Foxy Shazam - The Flamingo Trigger (320)

Back in 2008, a friend of mine had become obsessed with a then relatively unknown band called Foxy Shazam. Despite my initial reluctance to give a band with such a name a chance, I ultimately decided to download The Flamingo Trigger, their debut album. After listening to it a few times, I concluded that it was a choice I certainly didn't regret. In fact, Foxy Shazam was my first foray into the genre that is post-hardcore, and after hearing many different bands from all sorts of places, I still believe that Foxy Shazam is one of the more unique acts that I've had the joy of listening to. Beyond all of the eccentric madness, the humorous lyrics, the unconventional keyboard solos, and general over-the-topness, there is a group of five boys (now six) full of unrelenting wit and talent.

The Flamingo Trigger is twelve songs of pure entertainment. Many of the songs break down into unintelligible, incoherent screaming at some point or another; however, this works for what the band seemed to be going for at the time, which seems to be desiring to provide the listener a wonderful ride on a musical roller coaster. Many songs have a theatrical, almost circus-like nature to them; a circus in the realm of insanity. Eric Sean Nally is a beast of a frontman, and makes a perfect "ringmaster" for this show of grandeur. One highlight of the album is "Seagulls Over Rhinosuarus Bay," parts I & II. Both parts showcase Sky Vaughn White's impressive proficiency as a pianoman, especially part two, which is the first instrumental track featured. Another highlight is "Brains Of Vegas," a song with an spectacular, brutal ending that I did not expect at all. The most bizarre song of all, "------------," is an interlude that takes a classical approach: one man, one piano, and a simple song structure. All in all, the album seems to be all over the place, and that is not a bad thing in the slightest.

Give them an honest try.

Battles - Mirrored (V0)

Mirrored is truly unlike anything I've heard. Most experimental rock you hear out there is very bizarre, and this is no exception, but what this album has that I haven't seen much with experimental is an incredible sense of playfulness. The majority of these songs are very upbeat and will have you bouncing in your seat. It's refreshing to hear a very friendly sounding album in a genre mostly filled with dark and creepy vibes all around. If Mirrored was a person it would be a ceaselessly hyperactive child. Not the one that gets on your nerves within the first five minutes, but the one that keeps you amused for an entire evening while enjoying the attention.

Now Battles is a "super-group," composed entirely of musicians who've already been made famous through other work. But since I've heard very little of this band's related projects, I'm not going to go into detail on that. But it is very apparent that every single person in this group is incredibly talented. The vocalist has a very bizarre way of doing things, in one song sounding just like those videos you find on youtube of songs being sped up so that the singer sounds like he just sucked a bunch of helium. If you can understand anything that he's saying without reading the lyrics at the same time, then I applaud you because I sure couldn't. But it works so well with the tone of the album that you'll be loving it before long. However the vocals aren't the biggest part, they aren't even featured on all of the songs. Some songs even have some elements of progressive rock, with long breaks and odd song structures that you wouldn't expect.

Now, it's hard for me to specify what kind of person I'd recommend this album to. I can see how a lot of people would just find this stuff way too weird and would dismiss it after a few songs, if that, but I think the majority of people who would read this blog would at least find some enjoyment in it, so I just say give it a listen and judge for yourself.

Highlights: Atlas, Tonto, Snare Hanger

Download here.

Akron/Family - Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free (FLAC)

And once this spark met kindling,
Forgets its gentle ambling,
Becoming heat, becoming steam,
Becoming luminescent glee,
Atoms splinter, sparkling,
Alive and nimble symmetry,
And all along, this glistening,
Blankets we and everything,
Shadows dance triumphantly,
A wordless whisper sighs and pleas,
Little deaths envelope thee,
You and I and a flame make three.

Grails - Black Tar Prophecies Vol. IV (V0)

Grails are a band I didn't know about until recently, and I was already kicking myself pretty hard for not hearing this earlier when I gave their Black Tar Prophecies Vol. I, II & III its first listen. I had never heard such an experimental foray into post-rock quite like this. At times atmospheric and ambient, and at other times presenting itself with an energy that feels electric and eclectic, it gave me chills and made the hairs on the back on my neck stand at attention.

The first track, I Want A New Drug, leaves you really bewildered and inquisitive, and then it breaks into the epic building maze of a song that is Self-Hypnosis. I think they purposefully made the album vary drastically from one song to another, so as to keep the listener guessing, which is something that not enough bands (especially those of the post-rock variety) do these days. There's even a hint of blues rock in the aforementioned Self-Hypnosis. Pianos grace the beautiful atmosphere of Up All Night, almost creating a lonely feeling, offset by the dissonance found in blues and experimental music. It's almost like a self-conflicting album, in that the darkness and melancholic feel of the songs contrasts with the funky and psychedelic tone of certain songs. It's all I've been listening to since I got it, and I can't recommend it enough. You will feel like a satellite orbiting the earth, and you will feel your soul tingle.

Get it here and buy it here.

Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle (FLAC)

Penny Sparkle is the newest album by alternative rock band Blonde Redhead, released on September 14th of this year. They're continuing their shift into a much more electronic based sound that they started with their previous album 23, and it's been received well. It also seems to be a bit more downtempo feeling than their previous albums. They're trying out new things and it's certainly paying off. However, with that said, this album disappointed me a bit. It's a good album, but I was just expecting more. There are a couple quite good songs on here, that will get stuck in your head and you'll find yourself humming them later in the day. But then the rest of the songs I didn't enjoy much at all. They felt like unimpressive fillers to get to the next good song. They didn't stick with me like the others and I found myself getting a bit bored and wanting to change the CD I was listening to. Thankfully though I kept listening, and I found it worth it in the end.

So despite the couple dud songs that might discourage you and possibly bore you a bit, I'm recommending this album. There's more good here than bad, but if you're expecting another 23 you'll be a bit let down.

Highlights: Here Sometimes, Love or a Prison, Black Guitar

Download here.

De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (V0)

With my mom being a huge hip-hop fan, I've been exposed to many sides of the genre, from Rakim to NWA to The Roots to Lil Wayne. Until the point at which I had the extreme pleasure of hearing 3 Feet High and Rising, I didn't think that rap could be well... dorky. Dorky, awkward, innocent and fun. I didn't think of hip-hop as something that could base their skits around a nonsensical game show, or use a sample of I Can't Go For That by Hall & Oates to oppose drug dealers. I was unaware that it was even allowed of rap artists to speak about meeting talking animals that give them directions. Everything on this album is so happy and youthful, it does nothing but satisfy me when I want something that has a beat but can also make me smile.

Favorite songs: Can U Keep a Secret, Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin's Revenge), Transmitting Live From Mars, Eye Know, Tread Water, Say No Go

My Rating: 9.4/10

I heard shovin' is worse than pushin' but I'd rather know a shover than a pusher cause a pusher's a jerk.

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Irony Is A Dead Scene EP (FLAC)

What do you get when you cross a group of mathcore musicians from New Jersey with the musical mastermind Mike Patton? You get a one-off, four song EP that kicks the listener in the balls, spits in their face, and proclaims with self-righteousness: "This is what we're going to do, and you're going to enjoy every second of it." And enjoy every second of it, I did. This is not your run-of-the-mill Dillinger release; all of the chaos from their previous albums with then-vocalist Dimitri is still there, but Patton injects his distinct flair throughout the heart of every song, and adds a sense of wicked mischievousness that was left unexplored in the bands previous releases.

Irony Is A Dead Scene marks a significant stage in the Dillinger time frame – even if the era did last less than 20 minutes. It includes an insane cover of Aphex Twin's "Come to Daddy," and as a huge Aphex Twin fan myself, I thought it did the song justice – while never neglecting to add a brutal Pattonesque spin. Many hardcore followers, including myself, consider it to be one of the band's best releases to date. Patton was, without a doubt, the perfect candidate to take lead of the band's ever-changing tempo and fluctuating pace; he matched and challenged their erratic song structures with his signature screeching and squealing, while never missing a beat. However, it never once feels like he was just a fill-in for when they were searching for their new permanent singer – he promptly grabbed the reigns and took control, and it resulted in one of the greatest collaborations I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.

You can download it here.

Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz (FLAC)

Although The Age of Adz, Sufjan Stevens' sixth full release and his most expansive to date, might be better described as The Age of Flute Trills, it might also be one of the landmark albums of the decade. The Age of Adz is a sprawling musical suite that combines, intelligently and infectiously, the Enjoy Your Rabbit-era glitchy electronics and drum samples and the 50 states project-era symphonics and fluttering orchestration.

Each song complements the other, realizing the vast and overarching vision that Sufjan loyalists caught a glimpse of in this year's All Delighted People EP. Each note and verse swells with clarity and authenticity and, although at louder moments there's a significant amount of compression, the dynamics of each moment are pronounced in ways that encourage listeners to delve deeper. The Age of Adz is so musically dense that it's hard to process everything at once, even over the course of several dozen listens.

It's difficult for religiously zealous musicians to gain legitimacy within the music community, but when Sufjan sings, "You really got get right with the Lord," he backs it with such an overwhelming sense of musical harmony and personal intimacy that it forces listeners to empathize with him. That's the wonder of this album: it's so vivid and primal that it's impossible to ignore.

Download.

Ghastly City Sleep - Ghastly City Sleep (V0)

Ghastly City Sleep was something that also helped me get into post-rock at the end of 2008, which is odd, since Ghastly City Sleep is not your typical post-rock. In fact, it's probably not even post-rock. I picked this album up at a store for three bucks, and I still keep it in my car so I can listen to it whenever I want. And that's saying something, considering I only have about four CDs in my car. In Utero, Hospice, The Fruit That Ate Itself and this album. An odd collection, I know, but that's what I drive to, I guess.

To continue, this album might actually be an EP. It has four songs that all accurately portray the band's sound, incorporating several musical elements into all of their songs, ranging from ambient, alternative, post-rock, and at times shoegaze sounds. There are vocals on all the songs, sometimes whispery and light, and at other times impending like those of Dan Barrett from Have A Nice Life. In fact, the song Suchness gives me major Have A Nice Life vibes.

It's hard to describe the music in a small group of words, but if there's one feeling to take away from this description, it's ambient post-rock with vocals.

You can find the album here and buy it here.

Helios - Eingya (V0)

Upon first listening to Eingya, I immediately decided I wanted to write about it instead of what I originally had planned for today. That's how much I loved it.

Eingya is more calming than most anything I've heard before. None of the songs are particularly catchy or stand out a lot, but it seems like that's the intent, as weird as that may sound. It's very mood/setting specific. If you put it on at a party or while you're looking to get hyped up and excited for something, then you're on the wrong track, going the opposite direction. But put this on while you're in a calm and comfortable place with your eyes closed and you’re relaxed I guarantee you'll become completely absorbed in it, and love every second. So while this music isn't incredibly versatile, what it does it does amazingly well. This album takes great instrumental compositions and then adds in elements of electronic in such a way that will take you on a experience like no other. The layers of instruments and sound used here are put so beautifully well together it's nearly seamless.

This would be an amazing introduction to ambient music for anyone who wanted to get into the genre. Even for those already experienced with ambient, if you haven't heard this album, I'm highly recommending you do so. There's not much else I can say that listening for yourself wouldn't say so much better. So listen, relax, and enjoy.

Highlights: Bless This Morning Year, For Years and Years, Paper Tiger

Download here.

John Fahey - Fare Forward Voyagers (Soldier's Choice) (V0)

One man and his acoustic guitar. No vocals, no real strong structures. Does this work?

Oh yes, oh God yes it does. To say Fahey is incredibly good at the guitar is an understatement. He is nothing short of a genius at his instrument, and his ever-changing rhythms and expressive playing style have been emulated the world over (not to mention he created an entire new genre of music, American Primitivism). So put on some good headphones, relax, and let Fahey tell his magical, musical story. Words are overrated, anyway.

plink plink pluck

Ruins - Tzomborgha (V0)

Trying to describe the sound of Tzomborgha in relation to most popular math rock bands makes little sense, as their extreme technicality, odd chanting/yelling vocals, and overall wackiness isn't likely to remind anyone of Minus the Bear. What I can say is that that Ruins have taken bits and pieces of groups like Magma and Primus and twisted their sounds into an aggressive, awe-inspiring beast like little else in modern rock. For nearly 50 minutes, Tzomborgha grabs you by the balls and doesn't let go.

What is this I don't even...

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest (FLAC)

"The album's title is a reference to a collection of fond memories and even invented ones, like my friendship with Ricky Wilson or the fact that I live in an abandoned victorian autoharp factory. The way that we write and rewrite and edit our memories to be a digest version of what we want to remember, and how that's kind of sad."

Download.

Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky (FLAC)

There aren't words adequate to describe the joy that I felt upon hearing about the reformation of Swans. Although M. Gira has been working with and distributing new material under The Angels of Light for the better part of the last two decades, his work has taken a turn away from the sheets of noise and texture that made Swans so bizarrely cathartic. My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky represents a return to that sort of Faulknerian post-industrialism, bringing the fugues of Swans to the new pastoralism of The Angels of Light.

The title of Swans' first release in over ten years is the first sign of Gira's ministerial sarcasm, a feature that always seems to work its way into his music. The overlying theme of Gira's music is as present as ever – aspirations to godliness, or nirvana, or, as Gira describes "what will [presumably] be [his] only experience of heaven." But beneath that is a sort of vaudevillian assemblage of all of the greatest developments in Micheal Gira's aesthetic in the last twenty or thirty years. The harshness and monophony of Swans are as present as ever, but Gira also seems to have greatly expanded his influences during the Angels of Light era. New Weird America luminary Devendra Banhart, accompanied by Gira's daughter, sings sweetly about what I can only construe as the murder of a child, devolving at its climax to the rumbling sounds of pianos and horns, beckoning the corruption of beauty so familiar in Angels of Light albums We Are Him and How I Loved You.

Every moment of My Father Will Guide Me... is marked by a careful juxtaposition of beauty and acrimony, laid out for maximum pain and maximum effect. Only Michael Gira can do what Michael Gira does, and he does it well.

Please open my mind and take what is left,
Let me sup, oh let me suck, upon that which does not exist,
Teach the weak, oh teach me please, to cease to resist.

Otto von Schirach - Global Speaker Fisting (V2)

What is there to say about Otto von Schirach? Well, one thing is for sure: he seems to be utterly off his rocker. Listening to his music is like listening to the frenzied sounds of hell, and can be summed up as the equivalent of being punched in the face for no reason, musically speaking. However, it's the kind of blow that leaves you feeling bewildered and wanting to understand how, and why, this happened. This album is no different. Each track sounds like it was individually murdered, butchered, and then stitched back together; almost like a musical variant of Frankenstein's monster. I think it's safe to say that after listening to the whole album, it feels like a total exercise of the mind to even comprehend what the hell you just listened to, but one that will prove to be more than worthwhile. That being said, Global Speaker Fisting destroys everything I thought I knew about IDM and breakcore, and has made me want to look into both genres further. It's vile, it's gratifying, and it leaves me yearning for more.

You can find it here.

Tobacco - Maniac Meat (V0)

Tobacco brings the awesome to Black Moth Super Rainbow every chance he gets, and his solo career does not go untouched by his talent and creativity.

Maniac Meat, for lack of a better word, is just plain juicy. I can feel it pass over my taste buds and down my throat and into my bloodstream to clog my arteries. It's greasy and dripping and bad for me, but I can't get enough. This album is one of my favorite dishes. It's something different with every bite. Sometimes things are so raw. They don't taste undercooked, though. They taste grimy and wrong, but in such a good way. Other times, things are sweet. So sweet my teeth feel like they're wearing a sweater. So goddamn sweet that sugar might as well be running through my veins. Then there are the morsels that are meaty. Meaty, tough and well done. Extremely well done. Exceedingly well done.

The great thing is, it's like each time I listen, it all tastes different. But I always finish with the same feeling: happy and full.

Favorite tracks: Fresh Hex (ft. Beck), Mexican Icecream, Six Royal Vipers, TV All Greasy

My Rating: 9.0/10

Download it here.

Nana Grizol - Ruth (V0)

I walked into my home, opened the door and ran downstairs. A CD was laying on the floor, had a note on it saying “Play Me.” I put this album onto my computer, and began playing it on my speakers. As the first notes began ringing I heard the sound of footsteps upstairs, running downstairs and suddenly my entire house was being filled with children that were running in through the front door and then out through the backdoor, they got older slowly as they kept running in and out of the house and eventually died. This repeated over and over until the album finished.

I need to stop drinking.

Cynicism isn’t wisdom, It’s a lazy way to say that you’ve been burned... it seems if anything you’d be less certain after everything you’ve ever learned.

.O.rang - Herd of Instinct (V0)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor are en route to a concert in Amsterdam when their plane crashes in a remote part of Africa. Fortunately, they all survive but most of their equipment is mangled, except for a keyboard and a couple guitars. All of the members suffered brain damage and now their only memory of music is one song: Taphead by Talk Talk. Later, while looking for help, they come across a local tribe. The tribesmen invite them to stay. That night, GY!BE is awoken by tribal drums and chants. They exit their tents to go witness this event. While watching this, they are given a small bowl filled with a foul smelling brown liquid. A tribesman keeps repeating the words, "Ayahuasca, ayahuasca!!" He then makes a motion of raising his hands to his mouth, indicating they are to drink the potion. The band decides to drink it. Time passes and eventually the ayahuasca has reached their brains and they are experiencing an out of this world psychedelic experience. They can feel the tribal drums inside of their soul. They quietly get up and go to get their keyboard and guitars and the one sole remaining amp that wasn't destroyed.

This album is a recording of what happened that night.

Floater - Glyph (V2)

Floater has been a bit of a legend in the northwest for 17 years and counting. With little to no recognition from outside the area, they've managed to continuously make a living selling tons of albums around the area and always filling the house with their infamous live shows. The majority of my close family absolutely loves this band, and it's always a favorite to pop into the stereo. You won't hear one person in the house complain, which isn't too common.

Glyph is Floater's second studio album, and is probably their most popular one to date. This album goes back and forth between loud bombastic head-bangers and slower, anxious, sometimes sad songs. The former being great songs to blast and rock out to, the latter being so intense feeling you'll get lost in it and let the music drive your emotions, at times being reminiscent of Pink Floyd's The Wall in their tone. The large contrast on this 70 minute experience should keep you reigned in the whole time. Particularly the beginning and end of the album will leave an impression on you. I know every time I hear "Crawl Into You" I immediately want to start the album all over again with "The Knowing Dirge"

You may not love this album your first listen, I didn't, but give it a few listens and I'm sure you won't regret it.

Highlights: The Knowing Dirge, All the Stories But One, Crawling Into You.

Download here.

You did this to yourself again.
Gunning for a bluer sky.
Swallowed the dose,
cut your own rope,
just to know it all.
Do you know it all?

HṚṢṬA - Ghosts Will Come and Kiss Our Eyes (V0)

Ghosts Will Come and Kiss Our Eyes is the most recent release by Godspeed You! Black Emperor side project HṚṢṬA, founded by Mike Moya, who has also made contributions to A Silver Mt. Zion, Hangedup and Set Fire to Flames. HṚṢṬA features vocals from Moya, shorter song structures and less influence from the other founding members of Godspeed, like Sophie Trudeau and Efrim Menuck. It's interesting to see how much of the eeriness of Godspeed You! Black Emperor can be attributed to Moya, whereas the beauty and intensity are more as a result of the influences of Trudeau and Menuck, respectively. If your fan favorite is F♯A♯∞ or you liked the creaky, haunted ambience of Set Fire to Flames, this album is basically a direct relative of the two.

Download.

Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel (V0)

Psychedelic. Dark. Droning. Spacey. Swirling. Tribal. Motorik. How does he make that guitar sound like that?

I'm tripping balls, man.

The Flashbulb - Réunion (V2)

The Flashbulb (aka Benn Jordan) may be more well known for his melodic IDM/breakcore albums, such as Kirlian Selections and Red Extensions of me, but by far his best and most creative work is Réunion. Although the album is technically electronic, it was created without the aid of computer sequencing and effects, so Benn relied on analog equipment, samples, and loops. The result is a notably warm and organic sound compared to his earlier efforts. Many different styles are explored, from jazz to IDM to ambient to post-rock.

Undoubtedly in my top 10 favorite albums ever.

So so so so good...

Working For A Nuclear Free City - Jojo Burger Tempest (V0)

WFANFC’s JoJo Burger Tempest is like a more upbeat Dead Cities, Red Seas, & Lost Ghosts (by M83), and well... I wish there was more to say about the album but really that’s what it is. It contains all the “epicness” of that album, a similar instrumental focus as that album (only saying similar because this one actually makes use of vocals a LOT), and the major difference being that it’s happier. It’s not an “everyone drink up and be merry” kind of happy but it’s definitely a lot more optimistic than M83’s soundtrack to the beginning of the end. In fact, the first line of the M83’s album is a pretty good estimation of what this album is (quoted at the bottom, as the download link).

It's not like me to so bluntly pull out tracks, but I need to for this album.

One is the final track, with the same name as the album title. It’s 30 minutes long, and to explain what it is in words is best expressed in the following statement:

It’s an audio only interpretation of the movie Space Jam.

Other than that, Alphaville and Brown Owl are damn well the top tier choices of the album, Alphaville focusing on a more dream-pop setting than the rest of the album (and eerily similar to something out of The Radio Dept.'s Pet Grief), and Brown Owl which plans to bring optimism so bright that it could make you believe a movie like “You Again” might be worth seeing.

Sun is shining. Birds are singing. Flowers are growing. Clouds are looming and I am flying.

Funeral Party - Funeral Party (V0)

This year has been a fine year for music. Some of my favorite albums in my entire music collection are from this year, and surprisingly I can say that I actually am having to be selective in making my "best albums of 2010" list. Big Echo, Wild Nothing, Nolens Volens, Ruth, and even the new Have a Nice Life EP were all spectacular in my eyes, so there's no complaints on this end.

I wasn't sure if it was just a phase or an accidental obsession, but there has been one album so far this year that has gone from being unknown to me to being my new musical infatuation in less than 2 months. That would be Funeral Party's self-titled, a new dance-punk masterpiece that has carved the band their own niche in what is otherwise a still developing genre of music. While it lacks the primal rock-and-roll feel of Death From Above's music, it presents itself with a much more cutting edge and chilled out style that hooks you from the beginning. The opening track, NYC moves to the sound of LA, while somewhat different from the rest of the album, is undoubtedly the most fitting opening track, in that it captures the style and message of the band in the first thirty seconds.

The album gets better each time you listen to it, and over time you develop a very thorough knowledge of the songs due to the sonic richness and stunning clarity. This album is the dark chocolate of modern alternative rock. Carwars, Just Because and Youth in Poverty are a couple of the best songs of 2010.

If my description doesn't do it for you, at the very least have a listen to the album, which you can get here, and make sure to buy it from them when it's finally released sometime soon. You could even be like me and go to any of their shoes supporting Two Door Cinema Club at this time. They are cheap and will be nothing short of amazing.

Bark Psychosis - Hex (FLAC)

The title of Bark Psychosis' Hex, the first album ever to be described as "post-rock," seems to be as simple a descriptor for it as possible; Hex is a mystifying and often baffling combination of instrumentals, varying musical textures, and Graham Sutton's quiet but foreboding and judicious voice. Each element is complemented by structure, and each relationship between these elements folds inward on itself as a song progresses. Listening to Bark Psychosis is an experience that can only be likened to hypnosis.

Get it in FLAC here.
Get it in 320 here.

The Dear Hunter - Act I: The Lake South, the River North (V2)

The Dear Hunter is one of those bands that reminds me how well music can be used as a medium for story-telling.

Act I: The Lake South, the River North is the first of what is planned to be a six part concept album. Only three of these "acts" have been released thus far, with the fourth one under TBA. It's certainly an ambitious goal, with equally ambitious music. This album is eight tracks long, with the most of them being about six minutes in length, often incorporating breaks and intros that often sound very orchestral and rock-opera-esque before going right back to the heavy guitar and drum work. In it's most basic form, the story itself is that of a boy born to a prostitute and his life that follows. Not the most unique of premises, but the music gives it a depth you wouldn't expect. There are plenty different moods and emotions spread across this album expressed through the almost bipolar song construction to keep your mind busy and entertained. At times it feels like you're listening to the soundtrack to a rather bizarre musical.

Now I should come out and say that as with most progressive rock, this isn't going to be everybody's cup of tea. They're part of that "love it or hate it" category. The main reason being the vocals/lyrics, which feel a bit lacking at times, with corny names such as Ms. Terri (bet you couldn't guess the word play there) and some songs being sung a bit more on the whiny side. I myself don't mind it, but I'm well aware that some people can't get past things like that.

So my suggestion is that you give this album a listen, even if you're feeling a bit skeptic after my previous paragraph. You just may be able to enjoy the vocals, or at least tolerate them. And if they just bother you too much I'll gladly take the blame for your wasted time, because I think this album is worth a try at the very least.

Highlights: City Escape, 1878, The Pimp and the Priest

Download here.

Sing softly, bring me to the lake.

Bowery Electric - Lushlife (V0)

Bowery Electric have been said to defy easy definition, but Lushlife, the final release by New York City Kranky comtemporaries Lawrence Chandler and Martha Schwendener proudly advertises its dizzying and seductive trip-hop roots. Schwedener's voice is heavily reminiscent of Beth Gibbons of Portishead rapport, only softer and more breathy. As a whole, really, Lushlife could be compared to a softer, breathier version of Portishead's Dummy. Where the latter excels in industrialism, the former excels in fluidity. Songs veer regularly into ambience, drawing images of cities late at night, lit up but devoid of any life, of walking along a corridor by oneself with nothing but concrete in plain view.

Bowery Electric is, like most trip-hop outfits, not meant to be shaken up or danced to, but here they seem to take that ideology to an extreme, preferring instead to use hip-hop instrumentals in much the same way Boards of Canada did; to move the listener across landscapes of sound, to allow the listener to appreciate them rather than being forced to interact with them.

God's on both sides,
Thank God we make them try,
Don't wake when the camera's on you,
You, you'll go out like a freedom fighter,
You're gone like a freedom fighter.

Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (V0)

While the favorite Crystal Castles album of many is Crystal Castles (II), which was released this year, the experimental nature of Crystal Castles' eponymous debut has always managed to draw me inwards in a way that the sophomore never has. I know, and have been told by many a CC (II) enthusiast that Crystal Castles' first album was the one where they "tried to find their sound," and that it is messy and directionless, with too little structure and too much "filler."

I can understand how one could see the album as being disfigured and disheveled, but that is exactly what makes it so astounding. Crystal Castles, the album, never struggles to be something that it is not. It is perfect in its chaos and mighty in its power to produce strong, brash music that is also capable of being danced to. There are songs like Through The Hosiery and Xxzcuzx Me that seem to have been created to breed mosh pits, and other tracks like Untrust Us and Courtship Dating that were obviously made simply for the purpose of recreational dance.

With Ethan Kath delivering imaginative, abrasive yet catchy beats, and Alice Glass providing noise rock vocal styles that are almost impure and unclean in their rawness, this album is a brilliant mash up of dirty and clean. Even with the second Crystal Castles album being more accessible and party friendly, I still struggle to understand how it is at all better than its older brother.

Favorite songs: Untrust Us, Air War, Courtship Dating

My Rating: 9.0/10

Download.

Adam & Naïve - Every Starry Night (FLAC)

"Adam & Naïve is Konrad Kamm, Ken Korb, Omar Saeed, Greg Salwen, and Tyler Taormina. The members as a whole make up the Practice Room Records collective. They have been releasing music together since 2006. They are best friends and even though they are separated most of the year due to school, they always manage to keep the tunes popping. Their lifelong dream (collectively) is to be immortalized as a cartoon version of themselves in the theme of Frogerella."

It's very rare for me to compare any band to Animal Collective; it seems antiquated and hackneyed. But Adam & Naïve's work is, with all of its harmonies and major-key gaiety, not actually that dissimilar to Noah Lennox and David Portner's earliest recordings, like Campfire Songs and Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished. There's a pervasive sense of playfulness and familiarity here, as if the statement that Adam & Naïve are all best friends is not only meant to charm their listeners but also to define Adam & Naïve as a group.

Adam & Naïve have put this album up free of charge here.

of Montreal - False Priest (V0)

Me: Holy shit, look who it is…

Disappointment: Hey! I haven't seen you since like… since WOMEN released their second album?

Me: Yeah, that's probably the last time. So when did you get here? Track 2?

Disappointment: Nah, I got here before the album even started. I'm gonna have to go soon, but I'll be back a bit later.

Me: Why? If you're already here you might as well stay the whole time.

Disappointment: Well, when track 3 starts I'll have to go and pick up embarrassment from his loft in the city.

Me: Loft in the city? The fuck is he doing there?

Disappointment: I don't know, something about dogs. I don't really listen to him; he's just not worth hearing anymore.

Cat Power - The Greatest (V0)

Billie Holiday would be proud. Chan Marshall, also known as Cat Power, is one of the few artists participating in the reclamation of American folk. The Greatest, released in 2006 to widespread and ubiquitous critical acclaim, is perhaps one of the pinnacles of the New Weird Americana movement of the earliest years of the 21st century.

The soulfulness of Cat Power's voice and the presence of her Georgian influences is astoundingly clear throughout the entirety of this album, harkening back to the earliest days of Americana, drawing what seems to be a direct bloodline to the likes of Duke Ellington or Sarah Vaughan, and reinforcing Cat Power's own blues heritage. Arrangements of piano and strings, alongside blues staples like pedal steel guitar and trumpet, beautifully accompany Cat Power's voice, which, again, is one Holiday herself would be proud of.

Download.

Elysian Fields - Dreams That Breathe Your Name (V0)

Dreams That Breathe Your Name is the third album by Brooklyn-based art rock band Elysian Fields, released in 2003. This album contains an array of sounds and tones that blend together seamlessly, ranging from dark and moody to classic dreamy pop/rock. "Narcosmicoma" is one of the highlights of this album; 5 minutes and 42 seconds of piano-driven, ethereal bliss, including the title of the album within its lyrics ("Into the dreams that breathe your name"). Another fan favorite is "Baby Get Lost," the pushy, yet playful, second song from this album. Among the more notable tracks featured on this album is "Scratch," a song about sex, and "Passing On The Stairs," which features vocals from Oren himself. "Dog Of Tears" ends this album on a beautiful, yet slightly foreboding note. Jennifer Charles' sultry voice guides the listener's gondola along the canal that is Dreams That Breathe Your Name. There's nothing I can say I don't like about this release from Elysian Fields, and I hope that all of you can find enjoyment in listening to it as well.

Elysian Fields is comprised of Jennifer Charles, who provides vocals, as well as various instruments, and Oren Bloedow, the guitarist. Most people know Jennifer Charles from her involvement with the downtempo band Lovage, alongside Mike Patton and Dan the Automator. While Elysian Fields and Lovage hold similarities, there are no raunchy, comical lyrics to be found here; instead, EF bestows upon the listener a lush, varied soundscape, almost unlike any other band I have ever listened to.

Instant impact made you see.

The Future Sound of London - Dead Cities (320)

Put simply, Dead Cities is nothing short of a masterpiece of ambient techno. Taking cues from Aphex Twin and B12, FSOL create a convincing and intricate post-apocalyptic landscape unlike any other I've heard. Dead Cities rewards close listening, as many of the details, sound effects, and motifs may elude you at first. The album changes gradually and with purpose but every song is memorable and different. I literally have nothing bad to say about this: if you are even the least bit interested in techno or electronic music in general, I recommend this highly.

Everyone in the world is doing something without me...

Yes - Relayer (320)

Yes's interpretation of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace divided many critics at the time, but with hindsight many now view this album as one of their very best. Coming off the heels of Tales from Topographic Oceans, not their best effort to say the least, they finally got their shit together and created an undeniable progressive rock masterpiece (again). It's denser, louder, and more complex than CttE, but more varied and jazzy. As always, the musicianship is second to none. It's said that if you look up the word "epic" in the dictionary, you'll find Relayer's album art.

Experience the heat of battle.

The Constructus Corporation - The Ziggurat (320)

The Ziggurat is, without a doubt, the most complex and ambitious hip-hop album I've ever heard. It is a concept album revolving around a multinational corporation that distracts the populace with a giant floating pyramid, or something. I couldn't really tell you what its about because the lyrics are very abstract, intricate, and difficult to decipher. It has to be heard to be understood, and even if you can't wrap your head around it all (I can't), you can admit that it has some damn cool beats.

Metatron One, I've been known to get the job done.

Feral Children - Brand New Blood (V0)

The following is a police report of an event that occurred sometime in the early months of 2010 regarding the murders of Animal Collective and most of Modest Mouse.

According to one "Isaac Brock," disillusioned with what was once his own "indie rock," he finally grew tired of his bandmates, pulled out a shotgun (yet to be found) and burst into the studio where the other members of "Modest Mouse" were recording, killing each of them one by one. Brock made no attempt to hide his deed(when cops arrived two days later all the bodies were still where they fell and blood was everywhere). Isaac then began to leave, but noticed that one of his band mates had brought an album (titled: "Strawberry Jam" by Animal Collective) with him and left it on a desk. Mr. Brock was unable to explain why he had decided to stop and listen to the album, but stated after he had listened to it he had yet another urge to kill. He called a friend who quoted, "He asked me for some odd request, the address of Animal Collective’s studio."

We estimate that four days later Mr. Brock arrived at the studio, killed the band (Animal Collective) that had been practicing inside and then, in his own words, "ate their hearts to gain their power." Brock then remained in the studio for 48 hours and used Animal Collective’s instruments to create the attached album. We found him there, still covered in blood, bodies still on the floor, blood everywhere. When we took him in for questioning (and a soon to be conviction) he kept screaming for us to take the enclosed album with him.

Find the aforementioned album attached within.

Ghost Mountain - Summer Tapes EP (320)

I remember the first time I heard Ghost Mountain. The video for Eye Rings was in my 'Recommended Videos' list on YouTube and had a pretty cool still shot, so I decided to check it out. Being someone who had just stopped listening to Mindless Self Indulgence and just started listening to Animal Collective, Ghost Mountain was like nothing I had ever heard before (it still isn't really like anything else out there, for the record). This Black Moth Super Rainbow influenced duo from Texas have been blowing my socks off from day one with their psychedelic rhythms and catchy beats. Daniel Berkowitz's vocals are also something fresh that often add something very special to Ghost Mountain's already unique sound.

Favorite tracks: Eye Rings, The Tree Wall, Star in my Wishing Well, Ninja Turtles

My rating: 9.3/10

Download it here. If you liked it as much as I did, order one of the awesome homemade VHS tapes that has all the songs and their videos (that are made of tapes found at garage sales and the like) and comes with a CD and a poster that has all the lyrics on it, along with other Ghost Mountain merch here!

Adam & Naïve - Summer in the Storm Cellar (FLAC)

Upon my first listen of Summer in the Storm Cellar, spring was just starting to show itself from behind winter. Snow was melting at a rapid pace, birds were beginning to fly back from their vacation to Mexico, and the blue of the sky was finally starting to push away the clouds. Season might seem irrelevant to some, but I have gotten in the habit of listening to music based on scenery and mood, among other factors.

It may seem a bit cliche, but the only proper way that I could describe Summer in the Storm Cellar is sunshine to a rainy day. This album puts a twist on the thought of rain as being dismal, and speaks of it as a pass to play hide and seek, splash in puddles and enjoy youth in general. With these happy songs that speak of love, vacation and someone pretty, melancholy songs about virginity, a strange city with warped streets and conversations are well placed and give the album a great mix of ups and downs.

Favorite songs: Pretty 2, Rainy Day, Sunbrella

My rating: 8.8/10

Download it here.
Download in V0 here.

DJ Shadow - Endtroducing..... (V0)

A record created entirely out of samples of jazz, psychedelic and hip-hop albums from DJ Shadow's own record collection, which contains more than 60,000 records. Released in 1996, two years before Massive Attack's Mezzanine, Endtroducing..... did for trip-hop what Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden or Bark Psychosis's Hex did for post-rock.

Download.

Glissade - Further (V2)

I guess I can start with the last.fm description.

"Glissade creates a soundtrack to a dreamy and distorted version of reality by combining shoegaze inspired guitars & textural waves of sound. the tracks are both meditative and dramatic with melodies melting into a soothing and hypnotic ocean of atmospheric noise."

Shoegaze, for me, has always been about finding a more perfect atmospheric aesthetic, which is why bands like My Bloody Valentine and to a lesser extent Slowdive have not been so appealing to me as I've come to enjoy the genre. The shoegaze I like is often a mellow blend of post-rock and textures, sometimes even blurring the line between shoegaze and drone. Now, this album doesn't incorporate drone, but it is very atmospherically oriented. It's great to relax to, to think to, or even just to breathe to. It's not so willfully exotic in the way that trip-hop is, but it still manages to make you aware of yourself. Swirling melodies and whispered vocals.

All textual wanking aside, if you are a fan of shoegaze and ambient, this is something you will enjoy greatly. Can't recommend it enough.

Get it here.

Buy it here.

I'm not sure what they are up to nowadays, or if they're even still together. All I know is that this album is one of the most played shoegaze albums that I own.

Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You (V0)

It's like, if when you were born, you got to choose the size of your dick.
It's that good.

Download it here.

Big Spider's Back - Turns (320)

Big Spider's Back released his third EP this year back in August, for free from his website. It features two completely new songs and three remixes of tracks off of his 2009 EP, Warped. The two tracks that are new are definitely more pop/dance than his previously releases, which were clearly more influenced by bands like Blind Man's Colour and Washed Out. His remixes, two of which are for Perfect Machine, skate around the old melodies and psychedelia of the original versions to create songs less about chilling out and more about getting on your feet and dancing a little.

Download.
Website.

Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP (V0)

New Sufjan Stevens material from August 2010. Definitely enough material here to keep Sufjan fans busy until the release of his next full-length, The Age of Adz, in October. Features influences from Sufjan's diverse career, including electronics and orchestras, centered mostly around two versions of the title track. It seems to have received mostly negative reviews from professional music websites, but it also seems primarily as a result of preconceptions that music reviewers have about Sufjan's sound since his most recent full-lengths. Also check out Too Much, from The Age of Adz, coming out October 12.

Download.

Mooncake - Lagrange Points (V2)

Mooncake.

Ever since I heard GY!BE's Skinny Fists a couple years ago I've been fascinated with post-rock. If you saw the post I made about Sky Flying By a couple days ago, you might know that post-rock has genuinely shaped my taste as I've grown outwards towards more and more bands, constantly looking for new music and experiencing new emotions.

I remember it was raining, I remember I was walking home from school, and I remember this music.

The rest is blurry, but I remember seeing everything differently than I had before, like the ground and the buildings and the cars came alive, and like the sky was pouring this music down on me in conjunction with the rain.

It felt like the rain was speaking to me.

That's the power of this album.

If you like post-rock at all, there's a good chance that you'll enjoy this. If you like crescendo laden, spacey-yet-focused guitarwork and plenty of cello, then maybe you have a shot at enjoying this music the way I do.

Rain In The Ashtray

Download it here.
Buy it here.

Sweet Trip - You Will Never Know Why (FLAC)

The difference between Sweet Trip's Velocity:Design:Comfort and You Will Never Know Why is reflected in the time between the two releases. Velocity:Design:Comfort, released in 2003, seems like a breakbeat mish-mash of weird noises and fuzz, with the occasional vocal interjection or chord change. You Will Never Know Why, released in 2009, is different entirely.

Sweet Trip's third release, and their first in 6 years, puts them strongly in the growing litany of artists combining shoegaze/dream pop and the new 8-bit/electronica trends from 2008 and 2009. Similar to artists like The Depreciation Guild and Maddest Kings Alive, Sweet Trip use dream pop vocals with the textural manipulations of shoegaze, while relying strongly on low-bit synthesizers and drum machines. The simplicity of the synthesizers heavily compliments the guitar lines and interplay between Sweet Trip's vocalists, Roby Burgos and Valerie Cooper, the latter of which could be compared to Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire, or Bliss Blood of Pain Teens and The Angels of Light.

What's so attractive about You Will Never Know Why is how thoroughly it fleshes out Roby Burgos' imagination; a staggering array of different patches and melodies, arranged for maximum effect, often juxtaposed directly to the quirky cynicism of Sweet Trip's lyrics. "You will drift away / and I would mind / Here's to you," Valerie sings, against an increasingly swaying chorus of guitars and synthesizers. The beauty of each line and note is amplified by the way in which the two compliment each other, and the way in which the interplay between the male and female vocals is manipulated. The complexity of each of these interactions gives You Will Never Know Why an enormous density and replay value; almost a year after picking this album up, I'm still finding new things to like about it.

Get it in FLAC here.

Ameris - Chapter 1 (192)

So one day I happened to somehow stumble upon this, a 6 track demo for a band called Ameris.

The past decade has killed the credibility of the lo-fi sound of cheap homemade recordings. It has taken a lot blunt hits to its once pure face thanks to plenty of bands that have been using it to try and make themselves sound more honest or more authentic or less like the arrogant perfectionists they’ll portray themselves to be(while they really aren’t perfectionists at all, they’re actually just genuinely incompetent). This isn’t me saying that the lo-fi compressed sound should be only kept for those that really have no other option than to go for the cheaply produced album, but I’m saying that making your album in a compressed tape recorder/home recording format doesn’t make you authentic. At one point it may have seemed like it did, but that was because the bands that used it WERE the real thing, they meant what they said, they weren’t playing to appeal- they were just playing.

In this same spectrum is where Ameris lies, playing just for playing. There is something special though that the murky production has on emotive hardcore, like in Sunny Day Real Estate’s debut album Diary, (where the production, while not being in any way low quality was still closer to the lo-fi sound of Pavement’s Debut than it was of a clear cut “I know exactly what is going on” recording) the slight darkness on the recordings make the songs stand out so that it’s not a single instrument that hits the listener, but the entirety of what’s going on- the intensity of what’s around them. In the same way, Ameris’ sound is only further intensified by the mixing, the vocals taking the entire lead throughout this six track EP and leaving the instruments to provide more of the scenery than an event. The band obviously gets a lot of its influence from SDRE though, taking the same feeling of Diary and pushing it with the modern emotive hardcore method.

The EP’s best characteristic and what gives it its entire personality is the piano used in the songs because there’s nothing that really sets contrast to the moods given than the sound that the clear, barely audible (but still there) piano keys hitting down on sweet higher notes as the distorted guitar riffs away, and the drums stick to their crashes.

This is something good, and something you’ll rarely find in this day, a band taking what’s been beaten to death and bringing it back to life, all while it’s still being beaten.

Download here.
Support Ameris at their MySpace.

Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - Dark Night Of The Soul (320)

You might know of Danger Mouse and his hit-or-miss works already, especially his Gnarls Barkley work. I actually hadn't heard anything by him other than Gnarls Barkley until this year when I got his largely forgettable Broken Bells album. Anyway, I first heard about this collab album on my local NPR station sometime early this year; they had both Danger Mouse and David Lynch on talking about the work they did together and how this album was one of the most fun things Lynch has ever done. Naturally, being an avid fan of the movies Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive, I jumped out of my seat when I heard David was venturing into music as well. He actually sings on two of the songs (Dark Night Of The Soul and Star Eyes), one of which is in my personal opinion the best song on the entire album.

Now, the thing about this is, I know next to nothing about Sparklehorse. His Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot album is wonderful, but for some reason I have neither heard much else by him, or anything even about him, so to those who are avid fans of his, I apologize for the lack of emphasis whatsoever on this artist.

So anyway, after that, I looked up some information on the album, and from there it was bliss. I learned that Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips, Julian Casablancas, Black Francis, Iggy Pop, James Mercer, Vic Chesnutt and more all helped out on this solid release. Needless to say, I was ecstatic by this point.

So, I wound up buying this album after I downloaded it because it has become one of my favorite collab albums of all time. Just about every song is rock solid, and Little Girl has become one of my favorite songs of 2009. The cool thing is, the whole album has a tone and style to it, and I am finding it hard to describe it. I suppose it's a dark, eccentric and almost antique sounding, but there aren't words to describe it exactly. Let's say you find yourself in a broken down city and you walk into a small pawn shop filled with odd and creepy things. This album would definitely be in there somewhere, on a small end table covered in cobwebs.

To be frank, you can't go wrong with this album, so check it out. Grab it here and buy it here.

And if you also happen to be a fan of Lynch like I am, have a gander at the Official Website for the album, as he worked on the visuals for both the album and the site.

The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy (FLAC)

The Jesus and Mary Chain's debut album, Psychocandy, remastered in FLAC. Adding pop melodies and monotone vocals, the Reids single-handedly (or double-handedly; think about it) reinvented rock music. With searing guitar textures and feedbacking, intuitive melodies and economic drumming, The Jesus and Mary Chain created a behemoth combination of two already enormous '80s music scenes: first wave noise rock, with its experimentalisms and extensive collages of fuzzed-up guitars, and Smiths-esque jangly pop, with its easily digestible sensibilities and bread-and-butter formatting. What came out of this was something completely unique, something like an unstable element, shedding noise and radiation in its wake, searching for that pop sound but falling just short, warped and disfigured.

Get it in FLAC here.

Woods - Songs of Shame (V0)

Sort of like Les Rallizes Dénudés if they made folk music. Warm and fuzzy, organic and communal. Woods isn't a jam band but they do have a habit of going off on long, psychedelic tangents. Perhaps they should consider expanding their instrumental repertoire beyond the typical folk rock inventory, but the intimacy of those small interactions is just as satisfying.

Doing fine,
Under a setting sun.

Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye (V0)

Our eyelashes weaken with a weight that is sweet and fine,
And this feels like frogs and spiders in the sweet outside.
Tell me why world, unfathomable and good,
The beauty of everything is infinite and cruel.

An airplane, a puppet, an orange, a spoon,
A window, and outside
Stars and the moon.

Few artists are more musically, lyrically and instrumentally gifted than Toby Driver. Choirs of the Eye, Kayo Dot's debut album, is so incredibly diverse that it is a world unto its own. Each instrument, each word and note plays its own role; the phrasing is perfect, better even for its juxtapositions between brutality and serenity. What is so stunning about Kayo Dot is that, beneath each layer of incredible instrumentals, there is an even more incredible layer of meaning in Toby's lyrics. His words are profound, enchanting and mystical, whispering and seeking. Behind sensations of soaring, of crushing, of searching, there is always the reminder that these sounds are coming from someone, from something organic. Clear classical influences reveal themselves only to be swept away by contemporary rehashings, by innovation and reinvention. Each moment of Choirs of the Eye is just as compelling as the last, and each song ends so perfectly that you can't help but want to listen again.

Download.