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[E. Spaceman]

...Sting?

[aflowerchild]

The (500) Days of Weezy is surprisingly pretty good.

[rednightmare]

Well, not Sting exactly. Any musician that takes a lot of middle eastern or south american musical traditions and blends it with western folk/rock will be similar. Sting is just one of the best known examples.

[KvP]

DJ Nate - Da Trak Genious

Weird hip hop / house / juke hybrid stuff.

‘Da Trak Genious’ is Planet Mu’s compilation of the Footwork tracks of DJ Nate, born Nathan Clark, a 20 year old artist who grew up in the westside of Chicago. He started making Footwork tracks 5 years ago, more recently turning his hand to Hip hop and R'n'B, and the album is an archive compilation of his productions.

This is Nate’s first ever worldwide album release. It’s essentially a selection of tracks that have come out on small edition cdrs and tracks posted on youtube and imeem. This is how Planet Mu first heard his music, which has gathered a small but enthusiastic band of followers and fans who have been itching to hear more from Nate and know more about the genre.

Footwork tracks are instrumental tracks made for Footwurking, or Jukin'; a dance style that’s local to Chicago that kids use to let off steam in group competitions with each other. It’s a distant relative of the competitive hip hop style of up-rocking but with frantic foot moves that have their roots in Jazz dancing.


The Footwork sound has its roots in Chicago House especially the accelerated ‘Ghetto’ house, and the influence and speed of the pioneering Ghetto house label 'Dance Mania' is clear: the tough sentiments and hip hop influence is all there, but the fast linear hypnotic 4x4 sound of those records has been re-calibrated and given an ultra-syncopated treatment to test dancers, the samples and repeated lines are pitch adjusted up and down giving the music a strange hypnotic feel.


These tracks have a unique drama and a pressure that is unique to Footwork but reminiscent of the edited drum syncopation of jungle and also hip hop cutting in DJ battles.

DJ Nate  uses the basic palette of samples from pop and hip hop, pitched, layered and triggered into unusual edits, often edging into distortion,  usually with a simple repeated phrase like ‘hatas our motivation’ used to pump up the dancers. This hypnotizing effect, combined with sparse 808 drum patterns, often with busy fills, relentless triplets and off-kilter accents, is used to create very different variations within his sound.

Tracks like ‘Back Up Kid’ and ‘You’re Gonna Love Me' work with modern r'n'b samples, while others like ‘Footowurk Homicide’ and ‘Fade Da Black Trak’ seem to echo their contemporary British sound of Grime. ‘Go Hard’, ‘Let The Beat Build’ and ‘Free’ reach back to earlier soul music, crossing half-time drums with slow, looped soul licks,  while ‘A+ Mayhem’ pitch up or chipmunk emo tracks to hysterical effect. The mood, skill and ADD emotion across the album is difficult to get into first but after some listens the character and voice of DJ Nate’s unique productions comes across.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?94r1ar9eklg4wup

[minus_the_david]

The (500) Days of Weezy is surprisingly pretty good.

ya know, for whatever reason, i just could not get into that album. i like the soundtrack, but i am just not a fan of Weezy's voice...though i'm sure if you do like his voice otherwise, you'll love it. me...not so much.

[alli]

Interpol - Interpol

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http://www.mediafire.com/?10kq3wikwx85znz

[pat101]

Can't believe this hasn't been posted. One of my absolute favourite 'ambient' records ever.

Gas - Pop

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http://aminormass.blogspot.com/2010/09/gas-pop.html

On Pop Wolfgang Voigt lightens the tone of his Gas work, adding earthly sounds and brighter melodies. The result remains stylistically ambient; in fact, the stripping away of bass beats, which had been employed on his past two albums, Zauberberg (1998) and Königsforst (1999), makes this more of a purely ambient album than an ambient techno one. Such a distinction (i.e., between ambient and ambient techno) may seem hair-splitting, but it's a key difference between Pop and its predecessors, and this is an album that aims to be different and, presumably, more accessible (if the album title is to be taken meaningfully). Even though, for the most part, there aren't any underlying rhythms of looped kick drums on Pop, there's plenty of rhythm; rather than looping low-frequency bass beats, Voigt loops mid- and high-frequency percussive sounds (for example, a tinny clanging sound on the fourth track). Actually, there's a lot going on in the mid- to high-frequency range, a variety of looped sounds -- some rhythmic, others melodic, still others simply ambient -- and these are a different set of sounds than were previously employed. In general, the seven tracks of Pop are comprised of a multi-layered set of loops that carry on seemingly to no end, though subtle nuances are constantly at play, creating a steady and sustained ambience that is forever shifting and swirling around lifelike. The final track is the most remarkable; at almost 15 minutes, it's the longest, and it's far and away the most intense and rhythmic, chugging along like a runaway train. Besides being remarkable on its own terms, this final track is a great finale and gives Pop the same sense of arc that characterized Zauberberg. While all of the Gas albums are cornerstone works, setting the stage for the style of "pop ambient" techno popularized by Kompakt in later years, Pop, along with Zauberberg, is a crowning achievement for Voigt and, as if his mission were accomplished, he chose to conclude his series of Gas albums here.

I'll post something awesome without the whoring soon I promise...

Plus a super-limited cassette rip of Keith Fullerton Whitman's procedurally generated synthwork. Pretty awesome stuff.


Keith Fullerton Whitman - Generator\

Awesome!

[pat101]

Rhythm & Sound W/ The Artists [2003]

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?ih8002o8q3b27a5
So God-Damned good.

From Dusted Magazine

Exactitude, much more so than style, distinguishes Rhythm & Sound from other dub projects. Claiming the somehow inexhaustible process of reduction as mantra, Rhythm & Sound make dub with the fewest possible elements; namely, rhythm and sound.

Such a reductive method has in fact been the basis of dub since its earliest days. The first dubs were b-side mixes of late-60's reggae singles. Producers removed the vocals, allowing the crowd to sing the original lyrics or emcees to improvise their own. Dub is a democracy whose first triumph was to ensure the inclusion of the listener as active participant in musical culture. It turns songs into spheres, accessible from all angles. Through dub, musicians, producers, and listeners enjoy equal access to shaping music.

And dub, as it became increasingly artful, also codified the role of producer as performer. This role was legitimated chiefly by King Tubby, Black Uhuru, Lee Perry, and others whose studio finessing made sound into an instrument. Rhythm and sound, from then on, were the focal points of the genre, at the exclusion of all that which became unnecessary in the process.

In short: less is more, so dub contracts. Musicians otherwise tend to expand on past concepts, augmenting those concepts with newness, holding onto the cores of some useful traditional ideas while also making them relevant to the here and now. This progression carries an obvious logic, in fact it may circumscribe the most common route of artistic betterment: artists incorporate the present by speaking to new technologies, new histories, new desires. Art consumes modernity, offering interpretation or more chaos as its eventual reconstitution. Dub, to the contrary, stares deeply into music as discrete sonic parts, exploring what is important -- what people respond to -- and discarding the debris.

For all of this precision, Rhythm & Sound focus more intently on the basics than perhaps any other dub group. Exactitude, like I say. Augustus Pablo's dubs featured the distinctive melodica, Basic Channel (an earlier project of Mark and Maurizio, who are Rhythm & Sound) combined dub with minimal Detroit techno, and Pole employed advanced technologies to produce a slick and highly representational dub. But Rhythm & Sound cannot be defined by fusion or innovation. They adhere to the original program of dub, following the path of reduction deeper and deeper into the brush.

Rhythm & Sound's new two-disc release includes Rhythm & Sound w/ the artists, a collaboration between the German producers and seven members of the Wackies crew, a group of reggae artists who recorded with Lloyd "Bullwackie" Barnes in the Bronx in the 1980's, as well as a CD of dubs, called (without pretense of course) The Versions. Recently, Rhythm & Sound have worked only with vocalist Paul St. Hilaire, so the appearance of six extra Wackies groups is a surprise and a treat.

The vocals on the artist disc sink deep into the production, with classic doses of heavy reverb and subtle alteration. All of the singers are solid, though I can't deny a soft spot for Love Joy in particular. On "Best Friend," she sings of her best friend and her lover, in rich tones that fit Rhythm and Sound's steady grooves. The melody of her song could repeat indefinitely without wearing thin. Another highlight: Cornel Campbell and Jennifer Lara perform, respectively, "King in My Empire" and "Queen in My Empire," over the same instrumental track.

The versions disc doesn't exclude the vocals entirely, but definitely sublimates them within the mixes. As opposed to earlier Rhythm & Sound work, there is less ambient grit and more direct dubbing here. These are more song songs than the ethereal pieces on some of their 12" releases and 2001's self-titled Rhythm & Sound, in that there are invariably parts and changes to accommodate the singing.

Rhythm & Sound are purists, indeed, and in good faith they continue to find more amazing possibilities in the simple philosophy which their name explains as well as any two words could. These two essential discs build on the legacy of a group who improve by looking inward, not outward, refining their own production techniques in the belief that the basics of music form an unbroken link between human consciousness and the elevation thereof.

Rules:

The first rule of mediaf!re thread is you do not talk about mediaf!re thread.

The second rule of mediaf!re thread is no smorking.

No hot-linking images or albums. You can re-host images at http://imageshack.us.

Ensure your tags are correct and that you have specified both Artist/Album in your post.

Upload your files in either a .zip or a .rar archive to mediaf!re.com, in multiple parts if the album is over 100mbs. The reason for this is that we know mediaf!re is safe and efficient and allows multiple downloads. The ads on other sites, such as Sendspace, are known to contain viruses on the page. Get yourself checked out.

Post your link using code tags. It's the # icon above the policeman emoticon. This prevents the links from being traced back to the forums, lowering the chance that the wrong people notice the thread, potentially threatening Jeph with legal action.

Also, please do NOT request albums. This includes requests for re-uploads; if you miss it, try looking for it somewhere else.

Repost the rules at the top of each new page.
 

[De_El]

Someone tell me this isn't true.

[JD]

shit it looks like it

[SWOON! at My Gravitas]

I've just been reading hearsay.  Has anything been said by a credible source, say for example, a not a tumblr account?

[JD]

wikipedia seems to be going back and forth between yes and no

[SWOON! at My Gravitas]

Here is an article from a website whose credibility I can only guess at that doesn't say anything about "wink wink"'s situation in particular

All of Twitter is in an uproar, of course

Jesus Christ I can't believe I am actually following this what kind of person am I

[youthcant]

cached, it still appears.
support still works as well: http://support.med!afire.com/index.php

if it is, i'm gonna be upset. i actually used it to send press kits and photographs to my clients.

HAHAHA. i didn't even realize you got that stupid logo from this guy's tumblr account: http://peacelykerockets.tumblr.com/post/1083485968/yup-people-mediaf!re-has-been-killed-after-going

do me a favor, click the 'twitter' tab and tell me what it says...
by far, the best troll i've ever seen... i just wish he had of gotten me to fix that stupid logo of mediafire 2006-2010...

[medicatesleep]

guess i better open a megaupload account

[look out! Ninjas!]

What a tool.

[Wasteroo]

mediaf!re's working for me now

[JD]

Damn you tumblr troll, damn you to the deepest depths of troll hell.

[medicatesleep]

WE ARE ALL GOING TO JAIL

[BlahBlah]

no it's fine now calm down everyone

[youthcant]

an even better troll.

[barista.babe]

It's up and running again, and everything is still intact...unlike like my piracy hymen. I was saving my piracy until I get married...so much for that.

[amok]

Speaking of which;

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http://www.mediafire.com/?plqgizdy73qo23q
(2010 - house/synthpop/minimal - 320kbps)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?2ra0rvglhm1c161
(2009 - house/minimal - 320kbps)

It's worth getting the second one for the Nicolas Jaar remix alone.

[barista.babe]

This week's musical menu consists of 2 delicious albums by artist from New Zealand:

The Naked and The Famous - Passive Me : Aggressive You

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?jg6g6xssa1r8x8p5 piece Electropop/rock.

The Kids of 88 - Sugarpills

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?y1ve1qs5b8zar5tPsychedelic New Wave.

play it. shake it, and save room for musical dessert.

[aflowerchild]

So wait. What does this mean? It isn't shut down?

[barista.babe]

I couldn't help myself.

So wait. What does this mean? It isn't shut down?

It means that the site was just down, and not shutdown. It also means that you can now upload,download and share files like normal again. Mediafi!re was not shutdown by any organization.

[JD]

Tweak Bird - Tweak Bird[2010]

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http://www.mediafire.com/?iargkp3fy15vv04

[aflowerchild]

so they just shut it down only to re-open it?

[Cire27]

No.  It was down a little while, but the RIAA thing was a hoax.

[Orcusmars]

Tweak Bird - Tweak Bird[2010]

Hi you're my friend

[pat101]

M.I.A. - Piracy Funds Terrorism (2004)

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http://aminormass.blogspot.com/2010/09/sounds-of-summer-piracy-funds-terrorism.html

Santa Claus, the Virgin Mary, and Terrence "Turkeytime" Terrence just got the shaft this holiday season. Why bother with presents? 2005's Tickle Me Elmo was supposed to be a chicken-legged Sri Lankan with so much sex in her self-spun neons you might as well get wasted off penicillin with Willie Nelson at a secret Rex the Dog show. But guess what? On Halloween she showed up in Philadelphia for her Fader gig, sat herself under a big fucking Christmas tree, and dished out free copies of Piracy Funds Terrorism, Vol. 1, the mixtape masterpiece she and Diplo Hollertronix had spent the 10 previous days putting together in his apartment. Batteries included!

So a large portion of her forthcoming debut, Arular, has willfully gone leaky boat here. Many of her tracks sound similar to one another: A 505 Groovebox queefs out splatty, farty beats and M.I.A. shouts lyrics of varying snark over them, sometimes even singing them. (Sometimes.) She's been irresistible in single land, but M.I.A.'s full-length runs the risk of seeming limited and discrediting her misleading but awesome "female Dizzee Rascal" tag, replacing that description with "Neneh Cherry, Mk. II"-- a label that has likely dawned on anyone who has seen the "Buffalo Stance"-like "Galang" video.

That is why this mixtape kills: The format fits M.I.A. perfectly. Her songs benefit greatly from Diplo's recent baile funk fetish (confer his recent Favela On Blast tape), some choice dub and American hip-hop cuts to break up the blaze to blaze and razorblades, and some flat-out brilliant mashups.

On the upstroke, "Galang" goes reggaeton; on the down, Diplo cops the song a Lil Vicious beat and a lil keyboard hook, and it's so whoa you'll have to punch yourself in the face to stop smiling. "Fire Fire" goes bam bam then walks like an Egyptian in a telling Bangles mashup-- the two songs play so nicely together they could be siamese, until Diplo misdemeans "Pass That Dutch" with M.I.A.'s snakey music box schwarma. M.I.A.'s "Amazon" coupled with Ciara's radio-friendly microcrunk squelch is an early highlight, though that squirmy synth on Clipse's "Definition of a Roller" makes for good freak, too, packing just enough snaggletooth funk to forgive those recent Neptunes missteps.

For a tape whose initial appeal was the instant and gratifying relief it brought to everyone waiting for M.I.A.'s full-length, Diplo ironically saves M.I.A.'s best cuts for last. "URAQT" is a jittery mess of flirting, territory-marking, and text-messaging (!): "You fuckin with my man and you text him all the time/ You mighta had him once but I have him all the time," and later, "U-R-A-Q-T/ Is your daddy dealer, cause you're dope to me!" For dessert, Diplo brings "Big Pimpin'" out of retirement to back M.I.A.'s raspy "Bingo": "Do you know what is on? Do you know what is on? Do you know how this beat is made in fucking Lon-d-d-don?" The song's obviously great, but between M.I.A.'s fierce deliveries and the braggart beat, it sounds weird and ominous, a black-hole closer to an album brimming with life.

Last week, Sasha Frere-Jones profiled M.I.A. in The New Yorker, spraypainting her as a consummate and naturally "world" artist. M.I.A. is silly, dancey, cheap, expensive, truthful, and utterly serious all at once-- just like the world (!). She's not exactly rags-to-riches (yet), but her pop carries unwittingly significant weight, and to potentially far more people than just a few hundred ecstatic MP3 blog readers. It's one thing for M.I.A. to be a "world" pop star; it will be another thing for her to release an album that reflects that backstory. For now, Piracy Funds Terrorism, Vol. 1 takes that burden off of Arular: Diplo has actualized our hopes for M.I.A. qua world pop star, and we didn't even have to leave him cookies.

— Nick Sylvester, November 21, 2004

[Scandanavian War Machine]

booya new Tweak Bird

been waitin for that one since the last one came out of left field and blew me away

[Rizzo]

This week's musical menu consists of 2 delicious albums by artist from New Zealand:

The Kids of 88 - Sugarpills

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?y1ve1qs5b8zar5tPsychedelic New Wave.

play it. shake it, and save room for musical dessert.

Album suuuuuucks. Kids of 88 are rubbish electripe pumped out and jocked by C4, our local music channel. Naked and Famous on the other hand are awesome.

[bahhhhh]

Tallest Man On Earth - Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird - EP

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?5kw674u7lfkt018

[gospel]

Bostich And Fussible - Bulevar 2000

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?e689azp6rdfoy93Preview full album on NPR

Bostich and Fussible is part of the acclaimed Nortec Collective, whose name stems from the words "Norteño" and "Tecno." On the group's new album, Bulevar 2000, Bostitch and Fussible puts a heavy emphasis on the "tec" in Nortec, without losing its "Norteño" twang. The result is a hypnotic album that takes listeners back and forth between a Parisian lounge and a fast drive down Tijuana's Avenida Revolución.

The rushed beats coupled with the typical Norteño accordions give the music a distinct tango feel, reminiscent of Gotan Project, another band that fuses the traditional (tango) with techno. Take "I Count the Ways," the album's first single, featuring Kylee Swenson of the San Francisco electronica-pop group Loquat. The violin crescendos and Swenson's smooth vocals gives it a delicious disco sound, while a bed of accordions gives it that tango feel. But Bostich and Fussible keeps its border sound present with the constant burping of the trumpets.

No Age - Everything In Between

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?oq74nio57bel68dNot quite what I expected from No Age, but it's not terrible.

The Walkmen - Lisbon

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?3ek4l5javq1lq2f
Blonde Readhead - Penny Sparkle

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?u16u3doc9y2ab83Track 6 fixed (hopefully)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?543pcyvz9yocnnq
Junip - Fields

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?2og7wax1f2lm52u

[JD]

number 6 on that blonde redhead album is corrupt

[gospel]

Blonde Redhead Track 6 (hopefully works)

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?543pcyvz9yocnnq
EDIT:

Hopefully this mostly folk post isn't too contrary to what's going on here.

El Guincho - Pop Negro

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http://www.mediafire.com/?ivoi4740domee7zsome review
Myspace
"Palmitos Park" (youtube)

Cotton Jones - Tall Hours In The Glowstream

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http://www.mediafire.com/?i02jor8c491do2o(two members from page france do really open-ended folk-ish stuff)
review
"I am the Changer" (youtube)
MySpace

J. Tillman - Singing Ax

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http://www.mediafire.com/?aof4b525d2ldcxoOne of my favorite singer/songwriters as of late. Don't expect anything grandiose.
"Firstborn" (youtube)

Mount Eerie - Song Islands Vol 2
A bunch of singles and rare tracks.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?tab6e4dz8y8fw7q
http://www.mediafire.com/?rn8iwii4a5l26he"Lost Wisdom" (youtube)
Myspace

The Shivers - Sunset Psalms

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http://www.mediafire.com/?n8d17cem5jat7cq"Beauty" (youtube)
Myspace

Dreamend - So I Ate Myself, Bite by Bite

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http://www.mediafire.com/?m3x49gcf07x78j9Ryan Graveface (Black Moth Super Rainbow) side project
Myspace

Jim Guthrie - Now More than Ever (extended edition)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?35p551hqub6d0ii
http://www.mediafire.com/?4xlht911hq6sz6h"Time is a Force" (youtube)
review


We now return to a regularly scheduled programing

Menomena - Double Seven Inch [sing]e

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http://www.mediafire.com/?7aaeutmwcga4lff
Starfucker - B-sides

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http://www.mediafire.com/?h6co5l276670500

[JD]

Noir Désir - des Visages des Figures

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http://www.mediafire.com/?v9pd5z9q3b6y8guLe Vent Nous Portera

[Wasteroo]

absolutely EVERYONE needs to download that Dreamend album, it is so good

[ellis]

sweet fanciful crap.  what an embarassment of riches over the past couple days.  5 of my most anticipated albums available.  exciting.

[amok]

Strand of Oaks - Pope Killdragon (2010, V0)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?5z1uwmzhu0ptdgm
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14567-pope-killdragon/

[ellis]

So I'll be posting some more Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her stuff now

First up is Fly.  This is their 3rd EP, it was released right before their first full length

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?xzwuzu4hq2t1177
Which is this: Give Them Back to Me.  It's a bit stranger than the earlier EPs and I don't like it quite as much as the album I previously posted (It's Brand New), but it's still quite awesome.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?b8ldxarq7q3u6lx
Next up is another EP: Pink Soda.  Comes in between Give Them Back to Me and It's Brand new.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?tla6a2a22frbjt5
Then is Sweet Home, another EP.  Comes between It's Brand New and 17.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?m2482bnk1k8nvki
Then is Pretty in Pink.  Another EP that came right before their fourth Full length.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?6j827et22ioicua
Which is the last part of this post.  The full length No! No! No!

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http://www.mediafire.com/?ue3h0yxq2szhte3Pogotross posted 17 and Future or no Future which are both awesome as well.  I believe the first track on the 17 rip he posted was corrupted so here is that song as well. 

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http://www.mediafire.com/?qd2u84392te502k
I hope you guys enjoy!  They only have 1 or 2 other full lengths and 1 or 2 other EPS besides what has already been posted here.

[ellis]

eh, some other cool stuff
Viernes - Sinister Devices

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?ztnmtmzomjlelectronicy, woozy, psychedelic pop.  very nice

Spirituals - Spirituals 2010

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?753r9853qes8xg3more electronic/psychedelic poppy stuff.   though a bit more beat driven and without vocals.  There's some jazz influences in there as well though it's not very explicit.   I liked this album a lot more than that Baths album that was kind of a big thing a few months back, though that was also pretty good.

[Jughead5267]

The Shivers - Sunset Psalms

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?n8d17cem5jat7cq"Beauty" (youtube)
Myspace

Sweet man! This is really great. Any chance you have their album Charades too?

[gospel]

Ask and ye might receive

The Shivers - Charades

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?6b5b1s0m06unoap
EDIT: Oh, and thanks for that Strand of Oaks CD.

EDIT was sorting through music to see what I wanted to upload to new phone and noticed I didn't have this Woven Hand CD. Well, it turns out it's amazing. I first got Woven Hand from this thread, so I give back now.

Woven Hand - Blush Music

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http://www.mediafire.com/?d26rt6czdlnchdq

Styles: alt-country, bluegrass, Appalachian gothic, Americana
Others: Sixteen Horsepower, Dock Boggs, Lilium, Tom Waits, Nick Cave

If one band in the "alt-country" genre has its own distinct sound and presence, it's Sixteen Horsepower. David Eugene Edwards' vocals have a uniquely haunted and tortured quality all their own—as if at any moment he'll begin spewing a diatribe about Hellfire and Damnation (which is frequently the case). Woven Hand is the side project of David Eugene Edwards, and while Sixteen Horsepower are a more band-oriented affair, the Woven Hand project focuses on Edwards' unique insight and contributions to the band as a whole. Sixteen Horsepower have a strong Appalachian country influence, but their music still maintains a certain accessibility. Woven Hand, however, are much, much less accessible than Sixteen Horsepower; tending to sound almost anachronistically dated. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Blush Music, Woven Hand's second record, contains re-workings of many of the tracks on their self-titled debut album. This music, however, is considerably more dark and stripped-down than the tracks on the debut. "Animalitos (Ain't No Sunshine)" is a haunting, banjo-driven track, accompanied by peals of tremoloed feedback and samples of crows in the background of the music. It occurred to me, while listening to this track, that this is what Fields of the Nephilim, the seminal Eighties gothic rock band, strove to sound like: epic, haunting Western dirges evoking the images of the Old West exaggerated in Sergio Leone's eerie spaghetti westerns; where buzzards circled overhead, and rusted weathercocks squealed as they spun in the dust-strewn wind. This music is the real deal. Heavy on the atmosphere, and utilizing traditional instruments (banjo, bandoneon, harmonium, etc.), the album is perhaps a tad overwrought and pretentious, but it is effective in transporting the listener to the dark underbelly of early Twentieth Century rural America.

The record takes a rocking turn on "White Bird," the third track on Blush Music. I was reminded of Secret South, Sixteen Horsepower's third studio LP, and their most mainstream one. While still maintaining their distinctive sound, Sixteen Horsepower's sound was as much "Goth" as it was alt-country on that record. This Woven Hand track seems to hark back to Secret South: it's got clean electric guitar chords, complete with reverb and stereo chorus, combined with some straightforward electric guitar strumming, although never deviating into anything as mainstream-sounding as pure Goth. The track, along with its sister track, "Another White Bird," is the closest Blush Music comes to achieving anything close to a mainstream sound.

If there is the slightest concern about this record becoming merely a typical alt-country album, it's extinguished by the fourth track, "Snake Bite," which is an ambient, 7 ½ minute instrumental featuring what sounds like stringed instruments being treated in a most indelicate manner. Cello and contrabass strings groan as if they have been bowed, stretched, plucked, and scraped to the point of torture. This track, in particular, is similar in sound to the wonderful and hard-to-find album Transmission of All the Good-Byes by Lilium, the side project of Sixteen Horsepower's bassist Pascal Humbert. At any rate, it is the most inaccessible and haunting piece on Blush Music.

"My Russia" is another lengthy and mostly instrumental piece; a primarily downbeat track featuring a haunting piano melody, brushed drums, and what is either an organ or electric piano providing some added atmospherics. The next track, "The Way," is a short instrumental showcasing Edwards' slide guitar playing. Track eight, "Your Russia (Without Hands)" is probably the heaviest track on the album; featuring a deep, leaden bass line, slide guitar, and fuzzy, creeping electric guitar, along with Edwards' tortured and dramatic vocals.

Blush Music concludes with the acoustic guitar and piano-driven "Story and Pictures," which is an appropriate title, considering the visual imagery of the Old West which is conjured by both the lyrics and ghostly, Ry Cooder-esque guitar feedback. As the album's slowest and most traditionally melodic piece, it seems the most suitable way to end the record.

While Woven Hand's second album is more instrumental-oriented than both Sixteen Horsepower and their own first LP, Blush Music is a brilliant record that, personally, seems reduced simply to the components of Sixteen Horsepower's music that I find the most appealing. I have always felt an affinity toward Sixteen Horsepower, because they seemed the most "authentic" and oddly dated of all the alt-country bands. Woven Hand's Blush Music will appeal to all lovers of Americana who can appreciate old-fashioned instrumentation with instruments of a bygone era.

"Cripplegate (Standing on Glass)" (youtube)

[JD]

Two albums from two bands who haven't released much in 10 years.

Skunk Anansie - Womderlustre[2010]

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http://www.mediafire.com/?2zuy1c75lbuctppMy Ugly Boy

Superchunk - Majesty Shredding[2010]

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http://www.mediafire.com/?g148pgv734m129cMy Gap Feels Weird

[David_Dovey]

Grinderman- Grinderman II



This is the second album by the band Grinderman. Fuck you if you do not know what that means.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?co8j46hndwe96c2

[gospel]

I don't suppose you have any other punk blues albums laying around there? Thanks btw.

[amok]

Hiroyuki Oda - Thirty (2010; 320kbps)

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?lxnj7sxiknk9l68
One of the best (progressive) trance albums of the year thus far. Possibly not as groundbreaking as other recent releases but the quality from start to finish is astounding. Enjoy.

[gospel]

Some more psychedelic stuff by The Black Angels (allmusic, myspace).

The Black Angels - Phosphene Dream (2010)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?cx349q0kyjx4a6j"River of Blood" (youtube)

The Black Angels - Passover (2006)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?jjyjaicoixz"Young Men Dead" (youtube)