The mediaf!re Thread 2010: This Time It's Personal

[amok]

Code:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9O78HX62

Hearts Of Black Science - The Ghost You Left Behind

[Katherine]

Ugly Casanova is Isaac Brock's side project, not a Modest Mouse album.

[Catacombs]

I'm really enjoying that Sea & Cake album.  It's the first time I've listened to them.

I'll have some more good stuff coming shortly

[Liz]

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?cim3jjn0x0f

The Sea and Cake's buoyant debut is a breath of fresh air, an utterly distinctive and innovative work that expands the scope of frontman Sam Prekop's work in the great Shrimp Boat to incorporate a new fascination with Afro-Caribbean rhythms and textures. Recorded by Brad Wood, the album simply glows — Prekop's dry vocals and free-associative lyrics skip along a shimmering and lushly pastoral backdrop that nimbly fuses pop, soul, jazz, and even prog rock; tracks like "Jacking the Ball," "Flat Lay the Water," and "Showboat Angel" are as seductive as they are elusive.

[imapiratearg]

I love that album.  I will contribute with another Sea and Cake album, but I was wondering if anyone had any Destroyer.  The stuff by the guy in The New Pornographers.  I've been looking for his album Streethawk: A Seduction for ages, now.

[sean]

This Will Destroy You- s/t

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?arymzmmhcms

Enjoy!

[Jackie Blue]

^^^^ Holy fucker of mothers, thank you for that.  I was getting really impatient waiting for it to be released.

It should be noted that though the file is labeled "EP" this is actually the new album, not the EP that has been out for a while.

[bulldawg982]

Ugly Casanova is Isaac Brock's side project, not a Modest Mouse album.

i know. but as a description the album has a modest  mouse sound considering they are both the artist creation of the same man. since i couldnt get on amg, that was the best short description i could give. it is obviously not modest mouse, it is ugly casanova. this i know.

[Jeans]

This Will Destroy You- s/t

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?arymzmmhcms

Enjoy!

If I knew where you lived and you would have me and we maybe got to know and love each other I would probably marry you I think. This album is excellent so far.

[imapiratearg]

OH MY GOD.


OH.  MY.  GOD.

[Jackie Blue]

Agreed, I'm on track 4 of This Will Destroy You and it is probably the best post-rock since the last Mono album.

[Calaveth]

im on the case

You are a god among men.

Got a bit delayed in uploading CocoRosie, a friend managed to sneak us in for free on Henry Rollins spoken word performance, just got back home.



CocoRosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?5meuh6zgz23

AMG:

It would be very easy for CocoRosie to make merely ornamental music and focus only on the pretty, ethereal sound that was so charming on La Maison de Mon Rêve. Fortunately, Sierra and Bianca Casady have more ambition than that, and they've managed to craft very different identities for each of their albums -- no small feat, especially since their approach is so distinctive. On The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn, they combine the cleanest, most polished-sounding production to appear on a CocoRosie album with a stark hip-hop influence, making this the duo's most focused, and strangest, album yet. The sisters explore this polarity throughout The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn, opening the album with the bold, jaunty beats of "Rainbow Warriors" and following it with the much more delicate trip-hop of "Promise." Switching back and forth between mischievous, endearingly awkward moments and one of breathtaking beauty like day and night, or waking and dreaming, it's almost as if the album posits each of the Casadys' talents as opposing viewpoints. The tracks Bianca takes the lead on are bright and outrageous, like "Japan," which bounces along like the Mad Hatter's tea party as she sings, "Everybody wants to go to Iraq/But once you go there, you don't come back." The song's topsy-turvy feel only deepens when Sierra's eerie background vocals turn into a cheery trumpet melody. Meanwhile, "Black Poppies" and the other songs Sierra dominates delve even deeper into the narcotic chansons of La Maison de Mon Rêve and Noah's Ark. Her singing on The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn is her finest yet, especially on the middle-of-the-day lullaby "Sunshine" and "Miracle," where she has much more power and range than some of her previous kitten-ish Billie Holiday impersonations would suggest. The playful arrangements that are so vital to CocoRosie's sound come into sharper focus on this album, too, with a toy box's worth of sound effects adding poignancy and whimsy to "Animals" and harp and trumpet deepening "Raphael"'s mournful beauty. The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn's densely packed sounds and ideas are a lot to process, but they're what makes this album rewarding on repeated listens -- and what makes CocoRosie's yin-yang, fractured fairy tale sound still surprising three albums into their career.

CocoRosie - Noah's Ark

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?63ln0e1hcdw

AMG:

After hearing Noah's Ark, any concerns about CocoRosie becoming too tasteful or straightforward after the widespread critical acclaim for their debut album, La Maison de Mon Reve, can be put to rest. If anything, the album errs in the opposite direction: alternately rambling and hypnotic, it's much more somber and insular (despite the presence of such kindred spirits as Devendra Banhart and Antony of Antony & the Johnsons) than the duo's subversively angelic-sounding debut. La Maison de Mon Reve certainly had a dark undercurrent that added considerable sting to its sweetness, but it's much more prominent on Noah's Ark; sad, eerie lyrics like "K-Hole"'s "All of the aborted babies will turn into little Bambies" are paired with equally spooky, mournful music instead of the deceptively light tones of the group's first album. There's a lot of power in the album's darkness, particularly on the apocalyptic campfire singalong "Armageddon." However, Noah's Ark occasionally feels too mannered and unfocused, and overly reliant on the sound effects and toy instruments that made their first album so surreally charming: in particular, interludes like "Milk" and "Bear Hides and Buffalo" sound like noise collages missing the key pieces that would hold them together. That said, the album still has many moments of transporting beauty, especially on the songs that feel less cloistered. On "Beautiful Boyz," Antony's gorgeous croon adds a touch of cabaret to the song's tale of star-crossed jailhouse love, and Banhart's Spanish-language mysticism on "Brazilian Sun" advances CocoRosie's dreamy exoticism, giving it a more organic feel than it had on La Maison de Mon Reve. Indeed, the more natural moments on Noah's Ark are often the best: the title track, "South 2nd," and "The Sea Is Calm" all put the focus on the Casady sisters' delicate singing and playing. A disappointment mostly in comparison to the seemingly out-of-nowhere brilliance of La Maison de Mon Reve, Noah's Ark might fail to charm those not already bewitched by that album, but it won't break the spell for devoted fans.

[imapiratearg]

Agreed, I'm on track 4 of This Will Destroy You and it is probably the best post-rock since the last Mono album.

*Ahem.*



(Not an upload, guys.  Sorry!)

[Scandanavian War Machine]

How Strange, Innocence is way better, if you ask me.



hint hint, everyone

[Jackie Blue]

Actually I just got done telling someone that This Will Destroy You is even better than All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone.

While the latter is certainly amazing, it fell just slightly short of You Are There for me.  Especially after seeing Mono do those songs live.

[imapiratearg]

I guess it's just a matter of opinion, really.  I do dig This Will Destroy You.  What I've heard so far is gorgeous, but I tend to lean more towards soaring crescendos, and the slightly more upbeat stuff that Explosions does.  That said, I like Young Mountain more than this one.

I'm thinking I should give Mono a chance, though.  If you'd be so kind as to upload one of their albums, I'll gladly give it a listen.

[Jackie Blue]

I'm on it.  I'll try and get Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined up later tonight.  It's the best starting point for them, I daresay.

[gardenhead_]

I love that album.  I will contribute with another Sea and Cake album, but I was wondering if anyone had any Destroyer.  The stuff by the guy in The New Pornographers.  I've been looking for his album Streethawk: A Seduction for ages, now.

I've been looking for that album for ages too! No success yet.   
I can upload Rubies for you though.

[sean]

No need zerodrone. There was some mono recently uploaded.

Mono (Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined)

Yes please! I know you have uploaded quite a bit now, but I'm massively into Mono at the moment.

I concur!

Here you go!

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?9numzbb5cwt

I guess somebody should upload You Are There as well though. I'm really sad I didn't get to see these guys preform live this fall. Zerodrone is far from the first person to say how excellent they are live.

[blanktom]

i've never really given mono a listen (its really hard to find stuff) and i'd never even heard of This Will Destroy You.

regarding This Will Destroy You. thankyou. i've been tiring of listening to the same 50 Explosions In The Sky songs i have. and there i was trying to find something to sleep to tonight.

[gardenhead_]

Beach House - Devotion (2008)

I can't find a formal description or review of this album anywhere, though every website that talks about them/this release describes them as "dreamy, lo-fi baroque pop" which is a pretty good description. Amazing album in my opinion.

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?6zokwioyexm

200 kbps VBR mp3

Destroyer - Rubies (2006)

allmusic is still down, which sucks. Pitchfork:

Those of you who keep abreast of online rumor-mongering might be surprised to find that the rating at the top of this page is a few points shy of a 10.0. No sooner had Destroyer's Rubies leaked to internet file-trading services than rumors (credited, as these things always are, to "reliable sources") began to spread that the album was to receive a perfect score from this publication. It wasn't until I actually sat down and gave Destroyer's Rubies a few good listens that the aptness of such a rumor really hit me: The album is structurally complex, thematically dense, and labyrinthine in its self-referentiality. Dan Bejar's vocals are, like many of his indie contemporaries, yelpy and dramatic, and many of his lyrics seem preordained to serve as mp3 blog headers. In other words, the qualities that once made Destroyer albums so "difficult" make Destroyer's Rubies a perfect record for this critical moment.

Writing about Destroyer has proven to be, to borrow a quote from Bejar himself, "a playground for fun." Destroyer reviews have an unfortunate tendency to read like essays written for college seminars. Bejar's writing seems to lend itself particularly well to analysis as a "text," often resulting in reviews that focus exclusively on the referentiality of his lyrics. But, while listening to Destroyer's Rubies, I think many writers-- myself included-- have been missing the point. At its core, Destroyer is an almost unfashionably conventional (or, as Bejar would say, "classical") project. Bejar writes well-crafted pop/rock songs that, for all their lyrical complexity, tend to be about people (usually girls) and places he knows. The obtuse character of Bejar's lyrics strikes me not as a Waste Land-esque shot at epic intertextuality, but rather a simple refusal to write things that will make sense to everybody. If more singer/songwriters wrote lyrics without stopping to explain every single reference, or reducing their thoughts to poetic-sounding generalities, Bejar's lyrics might not seem so impenetrable.

Yet, while some have been busy puzzling out every reference in every Destroyer song, Bejar has been quietly and consistently honing his craft, putting out albums that are uniformly strong but thoroughly unique in their musical sensibilities. Though 2001's Streethawk: A Seduction stands as his most concise and catchy record, 2002's much-maligned This Night was a triumph in its own right. With more-reverb-than-guitar guitars, more-fill-than-drumbeat drumbeats, and choruses that mostly consisted of "ba ba ba" or "la la la," Bejar recast musical excess as the core and foundation of a surprisingly solid rock album. With 2004's Your Blues, he dabbled in flamboyantly theatrical vocals and canned MIDI instruments, committing two of the very few aesthetic crimes that might have effectively dismantled the substantial buzz that was building around Destroyer.

Which brings us to Destroyer's Rubies, Bejar's seventh, and best, full-length as Destroyer. The album's nearly 10-minute self-titled opening track makes clear that whatever Bejar may have lost in terms of precision he has made up in versatility. Structurally, "Rubies" is remarkably sophisticated, cycling through several mini-verses but never congealing into any standard song form. Built around a few simple themes, "Rubies" covers a great deal of ground both musically and emotionally as Bejar's characteristically serpentine melody carries him through careening guitar hooks, military snare drum fills, and a strikingly spare acoustic guitar finale. The endlessly catchy "Painter in Your Pocket" opens with a similarly stark acoustic guitar intro, then unexpectedly builds up more bounce and swing than any Destroyer song to date. By the time the song reaches its final chorus, it has attained a blissful, sing-songy energy that hasn't really graced any Destroyer record since Streethawk.

The success of epic songs like "Rubies" and "Painter in Your Pocket" owes a great deal to Bejar's development as a singer. While Streethawk is considered by most fans to be the best Destroyer record, Bejar's vocal performance seems stifled and flat in comparison to Destroyer's Rubies. On Your Blues, Bejar's substantial growth as a vocalist was more or less entirely obscured by the record's synthetic accompaniment. But over the course of Destroyer's Rubies, Bejar coos, hisses, and snarls with uncharacteristic confidence. He's always had a knack for unique phrasing in his melodies, and his newfound expressive range greatly enhances their impact.

Unfortunately, the album does falter a bit toward its end. "A Dangerous Woman Up to a Point" substantially outstays its welcome, ultimately coming across like a half-assed rehash of "Looter's Follies". "Priest's Knees" is sorely lacking in melody, and probably could have been omitted altogether. The album's closing track, "Sick Priest Learns to Last Forever", pushes the bar-band-from-hell aesthetic a bit too far, and winds up living up to its name in a rather unflattering manner. Given the generally high quality of the songs on Destroyer's Rubies, these bouts of sloppiness come off as particularly frustrating. But while Destroyer's Rubies is by no means a flawless record, its most glaring flaws are for the most part mercifully self-contained. Encapsulating and elevating the best of Destroyer's back catalog, Destroyer's Rubies serves as a potent reminder that the intelligence of Bejar's songs has never obfuscated their emotional weight.

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?3zrgmyyxv7f

200 kbps VBR MP3

[Calaveth]

Not sure how well Kaizers Orchestra might go down here, but I love them so much... This is their debut album.



Kaizers Orchestra - Ompa Til du Dør

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?4mq9zz0fak4

AMG:

The mesmerizing debut from Norway's Kaizers Orchestra is nothing short of a revelation. The sextet unleashes both fury and atmosphere from a heady base of Nordic and Eastern-European folk music. While a whole slew of Scandinavian groups-- (Vasen) and (Hedningarna)--with the same kind of "rock-based" agenda have emerged in recent years, the Kaizers don't fiddle around with sequencers and keyboards, opting instead for the primal beating of oil drums and the hell bound carnival lurch of a pump organ. There isn't a single moment on Ompa Til du Dør that isn't completely riveting. From the blistering opener "Kontroll på Kontinentet" through the Salvation Army Band closer "Mr. Kaizer Hans Constanze and Meg," the band maintains a level of energy and creativity that bubbles like beads of sweat and burns like a mountain train. Lead singer Janove Ottesen sounds like the Cramps' Lux Interior devouring Cab Calloway who's simultaneously fronting Morphine, and when the rest of the members jump in on a call-and-response jam like "Resistansen it's like a revival. This is electrifying music that transcends any language barrier, as the power and excitement behind it is universal. Known regionally as an unparalleled live act, the Kaizers are re-inventing Scandinavian music while maintaining a firm grip on the past, and like their black metal and folk-rock contemporaries Opeth and Garmarna, their doing it in a style all their own.

[imagist42]

How Strange, Innocence is way better, if you ask me.



hint hint, everyone

I'm assuming this is what you're looking for?


Explosions in the Sky - How Strange, Innocence

AMG: How Strange, Innocence was recorded a year before Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever, the eventual breakthrough for Austin's Explosions in the Sky. But this 2005 Temporary Residence release is the first many will hear of it, since the original pressing was only a few hundred CD-Rs. It's an interesting listen for fans of the group, as it incorporates the layered guitar melodies and deliberate volume shifts of later EITS work but unfolds with a brittle uncertainty that reveals the band's brief lifespan at the time. Sometimes it sounds like a recital, as if Chris Hrasky, Michael James, Munaf Rayani, and Mark T. Smith, having learned their parts painstakingly and over time, were debuting the songs for an audience of proud parents. In "A Song for Our Fathers," brittle electric guitar notes find the melody over brushed snare and a stoic bassline until the song locks into a louder but still lingering groove, like a sleepwalking Pixies, while "Time Stops" builds from a gentle stroll to a storm of crash cymbals, shadowing vintage Bedhead in the din. The songs here are long -- nothing's under five minutes -- and Explosions in the Sky overuse some of the same effects that give their material strength. "Magic Hours," for example, is only a preamble to "Time Stops," glimmering, then building, then exploding at the usual pace. But despite some predictability, How Strange, Innocence shows remarkable tact for a band that was so unseasoned during its recording. As the ambitious "Snow and Lights" proves, they were already hashing out the pacing issues, heroic scope, and striking melodic sense that would define later releases.

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?7leemm4z10g

[Catacombs]

I have a bunch of albums backlogged because i keep getting soo much good music from here.

Eddie Vedder  - Into the Wild

Eddie Vedder's Into the Wild is a collection of nine original songs and two covers for Sean Penn's film of the same name, based on Jon Krakauer's novel. The novel and film are concerned with the short life of Christopher J. McCandless, an honor student and athlete who literally walked away from his life, donated his 24,000 dollars in savings to Oxfam, and left what he perceived to be a sick society behind. He stepped into the hinterlands of Alaska and never returned. He eventually died of starvation. Penn handpicked Vedder to score the project. Vedder in turn came up with this collection of folksy, rootsy tunes where rock & roll makes fleeting appearances (most notably on the opener, "Setting Forth," and the first single, "Hard Sun"). It's a true solo project in that he played virtually everything on the set, and had help in only two places, backing vocals by Corin Tucker on "Hard Sun" (written by Gordon Peterson), and a little extra acoustic guitar assistance and backing vocals from Jerry Hannan on "Society," a tune Hannan authored. That said, these songs stretch Vedder to the breaking point as a writer. There are no enormous emotive vocal explosions like there are on Pearl Jam records save for one restrained attempt near the end of the album. As the cycle begins on "Setting Forth" ("Be it of no concern/Point of no return/Go forward in reverse/This I will recall/Every time I fall..."), the notion of walking away is one of "for good." The rest of the record deals with existential questions of losing everything in order simply to lose it and find something undetermined instead, rather than in terms of absolute "freedom." Vedder does a fine job of letting the listener know the cost in "No Ceiling" and "Far Behind." On "Long Nights," one gets the picture that the singer is whistling past the graveyard: "Have no fear/For when I'm alone/I'll be better off/Than I was before/I've got this life/I'll be around to grow/Who I was before/I cannot recall/Long nights allow/Me to feel I'm falling/I am falling...." These songs all feel like a score, and that's not necessarily a good thing. They all seem to be of a piece, but musically there isn't enough imagination to distinguish them, to set the tension of dynamic in motion. There's something telling in the fact that "Hard Sun" is the single, because it's the only song that moves above the fray in terms of color, texture, and emotion. Most of the rest -- with the exception of an all too brief organ and voice tune called "The Wolf," which is where the well of Vedder's power as a singer gets touched but never dug -- is an extended meditation on this existential notion of freedom, and the words begin to repeat, even as the recording draws to a close. There is a poet at work here, but in some ways, outside the context of the images, the notion of a man freezing and starving to death even as he embraces beauty is a tough sell with a solid wall of calm enveloping the listener -- meaning that simple is fine but difficult is another, and Into the Wild contains not enough of either to really reach out and grab the listener, let alone convince.

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?1fpm3sczmkx

Boy do i wish we could put movies on this thread.  I'm dieing to see this movie still.

[Landstander]

Here is Mono's You Are There. Probably their best release yet, which means that it's really really good.

Mono - You Are There

Japanese power quartet Mono return with a fifth album, and their fourth for Temporary Residence. You Are There, engineered and mixed by Steve Albini, picks up the formula where he and the band left off on Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined. Much has been made of Mono's engagement and deployment of dynamics. While it's true that earlier recordings paid homage to the band's collective heroes and influences, Mono have increasingly carved out their own terrain in composition, recording, and performance. You Are There is comprised of six pieces. They range in duration from just under four minutes to over 15. "The Flames Beyond Cold Mountain" begins quietly yet forbiddingly with rounded, hushed guitars playing in droned harmony. Sustained, rounded tones are joined by what sounds like voices, sparsely registering before a single guitar states a skeletal melody above the whispering din, establishing tension gradually, repetitively. Another six-string joins in, cymbals shimmer, a bass plays a simple droned line to signify the chord changes. As the tom toms enter gradually, the melodic invention becomes more pronounced. There is texture, ambience; silence in the slowly decreasing space. The entire thing splits open at six minutes and begins to roar, ever insistently, until it is a humming throng of feedback and axe scree while never losing sight of the harmonic framework of the tune. Tempi remain static, but everything becomes punishing and loud before returning to some semblance of halting lyricism at ten minutes in before whispering out and returning to the din before disappearing into silence. By contrast, "The Heart Has Asked for the Pleasures" is brief, almost a folk song. It is sheer "prettiness," is enhanced by its brevity (3:43). It feels like a lullaby. "Yearning" begins much the same way, and it feels like the guitars are seeking out a lyric they eventually find. Leads are twinned harmonically, playing counterpoint with only the cymbals embellishing the sound. But of course it cannot remain. Layers are added very slowly and purposefully until the tension begins to mount, though it mounts in such a gorgeous way. Mono's guitarists almost feel like they are a young Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd from Television as they breathe one another in, observe one another, and wind one another further inside the melody they cook up. When this one heats up, it shakes the entire speaker set to the foundation as elements of flamenco, classical, and Nippon folk music get stitched into the mix with a rusty stiletto and C4. And lest one think that moving from softly initiated melodic fragments to full-on volume shred jarring, one need only to hear the haunted aesthetic in the title cut that never, ever moves beyond a mournful whisper. And this continues only a bit more insistently with a kind of quiet majesty on "The Remains of the Day." The set's final cut moves from crystalline riffing to power rock and back, through an intricate, finger-picked series of motifs. Even when it erupts it remains knotty and narcotic in its appeal. Unlike Pelican and Isis, Mono have no use for heavy metal post-rock pomp. They are rock songwriters whose lyrics are guitar lines sung, shrieked, and wailed to the accompaniment of a masterful rhythm section. Mono are a rock band -- and a damn fine one -- and they only get better with time.

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?7gj4d4mhedj

[Jackie Blue]

So much post-rock in this thread!

I think it's time for me to get drunk and jerk off to Mogwai!

[Landstander]

Hope you haven't orgasmed yet, because here's some more.

Mono and World's End Girlfriend - Palmless Prayer/Mass Murder Refrain

What the hell? In April 2006, Mono released their instrumental opus You Are There on Temporary Residence and they toured the world in support of it. In September of the same year Palmless Prayer/Mass Murder Refrain is issued as a collaborative album with World's End Girlfriend (aka Katsushiko Maeda), the underground Japanese producer, mixologist, and multi-instrumentalist. Helping out with this slab are a string section, a chorus, a pianist, and jazz saxophonist Takafumi Ishikawa. This is, it appears, one long set with each "movement" or division in it marked with the titles "Trailer 1," "Trailer 2," "Trailer 3," and so on. It begins innocently enough with an elegy played by the string section, shifting slowly, purposefully in dirge mode. The guitars begin to enter at seven-and-a-half minutes into the 12-minute opener. The chorus enters in "Trailer 2" with the guitars barely present, but adding just enough tension that the listener knows something is about to happen. Tension is built so slowly as to almost be imperceptible. On "Trailer 3," Mono begins to play as a trio, with drums weaving through the strings, which become more insistent until WEG and Mono set the noise to stun about halfway through its 13-plus minutes. Chorus, piano, and silence add dimension to the strings on "Trailer 4," and Mono begins their swell, burn and release on the final trailer, slipping around the background, creating a taut sonic backdrop until the entire thing just explodes as a mournful, gorgeous, funereal hymn that eventually enters back into silence. Palmless Prayer reveals an entirely different side of this band, who nonetheless keep their individual identity adding depth and dimension to their sound. This isn't classical music, but it's not rock, either. It's something else entirely, which apparently folds into the multivalent calling card Mono have attempted to establish since they began. It's puzzling, bewildering and utterly beautiful.

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?44m3yc4b1lm

I think I actually found this next one through a mention by you, zerodrone, so thanks for that. One of my favorites of 2007.

Maserati - Inventions for the New Season

On Inventions for the New Season, Maserati move simultaneously forward and backward away from their clear associations with the modern post-rock of groups like Tortoise and the Mercury Project and seemingly back in time to the progenitors of prog rock (King Crimson, early Rush) and especially Krautrock (Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream). Their nearest contemporaries may be the prolific yet obscure Finnish outfit Circle, especially their tendencies toward driving guitar/keyboard workouts in the motorik vein, as would befit a band named after the finest of Italian sports cars. These songs hurtle forward at an ever-increasing pace, which they rely on to build intensity rather than the standard quiet-to-loud dynamics of the post-rock genre. Actually, they're not alone in mining this realm of instrumental rock -- they also share with peers the Turing Machine and Ostinato the ability to sound elaborate without actually playing complicated music -- most of the riffs are built on simple, clean guitar figures augmented with chiming and echoing effects and building and expanding in their relentless repetition. Every track here is a stunner, especially the opening "Inventions" and the bass-driven Floyd-ian barnburner "Show Me the Season," culminating in a peak with the tongue-in-cheek nod to the Police's brief foray into progressive rock, knowingly titled "Synchronicity IV."

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?azndkkyetxl

I love this thread so much. It's like Christmas everyday.

[Scandanavian War Machine]

thank you so very much imagist42!

the only post-rock i'll ever need.

[mfpole]

oh yes oh yes
man... or astroman!!!

[JimmyJazz]

Ween's studio discography:

GodWeenSatan: The Oneness: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ingtjw99
The Pod: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BVRKLN1O
Pure Guava: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ti03gef4
Chocolate & Cheese: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=S09D6KGG
12 Golden Country Greats: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Q65M3XO0
The Mollusk: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=E6029STW
White Pepper: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=I8Y4JAMU
Quebec (Pass: thcteam*): http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L5CBQP80
La Cucaracha: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4JH1HNMP

[pat101]

I'll up the new Malkmus record if anyone's interested.

[MusicScribbles]

The new Malkmus was uploaded about a page ago.

Edit: Malkmus, not Malmus. Jeeze.

[Catacombs]

Continuing with my grunge kick...
Mother Love Bone - s/t

It wasn't death but life that brought Mother Love Bone to the attention of the world in the end. Andrew Wood's premature passing was a personal tragedy to all who knew him and to the band's hometown fanbase, but the group had barely made a mark beyond the Shine EP, and Apple was less a debut album than a memorial. But when Seattle's music took over the commercial stratosphere, with Gossard and Ament steering Pearl Jam to undreamed-of heights, it was inevitable that a re-release would occur -- something further confirmed when "Crown of Thorns" became one of the many radio hits from the soundtrack to Singles. For all the after-the-fact money-making thanks to Polygram, about the only thing that makes it a rip-off to the earlier fans is the inclusion of one unreleased track -- "Lady Godiva Blues," which sounds more than a little like one of the Cult's neo-boogie efforts circa Electric. Wood certainly has Ian Astbury's gift of gab and vocal projection, though it's likely Rick Rubin would have recorded the guitars a lot more forcefully; either way, it's not essential for those who have everything else already. For newcomers, though, this collection is all that is needed, compiling as it does the full contents of both Shine and Apple into one package. The second disc only contains the Shine take of "Capricorn Sister" and "Lady Godiva Blues" itself; given the presence of numerous demos on bootlegs, including a version of Argent's "Hold Your Head Up," it seems a lot more could have been added. It's a fairly minor quibble, though, given all the fine music, whether it's the stomp of "Holy Roller" and "Half Ass Monkey Boy" or the fragile beauty of "Stargazer" and "Crown of Thorns." Ament's amusing but heartfelt liner notes, complete lyrics, and a slew of pictures of Mother Love Bone memorabilia help round out the release.

Code:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/cmyzc3

"Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" is one of my favorite songs ever

[imagist42]

JUST LISTENED TO MONO

I THINK MY EARS ARE GONE OUT

[Scandanavian War Machine]

if post-rock isn't your thing, try this:
The White Stripes covered Tegan and Sara's "walking with a ghost" and made it into a single with some live Stripes tracks and some b-sides or something. it's decent; it's mostly just worth it for cover (which is better than the original, if you ask me).


The White Stripes - Walking With A Ghost

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?0zenf6pwf9o

[imapiratearg]

Thanks for the Destroyer!

Also, I got that Mono album, Walking Clouds...  Is the first track really over an hour long?

[bulldawg982]

The Cool Kids - Totally Flossed Out EP

Code:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/5zmvy0

its some kickass music... if only i had the bake sale ep... and my friend recommended some pinback to me... like this is a pinback cd... too bad i dont have them... cough cough.

[gardenhead_]

moar post-rock!

Explosions in the Sky - All of A Sudden I Miss Everyone Remixes (2007)
1. The Birth And Death Of The Day (Jesu Remix)
2. Welcome, Ghosts (Adem Remix)
3. It's Natural To Be Afraid (Paper Chase Remix)
4. What Do You Go Home To? (Mountains Remix)
5. Catastrophe and the Cure (Four Tet Remix)
6. So Long, Lonesome (Eluvium Remix)

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?fsjmwmxzqyr

192 kbps mp3s

[a pack of wolves]

Guess what? More emo (basically), this time a little more recent. Tiny Hawks I always think of as what Hella playing emo would sound like whereas LLBNF are just some really harsh screamo with a hefty grind influence.



Tiny Hawks - Fingers Become Bridges

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?cymdxawrs3z

From wikipedia:

Tiny Hawks is a hardcore punk rock duo from Providence, Rhode Island, comprised of Art Middleton (guitar) and Gus Martin (drums, double bass). The band formed early in 2003 and played their first show in The Bakery warehouse in Olneyville, RI in May of that year. Tiny Hawks released their debut 8 song EP/12" Fingers Become Bridges in 2004 on Corleone Records and Moganono Records. Their subsequent full-length People Without End was released in 2006.

Tiny Hawks' musical style combines elements of Math and Noise Rock as well as DC-influenced hardcore punk (Rites of Spring, Cap'n Jazz, Assfactor 4) and 1990's thrash (Palatka, In/Humanity). Their contemporaries include Sinaloa, Fiya, Daniel Striped Tiger, Ampere, Halo Perfecto, and Death to Tyrants.

Love Lost But Not Forgotten - s/t

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?5dtvxmsobyl

From wikipedia:

Love Lost But Not Forgotten (commonly called just Love Lost or LLBNF) was a screamo/emo violence group formed in 1997 in suburban St. Peters, Missouri comprised of ex-members of End Over End, and The Paxidils. Known for their violence onstage and unique vocals provided by a lineup that sometimes included two main vocalists (Prater and Schmidt both being solo vocals for the band at one time through the bands career.) and a trio of guitarists (Fogelbach and Emerick also surviving the lifetime of the band, with Doerhoff re-emerging to make a few special appearances in their later years).

[imagist42]

Thanks for the Destroyer!

Also, I got that Mono album, Walking Clouds...  Is the first track really over an hour long?

Mine is 14:49. You might try redownloading, because the first time I downloaded something went wrong so that I couldn't even unzip it.

[MusicScribbles]

This file corruption thing happens to me when my download is interrupted in some completely unnoticeable way. Sometimes I might lose connection for a second and the thing will say it's finished when it's missing about a mb of data, to which my computer will refuse to unzip it because it is incomplete.

[E. Spaceman]

hey dudes, someone upload Princess Superstar's This Is The Winter of our Discotheque for me

[pastiche]

Felt like a dick lurking without contributing for so long. So hopefully this is all stuff that hasn't been shared yet. First time using mediaf!re, so there's a good chance I will mess this up.


The Jolly Rogers - s/t

First some "indie-pop." This was one of the first releases by Oh No! Oh My! back when they called themselves The Jolly Rogers. Most of these songs were re-recorded and released as the EP "Between The Devil And The Sea," but a few weren't. This was released just as a CD-R, so no artwork or anything as far as I know.

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?fovhejod1mg

I Hate Myself / Strikeforce Diablo 7" Split

And now some emo. There used to be a good review of this online, but I can't find it anymore. It's just three songs, the first track by IHM is "To A Husband At War." This song is also on the CD version of their 10 songs and is by far my favorite IHM song. To me this version sounds a little different, but I think that has more to do with my crappy copy of 10 songs than any actual difference. The next two songs are by Strikeforce Diablo who have a bit more of a brash sound to them. I don't have much to say since I'm not a huge fan, but it's good stuff nonetheless.

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?cxu4dy1ndsu

Don Martin 3 "discography"

More emo. Ummm, no one seems to know much about this band which adds heavily to their omg cult status amongst some. They were a mid-90's emo band from Florida similar to Moss Icon. The voice takes a little getting used to, but overall it's quite good. What's contained are only their official releases which is why I hesitate to call it a full discography. A lot of the artwork and inlet covers for their 7" release can be found here (http://shallbejudged.blogspot.com/2007/04/don-martin-3-self-titled-12-belladonna.html).

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?0z2rynikqz0

Big kudos to 'a pack of wolves' and 'trialandterror' for their contributions (words and uploads) as of late.

[morca007]

Oh lawd, did someone say they wanted sum Pinback? Here is their self titled:

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?0ywpxwworj4

[onewheelwizzard]

Me an a couple others drummed up some talk about this album in the thread DynamiteKid started about Kyuss.  In my opinion it's the best album of the 1990's, and one of the top 10 of all time.  It's basically perfect in every way.  It's seen uploading in this thread before but it's the kind of thing that bears repeating.

Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley

After creating a classic with their second album, Blues for the Red Sun, desert metal gods Kyuss faced the unenviable task of delivering the goods once again for a new label, Elektra Records. And they almost pulled it off with 1994's stellar, Sky Valley. The album's 13 songs are divided into three "suites" which fully display the band's impressive creative range, from furious metal to psychedelic grooves, and anything in between. The first and most consistent of these suites starts with the huge guitar riff of "Gardenia" (which resembles molten lava flowing down the side of a volcano), continues into the moody space jam instrumental "Asteroid," and culminates in the strangely titled yet superbly diverse "Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop." Other highlights include the solid thrashing of "100 Degrees," the prog-rock instrumental "Whitewater," and the rather mellow (for Kyuss standards) "Demon Cleaner." But no song exemplifies the Kyuss sound as well as the aptly-titled "Odyssey," which opens suite number three and provides a veritable blue-print of the band's unique combination of ingredients. The track begins with a cryptic melody, explodes into a ferocious riff, glides into a psychedelic bridge, then returns to full-throttle for its conclusion.

- Ed Rivadavia, All Music Guide

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?c2pvdgujj20

No matter what power the words I say might or might not have to make you download this album, I can say that if you don't you are missing out on an absolute gem the likes of which is not seen in rock music more than a few times a decade.

Here's a random favorite as well.  I've listened to this album a few times over the past couple months and been independently blown away each time.  I'm not sure if this is a band that it is cool to like but this is really really really good.  I guess it's ... prog?  Or something?  Serious musicianship, style's all over the place but tends towards the more psychedelic side of krautrock (definitely aspects of folk too though).

Gomorrha - I Turned To See Whose Voice It Was

Gomorrha's first eponymous album was mediocre, and their second, Trauma, was OK, but on this, their third, they produced a masterpiece. The hard rock elements are still there, but with longer tracks with more emphasis on guitar and organ solos and complicated arrangements with a unique flair. Though each of the six tracks has a lengthy instrumental jam, the intense music is enhanced by strange lyrics dealing with surreal visions. "Dance on a Volcano" opens with a few minutes of surging, aggressive proto-metal before descending into more abstract space rock with swirls of organ tones, and then slowly builds back to where it began; in the last couple of minutes the band fires up some loose, funky licks. "Opening of the Sealed Book" offers odd, stuttered guitar riffs that occasionally blast off into intense solos. The title track begins with a haunted acoustic guitar strum and surreal lyrics in a crypto-religious vein and then offers more guitar pyrotechnics over ethno-dance rhythms on a lengthy instrumental. "I Try to Change This World" starts off with typical hard rock brashness and lyrics howled out with anger and morphs eventually, after another lengthy instrumental, back to the same lyric passage, but in a slow, world-weary voice of defeat. Even the shortest track, "Dead Life," is mostly wild guitar jamming with very short vocal sections at the very beginning and end. Not a single weak moment from beginning to end. ~ Rolf Semprebon, All Music Guide

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?cquzfbvzhbl

[Catacombs]

Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen

Expanding on the hook-laden songcraft of their eponymous debut, the Ben Folds Five turn in another glitzy array of Todd Rundgren-esque, piano-driven pop on their second album, Whatever and Ever Amen. Though it isn't as consistently tuneful and clever as their first record, Whatever and Ever Amen has a snazzy sense of popcraft -- the hooks of "The Battle of Who Could Care Less," "Brick," and "Fair" sink in nearly as effortlessly as Billy Joel, Elton John, or Joe Jackson -- which makes the record enjoyable ear candy. Occasionally, Folds' smug humor -- whether it's the alternative rock skewering of "The Battle" or the borderline misogynist humor of "Song for the Dumped" -- can undercut his melodic gifts, but Whatever and Ever Amen is confirmation that the showy pop pleasures of his first record were no fluke.

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?2emn9h5d9e4

I heard this was good so i picked up and figured i'd share

[valley_parade]

Impaled Northern Moonforest - s/t

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?dotn1rs1jjx

*cough*

[jimbunny]

The Tiny - Close Enough

a warm, spare chamber pop effort

Beautiful minimalist pop. Cello/bass/piano trio. Here's the video for "Closer" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7opgGkM6BA

[Ballard]

Alright I was going to make my 1000th post a full Dinosaur Jr. discography upload. Which is why I've stayed away from the forums for like a week.

But honestly due to mediaf!re glitches and my lack of access to a computer all week, this has proven too difficult. And I don't want to stop myself from posting until I'm able to do it.

So you guys get:

Bug

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?fspmtmdmxl4

Dinosaur

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?bhagnuixvic

Hand It Over

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?8j0vibajtno

Green Mind

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?1i3mm0jytyb

Whatever's Cool With Me

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?fudekewgzbd

Which is what I have uploaded so far. Anyone who knows this band should already have You're Living All Over Me and Where You Been. If you don't, feel free to request and I'll upload it soon.

Also a bonus fucking great album by The Cobbs. Think a slightly more subdued Blur.

The Cobbs - Sing the Deathcapades.

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?909gc0kg3fp

Thanks for all the strong boarding and fantastic music I've found through this thread. Also WOOOO 1000 POSTS.

[valley_parade]

Happy thoosandth, Gene!


Here's some more fun Japanese shoegaze/dreampop from Cruyff In The Bedroom. "Hikarihimawari", released in 2003.

Code:

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?f9jvtoown0t