pretty damn spectacular.

Download here to tell money grubbing labels (although, not Japandroids label) to go fuck themselves, because hoping that people will buy your product while having no idea what's inside is how you have consumer base that hates you.

Modest Mouse - The Fruit That Ate Itself EP (FLAC)

No, we won't play Float On, so stop asking.

Favorite EP from a go-to band.

Thank me later.

Get it here and buy it here.

The Beta Band - The Three EPs (320)

For my first post, I thought I'd start with one of my favorite albums, The Beta Band's 1998 album The Three EPs. Compiled from the tracks, as implied by the album title, from the EPs Champion Versions, The Patty Patty Sound and Los Amigos del Beta Bandidos, The Three EPs is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated albums of the 90s.

Combining acoustic instrumentation, such as guitars, trumpets and percussion with looped electronic beats and garage-style electronic effects creates a style self-described as 'folktronica.' The Three EPs takes a lo-fi/jam/experimental/psychedelic approach while still retaining much of their pop sensibility, producing songs which could easily gain radio airtime if they weren't six or more minutes long. Minimalist instrumentation on some tracks often contrasts with the building 'collage of sound' on others; and the catchy, sing-along melodies of some tracks, such as that of Dry The Rain, with less accessible, but still equally as good tracks such as the sixteen-minute Monolith.

This shit gets in your head and doesn’t leave. Strongly recommended.

Favorite tracks: Dry The Rain, I Know, Dog’s Got A Bone, She’s The One, Needles In My Eyes, Monolith

My rating: 9.5/10
Download.

Electric Wizard - Black Masses (FLAC)

But may God shield and deliver me from the fangs of the Arch-Fiend! No sooner had the reverberation of my blows sunk into silence than I was answered by a voice from within the tomb! – by a cry, at first muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and then quickly swelling into one long, loud, and continuous scream, utterly anomalous and inhuman – a howl – a wailing shriek, half of horror and half of triumph, such as might have arisen only out of hell, conjointly from the throats of the damned in their agony and of the demons that exult in the damnation. Of my own thoughts it is folly to speak. Swooning, I staggered to the opposite wall. For one instant the party upon the stairs remained motionless, through extremity of terror and of awe. In the next, a dozen stout arms were tolling at the wall. It fell bodily. The corpse, already greatly decayed and clotted with gore, stood erect before the eyes of the spectators. Upon its head, with red extended mouth and solitary eye of fire, sat the hideous beast whose craft had seduced me into murder, and whose informing voice had consigned me to the hangman. I had walled the monster up within the tomb!

...Boo.

Ellul - Ellul (FLAC)

I don't really know much about Ellul. I found this CD in the $1 bin at my local record store, and it's been one of the best investments I've made all year. It begins very quietly with a sort of end-times ballad titled Ballet Faces, and progresses, with expert songwriting and soulful vocals, all the way to an impressively emotional finish. The programmed drums complement the morose voices of Joel Brown and Joel St. Julien very well; if In Rainbows and Songs for a Blue Guitar made an album together, it would sound like Ellul.

Download.

Uffie - Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans (V0)

I am going to be perfectly honest with you. Going into this album, I expected to take off my headphones at the end completely disappointed and bitter, with knew assurance that pop was a lost genre. Frankly, Uffie being called the "original Ke$ha" didn't excite me in the least, and I pressed play with my cheek already propped up on my palm, bracing for cringe-worthy, vain lyrics, auto-tune (yawn) and the catchy beats that are typical of pop music. Bad stuff.

And what I got was cringe-worthy, vain lyrics, auto-tune, and catchy beats. On Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans, Uffie talks about her lack of motivation, talent and ability to care. She also mentions how it's all about her, how lucky she is to have made it in the music business because of how untalented she is, and her haters. I really would not like to get into how much I abhor when this is mentioned in music in any form, but let me tell you, it's a very large amount.

But, looking beyond my malice for modern pop and its repetitive nature, I came to enjoy this album. Not like a guilty-pleasure,-I'll-listen-to-it-if-it's-on-but-I-will-NOT-scrobble-this-in-case-my-indie-cred-takes-a-blow typed thing. No really. I really liked it. It's fun, it talks about love and loss and being a slut, cars and being cooler than thou, and there's even a little section about how good crackers are in Art of Uff. It's mindless, it's narcissistic, it's... well, it's pop. The beats are actually good, though. Catchy, but still obtaining an air of that professional touch.

This all being said, Ke$ha's got nothing on Uffie.

Favorite songs: Pop The Glock, Art of Uff, MCs Can Kiss, Difficult, Neuneu

My Rating: 8.4/10

Download.

Baths - Cerulean (V0)

Being a person who, in the last 6 months, has come to truly love and appreciate the artists on the record label anticon., I began having a real thirst for acquiring albums by the members of the indie-famous Collective. Even though my computer was not enabled to download, and my wallet was not enabled to buy, I really could not shake the feeling of wanting to hear more.

My quest began with the chill wave-y, acoustic/electronic sounds of Baths, but let me tell you: trying to appreciate an album while listening to it via YouTube is bad news bears. Even so, I still came to love Cerulean, in all of its organic flow and glory. If the word softness could be represented by a sound, this album would be the perfect choice. Cerulean is most definitely on my list for best of 2010, and Baths has earned a well-deserved spot on my radar.

Favorite songs: Lovely Bloodflow, Maximalist, Aminals, Hall, You're My Excuse to Travel

My Rating: 9.8/10

Get yourself some here.

Crippled Black Phoenix - I, Vigilante (V0)

I was actually shocked to hear that Crippled Black Phoenix was releasing a new album this year, in light of Mogwai's planned release for Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will and Electric Wizard's Black Masses, released appropriately the day after Halloween. Crippled Black Phoenix is a collaboration between the two bands, among others, and has put out some of the best and, unfortunately, least noticed music over the last five or so years, beginning with the astounding A Love of Shared Disasters.

I, Vigilante is an incredible album. Although it is only a short six tracks, less than an hour, it shines as an example of the ever-developing 60s-era psychedelic musicality that only musicians as skillful as Crippled Black Phoenix could replicate. Although their previous release, 200 Tons of Bad Luck, was almost strictly a tribute to Pink Floyd, their latest finds the UK supergroup using their unique skills and senses to create something entirely transcendent their influences, similar to Stardeath & White Dwarf's The Birth following their tour with The Flaming Lips.

Soaring, crushing and mesmerizing all at once, I, Vigilante is definitely one of the most unexpected and impressive releases this year.

Download here.

Wilco - Summerteeth (V0)

Although Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is one of the most critically acclaimed albums ever, it's a damn shame to see people ignoring the other music that Wilco has made over the past decade and a half. Their 1999 prequel to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Summerteeth, is a very emotionally involving album that plays a chord on the heartstrings no less than YHF, but it is significantly less popular for some reason. One listen to "How To Fight Loneliness" and you will understand what I mean. The numb melodies under Tweedy's voice establish a pained exasperation on "She's A Jar," but the lyrics leave you guessing. It's probably better that way.

Don't let this one slip by if you haven't heard it yet.

Get it here and buy it here.

Salem - King Knight (V0)

Salem, April 4th 1692

Japandroids - Art Czars (320)

Part 2/3 of the singles is this one, Art Czars. Now, the A-side to this is great, but what is awesome is the B-side.

It's a cover of Big Blacks - Racer X, and it's fucking amazing.

HERE'S YOUR MONEY BACK
HERE'S YOUR PUNK ROCK BACK

Japandroids - Younger Us (320)

So you say you like Japandroids right?
You don't?
What the fuck?

Go like Japandroids.
Seriously.
Loud noisy garage rock, similar to that of Death From Above 1979; motivated by sexual drives and the need to cause a riot. The band contains nothing more than a loud over-driven guitar and one amazing drummer.
Now unfortunately, this isn't an album. This is one of three posts I'm about to make of the three singles that Japandroids released for their upcoming album. Each one contains a B-side cover.

This one contains a cover of X's "Sex and Dying In A High Society" as its B-side. So check it out (CHECK IT OUT).

Download here. BUY THEIR ALBUM WHEN IT COMES OUT.

764-Hero - Get Here And Stay (V0)

These guys are pretty great. They started up in the mid 90's with sound something like a mix of grunge and indie rock. They did a split with Modest Mouse in '98 that was phenomenal, but the rest of their music is equally impressive. The drummer did a thing with Elliot Smith, as well.

Great 90's independent rock. They were signed to sub-pop for a while, when they released their best album, Get Here and Stay.

Check 'em out.

Download here, buy it here.

Mini Mansions - Mini Mansions (FLAC)

Mini Mansions is one of those bands where you just really can't describe their sound without comparing them to other artists. Michael Shuman from Queens of the Stone Age founded the band, so there's the occasional instrumental similarity to them, but when I hear Mini Mansions, I mostly think of Elliott Smith, and I don't think I'm the only person who feels this way. On the other hand, some songs are almost Beatlesesque, and while I don't like the Beatles (I know, blasphemy), I can definitely dig this band. Songs like "Crime Of The Season" and "Majik Marker" are simply too awesome not to love. Just... just check them out. It will be worth it.

You're welcome.

The Bug - London Zoo (V0)

Remember when dubstep had recognizable influences?

Download.

Have A Nice Life - Time of Land EP

Just wanted to make sure you all got this amazing gem of an EP that was released by Dan earlier this year. It was released for free by enemieslist a while back, but it didn't really garner much attention. Go figure.

It's very much the HANL we've all come to know and love, but with a much more drone oriented sound on some tracks, especially Wizard of the Black Hundreds, the opener. Woe Unto Us is a splendid track that also reminds me that lo-fi and home recorded music is still legitimate, although taxed by the scores of bands purposely attempting to get that sound. Anyway, you should probably be getting this instead of reading my drivel. Why haven't you started the download?

Get this now.

RIGHT NOW DAMN IT!

Download.

The Octopus Project - Hexadecagon (V0)

Just in time for the end of 2010, The Octopus Project has released Hexadecagon, the follow-up to their 2007 breakout Hello, Avalanche. Their new rapport with the music industry has afforded them many luxuries, included dedicated producers and a wider range of instrumentation.

Although the album is mostly composed of instrumentals, it's so engaging and clever that the music speaks for itself. You won't find the drawn-out crescendos or abstruse tonal changes that have, for the last decade, dominated instrumental music. Hexadecagon is always motivated, and what keeps it interesting is the ways in which those motivations will often surprise you.

Download.

Sunny Day Real Estate - How It Feels To Be Something On (V0)

So you've heard Diary before and think that this will be something like it?

Well you're fucking wrong.

How It Feels To Be Something On quickly shows that the hopeful naive band that released Diary is dead and in their place comes a band that has put together a collage of alternative, pop, emotive hardcore, and world music (minorly) into one perfect emotive hardcore album.

Expect to find one perfect song when you click this.

Expect to find one perfect album when you click this.

This Heat - Deceit (V0)

I think the best things to come out of the 80's were all the experimental and weird artists.

People like This Heat, Daniel Johnston, MBV, so on and blah blah blah. Point being, 80's experimental is pretty damn amazing, and this album is of course part of the dynasty of important 80's albums. Don't be fooled by the post-punk tag, it barely fits the bill of anything more than experimental or outsider music, and you'll be surprised that something so a-melodic could leave you actually hauntingly stunned.

This Heat – A New Kind Of Water

We hold these truths to be self evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain rights.

The Angelic Process - Weighing Souls With Sand (V0)

Hell, it may be an essential album, but it is by no means not worthy of posting.

For fans of Have A Nice Life, Nadja, and anyone who enjoys shoegaze, drone, ambient or noise. It is very, very harsh at times. They were incredible, passionate, emotional, and everything more. Do your soul a favor, don't let this one have been in vain.

Download here, buy it here.

Doseone - Untitled (192)

I am still in complete and utter shock that I was lucky enough to come across this recording. I am a huge fan of most, if not all, of Adam's work; after listening to Untitled, there's no doubt in my mind that this is an essential piece of work that all of his fans need to have in their collection. Dose has come a long way since his Hemispheres days, incorporating more of an electronic sound into his albums, and while I still love all of that, this is the real deal: raw, simple beats and nasally voice spitting incredibly catchy, intelligent lyrics at the listener. This is what hip-hop is meant to be.

"And in this instance, I am the deadliest of carnivores.
Doseone,
the messiah of metaphor."

Anathallo - Floating World (V0)

Anathallo is a band who I easily could have seen in Chicago (they are based in the city for the most part) but due to my ignorance I chose to attend some other stupid event. I can't believe myself, they were playing with Why Intercept? at the time, another great Chicago act, but I think I went to a Valentine's day party or something.

Stupid me.

I missed out on a plethora of unique sounds, ranging from chains as percussion, brass sections, songs reminiscent of pop, post-rock and folk all blended together and even an autoharp.

Damn.

I also missed out on buying one of the best albums of 2006.

There's always next time, I guess. Oh wait, they're broken up.

Crap.

Download here, buy it here.

Women - Public Strain (V0)

Know what, I'm going to let the album speak for itself.

This is Eyesore, by Women, from Public Strain.

And this is the album itself.
2010 has been a good year.

The Microphones - It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water (FLAC)

Into light our bodies glide,
There was water in my eyes,
We sank and we arrived,
And found ourselves inside the light,
The light,
With the glow...

On the cold dark ocean floor,
I felt warmth from behind a door,
I asked to come inside,
And the glow replied.

The Morning Benders - Big Echo (V0)

The Morning Benders are 100% me approved. I can't stop listening to this band, I've seen them live a couple times and they never fail to impress. They've been touring with Oberhofer and Twin Sister, which is why the last few posts I've made were of those bands. They are amazing musicians, and a real treat to talk to.

And Chris's voice is pure gold.

Shouting into a valley.
Big shout – big echo.
Small shout – small echo.

Buy it here.

Nick Drake - Pink Moon (V0)

We're in the middle of fall, and every year I find myself gravitating back to this album. This was the first album I ever gave to a girl, it comprised most of my listening throughout high school, and it has always comforted me when, like now, I find trees shedding their leaves and weather slowly growing colder. Nick Drake is proof that there is beauty in solitude; his songs are deeply personal, at times somber and austere, at others beautifully heart warming. Pink Moon is very short, at around thirty minutes, but each moment is so vivid and sincere that you'll want to go back to it over and over again.

Sailing downstairs to the northern line,
Watching the shine of the shoes,
And hearing the trials of the people there,
Who's to care if they lose?

Unrest - Imperial f.f.r.r. (V0)

For an early 90's indie pop album I expected a lot worse. Like, I expected to hear grunge production values and overused chorus pedals covered by melodies that included holding words for as long as the singer could before finally going to the next one.

Luckily, this was nothing like that and was actually a very surprising, easy to get into album.
Maybe you've heard of it before, I've never heard anything but praise for it; but even if you haven't it's a great, simple, relaxed album that just flows and sounds so natural that, maybe (just maybe), your parents could even get into it.
Not mine though, they listen to shit.

SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Download because my parent's taste in music sucks and yours doesn't.

Spiritualized - Laser Guided Melodies (FLAC)

Way back when I first started developing a real palette for music, Spiritualized was one of the first groups that I was genuinely interested in exploring. Jason Pierce's music is attention-grabbing when it needs to be and mind-numbing when it doesn't; it's one of the perfect albums to listen to for anyone just beginning to appreciate lesser known but still culturally celebrated music.

Laser Guided Melodies is Spiritualized's first release following the official breakup of Spacemen 3, and in it Pierce demonstrates once again the enormous talent that he brought to Spacemen 3 and the influence that he continues to exert on the psychedelic music scene. Each song is unique and unconventional in it's own way, and even though Laser Guided Melodies is perfectly entry-level, I still find myself going back to it not only to experience the nostalgia that I associate with it but to experience the new and vivid sensations that it brings with each listen.

A favorite song of mine is 200 Bars, mostly because of the mind-boggling that I went through the first time I listened to it. The way that each instrument layers itself over the others and is introduced seamlessly, in such an organized manner (maybe similar to Ravel's Boléro), is so impressive that I really had no other words to say than, "Oh my fucking God." This was before everything dropped out and Kate Radley's angelic voice plainly counted, "200," at which point I exclaimed, "Oh my FUCKING GOD!"

Shine a light on me.

Electric Wizard - Dopethrone (FLAC)

No doubt I now grew VERY pale; but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased – and what could I do? It was A LOW, DULL, QUICK SOUND – MUCH SUCH A SOUND AS A WATCH MAKES WHEN ENVELOPED IN COTTON. I gasped for breath, and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly, more vehemently but the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations; but the noise steadily increased. Why WOULD they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men, but the noise steadily increased.

O God! what COULD I do? I foamed – I raved – I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder – louder – louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly , and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! – no, no? They heard! – they suspected! – they KNEW! – they were making a mockery of my horror! – this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! – and now – again – hark! louder! louder! louder! LOUDER! –

"Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! – tear up the planks! – here, here! – it is the beating of his hideous heart!"

Bibio - The Apple and the Tooth (FLAC)

Seldom do I come across an album that invokes a mix of different emotions from within inside of me. While listening, I feel as if I'm in a parallel universe, where there are no worries, there is no pain, and the only feeling that is allowed is a constant state of relaxation. The individual songs off of this album bring back memories of falling in love, being as carefree as a child, hopefulness, and innate happiness, among others. While an astounding eight of the twelve tracks are remixes of songs featured on earlier releases, I consider them an essential part of my enjoyment of this amazing piece of work. As for the highlights, I'd recommend "Rotten Rudd," "Bones & Skulls," and "All The Flowers (Lone Remix)." I can't really pinpoint an exact genre that I'd classify this album under, so all I can ask is that you give it a shot, and realize that you appreciate it as much as I do.

Do yourself a favor and download this.

Twin Sister - Color Your Life (FLAC)

Even though I'm losing,
Doesn't make me a loser yet,
You still know me by name, Green,
I'll still be Lady Daydream.

Buy it here.

Oberhofer - o0Oo0Oo EP (V0)

You're pushing me away from you,
And there's nothing I can do,
And I can't fight all of your battles for you.

Buy it at a show. He gives it away for free.

This is the first of a three post series highlighting the bands Oberhofer, Twin Sister and The Morning Benders.

Expect more from these guys soon.

White Hinterland - Kairos (V0)

So you like mellow, relaxed pop-based music?
HELL YEAH YOU DO.

Do you like it when it has great vocal melodies provided by a very calm female vocalist?
HIGH FIVE IT BECAUSE YOU KNOW YOU DO, G-SLICE!
Well rev up your lazy chair and get your bongs set to interstellar overdrive, because you're about to be taken into a very slow part of outer space.

You're about to be calmed the fuck down, bro.

Download it because you can not escape a black hole.

Arsonists Get All The Girls - Portals (FLAC)

I admit it: I am a huge sucker for a good deathcore album. And this, dearest of readers, is a good deathcore album. After the departure of vocalist Cameron Reed, AGATG found a little vocalist named Jared Monette to record their latest album, Portals; let it be known that this guy kicks some serious ass, and I think I might prefer his voice to Camerons.

Regardless, most of the same instrumental components of their previous albums are still there: brutal drumming, unrelenting bass hooks, powerful guitarmanship, and an insane synthesizer element. The main difference in this album compared to their others is that their music seems to be tighter and more well-composed, and there is a noticeable lack of high-pitched screeching vocals -- which many would consider to be a nice change of pace, including myself. Some of the highlight songs off of this record are Skiff For The Suits, I Lost My Loss Of Ruin (which ends in a pretty epic piano & drum piece), and To Playact In Static. All in all, the band manages to put out another amazing album that goes beyond your typical deathcore sound, and one that will definitely be on my playlist for a long time to come.

Download it here.