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.

Bad Veins - Bad Veins (V0)

I heard about these guys about a week before I saw them. They were touring with Two Door Cinema Club and Funeral Party, whom I all had the pleasure of seeing last Wednesday. It was a great show, and I was thoroughly impressed by everyone.

Bad Veins is actually just two guys playing guitar and drums over backing tracks that get belted out by a tape player. They even have this very gaudy tape player on stage with them during shows, and it plays all the horns, synths and overdubs and it makes their sound rich and full. They sound pretty unique, but some of their songs actually remind me of a more composed The Bravery. They utilize telephones and megaphones to distort the vocals and the intensity of the songs never fail to impress.

After the show we went and talked to the guys for a while, and he gave me a free download ticket for their self-titled album. Cool dudes.

Check these guys out, they're only just now reaching their full potential.

Download here and buy it here.

Epic45 - May Your Heart Be The Map (V0)

*ahem* This little thing is unrelated to what's inside the album, but is how I've decided to describe the tone and mood this album portrays:

We came across the trees just then. Finally, everything would be alright again. Finally everything would be good. I could think happy thoughts, and think of them for a long time. But the trees ended, the day persisted and the sun rained heat upon our skulls. This was the rest of our night. This was every night.
My heart was the only map we had, and we were lost and never coming back.

Download because this isn't an album where anything can be taken out of context, so you'll just have to get the whole thing to find out.

Carissa's Wierd - Songs About Leaving (FLAC)

If you've ever had your heart broken, this is definitely an album you can sympathize with.

Songs About Leaving is quite a downer, so if that's a turn off for you I suggest you skip this particular review because not one of the songs on this 12 track LP will put you in a joyful mood. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way saying this album is bad, in fact far from. What it is it states right there in the title. These are songs about leaving.

Carissa's Wierd (yes, "weird" is meant to be misspelled) has a nice layout consisting mostly of acoustic guitars, the haunting co-ed duo of Mat Brooke and Jenn Ghetto, downplayed drums, and the occasional violin and piano. It definitely works for the sound and mood that they are trying to evoke and they do it quite well. These songs will give you the feeling of being alone sitting by a window displaying a distant rainy world outside and thinking about the one that got away. It certainly did for me. I should also add that if you're already in that sort of mood that this album will just feel perfect for you, almost like a personal experience. As I said earlier, if you've had your heart broken you'll almost undoubtedly have a few specific songs that you can identify with.

I'd suggest this album to those that enjoy indie rock with good acoustic work and a pleasing vocal duo. Not to mention those just looking for sad music in general. This album was recommended for me when I was in a particularly depressed state of mind. I can't say it made me feel better, but what I can say is that it gave me nice mood music and something I felt I could relate to. If that's what you're looking for, definitely give it a try.

Highlights: September Come Take This Heart Away, Ignorant Piece of S**t, Low Budget Slow Motion Soundtrack Song for the Leaving Scene

Download here.

Absence only made our hearts grow colder.
I will be waiting,
I'll just keep waiting for you.

Belle and Sebastian - Write About Love (FLAC)

Belle and Sebastian released a new full-length this year, and it's strange to see how much and how little they've changed since Tigermilk. Write About Love is their eighth studio album, an impressive feat in the fourteen years that they've been around. Although it has a much bigger emphasis on production than previous releases, due mostly in part to the influence of Tony Hoffer, who has worked with acts such as Beck and Phoenix in the past, the personal touches of Stuart Murdoch and company still make this album uniquely Belle and Sebastian.

Towns' and cities' populations up and grow,
The workers move to the suburbs,
In between I watch and go,
I run along side rush hour traffic a prayer for every car.

Belle and Sebastian - The Boy with the Arab Strap (V0)

"Belle and Sebastian are a 7 piece pop band from Glasgow, Scotland. Their music can usually be described as "pretty" or "delicate," but without the negative connotations that those words may convey. The band formed as the brainchild of Stuart Murdoch. He recruited members "by instinct" in an all-night cafe in Glasgow. Eventually he found 6 other members, all college students, and Belle and Sebastian was born. The band originally was to just be a small school project type thing, and they initially agreed to release two albums and then split.

Their first album, Tigermilk, which was released in May of 1996 was an underground success almost strictly from word of mouth. Only 1,000 copies were in circulation, and reports were that copies were going for 75 pounds. The album was eventually re-released on a wide scale in 1999. The band's second album, and the one generally attributed to putting Belle and Sebastian on the map, was If You're Feeling Sinister. It recieved wide acclaim in the UK as well. The Boy with the Arab Strap is the bands third formal album. While this album doesn't break new ground for Belle and Sebastian, it consolidates their talents, and the result is an album full of folk-pop treasures."

Download.

Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister (V0)

The recipe for a perfect autumn day: equal parts Belle and Sebastian and Carissa's Wierd. Both gentle and falling, like leaves onto a sidewalk, into and out of your consciousness just often enough to feel a leaf brush your skin or to a hear a lyric like, "Who's seeing you at all?" The truth is that no one is, and Belle and Sebastian have the unique ability to be freed by this fact, to escape to the egocentric fragility and expansiveness of a child's wit and imagination. Every moment is just as surreptitious as it is intimate, and even the synthesized moments of If You're Feeling Sinister seem completely organic.

Download.

Belle and Sebastian - Tigermilk (V0)

On a bus stop in the town,
"We rule the school,"
Written for anyone to read and to see.

On a bus stop in the town,
"We rule the school,"
Written for anyone with eyes in their heads.

Download.

Warpaint - The Fool (V0)

After Warpaint's Exquisite Corpse was released on the Manimal Vinyl label in 2009, their small but devoted Los Angeles fanbase grew enormously. Warpaint has toured with several bands since then, including The xx and Akron/Family, probably the two best representatives of their genre-bending tendencies. The Fool is an exercise in everything haunting; I have heard few records this beautiful and blood curdling at the same time. Although postulations about the album of the year are typically imprudent and even at times overwrought, Warpaint stand a good chance of making their mark not only on this year, but, assuming that they keep releasing music like this, the coming decade.

Your brown eyes are my blue skies.
They light up the rivers that the birds fly over.

Johnny Foreigner - Grace and the Bigger Picture (V0)

Johnny Foreigner is mostly associated with bands like Los Campesinos! but much unlike LC!(!!!!!) JF follows a much more punk and much less cute method of telling you sad stories and wanting to kick your metaphorical ass. Lyrics are a lot more blunt than LC!, instrumentation is limited to mainly a guitar/drum/bass combo with female/male/male vocals throughout and constant sing-alongs (for you and all your campfire friends that like jumping and singing wildly and sometimes accidentally falling into the campfire and then having to go through intense burn treatment [totally worth it though] where in time you'll be back to doing stupid shit near campfires again) that you can enjoy over and over again.

If you get the chance to see them live with LC! on their current tour in the US, take it. It's a god damn amazing experience.

OUR TOWNS RUN BY CRIMINALS? YES!
Don't be a hater, take another sample

Download because you can write a blog post better than me.

Tram - Heavy Black Frame (320)

It's been said countless times before, but I really dislike some of the terms people use to come up with names for genres. It seems like genres used to have interesting names like "jazz" (which was a west-coast slang term for Chicago music), but now people only use other genres and adjectives to describe music now. Not very original. Such is the case with "slowcore."

But in any case, Tram are an amazing "slowcore" band who use an interesting mixture of emo and folk lyrics to create emotionally engaging albums that make for an incredible listen. They are often atmospheric in tone and some songs are borderline shoegaze.

I'm really digging these guys, you should check them out. Heavy Black Frame is a definite keeper. It's been on heavy rotation in my library for a while now, and they never disappoint.

Download here and buy here.

James Blake - CMYK EP

I don't know.
This is just really god damn good.
It's a gosh-darned great mix of electronic music and 80's mainstream production, I tell you what.

I hate him for doing what I wish I was doing.

Did you find her?

Download because this is what being relaxed must sound like.

The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead (320)

The Helio Sequence are Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel. Any Modest Mouse fans reading this will surely recognize Ben as once having drummed for them during 2003 and 2004, when they were releasing Good News.

This album has incredible sentimental value for me, as it was basically the first non-mainstream music that I really got into. I was doing a search for the best albums of 2008 and this repeatedly made its way onto my screen; I just couldn't ignore all the people saying it was a masterpiece, so I gave it a listen.

What I found was undoubtedly the most eye-opening experience I have ever had from a musical standpoint. Even now I feel like they transcend being defined by a single genre. It's not enough to just say shoegaze, or electronic, or alternative rock. Those things together don't even accurately describe The Helio Sequence. Tags are certainly just a formality here, and there isn't a person I can think of that wouldn't be able to at least find some joy in this album. The themes are universal, the music is aesthetically intriguing, and the tone of Brandon's voice sounds like a younger Bob Dylan, creating a feeling of antiquity throughout the songs. For these reasons, Keep Your Eyes Ahead is, without a doubt, my favorite album of 2008.

It's just authentic, I guess.

Download here and buy it here.

Avey Tare - Down There (V0)

So most people know Avey Tare as the best and most talented member of Animal Collective [<3 u avey<33333]. But here he is, doing his solo act and creating something very similar to Animal Collectives last EP, Fall Be Kind. It's made up almost entirely of wavey ambient sounds and someone yelling at you from very far away trying to explain to you how to put together a coherent sentence in english, even though they are speaking an entirely other language. Alabama's a crazy place. But it's kind of similar to Panda Bear's Person Pitch, not in sound but in it's tone and mood, a very "listen to this alone" album that won't really find you singing along as much as just enjoying Avey's grrr-rr-r-r-rrrrrrrrr-rrr-rrrrr-rrr-reat melodies.

I wonder what Charles Dickens would think of this.

Download this because you need some swampcore in your collection.

Winter Blanket - Actors and Actresses (FLAC)

A mix between the relatively uptempo, lush arrangements of Carissa's Wierd and the minimalistic despondency of Low. Winter Blanket is grossly underrated, competing strongly with some of the biggest names in the Duluth indie scene, and even broader acts in San Francisco and Portland. Actors and Actresses is arguably their best work, if not their most comprehensive, and it legitimately brings something to the table in terms of bands, past and present, signed to the Chairkickers label. It's a huge relief to hear music this genuine and beautiful all at once.

Download.

Low & Dirty Three - In the Fishtank (FLAC)

"In November 1999 Konkurrent invited Low to record one of Konk's in house Fishtank-sessions. Low, being familiar with the series, accepted. In the spirit of 'In The Fishtank' Low took things a step further and extended the invitation to their friends Dirty Three to collaborate on the session which took place when both bands played the multi-media festival Crossing Border in Amsterdam.

One can imagine that this created quite a hectic scene when the actual recording took place. While Low where soundchecking, Dirty Three got off the plane on Schiphol Airport. And when Dirty Three were busy doing overdubs, Low did a wonderful show at the festival. Through it all both bands kept their legendary cool, and recorded, faster than anyone could have guessed, six basic songs. The combination of Low's open, desolate sound and the melancholic yet folky violin of Dirty Three's Warren Ellis inspired Mimi to indulge in a more crooning way of singing and Alan to play some amazing banjo. Low's open minds and the way Dirty Three perfectly fit in, makes this Fishtank the record you would expect from such wonderful bands."

Download.

Brian Eno - Small Craft on a Milk Sea (V0)

Brian Eno. One of the most influential musicians of the last five (yes, five) decades still hasn't stopped making music. Partially responsible for David Bowie's Low, Talking Heads, and Sonic Youth, Brian Eno is a legend in the music industry.

His latest album, Small Craft on a Milk Sea, was written in collaboration with Leo Abrahams and Jon Hopkins and features the heavy turntablism influence that listeners have come to expect from Warp Records labelmates. The first few tracks harken back to Eno's Music for Airports days – sedated and ambient – until the latter portion introduces tracked drums and backbeats.

Download.

Drink Up Buttercup - Born and Thrown on a Hook (V0)

"Is that a new Beatles album?"

That was my first impression of the album, I was 100% sure that was Paul McCartney and John Lennon singing. I was also 100% sure that was Ringo's drumming and Harrison's guitar.
And you know what, it might as well be. This album feels like its out of place in time. Like it belongs exactly at 1969 as an album that came right between the recordings of Let It Be and Abbey Road. But it didn't, it came out earlier this year by an indie band named Drink Up Buttercup. So what does that mean?
Is it awesome y/n?
y
y it is.

Lock your windows, lock all your doors and remember your seasickness pills.
(that's the only song where they don't sound exactly like The Beatles)

Download/feed your cat with music here.

Port Blue - The Airship (320)

Many of you are familiar with Adam Young, whether you know it or not. Adam is the multi-instrumentalist behind Owl City.

Before you disregard this post, however, let me tell you that The Airship is one of the most incredible ambient albums of the last decade. It sounds absolutely nothing like Owl City, but actually sounds more like a piano-laden Helios. Each song is layered with keys, piano, downtempo beats and rather than vocals, various audio clips of people talking. The quotes are often religious in context, but do not sway in favor or against any kind of religion. They are more philosophical in nature, and they compliment the music well.

Have an open mind and check out this amazing album. You will not believe it is by the same man who wrote "Fireflies," trust me.

Download here and buy it here.

Low - Transmission EP (FLAC)

Transmission EP includes a cover by Low of the song Transmission, from The Peel Sessions 1986, released by Jow Division. It does great justice to both the legacy of Joy Division and to Ian Curtis himself. Transmission EP also features other unique works written by Low, perhaps in tribute to or in the spirit of Joy Division. This may be the best mix between the darkness of I Could Live in Hope and the clarity of Things We Lost in the Fire, and as a result it's highly recommended to anyone interested in Low, newcomers and old fans alike.

Radio, live transmission.
Radio, live transmission.

Listen to the silence, let it ring on,
Eyes, dark grey lenses frightened of the sun,
We would have a fine time living in the night,
Left to blind destruction,
Waiting for our sight.

Saltillo - Ganglion (FLAC)

I didn't really appreciate trip-hop until very recently, after a fellow blogger here at animationmusicvolume posted Portishead's Third. After having my mind blown, I went back and listened to all the trip-hop albums that I had neglected over the years. Massive Attack, Thievery Corporation, and all the giants of the genre now became more relevant to my taste than ever before. So you can imagine the fascination that ensued when I revisited this masterpiece.

Saltillo's Ganglion is full of unique and heavy beats, but it yet retains the downtempo feel that I've come to know and love in electronic music, so it's like a meeting point between the mellow Boards of Canada-esque mellowness and the twisting melodies that many trip-hop artists make use of. The album's opener, "A Necessary End" starts with a somber stringed instrument that hits me like a truck. The inevitable beat and samples start to tug at you like some sort of anxiousness and the song manipulates your feelings with thought-provoking quotes and samples, and it almost feels dramatic.

The entire album plays with your emotions, and is truly a wonderful listening experience. This is one LP that deserves more attention.

Download in V0 here and in FLAC here.
Buy it here.

Bomb The Music Industry! - Scrambles (V0)

This album will kill you with fun.
It'll make you want to flail your arms wildly in the middle of traffic, steal a car, crash into a candy store, fill your mouth with whatever candy it is you like the most, get back in the car, drive off the bridge, turn the car into a submarine with your new found superpowers, find an underwater fissure and go through it, end up in another dimension where everyone is you, kill everyone there and eat their hearts to gain their power, build a statue to monument your penis in a dimension that is now entirely empty, leave that dimension, go home, 100% all of the final fantasy games, liquefy your computer and inject it into yourself, surf the internet inside your head, buy everything on the internet and have it delivered to "thirty-dick or leave it in the car", finally finish chewing all that god damn candy, burn a hole into the sun, and maybe then the album will be finished.

Did you know its hypocritical to point fingers at the people who point fingers?

Download here.

Peter Broderick & Machinefabriek - Blank Grey Canvas Sky (320)

I had only had experience with Peter Broderick before getting this masterpiece. I think it should speak for itself, but I suppose if you had to put a tag on this you might call it ambient classical. There are hints of electronic influences throughout the songs but the whole thing is basically an ethereal wonderland. When you listen to this, try and listen with your heart, and let your imagination go crazy.

Download here, buy it here.

It's short, so just give it a shot.

The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas (V0)

Coming home from a Los Campesinos! concert seems like the worst timing to want to listen to melancholy guitar on tape recorder folk. Oh, but it wasn't at all.
Not even a bit.
Nope.
It was exactly what I needed right then at that moment, an absolutely perfect ending to a perfect day.
This has to be one of the most emotional and simple albums I've ever heard in my life, nothing but John Darnielle singing and strumming an acoustic guitar while a slight buzz in the background backs up whatever he's singing. If there was an album for your life that you wanted to play while the credits rolled, this would be it.

Download it, because this is the best ever death metal band out of Denton.

Suuns - Zeroes QC (V0)

Do you know what something awesome sounds like?
No, seriously, do you?
No, that wasn't nearly as awesome. Neither was that. Oh shut up, you didn't nearly enjoy Sgt. Pepper's or Pet Sounds enough to actually say that honestly.
This here, this is fucking amazing.
Pie IX might as well be named as one of the greatest 3 minutes of sound ever put into a recording. Yeah, I said that, and yeah you're going to disagree now but you wouldn't disagree if I didn't say it so you can just go and cry in shame, you easily influenced swine.
You need this in your collection now because its the only way to redeem yourself. You need this mess of sludgy tones, pop goodness, and passive shoegazing.

Download what's going to pretty much be the best album of 2010 (for me) here.

Justice - † (Cross) (FLAC)

If you're looking to party, pump yourself up, or bob your head involuntarily, my recommendation would be †. This album guarantees something for any fan of electronic music, even while being more abrasive than other French house artists like Daft Punk. It seems to be a little less repetitive than most house music, which is a definite plus. Variety always adds something engaging to the music. I can honestly say that the only sub-par track on the whole album is Tthhee Ppaarrttyy, and if you could take out Uffie's Ke$ha-esque voice, it would also be a great track.

Favorite tracks: Newjack, Phantom (Parts I and II), Stress

My rating: 9.0/10

Download it here.

Motionless - The Windmill EP (V0)

This EP was something I picked up from an old friend of mine in 2007, back when I was still going through my mainstream alternative rock phase. It sat on my shelf for about two years until more recently, when I discovered that I had neglected this unappreciated sliver of amazing post-rock for far too long. They are somehow still struggling to break free from popularity constraints and therefore they give their music away for free under a creative commons license, much like Andrei Machado's work, which I posted on this blog last Sunday.

The Windmill EP is simply post-rock with a touch of ambience, void of unnecessary crescendos, full of warm harmonies, delay-laden guitar and mellow piano sounds. They have a unique sound, at times delving into polyphonic rhythms and creating atmosphere upon atmosphere, and other times just letting the guitar say all that needs to be said.

The band seems to have stopped their creative output but they are still a part of Ericrock's label (along with The American Dollar, Gregor Samsa, Red Sparowes and Softer) so who knows what will happen in the future. They even played a show with Minus The Bear back in 2008.

Download here. Their music is free to share, but they have a very cheap merch store which can be found here. There are $2 posters, and for a dollar more you can get a FLAC copy of this wonderful EP.

Portishead - Dummy (FLAC)

When Beth Gibbons sings, "I'm so tired, of playing – playing with this bow and arrow," you know what she means. Her voice is seductive and inviting; intimate and elemental. Every word that spills from her mouth is hypnotic, and every instrument and percussive sound that supports it is only given context by what Gibbons reveals.

Download.

Portishead - Third (FLAC)

Third is a hauntingly atmospheric album by influential trip-hop group Portishead in 2008, and it was their first since their self-titled album eleven years prior. The first time I listened to this album was when I was just discovering trip-hop, and I was completely and utterly blown away. I wanted more like it, immediately. Then I found out that Third is quite unlike most trip-hop albums, at least from what I've heard. It's dark, it's mysterious, it's lonely, it's melancholy, and at times uneasy in its tone. Yet at the same time it's undeniably beautiful. Beth Gibbons teeters between sultry and heartbreaking throughout the entire run. Her voice juxtaposed against what could be considered unfitting and out of place beats strangely works to their benefit in a huge way. Every time you listen to this album you'll notice something you didn't before, or something will click with you in an entirely different way than it did last time you listened, giving it a huge amount of re-playability. I can't tell you how many times I've listened to front-to-back in this week alone, and still I am never bored of it. The entire album is amazing from start to finish, but it reaches it's peak with Machine Gun and it doesn't let up until the end. I honestly can't think of a single complaint I have with Third.

If you're into electronic, but have yet discovered trip-hop, this is a great place to start. But I think just about anyone can find something to enjoy here. I've never heard anything but praise for this album, so give it a listen and I'm sure you'll join the club.

Highlights: Hunter, The Rip, Magic Doors

Download here.

I battle my thoughts, I find I can't explain
I've traveled so far but somehow feel the same.

Telefon Tel Aviv - Immolate Yourself (V0)

Telefon Tel Aviv is a Chicago based electronic music group that was formed sometime around 1999 by Charles Cooper and Joshua Eustis. They released about 3 albums and a couple EPs, all of which are a blend of IDM and chillout electronic music. Immolate Yourself specifically is probably my favorite electronic album of all time, and it has continuously been a go-to album for me in the past year.

I can still remember hearing the album's opener, "The Birds," for the first time after I bought this album from their internet store. I can't imagine how many times I played that song, everywhere I went I had it playing, for about a month. The entire album is, in my opinion, wonderful. The music is so much more emotionally involving than most electronic music, in that it is rather melancholic in tone throughout much of the album. That, coupled with the fact that Charlie Cooper died not one week after the release of the album, makes for quite the listening experience. (There were, at first, rumors of suicide, but no conclusive evidence has been found.)

"The Birds" will always be my personal favorite of this album but they are all fantastic as a cohesive unit.

Download here and buy it here.

Devendra Banhart - What Will We Be (FLAC)

I saw Devendra play live today, and his demeanor struck me immediately. Here was someone playing in front of several thousand people, with a full band, with almost complete creative control, having any ego needs of his fulfilled completely by fans and newcomers alike, and the way he behaved was, to say the least, very humble. At one point he invited a member of the crowd to come on stage and perform an original song, and at that point I realized what had attracted M. Gira to Banhart while he was still signed to Young God Records. Shuffling, jiving and stumbling across the stage as he pours out his soul to a crowd of onlookers, Devendra is as magical as he is sincere.

If you've heard Rejoicing in the Hands, Banhart's breakout full-length from 2004, the transition between it and What Will We Be is incredibly satisfying. On the former, Banhart makes promises of surrealistic lyricism and musicality, but often only provides his guitar and voice to support those promises.

To anyone who has been following Devendra these last few years, it seems clear that What Will We Be is the natural culmination of all of his musical developments across the last decade. Surrounded by instrumentation that supports both his methodologies and his character, Banhart's new material is just as endearing as his old.

Love is light ignited.
(Download V0.)

The Blood Brothers - Crimes (V0)

"This is the sound of anorexic middle school girls being dunked into a vat of acid."

I think I stared at this blank page for about 30 minutes before realizing that I can't think of anything more perfectly descriptive of The Blood Brothers, and I think we need to organize a team to test whether or not its true. I'll get the acid, you get the middle school girls.

Check it, son, and be amazed.
The Blood Brothers - Peacock Skeleton Crooked Feathers
Download here.

Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (320)

Brand New didn't exactly start out on the right foot, their first album being pretty mediocre and nothing quite special. Their second album, while being a vast improvement and a very good album it still felt like there was something missing. Then, they released this gem.

The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is such an emotion driven piece that you can't listen to it without having your mood being grabbed by the wrist and dragged along for the ride, no matter how you were feeling before you started. The vocals here are incredibly essential, it's leading the pack so to speak. The passion behind the lyrics and the way they're being sung is so good at times it gives me goosebumps, and then the instruments back it up perfectly to make it twice as powerful. What you get here is the whole package. There are some incredibly depressing songs that can be termed as "emo," some general alternative rockers with fairly catchy guitar riffs, and some with a mix of the two. There's also plenty of acoustics strewn about, with whispering quiet vocals not unlike Connor Oberst of Bright eyes that will make the song feel very personal, as if it's being sung to you from a few feet away. The entire first half of the album by itself should leave you not knowing what to think. The second half gets less emotional and more guitar driven, and will loosen it's grip on your heart by a bit. You'll feel like you just got your heart torn out and the person who did it is just standing there holding it in front of you while you wait for them to kindly give it back. They give it back eventually, but ultimately you're left confused and wanting to know more, kind of like after an open ended movie. Or at least, that's how I felt.

Personally this album has sky rocketed into my favorite albums list in just a mere two weeks or so. I'd suggest this album to anyone who likes emotion and vocal driven music, along with alternative fans. I leave this album with an incredibly high recommendation, but don't expect it to lift your spirits at all. You're in for something that will tug at your heart strings, especially if you focus on the lyrics.

Highlights: Millstone, Degausser, Luca

Download here.

The Flowers Of Hell - Come Hell Or High Water (V0)

Not really sure where to start with this one. When I heard about this album, someone told me that this was what it was like to hear colors. The Flowers of Hell were founded in the early 2000's by Greg Jarvis, a synaesthetic, whose "compositions and productions are largely based upon his timbre-to-shape synaesthetic visions."

I can't even begin to name the incredible people who collaborated on this album. Musicians from Broken Social Scene, Spacemen 3, Ecstasy of Saint Theresa, Guided by Voices, Patti Smith, and many many more all helped out and played with The Flowers of Hell over the past decade.

Come Hell or High Water is definitely one of my favorite albums from last year. Although until recently it was only available on What.cd, it has now made its way onto mediafire for all of you lovelies to listen to. This is one band that more people should know about.

The songs themselves are a combination of instrumental post-rock and psychedelic tones that evoke warm feelings and a sense of peace. This is one for the headphones, late at night, drifting through the moonlight.

Download here and buy it here.

Los Campesinos! - All's Well That Ends (V0)

So with their new album just released earlier this year, Los Campesinos! decided to release an EP containing four songs from Romance is Boring but in entirely different, acoustic versions. All the songs sound more folky and less fun, but it's an interesting listen for any Los Campesinos! fan. Speaking of Los Campesinos!, i'm planning on finally revealing to Gareth my secret crush on his accent at their New York show later this month. I hope his accent loves me back.

Download V0, because we need more post-coital, and less post-rock. Feels like the build up takes forever but you never get me off.

Grooms - Rejoicer (V0)

"For a band that loves terrifying, life-negating noise, Grooms are capable of making some of the prettiest music imaginable. On their debut album, Rejoicer, they effortlessly straddle lines between chaos and peaceful serenity, between nihilistic gloom and ecstatic fun. The album, self recorded at Death By Audio (home to A Place To Bury Strangers) and mixed at Rare Book Room by Nicolas Vernhes (Animal Collective, Deerhunter), crosses dark tribal beauty with moody propulsion, resurrects fractured no wave and makes it fresh with vibrant vocal textures and singalong melodies."

Download.
Support.

Echo & the Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here (V0)

Post-punk legends Echo & the Bunnymen would like to believe that there is life after death. Weaving angular melodies and tribal rhythms into an album both morose and energetic, Heaven Up Here, the sophomore release by 80's-era cult masterminds Ian McCulloch and Will Seargent, is, almost thirty years later, still probably among the greatest post-punk albums of all time.

Download.

Twin Tigers - Gray Waves (256)

I went to an Interpol show earlier this year with my friend, and had the pleasure of being introduced to Twin Tigers, an amazing pop-shoegaze outfit who was opening for them at the time. I actually enjoyed them about as much as I did Interpol, which is saying something, since Interpol is one of my favorite bands of all time.

Gray Waves is their first album, released this year on Old Flame Records. It has obvious My Bloody Valentine influences, coupled with catchy hooks over the layered guitars.

I actually got to hang out and talk to a couple of the band members who were just loitering about in front of the venue. One specific member, named Forrest, even offered to get me into the next show for free, which made my car troubles all the more frustrating the following day.

You will enjoy this if you like shoegaze acts of any kind, and probably if you enjoy alternative rock, too. The vocals on this track are almost squeaky at times, and there's plenty of harmonies with bassist Aimee Morris. Try and catch these guys live sometime, they're incredible.

Download here and buy it here.

Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson - Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson (V0)

"Hey pa, are them corns done growing yet?"

"I'm trying to pretend you don't exist so I can be happy."

I'm a bad listener when it comes to post-rock, and I genuinely dislike "rock" instrumentals, but thank god for you, Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson. Finally, some post-rock made for me, the average cynic. It's deep, it's depressing, it's post-rock, and the entire catch is that there are vocals involved occasionally, but for long enough periods of time for you to have something to grasp onto, and the amount of empty space created by the band leaves room for whoever is listening to fill in the gaps with melody or whatever they want to do with gaps in places (I hear some people like putting gross things in them).

Sample this, yo: Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson – I Think E.T. Is Involved In My Family

Download V0

P.S. If requested, I'll upload in FLAC.

Andrei Machado - Lacuna (V0)

Piano is a beautiful instrument.

Ambient, minimal and at the same time thick with emotion.

La Mi Realidad

Download it here.

This music free to share under a Creative Commons Music Sharing License.

Andrei Machado on Myspace.

Kevin Greenspon & Cloud Nothings - Kevin Greenspon/Cloud Nothings Split EP (FLAC)

1: "We’re going to die in this cave."

2: "No we won't, stop telling me what to do."

A short, nonsense summary (above) of both sides of this new 2010 release from Cloud Nothings and Kevin Greenspon. A split EP with 10 simple short songs (the entire EP totaling up a little more than 18 minutes) all of which are pure (1) hook after hook after hook and then the next song starts and it repeats from (1).

Here’s a taste of both sides of the split: Kevin Greenspon - Carpool Pepsi and Cloud Nothings – You're Not That Good At Anything
If your mouth is watering for more or you're a masochist and hated it, then:
Download V0
Download FLAC

Philip Glass - Koyaanisqatsi (V0)

Koyaanisqatsi is the soundtrack partner to the film of the same name. Now, I haven't even seen the film, although I've heard a lot about it. I found this soundtrack because I'm a huge fan of Philip Glass, and honestly this is my favorite work of his.

This soundtrack is an out and out masterpiece. Six tracks of some of the most excellent compositions I have ever heard. It stands up so well on it's own even without the film. You can listen to it while knowing absolutely nothing about the film, like I did on my first listen, and you'll still be driven through an experience like never before. It's honestly hard for me to try and find a way to describe the sound. It uses full orchestras, choirs, and then uses synthesizers as well. And boy they are used to their full extent. There isn't much I can say to paint a good picture as to what to expect, but going into it blind is half the fun.

I've discussed this soundtrack with others, and everybody agreed it was an experience like no other. Some went as far to say it was life-changing. This is one of those things you just have to experience to understand it... So I recommend anyone and everyone to listen to this. It's not the kind of thing to listen to many many times, but the experience of your first full listen is one that you'll never have again. Without words, this album will give you so much to think about, and to contemplate. It'll leave you speechless.

Highlights: Koyaanisqatsi, Pruit Igoe, Prophecies

Download here.

The Deadly Syndrome - Nolens Volens (V0)

I unfortunately didn't hear about The Deadly Syndrome until earlier this year, when I was still spending all my nights in my room awake until 3 AM just listening to music and watching re-runs of Reno 911. I had heard about them from a friend who, ever since I had taken him to a Blind Pilot show, was obsessed with this understated, simplistic pop sound. The songs they do remind me of lost journal entries, or small composition notebooks filled with thoughts and musings about people and love.

Say what you know,
and fake what you don't,

You can't accept,
They won't have kept,
Your name with your death,
and life will be easier.

– "Wingwalker"

Nolens Volens, their 2010 self-released album, carries an aesthetic feel that almost feels ambient at times. The songs "Villan" and "Afterwork," while retaining a somewhat poppy aesthetic, seem to go into self-indulgent territories, which is something absent from most music like this these days. One of my favorite things about The Deadly Syndrome is the careful attention they put towards the instrumentation. There are plenty of swelling synths and calm acoustic guitars, which balance well with the pop-rock songs like "Party City," which almost gives a Rogue Wave vibe. It's a great album for the autumn season, so take this one with you somewhere. You won't regret it.

Download it here, buy it here.

I also invite you to have a listen to their 2007 release, The Ortolan.

Daft Punk - Alive 2007 (FLAC)

By 2007, Daft Punk had already achieved legendary status in the dance music industry. It's no surprise that Alive, a soundboard recording from one of their late-career performances in Bercy, Paris, is one of their most stunning works to date. Remixing and rehashing their new and old material effortlessly and infectiously, constructing and deconstructing vocals and synthesizer loops with ease, Daft Punk prove that they deserve all of the applause that can be heard throughout this recording. The structure of each part and the flawless transitions between them leads one to wonder if Daft Punk really are human after all.

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Mike Oldfield - Ommadawn (320)

Ommadawn is a completely unique work. It's progressive rock only in the sense that it is actually progressive: it bears little resemblance to the giants of the genre. Oldfield has a dense and layered approach to songwriting; there are many instruments being played at the same time but they are all Oldfield himself using tape loops and editing. The result is a trance-inducing, ethereal, mystical work that should be required listening for anyone interested in modern instrumental music. It's the foggy Scottish countryside in audio form.

Don't let the new age tag scare you away, trust me.

Lusine - A Certain Distance (320)

The more I listen to Lusine the more I'm convinced this man is the second coming of IDM. Best described as a mix of Plaid and Boards of Canada, with a dash of electropop, A Certain Distance is a head trip that doesn't contain a single note of filler. From the incredibly catchy melody on "Two Dots" to the brilliant synth layering on "Double Vision," Lusine shows his influences but never rips them off. A true gem in a genre that too often tries to remake drukQs 10 times a year.

Who is responsible, when the line becomes a triangle?