Gregor Samsa - 27:36 (V0)

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

Here.

Time of Orchids - Namesake Caution (V0)

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

In time, your weapon grows for you.

Japandroids - Heavenward Grand Prix (320)

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

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

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

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

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

Favorite EP from a go-to band.

Thank me later.

Get it here and buy it here.

The Beta Band - The Three EPs (320)

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

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

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

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

My rating: 9.5/10
Download.

Electric Wizard - Black Masses (FLAC)

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

...Boo.

Ellul - Ellul (FLAC)

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

Download.