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[ex_penumbrae]

Natural Snow Buildings - Daughter of Darkness [5 CS set]

Not sure if we have many Natural Snow Buildings fans on here, but in the hope that we do, here's their colossal Daughter of Darkness set, released on five cassettes back in January. It was a limited run of 150 copies, which sold out pretty much straight away. Despite its daunting size (it clocks in at just over 6 hours), it's a delicate but heady collection of tracks, filled with psychedelic drones that will transport you back to the late 1960s. Probably on a beach, beside a big fire or something. It wavers in its intensity between playful, folk-like frolics & a more sombre, ritualistic air. All smashing stuff.

It's rather satisfying that something so epic should be on the lowly cassette, but somehow this music just wouldn't sound right released on CD. So you'll just have to pretend you're using a cassette deck, right? Enjoy 

Tape 1

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http://www.mediafire.com/?4ntm4mhmmki
http://www.mediafire.com/?unzfzmdwyhm
Tape 2

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http://www.mediafire.com/?jmtmjywzyhz
http://www.mediafire.com/?xmjgywttmmj
Tape 3

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http://www.mediafire.com/?bkzumhnmtmm
http://www.mediafire.com/?mj0egkjiztn
Tape 4

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http://www.mediafire.com/?en5jzimmtyj
http://www.mediafire.com/?ynymtniyuym
Tape Ø

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http://www.mediafire.com/?jmz4ukwzngn
http://www.mediafire.com/?mnyt1wih2mc

[variable_star]

JOSH RITTER - THE GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO (2002)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?wmkkmd1hywdJOSH RITTER - HELLO STARLING (2003)
Also Includes: 4 Songs Live EP (2005)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?ory05mjjmnzJOSH RITTER - THE ANIMAL YEARS (2006)
Also Includes: Live at the Record Exchange EP (2007)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?gxnyqjiyzltJOSH RITTER - THE HISTORICAL CONQUESTS OF JOSH RITTER (2007)
Also Includes: 4-Track Bonus Disc (2007)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?mj22eejmzth

While his name might not be on the tip of everyone's tongue in his homeland, folk-leaning singer/songwriter Josh Ritter has benefited from numerous positive reviews and a loyal fan base. Born in Idaho, Ritter bought his first guitar after hearing the Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash classic "Girl From the North Country." While attending college in Oberlin, OH, Ritter got his first listen to Leonard Cohen and Gillian Welch. He fell in love with the songs instantly and dropped his neuroscience major in favor of the pursuit of music. With classic folk venues like Club Passim, Boston was the place Ritter chose to follow his dream. He recorded and released self-titled debut in 1999, but it was 2002's Golden Age of Radio that got him noticed.

Selling copies on his own funded touring, which funded more albums and so on. Signature Sounds Recordings soon picked the album up, gave it exposure on a national level, and the four- and five-star reviews started rolling in. The HBO series Six Feet Under grabbed a track from the album for their end credits, while Ritter received an offer to open for the Frames on a tour of Ireland. Soon his single "Me & Jiggs" was in the Irish Top 40, a headlining tour of the country was sold out, and a tribute band named Cork was playing nothing but Ritter material in numerous Irish pubs.

Back home the following was growing with sold-out shows in New York City and Boston, while an invitation to the Sundance Film Festival began 2003 on a high note. It took 14 February days in rural France to record his third album, and much of the equipment used for the session was Curtis Mayfield's old gear. The result, Hello Starling, was released in September the same year. Animal Years, his much anticipated follow-up, arrived in March 2006, with Historical Conquest and the live CD/DVD In the Dark: Live at Vicar Street arriving in 2007. - Allmusic

[scarred]

Delorean - Ayrton Senna EP (Bonus Track Version) [2009]



Really fun, awesome summer EP. Will fast become your default sunshine music. Snagged an 8.4 and "Best New Music" from Pitchfork, if you're into that sort of thing:

The third release on Fool House, the new label from French indie-dance blog Fluo Kids, Ayrton Senna represents a similar kind of convergence. In the early 2000s, Delorean originally set out to be something like Jimmy Eat World crossed with Elliott Smith, keyboardist Unai Lazcano confided to The Pop Manifesto magazine last summer. By the time of their promising Transatlantic KK album a couple of years ago, Delorean had absorbed the synth-pop sleekness of New Order and the echoey guitar spikes of post-punk revivalists like !!! or the Rapture, with one transcendent moment: so-called "breakhop" finale "Apocalypse Ghetto Blast". On the Ayrton Senna EP, the group's burgeoning dance-pop savvy comes into bloom with three unstoppable summer bangers, the Talabot remix, and a digital-only bonus cut.

Despite their rock roots, Delorean do tracks, not songs. Singer/bassist Ekhi Lopetegi is a Ph.D. candidate with a background in philosophy, but Delorean use his Factory-ready yelp more as just another element to loop than as a vehicle for delivering lyrical content. "Seasun" is the best example of Delorean's layered approach to composition, methodically building 1990s piano-house keyboards, disembodied female vocals, Baltimore club-ready handclaps, and a ringing guitar line into the ultimate beach house (not Beach House). But "Deli", with its breakbeats and youthful enthusiasm, and "Moonson", all 90s-house liberation and anthem-rock yearning, are almost as thrilling. Talabot's "Kids & Drum" remix of "Seasun" could well hold up after even more listens than the original version, its hand-percussion samples reaching closer to the islands but its vast, clean lines stretching out toward space.

Summer always ends too soon, and before long I'm sure beachy dance music will sound as cloying as rock fans considered the Beach Boys by the late 1960s. Like Wavves in Barcelona, Delorean recognize there's a dark side to their ecstatic vision, the aching truth that utopia-- literally, "no place"-- can never totally be fulfilled. As equally impressive bonus track "Big Dipper" puts it: "Babe, if you want to we could run away up into the sun/ But we would only fade from black to black." Delorean's similarities to other "sunny", "shimmering" new artists, ultimately, are far less important than their similarities to other practitioners of well-crafted and instantly gripping pop.

This EP is what happiness, joy, sun, beaches, bike rides, and road trips sound like.

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?e5ovammnwmq

[JD]

That is a bizarre album cover

Downloadin' it now

Edit: Oh god so good

[Avec]

I'm really enjoying Delorean, this is great!

[Daft pun]

Whoo, more love for Delorean!

This came out a while ago but should definitely not be overlooked.

Delorean - Into the plateau

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http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mzmyjmm45gw

[Scarychips]

Deastro's new EP: Orange Swimmer, Red Summer

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?sharekey=709a6b159441fb081686155677bb268554f592730c94ad7a
Really great EP, Really great band.

[Koremora]

Oh my fucking god is that more Deastro YESSSSSSSSSSSS I LOVE YOU I LOVE DEASTRO

[variable_star]

Completely random, wholly awesome OST.

MICHAEL GIACCHINO - STAR TREK (2009)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?nuhzmizzmkzCARTER BURWELL - IN BRUGES (2008)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?q4hjjvmy1w0ADRIAN JOHNSTON - BRIDESHEAD REVISITED (2008)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?ye3rytjdzj4

[pulpfiction21]

Penpal - Penpal (2008)

If you enjoy American Football, you have to get this CD. It sounds as if the boys from AF decided to get back together and make a second LP. There is even a song called The One That Used To Have A Wurlitzer. This CD is so fucking enjoyable. Then again I'm a huge American Football fan.
This band does not have a myspace, it is just a couple of guys from Illinois who seem to love all things Kinsella.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?zzzvgl4ilyj

[Orcusmars]

Deastro's new EP: Orange Swimmer, Red Summer

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?sharekey=709a6b159441fb081686155677bb268554f592730c94ad7a
Really great EP, Really great band.

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?mzmmmzymdy0
If you'd rather download it all at once.

[Trevlordyte]

I was waiting for someone to do this.
 

[scarred]

Deastro's new EP

Moondagger really underwhelmed me, but I'll give this a try.

[JD]

ScaryChips, Download WinRar

[Scarychips]

I am incredibly sorry people, I forgot to tell that this was the link that Deastro gave themselves. I checked it to see if the tracks were good, but I didn't zip it myself, so I didn't zip it properly. Sorry again if there was trouble.

PS: I use 7-zip.

[Trevlordyte]

Deastro's new EP

Moondagger really underwhelmed me, but I'll give this a try.

Agreed, but I am enjoying this album so far.

[variable_star]

One More JR release I missed on my last post. I also have his In the Dark - Live at Vicar Street release which I'll upload later.

JOSH RITTER - GIRL IN THE WAR (2006 EP)

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?kzny4nmwm1g

Josh Ritter is an American singer-songwriter, whose style is in the tradition of folk music and ballads. He is influenced by the lyrics of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Leonard Cohen, and the works of Mark Twain. The "Girl In The War" EP was released on August 29, 2006 as a download only EP, and on November 27, 2006 as a CD. It features one album track, the title track, along with several covers and demos (including the studio version of "Peter Killed the Dragon" which later appeared on the "Live at the Record Exchange" EP.

I also have an excellent, brand new EP to share. . .

GHOSTBIRD - GHOSTBIRD (2009 EP)

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

Neon infused electronica meets the darker motivations of indie rock in this avant-garde collaboration, featuring talented San Diego musicians Trent Hancock and Mike Cooper (Transfer). Wanting to allow the spectrum of their music the freedom to reach out beyond its norm, Trent and Mike chose a style and name that allows just that; ghostbird literally means owl and both men allow their fascination with the solitary sentinels of the night to inspire the creation of a captivating sound that transcends the boundaries of indie rock. Emotionally charged lyrics, coupled with dynamic beats and explorative melodies, broadcast ghostbird’s vast range to their audience, while still winking in the direction of their diverse influences. Trent, whose early influences include Chili Peppers, Sublime, Radiohead, Strokes, Soundgarden, Beck, Zeppelin, and Nirvana, is proud of the Fray-like tenderness of their track “Sing”, as well as the Radiohead intensity in the longing of “Night Kills Day”. - Ghostbird's Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ghostbirdmusic and Official Website http://ghostbirdmusic.com

And, finally, a new record from The Postmarks (whose previous record has already been posted).

THE POSTMARKS - MEMOIRS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2009)

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

The Postmarks are a pop band from Miami, Florida. Their self-titled LP was released in February 2007 and has been met with critical acclaim from Rolling Stone and Spin, as well as Pitchfork Media and a host of other music blogs. The group was discovered by Andy Chase of Ivy and subsequently released on his Unfiltered Records label. Before the release of the album, an EP of remixes was released on iTunes featuring remixes by James Iha, Brookville, Roger O'Donnell, Tahiti 80 and more. In Spring 2007, the band toured North America with Smoosh and Memphis. The lineup expanded to include Jeff Wagner on keyboards and Brian Hill on bass guitar. A brief summer tour took place to coincide with the band's appearance at the Lollapalooza festival. - Wiki Article

Together with fellow multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Wilkins and singer/lyricist Tim Yehezkely, Moll crafts meticulously arranged, richly cinematic music with subtle nods to Bacharach, Brian Wilson, classic British indie and vintage French pop. Had The Sundays embraced a Baroque aesthetic or Van Dyke Parks orchestrated an especially autumnal-sounding Françoise Hardy album, it might have sounded something like The Postmarks. “We aim to produce songs that sound like they've always existed and always will exist,” says Moll of his band's chic, sepia-tinted output, and with Yehezkely and Wilkins on board, all is possible. Yehezkely, we should point out, is a gal with a boy's name; a beautiful, yet inscrutable individual possessed of a soft-textured voice that's simultaneously seductive and detached. When Tim Yehezkely sings, clocks stop, people listen, and ice cream refuses to melt. - Postmarks Myspace

[barista.babe]

fuck yes new postmarks!!!!!!

Thanks so much (I posted their other 2 albums)

[Daft pun]

Guys, meet Valerie.

Valerie is a group of dj's/producers who create some of the best 80's inspired electro out there. First up, a compilation album to get a feel for their sound. Highly recommended of course.



Valerie and Friends

Part one:

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?mht04dzeymm
Part two:

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?nkzmmlidyvy
Next, some Anoraak. This guy used to be the drummer for Pony Pony Run Run (posted a few pages back iirc) before he lost himself in the synths.



Anoraak - Nightdrive with you EP

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?zz0zzgzyzgl

What an amazing 180-degree flip from the hard-as-nails grimy aesthetic of last year’s electro “banger” to today’s tremendously polished disco aesthetic, which dictates that every synth be scrubbed clean until it glistens so that the vocals - wonderfully chilled from their round-trip gliding through the cosmos - can skim across each one with nary the risk of crashing head-on into a chunky distortion or grinding bassline. It’s almost like the time your parents finally took a stand and told you they’re not coming over with boxes of groceries again until you clean your nails and actually get a proper haircut because they can barely see your eyes anymore. No better is this, the value of the pristine, displayed than in the work of Valerie’s own Anoraak, whose debut mini album, Nightdrive With You, has just been released this week.

This limited edition eight-track album features six original tracks which feature Anoraak’s delightfully awkward-sounding Teenagers-esque vocals combined with dreamy ‘eighties-inspired synth-waves to create a kind of shimmering, fantastical soundtrack to Spring. Adeyhawke’s remix of the title track and Anoraak’s own remix of College’s Teenage Color finish the record off, displaying the tight-knit nature of the charming Valerie community. Does Nightdrive With You feel like a mini album? Not a whit.

And finally the founder of everything Valerie, College.



College - Secret diary

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?midmnlyyzwm

Yesterday was the day for the secrets to come out to the sunlight and take their cover off, unfold, etc. The great conceptual universe supporting College’s Secret Diary is just one part in the artistic integrity. The artwork (by The Zonders, you know), the music and the thought behind it results in greatness. Out on the label Futur, if the stuff I know from the guy is an indication, then it’s gonna be one of the bests this year. You know the drill: playful 80s, dance-pop brilliance, the future in the mask of retro-disco and beautifully melancholic atmosphere.

If this album doesn't finally get Valerie the huge hype they deserve, I'll just give up on everyone who claims to be a music journalist.

Enjoy.

[Catacombs]

Rules:

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.

[variable_star]

As a suitable follow-up to The Postmarks leak, here's the new one from Dolores O'Riordan (both of which will, coincidentally, be released on Aug. 25th).

DOLORES O'RIORDAN - NO BAGGAGE (2009)

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http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?gwjmnixdyyz

First bursting upon the music scene as lead singer of The Cranberries, Dolores O'Riordan has already had one of the most successful careers in popular music of the past 20 years. With four top 20 Billboard albums, eight hit singles, and worldwide album sales of over 40 million under her belt, she decided to embark on a solo journey. Her first solo disc, Are You Listening?, came out in 2007 and now, two years later she is back in action with No Baggage, a bright, clean, and astoundingly emotive recording. The album features not only Dolores' instantly recognizable vocal style and songwriting, but also a glimpse into a life viewed forwards and backwards simultaneously, seen most prominently in the quasi-Beatlesque track, "Fly Through" and the infectious, driving lead single, "The Journey." (Amazon.com Stock Review)

And her first solo record. . .

DOLORES O'RIORDAN - ARE YOU LISTENING? (2007)

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http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?n0ze3nzimcm

It's been a long wait for the solo debut from Irish icon Dolores O'Riordan. After all, the Cranberries issued their swan song in 2001. After their break up, O'Riordan collaborated with Germany's Jam and Spoon, Italy's Zucchero, and David Lynch composer Angelo Badalamenti. She also appeared, as herself, in the 2006 comedy Click. All the while, she toiled away on her first solo effort. Fortunately, good things come to those who wait. Co-produced by Youth (the Verve, U2), Are You Listening? is a throwback to 1980s-era Siouxsie and the Banshees and Sinead O'Connor--sweeping keyboards, forceful drumming, and muscular guitar work. It may seem like a melodramatic move, but the music never overwhelms the slight yet steely figure at the center of the maelstrom, particularly on the lilting "Ordinary Day" and haunting "Black Widow." Cranberries fans expecting something more demure may be taken aback, but O'Riordan's supple voice should win over most skeptics. And lyrically, she compensates with tender words inspired by her husband ("Apple of My Eye"), the death of her mother-in-law ("Black Widow"), and the birth of her youngest child ("Ordinary Day"). -Kathleen C. Fennessy (Amazon.com Stock Review)

[vickster]

Intrigued by the retro-ish cover.  This is really good music.

And, finally, a new record from The Postmarks (whose previous record has already been posted).

THE POSTMARKS - MEMOIRS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2009)

[variable_star]

Intrigued by the retro-ish cover.  This is really good music.

Agreed, definitely one of my favorite album covers this year - second only to Middle Cyclone by Neko Case.

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http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?yiutvmjydyu

[JD]

Such a nice album

[variable_star]

Northern Portrait is one of my favorite discoveries from 2008. With a strong influence from The Smiths, and a sound very similar to acts like Math & Physics Club and Voxtrot, Northern Portrait craft sublime "guitar-based indie pop". Grab both of their EP releases in glorious 320kbps!


NORTHERN PORTRAIT - THE FALLEN ARISTOCRACY (2008)

• Crazy
• A Quiet Night in Copenhagen
• Waiting for a Chance
• The Fallen Aristocracy

Northern Portrait was established in Copenhagen, Denmark determined to make guitar-based indie pop - a style of music the group lost their hearts to many years ago. The first song ever written and recorded by the band was "Crazy", a melodically bright and catchy tune set to a rather straightforward lyric about the desire to stay special at all costs.

NORTHERN PORTRAIT - NAPOLEON SWEETHEART (2008)

• I Give You Two Seconds to Entertain Me
• Sporting a Scar
• In An Empty Hotel
• Our Lambrusco Days

Celebrating their first year in existence, Northern Portrait present their second EP, which contains four new tunes about taste and distaste.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?2jjkkwonmjh

[scarred]

Everyone should get Northern Portrait. I have them already, but I'm happy to see them in the thread.

[bedhead138]

Blitzen Trapper - Black River Killer EP (2009) ~ Mp3 V0

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

As its title would lead one to believe, the 'Black River Killer' EP contains the disturbing and great song “Black River Killer” from Blitzen Trapper’s excellent Sept. ‘08 full-length album 'Furr'. What is perhaps less evident from the title is that it also contains 6 more songs that have been, up to now, only available as a CDR that Blitzen Trapper has been selling at their live performances for the past year or so.

1. Black River Killer
2. Silver Moon
3. Going Down
4. Shoulder Full of You
5. Preacher’s Sister’s Boy
6. Black Rock
7. Big Black Bird


Thee Oh Sees - In the Shadow of the Giant (2009) ~ Mp3 320

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?5i0wjydjz4v

This is the May 2009 release in the Sub Pop Singles Club 3.0 Limited to 1500 copies on clear red vinyl

Due to delays, the 7″ wasn’t actually released until early July.

A   In The Shadow Of The Giant
B1   She Said To Me (Demo)
B2   Where People Do Drugs

[scarred]

Downloading Thee Oh Sees just because they are adorable.

[Orcusmars]

I am incredibly sorry people, I forgot to tell that this was the link that Deastro gave themselves. I checked it to see if the tracks were good, but I didn't zip it myself, so I didn't zip it properly. Sorry again if there was trouble.

PS: I use 7-zip.

Same here. I was sending it to a friend so i figured I'd up it here for all your lovely faces.

No judgment, bro.

[variable_star]

Terrible title, totally tubular twee tunes, though.

ACID HOUSE KINGS - MONDAYS ARE LIKE TUESDAYS AND TUESDAYS ARE LIKE WEDNESDAYS (2002)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?zfmydktxodj
ACID HOUSE KINGS - SING ALONG WITH ACID HOUSE KINGS (2005)

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

[vickster]

Northern Portrait is one of my favorite discoveries from 2008. With a strong influence from The Smiths, and a sound very similar to acts like Math & Physics Club and Voxtrot, Northern Portrait craft sublime "guitar-based indie pop". Grab both of their EP releases in glorious 320kbps!

Three thumbs up for Northern Portrait

[variable_star]

THE ANTLERS - HOSPICE (2009) [REMASTERED VERSION W/ BONUS TRACKS]

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

From the offset, Brooklyn's The Antlers have set a melancholic mood with the artwork for their new album: one hand, tagged with a hospital identification band, limply stretches to touch another amidst a background of glowing red. Then there's the album's title, Hospice, which drudges up imagery of cold white hospital sheets and the creeping acceptance of a slow, impending death. It all sounds a bit morose, and while Hospice personifies all the isolated heartbreak of the terminally ill, it's also brimming with a sense of hopeful humanity. Antlers lead-man Peter Silberman's voice, while not entirely similar in timbre, is reminiscent of Jeff Buckley's in its emotive weight. Set against some of the moodiest, droning ambience you'll ever hear, Silberman candidly tackles self-imposed solitude. On the sprawling "Wake," Silberman sings "It was easier to lock the door and kill the phones then to show my skin." It's a feeling we can all relate to and the band tackles their subject matter in a way that never feels heavy-handed or overly dramatic. While Hospice is predominantly filled with similarly delicate moments, songs like "Bear" and "Two" do offer a poppier respite to all the gut-wrenching beauty. Those of you who like your music all shits and giggles might find Hospice a bit tedious, maybe even suffocating, but those willing to peel back all of its layers will find a treasure, an album of unyielding depth and poignancy. - Capt. Obvious

[Avec]

I really enjoyed the Northern Portrait albums.

[variable_star]

Some Friday morning folk. . .

THE LOW ANTHEM - WHAT THE CROW BRINGS (2007)

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?nnznnmriz4z

There's been quite a resurgence in folk music as of late and it's encouraging to see it coming from all areas of the country. With What The Crow Brings, Rhode Island natives The Low Anthem combine elements of gospel, country, and folk-rock elegantly. The duo consists of Ben Miller and Jeff Prystowsky, who at the ages of 23 and 22, are in their songwriting infancy. That being said, the pair's youth isn't particularly noticeable considering the nostalgic feel of their songs, which draw from influential songwriters like Tom Waits and Neil Young without being outright impersonations. Vocally, the melodies are soothing and unassuming, providing a fitting soundtrack for a rainy midday drive or a cigarette-and-coffee backporch conversation with friends. While What The Crow Brings may not demand your attention initially, the lyrical content holds up well under careful scrutiny, reading mostly as unpretentious and sincere. The old-timey "A Weary Horse Can Hide The Pain" reads, "Our best laid plans, our patient dreams/ Fell through our hands, between the seams." Other songs such as "Bless Your Tombstone Heart" and the lover's lament of "This God Damn House" extend this feeling of nostalgia. There's even a solid interpretation of the Carter Family's 1928 chart-topper "Keep On The Sunny Side." Instrumentally, the duo relies on acoustic guitar and bluesy slightly-overdriven electric guitar as the backbone for most of the tracks while adding touches of non-conventional instruments as accents. In fact, if you listen closely, you might hear a pump-organ, tube harp, marimba, or even a toy piano. Ultimately, The Low Anthem's brand of folk is melodic and catchy, and multiple listens uncover subtle touches that strengthen an album that was crafted with care. -- Capt. Obvious

THE LOW ANTHEM - OH MY GOD CHARLIE DARWIN (2008)

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

Oh My God, Charlie Darwin was recorded in an island cabin sporting a makeshift recording studio that had to be transported by ferry. Ranging from junkyard rock ditties to stark folk balladry, the tracks on the album contain a smorgasbord of instrumentation that includes zither, pump organ, Tibetan singing bowl and oil drum. The subject matter of the songs revolves around the warring elements of community and competition. References to Charles Darwin's idea of "survival of the fittest" intermingle with a longing for acceptance. It's an interesting dichotomy and this band of 20-somethings manages to fit the heady subject matter into deftly crafted yet diverse folk songs. There's the album's opener "Charlie Darwin," a gentle track sung in falsetto, and then there's the rough-edged rendition of Jack Kerouac/Tom Waits' "Home I'll Never Be." The band covers sparse material and raucous jangle with equal mastery and Oh My God, Charlie Darwin is some top-notch Americana that builds on their excellent debut. -- Capt. Obvious

MARISSA NADLER - SONGS III: BIRD ON THE WATER (2007) [+ BONUS EP]

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

At first, Marissa Nadler's Songs III: Bird on the Water doesn't seem especially notable. It's a 12-track breakup album detailing Nadler's pervasive loneliness, her gentle finger-style guitar augmented with cello, percussion, mandolin, synthesizers, and electric guitars. Her voice is remarkable from the outset-- a sad, husky air that climbs to perfect grace notes with ease-- but by the time Nadler sings, "Oh my lonely diamond heart/ It misses you so well," 100 seconds into opener "Diamond Heart", you're pretty sure you've heard this one before. Not so fast: As Nadler and her gorgeous, incredibly isolated Songs III would have it, there's plenty worth waiting for. Nadler doesn't want empathy for the hurt that caused her to write "Diamond Heart" in a hotel room bathtub in New Jersey or "Bird on Your Grave" for a friend who died mysteriously; she's just trying to ease some of that monumental pain into the next space. And-- though its micro-payoffs may come in the form of a solitary harmony here, a hushed mandolin chord there, or the eerie bells lending a richer atmosphere to the beautiful "Dying Breed"-- such a feeling makes Songs III one of the most focused and engaging singer-songwriter releases so far this year.

Of course, that can be a tough sell for folks accustomed to concentrated emotional whomp. Aside from its presiding atmosphere of pain, little about Songs III feels direct. It peels free in slow, steady layers, Nadler's sorrow ensconced in impressionistic phrases and careful musicianship. As a songwriter, she's still painting relationship trauma in grayscale sadness, occasionally calling on stunning images-- "eyes as deep as brandy wine," "red-painted lips and a jezebel crown," "breaking on the daylight"-- to better realize sullen torment. But that latter layer makes Songs III much more effective than Nadler's 2005 debut, The Saga of Mayflower May. Nadler's a bandleader now: With acoustic wonderment still in place, she brings most of Philadelphia's Espers to bear here. They augment without distracting, building on her gravitas with quietly breathtaking nuance: A cymbal-scrape pallor from Otto Hauser, or Jesse Sparhawk's weeping mandolin; like Helena Espvall's doubled cello parts smeared over Nadler's "rose-colored dreams" on "Thinking of You", these sounds highlight the words. Even the album's loudest moment, Greg Weeks' piercing electric lead on "Bird on Your Grave", won't wow you from afar, but it will pull you close enough to identify with Nadler's pain.

As a vocalist, Nadler stretches this environment towards infinity: By doubling and tripling her vocals and lacing several distinct interpretations of one melody, she implies that her despair is now as it was then as it always will be. During a splendid, organ-and-guitar take on Leonard Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat", for instance, the narrator's desolation comes doubled in verses, tripled in the chorus, and chased consistently by the organ. Doom follows her like a rain cloud, it seems, soaking her feelings but powering this, her best set of songs yet. Sure, that's a mundane thing to say about an artist, but on Songs III, it's notable after all. -  Grayson Currin, March 7, 2007

If you only listen to one track from The Middle East, make certain it's "Blood".

THE MIDDLE EAST - THE RECORDINGS OF THE MIDDLE EAST (2008)

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

Info on this band is scant. I've ascertained the following information: (a) The Middle East is from Australia. (b) The Middle East broke up at some point. Now their frustratingly uninformative Myspace page says (not finished) after their name. For the love of Buddha, let this mean the band has decided to stay together after all. If this isn't the case then I'm willing to trade a finger and a 6-pack of grape sodas for their resurrection. There are talentless overpaid hacks plastered all over the television and spewing worthless dreck through radio airwaves, and then there are unknown bands like The Middle East huddled into dingy basement practice spaces creating gorgeous music filled with complexity and heart. It's sad how most of the worthwhile art is created in anonymity. The band's album The Recordings Of The Middle East combines lush folk-rock with ambient flourishes. The absolutely stunning "Blood" establishes itself with sparse guitar and keys, verses sung with a disarming fragility, and ethereal background vocals. When the song crescendos into its full band gorgeousness, you realize you're listening to something special. If you like what you hear, spread the word. This band is too damn good to be overlooked. -- Capt. Obvious

Love this record, I included the EP as well because the track "Blue & Green" has been a favorite for awhile.

THE LITTLE HANDS OF ASPHALT - LEAP YEARS (2009) [+ SPIT BACK AT THE RAIN EP]

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http://www.mediafire.com/?ztjnm5ynl24

The Little Hands of Asphalt is the twee folk side project of Sjur Lyseid, lead singer of Oslo based indie rock quartet Monzano. The music departs from Mozano's mellow indie rock but retains a more definite, and certainly better recorded version of Lyseid's sentimental and warming vocals throughout. Part of the appeal of the act is the timelessness of the arrangement. The fingerpicked acoustic guitar, occasional bass, quiet drawn violins and simple muted drums is hardly a revolutionary selection of instrumentation, but something about the delicate, confident and constant voice suggests otherwise. Ultimately the music is nice and easy to listen to, and the songs are lyrically dense, intelligent and sufficiently deep in terms of excellent storytelling to have some kind of lasting impression on the listener. From a genre whose grassroots I often might avoid out of impatience, something draws me in here and keeps me coming back. The Little Hands of Asphalt may not break new ground in many obvious ways, but they take the ground they are currently residing on to a whole new level, at the definite risk of sounding cliche. There is clear influence, whether intended or not, from Kings Of Convenience, Bright Eyes and Josh Pyke. - Peter Lanceley

[imapiratearg]

THE LOW ANTHEM - OH MY GOD CHARLIE DARWIN (2008)

Oh man, thank you thank you thank you.  I have been looking for this for forever.

[nickeemo]

hey is it true the new arctics cd has been leaked?

[theoryC]

hey is it true the new arctics cd has been leaked?

Yeah, but it's pretty scarce, and the quality isn't the best.

[variable_star]

I don't have a link to the AM record, they all keep getting pulled. But I do have a classic Chemlab record! A guilty pleasure, I concede.

CHEMLAB - EAST SIDE MILITIA (1996)

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

Chemlab (an outfit with a changing membership that has revolved around vocalist/lyricist Jared Louche and programmer Dylan Thomas More) prefigured the aggressive electronica sound that would later be popularized by bands like Prodigy and, to some degree, Nine Inch Nails. This record shows them to have been sonically prescient but a bit too nihilistic and vulgar for prime time. There's more than a hint of late-period Ministry in "Exile on Mainline" and more than a hint of early-period Ministry in "Pyromance," but the almost dubbed texture of "Lo-Grade Fever" and the corroded wah-wah guitar on "Latex" are all their own. Louche's lyrics are sometimes unintentionally hilarious ("Roulette's spinning, the wheel of distinction/Darwin's selected you for total extinction"), but that's sometimes a welcome relief from the unrelieved heaviness of the band's sound. - Allmusic Review

Another favorite of mine from '96. . .

STEREOLAB - EMPEROR TOMATO KETCHUP (1996)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?zzzt2jkoiz2

Stereolab was poised for a breakthrough release with Emperor Tomato Ketchup, their fourth full-length album. Not only was their influence becoming apparent throughout alternative rock, but Mars Audiac Quintet and Music for the Amorphous Body Center indicated they were moving closer to distinct pop melodies. The group certainly hasn't backed away from pop melodies on Emperor Tomato Ketchup, but just as their hooks are becoming catchier, they bring in more avant-garde and experimental influences, as well. Consequently, the album is Stereolab's most complex, multi-layered record. It lacks the raw, amateurish textures of their early singles, but the music is far more ambitious, melding electronic drones and singsong melodies with string sections, slight hip-hop and dub influences, and scores of interweaving counter melodies. Even when Stereolab appears to be creating a one-chord trance, there is a lot going on beneath the surface. Furthermore, the group's love for easy listening and pop melodies means that the music never feels cold or inaccessible. In fact, pop singles like "Cybele's Reverie" and "The Noise of Carpet" help ease listeners into the group's more experimental tendencies. - Allmusic

[scarred]

OK, so this = freaking awesome.

Except the vocals on that Jupiter track are rather shrill.

[bedhead138]

Owen - The Seaside EP (2009) ~ Mp3 V0

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?2hzd00ltejy

The Seaside EP is a collection of six Owen songs previously only available as Japanese bonus tracks and the Owen track from Association of Utopian Hologram Swallowers 2x7". Limited to 3000 copies.

Drive-By Truckers - The Fine Print (2009) ~ Mp3 V2

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

The Fine Print (A Collection Of Oddities and Rarities 2003-2008) features songs written by band members past and present, including Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and Jason Isbell. 7 of the twelve songs come from The Dirty South era… a highly creative time for DBT. Hood explains “That was an especially fertile period for the band, as we more or less wrote that album and the one before it, Decoration Day, as well as my first solo album all in a three year period as we were recording and touring behind Southern Rock Opera.” The record also contains four covers including “Rebels” by Tom Petty, which the band recorded originally for the TV show “King Of The Hill” and “Like A Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan which provided Shonna Tucker with her first ever lead vocal performance on a DBT recording.

1. George Jones Talkin’ Cell Phone Blues
2. Rebels
3. Uncle Frank (alternate version)
4. TVA
5. Goode’s Field Road (alternate version)
6. The Great Car Dealer War
7. Mama Bake A Pie (Daddy Kill A Chicken)
8. When The Well Runs Dry
9. Mrs. Claus’ Kimono
10. Play It All Night Long
11. Little Pony And The Great Big Horse
12. Like A Rolling Stone

[A Wet Helmet]

Went to a show yesterday and these guys were the opening band.  Never heard of them at eight last night, bought their EP by eight this morning.  Here's some shameless review I've stolen off the web:

Brother duo Caleb and Ashton Bird, better known as Tweak Bird, team up for their sophomore album, Reservations. A unique sound and funky style makes them a force to reckon with. Their first album offered an amazing voice and some very interesting sounds that were hard and grungy. Add some dark sounds to some mesmerizing drum solos and you get Tweak Bird at its finest.  The two-man team has a knack for new sound and innovative lyrics. These are two guys that are musically inclined to tell a story, with a lot of drum and some hearty guitar.
 
Reservations is a reminder that Tweak Bird is doing something very unique. The combo of their high-pitched voices (which sometimes sound like they are even mocking themselves) makes for a great song. In “Spaceships,” the Bird brothers link dazzling sounds together to make a story- one that sounds like it is being told around an Indian drum circle. “Spaceships” has a different sound from their first album, a delightful change with a slower tempo and sense of longevity in their music.  “Whorses” gets your heart pumping with the fast guitar and heavy sounds. Not so surprising the song is about aliens and Indians; the guys are able to create an eerie sound with some sometimes-creepy lyrics. A dreadful delight made from two hairy guys with a talent for moving music ahead…pretty dreamy. This is a band that can surely be a live show favorite.

Tweak Bird Reservations

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

[variable_star]

Owen - The Seaside EP (2009) ~ Mp3 V0

Yes! This is great stuff. I've been a fan ever since I first heard "She's a Thief".

[variable_star]

More totally random, wholly awesome OST. I have to admit, I'm really looking forward to this G.I. Joe film, even though with each successive trailer I become more and more convinced that Michael Bay's clone took over the production. It'll certainly be ridiculous....but will it be fun?

ALAN SILVESTRI - G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA OST (2009)

PART ONE

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http://www.mediafire.com/?wynxxzoi0my PART TWO

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http://www.mediafire.com/?fyocrlf2nzu
JOHN CORIGLIANO - THE RED VIOLIN OST (1998)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?wmyojj4vl2t
NICK CAVE & WARREN ELLIS - THE PROPOSITION OST (2005)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?axqnznmil1i
MICHAEL NYMAN - THE PIANO (1993)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?mt23ejgimtj

[Tom]

The white ninja kinda looks like Fantomex.

[vickster]

Drive-By Truckers - The Fine Print (2009) ~ Mp3 V2

Was looking forward to getting this upon its release, thanks for the tease!

Just so you know, the zip file seems to be corrupt [at least for me]...

[ex_penumbrae]

John Corigliano is about as bad as music can get. 

[pwhodges]

Bother - now I have to download it to find out why!

[variable_star]

John Corigliano is about as bad as music can get. 

Granted, he's no supreme master of his field, but I think TRV OST is pretty solid.

[scarred]

Oh. Oh the new Postmarks is great. Oh my.

[bedhead138]

Drive-By Truckers - The Fine Print (2009) ~ Mp3 V2

Was looking forward to getting this upon its release, thanks for the tease!

Just so you know, the zip file seems to be corrupt [at least for me]...

i just tried and two tracks were bad. re-zipped it and re-upped. new link in the original post.