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[the_pied_piper]

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.

Repost the rules at the top of each new page.

[imapiratearg]

Circulatory System - Circulatory System

Oh my fucking goodness.  Thank you so much.  I could not find this anywhere.

[Catacombs]

Wow guys, the past few pages have been excellent (as the thread always is).  I thank whoever upped the Gaslight Anthem album, I'm really digging it.  Also, thanks to whoever upped the new Springsteen, though a few of the tracks were missing/screwed up.  Was yours like that too or did it just get lost in translation?

[hubbabubba]

I've taken quite a bit, so I thought I would post a few.
Just a few albums I don't remember seeing in the thread.


Travis - The Man Who (with 3 bonus tracks)

Amazon.com's Best of 2000
With The Man Who, Scottish quartet Travis captured the very essence of their homeland, and unassumingly blew us away. The moderately paced, longing melodies, and lead singer Fran Healy's quietly desperate vocals, provide a haunting mask on what is actually a rugged, enduring, and entirely beautiful slice of Brit-rock.

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?vw1znqkc35y


Elastica - Elastica

Amazon.co.uk Review 1995
Elastica were accused of many things in the wake of this debut album, not least that many of their songs bear a striking resemblance to stuff from New Wave punks Wire ("Connection" is said to have the same riff as their "Three Girl Rhumba"). But that's all missing the point. Here we have 15 spiky songs crammed into less than 40 minutes, a hit-and-run of an album in which Justine's detached, bored rich-girl vocals complement the addictively energetic "Stutter" and "Waking Up". There's a satisfying smattering of filth throughout, too, as "Car Song" has Justine cooing, "Every shiny bonnet / makes me think of my back on it," and it doesn't take a genius to work out what she's on about on "Vaseline". This stunning debut is bloody good fun. It's frantic, sexy and makes you want to leap about like an idiot, and, really, nothing else matters.

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


Refused - The Shape Of Punk To Come

Amazon.com's Best of 1998
If not the album of the year, it's at least the punk-rock album of the year, fiercely representing a musical ethos that has suffered the ignominious shame of commercial popularity. "We want the airwaves back!" shrieks singer (if you can use that word) Dennis, and over the course of The Shape of Punk to Come's 12 sonically stunning tracks, they reclaim the right to rage, rant, and innovate. The Refused broke up soon after recording this album, but they've left behind an invigorating manifesto.

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?zmhm2thj0oe


For Stars - We Are All Beautiful People

allmusic Review 2002
For Stars' brand of sadcore packs a punch on its third disc. "Wires" thunders along after its tentative start; "How It Goes" is expansive synth rock. Though Carlos Forster's vocals waver on the edge of annoying ("People Party"), there's a containment in his delivery (as on the ballad-like "Back in France" and "The Astronaut Song") that reveals he could sing just about any way he wants if he chose to. It's the silly but modern keyboard sounds that really distinguish what For Stars are doing: A mix of ethereal indie rock and space rock with traditional pop that's so unselfconscious there's every chance the band has no idea how timeless it is. If a young dBs were making records these days, they'd sound like For Stars.

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?wzwigmmnz4c


Liz Phair - Exile In Guyville

allmusic Review 1993
At the time, Phair's gleefully profane, clever lyrics received endless attention (there's nothing that rock critics love more than a girl who plays into their geek fantasies, even -- or maybe especially -- if she's mocking them), but years later, what still astounds is the depth of the writing, how her music matches her clear-eyed, vivid words, whether it's on the self-loathing "Fuck and Run," the evocative mood piece "Stratford-on-Guy," or the swaggering breakup anthem "6'1"," or how she nails the dissolution of a long-term relationship on "The Divorce Song." Each of these 18 songs maintains this high level of quality, showcasing a singer/songwriter of immense imagination, musically and lyrically. If she never equaled this record, well, few could.

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


Frente! - Marvin the Album

RollingStone Review 1994
Angie Hart's little-girl voice is startlingly fresh with subversive beauty. Fresher still is the way this Aussie foursome's lean folk-art arrangements (spare piano, acoustic guitar) propel snappy rhythms and jazzy melodies. Off-kilter pop, their songs boast a dry poetic suggestiveness (think Suzanne Vega or Nick Drake) – they come across like knowing nursery rhymes for sexy, wised-up children. Fourteen gemlike tunes, Marvin is a superb first album – "Labour of Love," a classic single about the ambiguity of desire (catchy, too); "Ordinary Angels," an emancipatory life lesson ("Don't be smart, be a beginner"); "Most Beautiful," a bent bossa nova. And Hart's a real find, whether belting like a Swinging London dolly bird ("No Time") or straight-talking smoothly ("Girl").

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



Hopefully I did this right. I'm new to this.

[Clapyourhandssaywhhaatt]

I think all the Modest Mouse albums are up now except this one,
Baron Von Bullshit Rides Again. and now I present it.

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?z15dva5eyvyThis is a live album consisting of good songs from several great albums.
Enjoy!

P.S If anyone has anything in the same music style as Holopaw, can you please post it?
That's a request! BUT, that's a request for a certain style of music, and nowhere does it say I can't request genre's of music. thnx

[the_pied_piper]

More albumy goodness for everyone as a gift from me

The Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes

Dance indie music from girl band The Pipettes. This album contains the original line-up and the single 'Pull Shapes'.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?mdyu2zjjetw
Perfume - Game

J-pop/technopop from one of Japan's most famous current bands.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?yiglkw0zmok
If you can't find it in you to like at least one of these albums clinical depression is the only symptom i can diagnose. Now brighten up!

[Albatron]

Looky what i found floating 'round the internets.

This Will Destroy You & Lymbyc System - Field Studies

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http://www.mediafire.com/?rd5nfqfmyzd
I've only listened to this once but i like it so far. More of the same awesome from TWDY and the Lymbyc Systems half is quality stuff too. I couldn't find a large enough cover image to bother posting, but I put a little one in the zip.
 

[michaelicious]

Sweeeeet. When I found out about this split I tried to find it every day for like a month then I forgot about it till now.

PS:



There's the cover.

[Albatron]

Sweet thanks man.

[lauraelise204]

Rosie Thomas - These Friends Of Mine

Rosie Thomas - If Songs Could Be Held

Rosie Thomas - When We Were Small

Rosie Thomas - Only With Laughter Can You Win

thank you for the AMAZING posts!  rosie thomas is one of my favourites.  i own "these friends of mine" and have dowloaded a ton of her stuff previously, but am missing various tracks.  also love page france and lavender diamond!!  have you heard lavender's cover of "like a prayer"? it's great.

and just in case anybody wants it.....

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

[pat101]

The Mystic World Of Augustus Pablo - The Rockers Story (2008, Shanachie)

Pt.1

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

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?mmzdmzj4mqiPt.3

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?5mntynkmnywPt.4

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?mztm0nzhuto



AMG

Jamaica's Augustus Pablo took what was essentially a child's toy, the melodica, and turned it into something else again. The exotic, eerie, slightly Far Eastern and delicately mournful sound that Pablo coaxed from the instrument soon became a staple of Jamaican reggae and dub releases in the 1970s. Given his reticent nature, though, and his tendency to avoid the limelight, Pablo never achieved commercial stardom (if indeed that was ever even an aim of his) and while his influence on modern Jamaican music is immense, he actually only had one hit on the island, his 1971 single "Java," which single-handedly ushered in the so-called "rockers" style (the version collected here is a re-do from 1982). This five disc (four discs of music and a disc of videos) overview of Pablo's life and canon probably won't change that, but this kind of survey of his vital and unique achievements in the recording studio is exactly what his many admirers have been waiting for, and for the most part, it delivers the goods in fine style. Every aspect of Pablo's talent is touched on here, from his session work with seemingly every musician on the island, his innovative dub efforts, his fascinating solo projects, and his later work as a producer and nurturer of new talent. Among the key tracks included here are "East of the River Nile" (in its definitive 1977 version), "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown" (a restructuring of "Cassava Piece" and an acknowledged dub classic), and the intriguing "AP Special," which features Pablo playing the xylophone (Pablo could play countless instruments, including guitar, piano, and organ, as well as the melodica). Pablo was partial to minor key arrangements, and the so-called "Far East" sound that resulted from this fascination is as haunting as it was influential and pervasive, and aside from maybe Yabby You, few Jamaican musicians pursued the dark, lonely beauty of the minor keys with Pablo's focused devotion. This set shows the breadth and consistency of Pablo's musical vision, but it really isn't for the casual listener, since Pablo's sound can get a bit overwhelming and it really doesn't vary a whole lot, so a single disc selection like Original Rockers or East of the River Nile might make for a better starting point for those new to this utterly unique musician.

Nodzz - Nodzz (2009, What's Your Rupture?)

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?jnyzn1mw2yj


Coke Machine Glow

Rating: 85%
Combined Rating: 80%

“But who knows if ‘eight days a week is not enough to show I love you’ is a good idea, or a bad idea, or any kind of idea at all? And who cares? The joy of pop music is that it can deliver you from such questions by its immediacy, and provoke them by its impact.” – Greil Marcus, Mystery Train: Visions of America in Popular Music

“It’s all controlled karaoke / la la la la la / this song is phony.” – Nodzzz, “Controlled Karaoke”

There are a lot of hard lessons underneath the choruses of Nodzzz. That may be an odd thing to say for an album so brimful of juvenile enthusiasm; if songwriters are chefs, then Nodzzz are confectioners, their songs made entirely of sugar and syrup, shaped into something either airy or brittle. They seem liable to crumble under the slightest scrutiny; but there’s a real sense of disillusionment, slash cynicism, slash a hundred other things underneath a song as effortlessly brilliant as “In the City (Contact High),” the best Guided by Voices song Bob Pollard never got around to writing. “You got no money? / then beat it buddy / or stand there looking cool,” Anthony Atlas sings, letting out a sarcastic “cool!” over a drum fill. It’s easy to read this as a lazy indictment of The Scene, and perhaps it is, but the way the singer sings “You got no talent? Then beat it, buddy” suggests a direct quote, a remembered insult. Slagging the scene is a rite of passage for all of us, of course, as is the humiliation of walking into any situation without the right currency—money, knowledge of the bands on the Dangerhouse roster, being at a specific basement shows six months ago. So when he sings the song’s second title in the chorus, is it a dig at a poseur—someone not participating in the events of the room but being there anyway—or is it a lived-in sketch of the wallflower? Or is it a simple admonition: hey kid, fake it till you make it?

Or is it none of these things? It takes a writer a good half hour to think that all up and write it out; the song is over in 2:15, and the album itself is only seventeen minutes long. All of this I offer as evidence that the pop music found on Nodzzz is top shelf. Recorded on a four-track, physically only available as a 12” LP (a digital copy is available) and influenced by “British New Wave singles of the ’70s and ’80s” (so they say on their Myspace, but they never specify which ones, so you can only surmise they mean all of them, which seems about perfect), it’s the kind of album that gets passed around like a secret that everyone wants to share. Us writer types like it because it lets us play Connect the Influences: Alan tells me that it reminds him of “Dirt Dress, if Dirt Dress decided to be the Feelies and the Feelies decided to be Weezer circa Green.” That’s totally fine, but I prefer my own RIYL (“Jonathan Richman, Sebadoh, Vivian Girls/Jay Reatard/Brooklyn generally, ice cream, the ocean breeze, wet kisses, life itself”). Fans like it because it’s catchy, well performed, and funny. Sentimental types like it for songs like “Losing My Accent,” an impossibly left-handed and sly coming of age analogy about moving out and, possibly, down. “Think I traded it for rent,” the vocalist mutters of his titular childhood possession, and one has to whistle: yeah man, growing up sucks, and it only gets worse.

Those kind of songs in that kind of aesthetic make it hard to get an exact bead on the band. Atlas speaks, whines, and squeaks his way through the record, and in every song he hits at least one note that is just so wrong. Check the chorus of “Simple Song,” which is actually about outgrowing simple songs and ends on a catastrophe of a note (re: my notes; “this really puts the false in falsetto, n’yuk n’yuk”). But then he hits the same note again on the next chorus, and the brain demands to know if it’s being put on, whether its love of the goofy pop hook is luring it into deeper water or into sudden exposure, that a practical joke is around the corner as penance for your enthusiasm. I doubt it means any of that. Nodzzz is, finally, the ultimate fuck you to the aging process, a glorious embrace of sugar rushes and wide-eyed enthusiasm.

Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista (2008, Fonal)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?12zhzzddmth



From Coke Machine Glow

Rating: 84%
Combined Rating: 82%


The everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to instrumentation is typically associated with lo-fi aesthetics. Paavoharju are out to change that. Even more than the fantastic Yhä Hämärää (2005), Laulu Laakson Kukista translates the homespun psych-folk that distinguishes the Fonal label into near-epic, shockingly lush strokes of impressionist pop. Here also is everything that lies in between classical orchestration and musique concrete; the music of Paavoharju constantly expands and contracts in ways which are humble, majestic, and just out-and-out phenomenal. The fact that the band happens to be part of a mysterious Finnish commune of devout Christians is probably dwelt on too much in reviews, but it’s pertinent in at least one way: how else do you explain something so labored over and yet so earnest and void of pretension, except to say that the band’s channeling something greater than themselves? Suffice it to say speculation about what exactly makes this band so vivid and unlike anything else out there at the moment is bound to produce hypotheses of questionable substance and more than a little delirium, but bear with me—this music is more than worth it.

Comparisons to other music are as inevitable as they are insufficient; there’s any number of maverick acts out there that I could compare Paavoharju to. But that comparison would only work to describe a sense of shared ground with other bands that use any and all means to achieve a specific sound. Rather, I’d hazard to say that Paavoharju are one of the first bands to fully incorporate what found-sound masters like Philip Jeck have developed into a pop framework. Which is to say that Laulu Laakson Kukista sounds like fragments of a thousand pop records, but rather than assembling them into a drifting ambient landscape like Jeck the band build these fragments back into pop songs. Now, they don’t try and pass it off as straightforward pop; they allow all the static, disembodied voices and samples, and lost/undiscovered choral etudes to organically coalesce into silken, marmoreal slices of transcendence, and then they allow them to break apart again. For example, the fact that “Kevätrumpu” carries melodies that wouldn’t be out of place on an Annie or Róisín Murphy single is astounding in itself; the fact that the static and backwards AM radio samples are always poised around its Röyksopp-esque production in an almost subliminal way is something like a miracle. The modus operandi of this album, besides attempting to unite virtually every contemporary strain of Scandinavian music from Peter Bjorn & John to Kemialliset Ystävät, could be to show how much even the slickest pop will someday become an artifact.

Still, the fact that it’s not—that this is the premeditated, controlled work of a specific group of people (even if the details and credits are somewhat hazy)—is what casts this beast beyond the realm of accidental masterpieces. Leena Uotila’s voice is central, or at least as central as it’s possible to be in a sonic universe where everything is ephemeral, and she sings in crystal-clear soprano, offering up the strange persistence of clarity amidst the blooming chaos of nature. Some of the more pop-oriented tracks feel like lost torch songs, blasting through the fury of static and crumbling instruments as if they needed to announce themselves with unabashed grandeur before they drown in the noise. This quality is equally evident on the tracks where whoever handles the male vocals sings, especially “Uskallan”: opening and closing with the cut-up sound of a baby gasping for air, the track builds into a disco-rhythm with synths alternately smooth and static-drenched threatening to consume the vocals halfway through.

The melodies are astounding on their own—even if you don’t speak Finnish—but far more important is how the band refuses to take them for granted. Outside of the disco-pop of “Uskallan” and “Kevätrumpu,” melody is treated in a similar way to Alejandra & Aeron’s documentary/folk field recording Bousha Blue Blazes (2003): melodies are employed as a means of evoking another time and place, and considering how much of Laulu Laakson Kukista picks through Romantic and Baroque relics, it succeeds brilliantly. Of course, in the spirit of an album which constantly refuses to be pinned down, this is only half the story: sometimes the band breaks through with something so immediate and bracing it’s hard to believe it sits perfectly alongside the album’s restless experimentation. “Italialaisella Laivalla” is instructive in this regard: it starts as a simple folk song with gentle guitar-picking and vocals but then begins to introduce menacing electronics and bows scraping against strings erratically. But this dark shroud is only hinted at; the song breaks off into an outro of slow, carnivalesque French accordion. It sounds like something that should be too suffocating in its wealth of ideas to be evocative, but somehow in combination it creates something listless and urgent at the same time, like The Catcher in the Rye.

If there’s any relationship between Paavoharju and other contemporary Christian music, it lies in the fact that both tend to completely ignore all sense of “fashionable” melody in favour of something achingly naïve and immediate. There are also the traditional choral arrangements of piano/organ/vocals on tracks like “Sumuvirsi” and “Kirkonväki”; these melodies reflect Bach and a long tradition of church music moreso than anything current. The latter track also happens to feature some demented, horribly distorted and slowed-down voices, though oddly they only add to the reverence of the track as a whole.

Which brings me to my one point of contention, or at least confusion. The band makes a point of stating their Christian beliefs in what little publicity they offer and even state in their website’s 10-point primer that they’re “against the use of drugs.” Far be it from me to challenge the band’s beliefs, and I can even understand to a certain extent the latter point—when Agaetis Bryjun (1999) dropped Sigur Rós made a point of disavowing any relationship between their music and narcotics and perhaps Paavoharju have a similar agenda—but it seems that as a perceptual experience Laulu Laakson Kukista is too open to decry any method that one might use to approach it, drugs included. And while much of its strength lies in its sense of sober precision, it’s a long cry from asceticism. Maybe I need to understand the Finnish lyrics to comprehend the band’s spiritual convictions, and yet when I listen to them I can’t help but feel something that transcends any specific religion: something that involves purity and innocence, and darkness and light and struggle. Perhaps it’s proof that an artist’s statement always betrays the intentions of the artist, as all these emotional triggers will combine in different ways for every listener. Maybe that’s the real spiritual value of the album: rather than impress their personal convictions, the band acts as a conduit for all these forces to combine and radiate like a prism.

[ImRonBurgundy?]

progressionally not as good live and on record really really fuckin disappointing with the most recent one. who gives whether generations has no meaning? isn't it obvious from the lyrics. irrespective it's still a really good song.

I respectfully disagree.  Chemistry is a barnstormer of an album.  Taken as a whole, it's probably the best thing they've ever done.  Admittedly, I do like many of the individual songs on Hidden World a notch better, though.

[michaelicious]

The Mystic World Of Augustus Pablo - The Rockers Story (2008, Shanachie)

Pt.1

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

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?mmzdmzj4mqiPt.3

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?5mntynkmnywPt.4

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?mztm0nzhuto

Fuck yessss.

[GMM]

Huge thanks to Tyler for that massive Beck dump [IN A GOOD WAY] a few pages back and for the Jason Forrest. Also props to whoever put up the !!! and Justice (bleep bloop indeed, sir or madame). And based on the description I think I'll give that Post-Rock Defends the Nation thing a go.

Mediaf!re Thread, you are the best thing on the internet.

[Jackie Blue]

ONEWHEELWIZARD,

Seriously mang that Rise of the Phoenix is so fucking dope I am going to go get high as fuck.  You are my new favourite person in the world.

[You Are Brahman!]

I do not own any other Architecture In Helsinki albums. This one is fun though.

This is eargasmic! 

[MrBlu]

The Mystic World Of Augustus Pablo - The Rockers Story (2008, Shanachie)

Pt.1

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

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?mmzdmzj4mqiPt.3

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?5mntynkmnywPt.4

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?mztm0nzhuto

Man, I'm Jamaican and I've never heard of him. I think I'm doing something wrong.

[altered_carbon]

Time for a Velvets megapost.
This is Peel Slowly and See. It's all their studio albums, plus outtakes and early demos.

Disk One: Demos

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?bvjy4wvd0lh
Disk Two: The Velvet Underground & Nico + Outtakes

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?6jldtc1dpul
Disk Three: White Light/White Heat + Outtakes

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?2cfmzmr01wl
Disk Four: The Velvet Underground + Outtakes

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?agn0ezmxnwx
Disk Five: Loaded + Outtakes

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

[Clapyourhandssaywhhaatt]

I will post the other two Architecture in Helsinki albums.

Architecture in Helsinki-Places Like This

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?jgedlnm42zx
Architecture In Helsinki-Fingers Crossed

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?xnzyn24j2yu

[spoon_of_grimbo]

Three absurdly atmospheric and HUGE-sounding, vaguely-experimental rock albums for your good selves to enjoy:

Devin Townsend - "Synchestra"

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?dhzzntw5nnk

Although the two aren't musically alike, Neil Young and Devin Townsend follow a similar approach to making music. Young uses his hard-rocking band Crazy Horse to recharge his batteries, so that he can go off and pursue other musical areas of interest as a solo artist. And Townsend has the same setup — returning time and time again back to "the band thing" (heavy metallists Strapping Young Lad) before tackling other styles as a solo artist. While Townsend's 2006 solo outing Synchestra does let quite a few headbanging elements slip through the metal detectors, Townsend's quirkiness continues to bubble to the surface throughout. Since Townsend first broke on the scene as a member of Steve Vai's band (1993's Sex & Religion), it's understandable that a few obviously Vai-ish bits should be detected, such as the track "Babysong." But Townsend is certainly not a one-trick pony, as evidenced by the Faith No More-ish instrumental "Vampolka" and a quartet of prog metal epics stacked side by side: "Gaia," "Pixillate," "Judgement," and "A Simple Lullaby." As evidenced by Synchestra, Townsend seems to be getting more musically daring with each subsequent release, unlike some other veteran rockers who start to play it safe as the years roll on.

Aereogramme - "Sleep & Release"

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?uvtgtt25ytm

On Sleep and Release, Aereogramme combines abrasive guitars, feedback, and distorted vocals into rock that, in its own way, is as crunchy and dynamic as Weezer, though as decidedly outsider as Mogwai. "Indiscretion #243" is a beautiful way to start an album: a mash of assaulting guitars, moaning keys, a strange hymnal chorus, and enough exploding melodicism to render their debut meek by comparison. From there, the band soars with Sigur Rós grandeur-gone-folk-rock (the string-laden "Black Path"), subtle electro-psychedelia (the glitchy and somber "A Simple Process of Elimination"), and slinky post-rock that would find a kindred spirit in the 90 Day Men ("No Really, Everything's Fine"). What sets these Scots apart, though, from their massive contemporaries (like Godspeed You Black Emperor! or Mogwai) is their ability to unleash simple and sunny pop hooks, and then pile layers on top of them, like on "Wood." Of course as soon as the song catches your attention with these grooves, the band totally destroys them, clearing the table in one fell swoop of epic heavy metal. Then they come back to the pop. It's brilliant and, in a word, riveting.

Mr. Bungle - "California"

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?ztgjmmznj5t

Four years after Disco Volante, Mr. Bungle returns with California, which immediately distinguishes itself from its predecessors — it's probably their most heavily orchestrated record to date and their most melodic overall, as well as the least dependent on rock styles. That's certainly not to imply that this is a tame or immediately accessible record, nor that Mr. Bungle has suddenly gone sane. There is a stronger lounge-music orientation to the group's trademark rapid-fire genre-hopping; we hear more pop, swing, rockabilly, country & western, bossa nova, Hawaiian and Middle Eastern music, jazz, Zappa-esque doo wop, arty funk, post-rock, space-age pop, spaghetti-Western music, warped circus melodies, and even dramatic pseudo-new age, plus just a smidgen of heavy metal. Sure, some of those sounds have appeared on Mr. Bungle records past, but the difference this time is the focus with which the band deploys its arsenal. California is their most concise album to date, clocking in at around 45 minutes; plus, while the song structures are far from traditional, they're edging more in that direction and that greatly helps the listener in making sense of the often random-sounding juxtapositions of musical genres (assuming, of course, that you're supposed to even try to make sense of them). As with any Mr. Bungle album, California requires at least a few listens to pull together, but its particular brand of schizophrenia isn't nearly as impenetrable as that of Disco Volante, even if it will still make you marvel at the fact that such a defiantly odd, uncommercial band recorded for Warner Bros.

[HotwiredUterus]

Azeda Booth - In Flesh Tones
(from some members of Women)

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?ukndx34wyjt

In Flesh Tones should appeal to fans of the laptop-ier side of Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins (specifically, Adore), the Notwist, and Broken Social Scene-- maybe imagine an album's worth of "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl"-- but these comparisons are insufficient, and this is a crucial part of Azeda Booth's appeal. At a time when many popular bands' touchstones can be divided without remainders into Blogger tags, there simply isn't anyone doing exactly what these guys are doing right now. From the first fluctuating tones and galloping, hard-panning snares of "Ran"-- even before the first airy gusts of singing appear-- you feel yourself immersed in a profoundly intuitive musical vision.

[jackrabbitslim]

I don't know if anyone else does, but I find it hard to keep up with this thread. To fix this, I spent tonight hacking together a parser in python that creates an RSS feed for the mediafire thread. It crawls the latest page of the thread, and generates a list of links contained within. It *tries* to get a title and description from the post as well, but is only successful around half the time, depending on how people format their posts. Hopefully I'll be able to improve this when I get some more time.

The feed is at http://chrisgrice.com/rss/mediafeed.rss.xml . It updates twice a day; again, this will be improved once I have some time.

If anyone wants to improve the parsing, or just the code in general, you can grab it at http://github.com/cgrice/qc-musicthread-scraper/tree/master

If doing this is a Bad Thing, or if people would rather I didn't, let me know and I'll take it down. Hopefully some people will find it useful though! Also any suggestions to improve it will be greatly appreciated.

[Be My Head]

Awesome, python is a bitch to code in, so I never stuck with it. But I subscribed to the RSS, hopefully you can get it working better.

I'll have a look see anyway, and mess around to see if there's anything I can improve with it.

[pat101]

Azeda Booth - In Flesh Tones
(from some members of Women)

 

My name is Patrick Bruce and I fully endorse this album

[MobyDickhole]

I don't know if anyone else does, but I find it hard to keep up with this thread. To fix this, I spent tonight hacking together a parser in python that creates an RSS feed for the mediaf!re thread. It crawls the latest page of the thread, and generates a list of links contained within. It *tries* to get a title and description from the post as well, but is only successful around half the time, depending on how people format their posts. Hopefully I'll be able to improve this when I get some more time.

The feed is at http://chrisgrice.com/rss/mediafeed.rss.xml . It updates twice a day; again, this will be improved once I have some time.

If anyone wants to improve the parsing, or just the code in general, you can grab it at http://github.com/cgrice/qc-musicthread-scraper/tree/master

If doing this is a Bad Thing, or if people would rather I didn't, let me know and I'll take it down. Hopefully some people will find it useful though! Also any suggestions to improve it will be greatly appreciated.

AWRSSOME!!!!!!!!!!

[fatty]

I checked out this thread and found it entirely lacking in RJD2. I set out to fix this immediately, but mediaf!!!re has not been kind to me.

Possibly the best RJD2 album I've heard is his first a 'mixtape' created in quite an unusual way.

RJD2 - Your Face or Your Kneecaps (2001)

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http://www.mediaf!!!re.com/?yfzyu4gzyyj

Before he hit the big (or at least moderately sized) time as a solo artist with the release of his official debut, Dead Ringer, on El-P's Definitive Jux label, RJD2 put together the extremely limited-edition Your Face or Your Kneecaps more or less as a promotional item. Irregardless of its semi-legitimate status, the album managed to get the producer noticed by Rolling Stone magazine, and it is definitely worth tracking down. It is conspicuous as the rawer blueprint for what Dead Ringer would eventually succeed fully at becoming: self-contained instrumental hip-hop of the highest order. Your Face or Your Kneecaps is of a much rougher finish -- it is a self-described "mix CD," after all, and lacks the glossy veneer of a studio product -- but it also has spontaneity and a ragged bedroom soul in spades. The album's main course is "Poorboy Lover Megamix," a virtuoso display of the art of the sampler. The song's 37 snippets (the majority of them cherry-picked out of the 1960s and '70s) mostly run no longer than 30 or 40 seconds apiece, but the whole 39-minute collage comes together like the greatest obscure, free-form funk 'n' jive live jam you've never heard. Both "Rain" and "Find You Out" have the same sort of effect, but on a much smaller scale. While they feel much more rooted in the earth, they are just as haunting as the mystical landscapes of DJ Shadow. And they help make the album more than simply a warm-up from a extraordinary artist.

[Orcusmars]

Azeda Booth - In Flesh Tones

More.

More of this.

I don't care if this is a no-request thread.

Post more.

[Freddybear]

Frank Zappa / Captain Beefheart - Bongo Fury

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?hhymkmmnz2d
From allmusic:
Bongo Fury captures Captain Beefheart aka Don Van Vliet with Frank Zappa during their brief reunion for a series of shows in the spring of 1975. This album is a pastiche of both live performances -- taken from two evenings at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, TX -- and studio recordings that were almost a year-and-a-half old. This is the last album to feature the highly technical jazz fusion of Mothers of Invention, whose roots can be traced back to 1973 circa Over-Nite Sensation. The live portions are highlighted by the latest addition to the band -- frenetic percussionist extraordinaire Terry "Ted" Bozzio, who would stay with Zappa for a majority of the '70s. Most Zappa enthusiasts either love or hate Bongo Fury. Much of the disparity has to do with the lack of the extended fusion-based instrumentals that had graced their predecessors One Size Fits All and Roxy & Elsewhere as much as it does with the inclusion of Captain Beefheart. Conversely, those consumers whose passions tend toward both Zappa and Captain Beefheart consider this disc as a mutual zenith.

[onewheelwizzard]

This thread has been fucking awesome lately.

My Education - Bad Vibrations

From NPR:
The Austin-based instrumental quintet My Education composes wordless songs through vast, gorgeously orchestrated soundscapes. From squealing electric guitar wails to screeching viola yelps, the band's music has all the vocals it needs, drawing its narrative tension from ambient dischord.

Each track on the group's new album, Bad Vibrations, offers a buildup and release that's equally commanding and cathartic. But with all the musical strife, much of the album proves tranquil and soothing in its atmospheric nature, as the band paints a beautiful musical picture with layers of brooding instrumentation.

The album's title track places a simple, rhythmically strummed and picked acoustic guitar against a rich orchestra of floating strings and ambient keyboard dips and swells. The composition creates a vivid aural landscape, lending the song an ethereal feel. This lush tapestry of sound proves mesmerizing for its eight-minute entirety.

Really incredible post-rock.  I believe it is drums/guitar/bass/viola/piano?  Beautiful stuff.  Highly recommended ... I know a bunch of people in this forum like post-rock, and this is essential for them.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?omztd4kjneu

[Clemsin]

I wanted to check this album out again.    I downloaded a version and came up with this.  Does anyone know anything about this version?

 

Thanks for any help.

http://rapidshare.com/files/99822990/MEY.rar

[MrBlu]

Yeah, I'm not clicking that.


Also: Thanks for the RJD2 Fatty!

[HotwiredUterus]

Regarding Azeda Booth: that was their debut.
they upped their EP for free download.

Azeda Booth - Mysterious Body



http://www.craftydeer.com/content/marc/azedabooth_mysteriousbody.zip

[Cire27]

The other Gaslight Anthem album:

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http://www.mediafire.com/?4xmluvhgtmw

[Clapyourhandssaywhhaatt]

Lullaby for the Working Class.
Hypnotist-

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

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?xixlftzpacxBlanket Warm-

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?mgnjvlc3mw0
These guys were an indie folk rock band from Lincoln, Nebraska, active from the mid-to-late 1990s. Fronted by Omaha, Nebraska singer-songwriter Ted Stevens (of the bands Mayday and Cursive), the group also featured multi-instrumentalist and producer Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, his brother, producer A.J. Mogis, and drummer Shane Aspegren of Berg Sans Nipple.

They are really good,
I seriously can't get enough of them. Violins, chill drums, other things, acoustic strings and well really good lyrics.

Oh and thanks for the gaslight anthem, i just started getting to them.

[Clapyourhandssaywhhaatt]

This great forum of ours has some serious lacking of Postal Service.
Is it because everyone has them already and is too greedy to post them?
I think not. Sooo of course I'm going to post everything I have of them! 
Here are 4 albums, I'm not sure if there are any more but if there is I'll find them and post them as well.
Give up

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http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mny2zzcmnzzSuch Great Heights

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http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?yldmnln0lvmThe District Sleeps Alone Tonight

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http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?wym5y4qwq21We Will Become Silhouettes

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http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?2zjwdnzxjtiYep. There you go.
For those of you who don't know, The Postal Service is lead by Front man Ben Gibbard of Deathcab For Cutie.
Electronica music with lyrics of love and heart break and everything nice. They are great. Get at it.

[spoon_of_grimbo]

Leatherface - "Mush" (1992)

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?jmwyzmgtwcz
Ever listened to those really gruff voiced punk/post-hardcore vocalists and thought "Holy fuck, how does he sing like that?!"  Well prepare to be flabbergasted by Frankie Stubbs of Leatherface, a guy who sounds like a rusty tractor engine singing the blues.  The best reasonably well-known (well, more so than Leatherface themselves) point of reference for their sound is one of the bands they had great influence on, Hot Water Music.  Catchy, hard-edged, but extremely melodic punk/post-hardcore, "Mush" is something of a lost classic, drifting in and out of print since it's original release in 1992.  This version includes the bonus tracks "Trenchfoot," "Scheme of Things," and the dirtiest yet most awesome cover you'll ever hear of The Police's "Message in a Bottle."


Bash & Pop - "Friday Night Is Killing Me" (1993)

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?dyjmt5mgtjy
This is essentially the first solo project by Tommy Stinson after the breakup of The Replacements in the early 90s.  Although band members are listed and tours took place, Stinson handled most the instruments and all of the vocals himself.  The sound is similar to The Replacements' later, poppier material, and I've been told theres a distinct Faces influence (I'm not familar with much of their material so I can't really comment, although at times, Stinson does sound like a young Rod Stewart in his vocal delivery).


Fugazi - "Red Medicine" (1995)

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?wytgdjmnwmm
Picked this up for several reasons: I was in a mood for more Fugazi (I already had "13 Songs" and "Repeater" and after having not listened to them for ages, I gave them a whirl and finally realised their inherent awesomeness), Jackie Blue recommended "Red Medicine" in another thread, the artwork looks kinda cool, and screw taking the discography in chronological order!  Anyway, point is, I got this album, and it immediately revealed itself to be completely kickass from start to finish, and a lot more experimental in sound than the two Fugazi albums I'd heard previously.  The vast improvement in the vocal department (especially on Guy's part) made it much more accessible from the off.  Definitely worth checking out for those who haven't already.

[phooey]

I would be lying if I said I didn't take a lot of stuff from this thread so here's a little something. 

Ukulele Loki's Gadabout Orchestra - s/t

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?ozizwvzlhwj
I couldn't find the art online so I picked the most entertaining one of the band.  This is basically some fun, cotton-candyish songwriting with some bizarre instrumentation (sousaphone, ukulele, clarinet ITT).  It's catchy, but not all that deep.  I've thrown a Divine Comedy song that I think falls under the same sort of description, and it also took me forever to find, so don't be surprised when that is in the folder too.

William Shatner - Has Been

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?vrzqrjmjbtz
If you have heard of William Shatner, give this a listen.  If you haven't heard of William Shatner, give this a listen.

[valley_parade]

Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter - Reckless Burning

Taking what talents they've garnered from previous bands such as Hominy and Whiskeytown, lead singer Jesse Sykes and guitarist Phil Wandscher are onto something far bigger than the two could have foreseen. The opening title track lends itself as much to Margo Timmins as it does to a latter-day Lucinda Williams à la "Lonely Girls" in its almost morose tempo and arrangements, making the nearly seven-minute song glide along effortlessly and, to the listener, far shorter. The following numbers offer the same barren sounds, evoking images of members recording the songs in a log cabin. The well-trodden but solidly produced tracks never waver, especially "Doralee" and the slightly upbeat, honky tonk of "Lonely Hill." Resembling a trace of Neil Young's "Harvest Moon," the tune discusses heartbreak over a cross between Appalachian music and traditional country twang. "Don't Let Me Go" is another fine gem that doesn't stray too far from Sykes' strong points. While not having a dynamic range, she certainly knows what works. Only on "Drinking With Strangers," with its harmonies and backing instruments, does it sound a bit forced and too over-the-top. Returning to the melodic, swaying sound of "Love Me, Someday," the band is very well versed in a quasi dirge-country. A very sound and gentle series of heartbreaking vignettes makes this album so adorable.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?zmhnmzmxz3z

[ex_penumbrae]

Here's the first solo album from Steven Wilson, the musician behind Bass Communion & Porcupine Tree. It's a really amazing release, containing the best elements of those acts, as well as bringing to mind, at times, Nine Inch Nails, Portishead & even Scott Walker. It's rare to hear avant rock, ambient, shoegaze & even classical be combined with such effortless brilliance. Limited edition is sold out, but the commercial release comes out in late February/early March. (http://www.insurgentes.org/)

Enjoy.

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part 1: http://www.mediaf!re.com/?mdnuyimgond
part 2: http://www.mediaf!re.com/?5yecoownn1o[mp3 | 256 | 99Mb]

[phooey]

We are the coolest

[lauraelise204]

pardon, piedpiper, but could you do a re-up of "hello dear wind" and "...the family telephone"?  the links were down before i got a chance to download

[pat101]

Madlib - Beat Konducta 5 Dil Cosby Suite (2008)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?zgn2mjtzftz


Beat Konducta 5 a J Dilla tribute.


Group Bombino- Guitars From Agadez Vol. 2 (2009)

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http://www.mediafire.com/?jmgwmtmnh1e


Sublime Frequencies

Group Bombino is the latest salvo from the Agadez music scene. Led by the guitar virtuoso Omara Mochtar (Bombino), the group’s debut LP-- Volume two in the Guitars from Agadez series, represents the latest chapter in the modern sound of the Tuareg revolution. As of 2008, the Tuareg rebellion is in full force again, and Bombino is in exile to parts unknown. Agadez has been cut off from the rest of Niger. The only road that connects this legendary city with the rest of the country is littered with land mines and the only escorts are the military. This music and its messages of hope, justice, and desire for validation of the Kel Tamachek way of life ring louder than ever. Group Bombino are gaining mythic status in and around the Tuareg community for their incendiary live performances. Coming from the same scene as Group Inerane and sharing some of the same musicians, Group Bombino showcase both sides of the Tuareg Guitar style. Side one features the “Dry Guitar” sound, an unplugged selection of songs sung among the dunes and stars of the Tenere desert. Side two showcases the electric fury of the full band, a melding of heavy, psychedelic guitar heroics with a raw garage sound, back beat percussion, all swirling in extended trance rock moves. Recorded live and unfiltered in Agadez and the surrounding desert in early 2007, with the band’s equipment powered by generators and an unflinching dedication to the rebellion, Group Bombino’s music transcends any influence and ignites the raw passion of its message to the outside world.

[lauraelise204]

i love this.

[the_pied_piper]

Page France - Hello, Dear Wind

There is an edge of melancholy throughout: the jangly guitars, ringing bells, and joyous keyboards betray talk of fear, of being blown away by the wind—and lead singer Michael Nau admits that we are all dogs, begging for scraps from the divine. In “Junkyard,” the most cryptic, and the darkest track, Nau tells us that this Christianity not only requires us to "lie there patiently" but to have life "shake us like a bad dream," even if the dream was about "the truest song that was never true."

If all of this sounds oddly intense, it should. Hello, Dear Wind feels like people talking quietly in a circle, a collection narratives of confusion and shame. Things you would hear at retreat centers, AA, the confessional booth, bible studies, and the like. It is easy to mock lo-fi emo boys with their four-track, singing love songs to girls who will never really love them—now imagine finding that girl who will love them forever: all of that trepidation about adolescent desire remains, but there is a surety amongst the doubt.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?oijyhj3wmtg
Page France - ...and the Family Telephone

This braiding of the unconscious with the Unknown, as crookedly rendered as it might be, is Telephone's greatest charm-- an inventive intertwining that gives the record a woozy, playful charisma. Like Danielson's Daniel Smith, Nau creates a loopy musical world concerned with the extratextual elements of organized religion, with any converts he attracts along the way merely interested in playing along. Like religion, music only exists inasmuch as it is performed, and on Telephone's closer "Casting Day", Nau seeks to recruit a new crop of participants for his next show, asking: "Who do you wanna be? In that crooked afterlife, at the bottom of the sea?"

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http://www.mediafire.com/?nmkzco22wzm

Re-upped with new links.

[snakes]

Fugazi - "Red Medicine" (1995)

appreciated. i've been meaning to get my hands on this for a bit now to no avail, but here it is, so thanks.

[Mr. Tool]

New Beirut

Beirut - March of the Zapotec / Realpeople - Holland

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http://www.mediafire.com/?tjfwn0aywwj
It's a split release that's all Zach Condon. March of the Zapotec is Condon backed by the 19 piece Jimenez Band, while Realpeople is Condon performing solo (the band name was one he used before starting Beirut)

[Scandanavian War Machine]

sweeeeet

[mkd8919]

The Bridges - Limits of the Sky

On their Verve Forecast debut album Limits of the Sky, the Oxford, Alabama-based quintet the Bridges unveils a disarming brand of heartfelt, harmony-laden pop-folk-rock that combines youthful exuberance with surprisingly mature songcraft.

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

[pat101]

now for something a little different

Al Franken - Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right (2003)



CD 1

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?vz5k1oy5mjyCD 2

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?trtmaryt2wmCD 3

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?zywgwyn0mmjCD 4

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?j4i4njdnwunCD 5

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

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?3udyynjhmmiCD 7

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?ymez3e3zmylCD 8

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?jz2gtnzm3ml
an awesome audiobook I listened to recently and I figured the masses may enjoy it.

just a little info from wikipedia

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right is a book of political commentary and satire by comedian and political commentator Al Franken, published in 2003 by Dutton, a subsidiary in the Penguin Group. Franken had a study group of fourteen Harvard graduate students known as "TeamFranken" to help him with the research.[1] The book's subtitle is an ironic parody of Fox News' tagline "Fair and Balanced." Fox sued Franken over the use of the phrase in a short-lived lawsuit, which has been credited with increasing the sales of the book.

Lies is one of several books published in 2003 written by American liberals challenging the viewpoints of conservatives such as Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, and Bill O'Reilly. These books by Franken and fellow authors such as Joe Conason, Michael Moore and Jim Hightower were described by columnist Molly Ivins as the "great liberal backlash of 2003."

[runinit]

New Beirut

Beirut - March of the Zapotec / Realpeople - Holland

[IMG]http://i44.tinypic.com/2dkic7q.jpg[/img

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?tjfwn0aywwj
It's a split release that's all Zach Condon. March of the Zapotec is Condon backed by the 19 piece Jimenez Band, while Realpeople is Condon performing solo (the band name was one he used before starting Beirut)

yay yay yay yay

thank you thank you