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[zoidbergslo]

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]

Past few pages are rife with soulful folk, or really soul in general. Port O'Brien, Ray LaMontagne, and Iron & Wine are must-haves from gospel's post, along with that excellent Laura Marling record zombiedude posted. Hard to imagine she's written a song like "New Romantic" whilst still a teenager.

One of my favorites of the year. I shoudn't have posted the album art, because when you're listening to him there's no way you'd expect him to be a young white dude as opposed to an awesome black soul singer from the 60's/70's. Really awesome soul with a little bit of funk, tongue planted firmly in cheek, but not so much that it stops being awesome. Really, if you can listen to "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out", and "Your Easy Lovin" and not think this is awesome music you're doing something wrong. Get psyched on this record dudes.

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?nmgykyqym3d

This is an interesting record, he reminds me of that Remy Shand bloke from a few years back. Guy made one reasonably solid blue-eyed soul record and promptly vanished into the outer realms of obscurity. I think the problem with both records is that they're a bit on the nose, though they're original compositions, the tracks sound more like tribute records to their idols. Still, even if they rely exclusively on their influences for inspiration, the music is undeniably catchy as hell.

If nothing else, it beats Hulk Hogan and Pokemon. Not that there's anything wrong with that. 

REMY SHAND - THE WAY I FEEL (2002)

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

[sean]

Age Sixteen - Summer 09 Demo

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http://www.mediafire.com/?ym2g5z4zjoltt
My friend asked for this so I figured I'd just put it up here too. 3 new songs from age sixteen. Seems like they've gotten heavier since Open Up Finders, Please. The music is still really melodic screamo, but this time when they're being heavy its much face sheddier. Still lots of quiet parts though. I dunno if you downloaded other Age Sixteen stuff you'll love this. The only problem is that it's fused into one big track.

[JD]

Awesome post Kveep

Edit: Yh Ghst.rar: CRC failed in 08 Sleepr.mp3. The file is corrupt
CRC failed in Lackthereof - Retrospective (1998-2008)\02 Tongues O Fire.mp3. The file is corrupt

[KvP]

bah, Winrar.

Sleepr

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http://www.mediafire.com/?2mtymdjd4mo
Tongues o Fire

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

[JD]

Whoa Yeah Ghost fucking great

[ALoveSupreme]

Age Sixteen - Summer 09 Demo

Sean, everyone should trust your posts like David Bazan trusts T.W. Walsh.

[DrNil]

If the latest Detritus album, Things Gone Wrong, "accidentally" appeared here--well--I wouldn't complain. /awkward cough

Detritus - Things Gone Wrong (2009)

Detritus's fourth full length album is both a general update of what could be hinted at with the previous three and this act's opening to new territory. Very detailed, and combining both ferocious drum'n'bass moments with delicate and touching melodies, "Things Gone Wrong" caresses, kicks and impresses as Detritus's most crafted. A treat for the fan, and an excellent snapshot of what this act is about for the newcomers.

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?wdnz2emx0ti

[sean]

a love supreme im actually starting up a music blog! ill probably make a thread about it once i get posting, its mostly gonna be the type of stuff i post here.

[sambillini]

Hey Gospel...the last 3 albums you posted were awesome...right on the money...chest-pump!

[Avec]

The Iconoclasts - Iconoclasts EP

Seriously catchy Portuguese powerpop.

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http://iconoclastsband.com/

Iconoclasts are a Portuguese six-piece from Lisbon with Diogo and Pipa singing and screaming (not at the same time), Pedro doing freaky dances while playing bass, Ricardo hammering away on the drums like his life depended on it, Vitor playing guitar (he's not allowed to play the harmonica, though he'll often try to sneak it in while no one's paying attention) while pounding on every effects pedal imaginable, and Sérgio doing the same with every annoying thing he lays his hands on. They play shouty, noisy music their mothers would not be proud of and allow themselves to enjoy the sweet, sophisticated pleasure of caustic feedback afterwards.

[Scarychips]

Oh man, oh man, this sounds like a noisier Los Campesinos! It's really great. Thanks for the link!

[Vendetagainst]

wrong link

That was stupid. Fixed:
Aleks and the Drummer - May a Lightning Bolt Caress You

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http://www.mediafire.com/?my0djye1nzl

[JD]

The LK vs The Snow[2007]

According to their website, the full name of Malmø, Sweden's the LK is The Love of Kevin, Colour, Chaos and the Sound of K (no word on how to say that in Swedish). This ungainly phrase, wisely abbreviated for general use, seems like an oblique reference to member Lindefelt's synaesthesia, which causes him to mentally associate colors with timbres. Synaesthesia's one of those weird brain glitches that seems like it could actually be cool to have, though I imagine that for those afflicted, the novelty value of being able to see sounds isn't quite as apparent. Lindefelt's partner in the LK, Fredrik, can't see sounds, but is apparently a good chef.

Both men have their own projects-- Fredrik's is a band called Fredrik, and Lindefelt performs solo electroacoustic shows with his cello-- but together they make some pretty awesome synth-pop. The music has a spiky immediacy, with Lindefelt's vocals way up front, backed by sharp beats and electronic collages. Fredrik's guitar and Fender Rhodes provides the harmonic structure, but the timbres of the instruments are rounded off and subsumed into the overall texture. It's a sound superficially similar to the Cansecos and Russian Futurists.

The key to the album's infectiousness, though, lies not so much in the vocals as in the bouncy basslines that percolate at the bottom of the songs. "Tamagotchi Freestyle" rides one of these , a disco-worthy descending phrase that perfectly backs up the instrumental hook, which Fredrik swaps between guitar and cornet. The lyrics mercifully skip any references to the once-ubiquitous digi-pets of the title in favor of calls to burn Elvis alive, and the immolation of a pop icon has never sounded quite this appealing.

I would've called "Tamagotchi Freestyle" a standout, but frankly by that standard half the album would be standouts. In addition to being a good pop record, it's a good details record-- dig the echoing pings and odd, watery guitar tone on closer "Yellow Ribbons", for instance. "Stop Being Perfect" has a great verse melody to set up the chorus, but the bed of electronic tones that worms its way through the beat is just as interesting. Then there are the staccato blasts the underpin the beginning of "Private Life of a Cat"-- what are they made of? It sounds like guitar and trumpet and white noise all smashed together to make one sound.

And speaking of cats, one of mine was completely freaked out by the way the backing vocals on "Eurovision" are injected into the song. He was convinced the sound was coming from someone in the room. The album hits a bit of a lull toward the end, with a few slow tracks that don't grab with nearly the force of their neighbors, but overall The LK Vs. the Snow is a sharp collection of songs that keeps pulling me back for more.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?yqm4tm52idiAnorak and other complicated words beginning with an A

[Koremora]

Atlas Sound - Logos (CD rip, 320 kbps)

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?hyymxnczjmg
Review here: http://mightyriogrande.blogspot.com/

[JD]

Someone already posted it

[Koremora]

They posted it in 192 I believe. I'm posting a rip from the physical CD that I bought yesterday at the show.

[OndraL]

Lackthereof - Retrospective 1998-2008

Lackthereof , the nom de solo project of Danny Seim, came into existence in 1997, several years before Seim became part of the eclectic, Portland-based indie trio Menomena. Initially, the project embraced a spirit of electronica-tinged experimentalism, sounding something akin to the eccentric work of John Maus; Lackthereof's later work became more spare and folky, nodding to artists like Bon Iver and Bonnie "Prince" Billy. In the early days of the project, Lackthereof's recordings were relegated to CD-Rs; six of these discs were recorded from the project's birth up until Seim became engrossed with his work in Menomena. A few years down the road, Seim was picked up by FILMguerrero for his seventh Lackthereof release, Christian the Christian, which was released on that label in 2005. Lackthereof's second full-length on FILMguerrero, My Haunted, was released in the spring of 2008. It was followed a few months later by another full-length, Your Anchor, which was released on Barsuk Records.

(For people who like Atlas Sound, or DIY Radiohead-y music)

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?nvew0cnomzx

thank you very much for this one. there's one song missing in this download and you can have it here:

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?wjh2mmnnwbb
and here is the correct tracklist: http://www.barsuk.com/shop/fg29

[Talea]

last time i said i'll share some moldavian music,but  i was a little busy or i couldnt find something really good to satisfy your music taste. So, here it is, a band i first time heard at a concert ROCKHAUSEN, here in Chisinau( capital of Republic of Moldova for those who dont know) on 3rd Octomber. Boys are really great and i can hardly choose some words to describe the music they create. Enjoy!!!!

Rubycone - Pictures For Susceptible Housewives

genres: post-metal, progressive, instrumental, post-rock

The first thing that a casual listener will notice about Rubycone’s debut album is its rather original title and the matching, Fifties-style cover artwork. Then, even a cursory look at the track list will reveal titles reminiscent of a Frank Zappa or Canterbury album. Rubycone displays a sense of humor that, by and large, seems to be sadly lacking in the world of prog (with very few notable exceptions), and not extremely frequent in that of so-called ‘alternative’ rock either. The actual listening experience, though, may turn out to be a disappointment for those expecting some sort of quirky, avant-garde storytelling. In fact, “Pictures of Susceptible Housewives” is a wholly instrumental album, and the only vocals heard come in the shape of voice-overs. This is not incidental: when the band finally found a stable lineup, they decided to eliminate vocals, which had caused numerous problems in its previous incarnations. The album was conceived as a series of sonic vignettes strung together by a common theme – loosely based on the effect of consumerism on ordinary people. However, its instrumental nature makes it difficult to see the connection between the concept and the music, unless the listener has a very fertile imagination. Unlike some works of ‘impressionistic’ classical music, the various tracks are not really descriptive of the various situations suggested by the titles. Anyway, in spite of these misgivings, it was a bold move on the part of the band, and one that can lead to interesting developments if pursued further. Musically speaking, Rubycone occupies that grey area between classic/traditional prog-metal and hard-edged, eclectic prog a la King Crimson. The prog-metal inspiration shines clearly through in the second half of the album: in the slashing, crushingly heavy riffs and machine-gun drumming of the likes of Cry Baby You Are a Machine and Don’t Stop Michael. Echoes of King Crimson are instead evident in Children & Funny Earthquake, especially in the guitar tone. Most of the tracks have a rather complex structure, alternating slower, mid-tempo sections with hectic riffing and spiky, shred-like lead work – perfect examples of this are, besides the ones already mentioned, Vikings Love Horses, featuring some tasteful, Spanish-flavored guitar licks alongside the riffing madness, and the drum-powered Fisherman’s Story. As the whole album runs at 41 minutes, the tracks are short and to the point – the longest, album closer When the Rain Is Over, I’ll Say to You Hasta la Vista, is for more than half made up of sound effects (rain, thunder and lightning), plus a snippet of dialogue from the “Terminator 2” movie, before launching in a full-throttle metal cavalcade. Given the nature of the music, the short running time definitely works to the album’s advantage. There are also a couple of mainly acoustic tracks barely over 1 minute, Midnight Broken Heart and the funnily-named Porcupine Tree Alone (which, incidentally, does not really sound like the titular band), both functioning as a sort of interlude. As can be expected from such an ambitious album, the musicianship is excellent throughout, though the individual tracks can be surprisingly accessible. Unlike other bands playing a similar strain of music, Rubycone avoids clubbing the listener over the head with their technical wizardry, and the outstanding production values make it possible for each musician to be heard and appreciated in his own right. It remains to be seen if the band will choose to pursue the path of instrumental music or will instead decide to throw some vocals into the equation – which might drastically alter their sound and general impact.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?w03tjz9ldnz
Maybe i am not to convincing, but it is a must to listen to them. Cya!

[valley_parade]

Let's get all funky and relaxed, it's Sunday morning.

Brant Bjork - Tres Dias

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http://www.mediafire.com/?3vmgjy2wgjg
For the most part, this is an entirely acoustic album, mostly featuring songs that appeared on earlier albums (quite a few from my favorite BB release, Somera Sol). "The Right Time" ended up being re-recorded, and is now the title track on his latest album, "Punk Rock Guilt". Recorded over a period of three days in 2006 (hence the title).

[pebaker2]

A perennial modern creaky apholstered-rocking-chair classic from Papa M (also known as David Pajo and many words with M attached).

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http://www.mediafire.com/?rtyytujj1zr

[Scarychips]

FYI:The Vampire Weekend album is actually a rough/low-quality mix of the actual album.

[Scarychips]

Oh okay, no sorry, I thought it was the same link that I downloaded. Sorry.
And yes, I'm waiting for it too, I loved the first album, cause it was really fun music. Anyways, sorry again for what I said.

[DarkAvenger]

Robbie Fulks - "Let's Kill Saturday Night"

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/download.php?mjmndhjk4zj
Alright guys if you don't know this guy you should, if you do, then right to the front of class. This is Robbie Fulks' major label debut "Let's Kill Saturday Night", which was entirely unappreciated from the very people that would really love his work. Some fun facts about Robbie provided by Tommy:

Man do I ever love Robbie Fulks. He continues to be criminally overlooked in his own country. Fulks is a real performer in a manner you scarcely see any more. So much of what is called "Indie Rock" is made by melodramatic, somewhat juvenile people who seem to be utterly unaware of the sheer distastefulness of entitlement. The limited amount of time I have spent around Robbie Fulks suggested to me that he treats music as something which you never really turn off and should always be happy to be doing. His shows are ridiculously entertaining, punctuated by streams of jokes and near constant re-arrangement and spontaneity. When I saw him play at a music festival in the UK years ago, he was clearly delighted to be received warmly by an audience which was there primarily to see noisy punk rock bands. Facing a potentially disinterested or hostile crowd, he killed it. It was like someone walked in and shot up the place. Later on he played again on his own just for the fuck of it.

Four great things about Robbie Fulks.

1) Robbie Fulks wrote the song 'Anything for Love' which is a fucking ace tune by absolutely anyone's standards.
2) Robbie Fulks is the best guitarist I have seen with my own eyes. I've seen Sir Richard Bishop and Andy Cohen too.
3) He wrote, recorded and released a song called 'God Isn't Real' for his major label debut. Needless to say he was dropped soon after.
4) His website contains his frank and often hilarious blog on the home page.

Salut, Robbie Fulks!

And some notes by me:
1. The title track was covered by Silkworm for their "You Are Dignified" EP (that catches the Silkworm fans)
2. The song "God Isn't Real" is the 9th track (that catches the atheists)
3. While this isn't one of their releases, he worked with Steve Albini on a few of his albums (mainly 2001's "Couples in Trouble" (which I can post if anyone wants it) and 1996's "Country Love Songs") (This catches everyone else)
So if you're a country fan, or if you just like good music, listen and enjoy.

[E. Spaceman]

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http://www.mediafire.com/?tadinzmmqwz
1/2 mixed

[gospel]

Hymie's Basement, Robbie Fulks, and Detritus are all excellent.

[KvP]

More things.



Falty DL - Human Meadow Remixes 12" + Burnkane - You Know 12"
Some Planet Mu 12" I got. Dubstep. Human Meadow remixed by U-Ziq, Luke Vibert and Boxcutter. You Know is a single.

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?htm4tdjzzyd


Enon - Grass Geysers Carbon Clouds

Seven years into Enon's career, fans should know to expect the unexpected-- which is, in this case, the completely expectable. Let me rephrase: While they've never shied from frothy pop or big guitars-- and done pretty well with both as of High Society and onward-- Enon have come at it from their own direction, trailing their samplers and Moogs in an unbalanced camper just behind the hooks. There's plenty of unexpected and strange sounds on Grass Geysers... Carbon Clouds, but they're far less obvious or apparent, tucked away behind big-rock choruses and spotlight-ready vocal turns. After a four-year gap between records, there's no "alternate-universe" wishing about the songs on Grass Geysers...; they seem radio- and arena-ready, and that's probably where they'd sound best.

By now, Enon deserve any larger audience they get. But the career yardstick becomes harder to avoid when Touch and Go reissues their first album, Believo!, the same day this comes out. While still pretty indebted to the mechanical grind and falsetto of grind and falsetto of Schmersal's former band Brainiac, Believo! boasts gloriously weird and unexpectedly pop moments such as "Come Into" and "Conjugate the Verbs". More than that, though, it felt more inward and somehow private. Hearing songs like the genre- and gender-bending "Cruel" was like peeking into a someone's bedroom keyhole and seeing something you shouldn't have.

Grass Geysers... Carbon Clouds is just the opposite. If the new record has an antecedent, it's High Society, though it's without that record's huge hits or peaks and valleys; this one's more the steady simmering aftermath of High Society's initial blast. Grass Geysers is still full of sleek pop, but with more concentration on textures or accents: The pervasive handclaps of "Mirror on You", the interlude of chirping birds on the otherwise lean "Colette". They've done a such a fine job streamlining, you might not even notice the low electric gurgle of bass on "Dr. Freeze" or the woozy robot growl of "Law of Johnny Dolittle" beneath the song's slinky backbeat and descending vocal line.

The album's centerpieces, and most straightforward rockers, are "Pigeneration" and "Mr. Ratatatatat". The former opens with a drumbeat reminiscent of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" before Yasuda coos a few words over Schmersal's glistening, echoing chords and Yasuda's roof-reaching vocal, while the latter is a tag-team between Yasuda and Schmersal that moves from dissonant guitar crunch to big-rock bluster.

Still, it might be the record's final third that's the most rewarding-- even if it doesn't contain any out-and-out crowd-pleasers. "Paperweights" marries stormy percussion to B-movie keyboards that never repeat the same tone twice. The scratchy drum loop that opens "Labyrinth" grabs just as much attention as the jagged scrape of guitar strings, and "Ashish" has Yasuda pleading over a dub-like throb and minimal atmosphere of early Cure records. Even with the more straightforward tracks before it, it says something that Grass Geysers... still seems like a seamless record throughout.

Leaner and more direct than its predecessor, Hocus Pocus, few fans will be disappointed with Grass Geysers... Carbon Clouds. Four years between records is a relatively long time, however, and to return to business as usual seems, somehow, unusual for a band who have never done things in a very orthodox manner. A little less quirky and little more eager to please than they once were, Enon are looking beyond being a small cult's favorite band; instead, they've simply made a damn solid rock record.

— Jason Crock, October 15, 2007

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?tkm4eh2mwzm


Enon - Lost Marbles and Exploded Evidence

With a track listing that spans six years and several different band lineups, Enon's singles, B-sides, and rare tracks collection Lost Marbles and Exploded Evidence could have been too scattered for its own good, but it's actually one of the band's most enjoyable releases. There's something endearing about the twists and turns the band take as their music evolves from Believo!'s post-Brainiac spazz pop into the more stylish (but just as quirky) sounds of High Society and Hocus Pocus (the comp's liner notes give a playful nod to this evolution, marking the earliest tracks with eggs and tadpoles and the later songs with full-grown frogs). The try-anything approach on the whole collection -- even the tracks that don't entirely work -- holds it together and keeps it from sounding too exploded, despite the fact that the album gathers songs as disparate as "Marbles Explode," a skronky, Believo!-era artifact, and "Raisin Heart," a delicate, almost loungey track from a 2001 7". Some of the best tracks were "Songs of the Month" on the band's website: "Knock That Door" is quasi-Shibuya-kei that's as charming as anything by Takako Minekawa or Kahimi Karie, while "Adalania (Not So Fair)" is a piece of chamber synth pop that's kissing cousins with High Society's title track. These songs, along with the space invaders duet "The Nightmare of Atomic Men," "Tilt You Up!," and the gorgeous, bittersweet "Kanon," are as good as Enon's proper album tracks. Short bursts of sonic mischief like "Below Infinite Ways" and "Making Merry! Merry!" fill out the album, adding to its sugar-buzz-like rush. Given that it's an odds-n-sods collection, there are a few "off" tracks and a slightly random feel overall, but Lost Marbles and Exploded Evidence revels in its eclectic eccentricities and ends up being all the better for it. The first edition of the comp comes with a bonus DVD that includes the most complete collection of Enon's videos to date, as well as live performances from the Believo! and Hocus Pocus tours and candid footage of the band. The videos are the real draw, celebrating the band's eye-popping visual flair with clips like "Daughter in the House of Fools," which looks like illustrations come to life, and the live-action anime of "In This City." The "Mikazuki" and "Murder Sounds" clips suggest that Enon could very easily do a video album -- especially since this collection and its bonus material make such a fun, creative package.

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?zjyzyya1nt3


Enon - Hocus Pocus

After Brainiac's untimely demise, few in the indie realm were expecting much of a comeback from any of its members-- particularly a latecomer like replacement guitarist John Schmersal. And initially, suspicions seemed confirmed by a record he issued on the short-lived SeeThru Broadcasting label under the alias John Stuart Mill, an uneven folk record that couldn't decide whether it wanted to win over the masses or languish forever in used-bin obscurity. But as most music fans agree, it takes more than one talent to make a truly transcendent band, and with the release of Enon's 2000 debut, Believo!, John Schmersal proved himself that missing link.

Believo! proved an incredibly solid, diverse, and most notably, original offering, with its punchdrunk serpentine melodies and Skeleton Key percussionists Steve Calhoon and Rick Lee's junkyard assemblage providing the record's sturdy core. With critical acclaim and moderate indie sales on their side, things were looking up for Enon. That's when Schmersal hit another unexpected roadblock: his entire rhythmic section returned to their former band to record a second full-length-- no less than five years after their first tanked for Capitol Records. Worst decision they ever made? Probably, because John Schmersal was determined. After having death come between him and success, it had to seem like only a minor setback.

Enon quickly bounced back. Picking up singer/bassist/keyboardist Toko Yasuda (late of Blonde Redhead and The Lapse) and drummer Matt Schulz, the band re-emerged fully formed as an outfit more interested in bumping nasties than creeping out audiences with cyborg-rock dirges. Amidst fan concerns that losing half its members would irrevocably derail Enon's plotted course, High Society again surprised everyone. Here, they patented-- and maybe perfected-- their beat-happy dance-pop/rock hybrid, and immediately took their rightful seats at the head table of the rocker class of 2002. How do you follow that up?

No, seriously, Schmersal needs an answer, like, now.

Too late: he decided without you. The choice? An odd one: milking the stylistically varied but thematically consistent formula of High Society, quite possibly on autopilot. Bafflingly sequenced, Hocus Pocus opens rather flatly with the downtempo trip-pop of the Toko-led "Shave", but then revs up with "The Power of Yawning", a Kinksian guitar-pop romp which collapses into a bizarro, almost Bowie-esque bridge spotlighting a stately Schmersal warble. What's more, the record confounds like this all the way through, with many of its most compelling tracks dumped off near the end. A shame, since several of these-- including the moody desperation of the serrated art-punk number "Starcastic" (also the record's first single) and the supremely rarefied strut of "Monsoon"-- would stand out beautifully even amongst High Society's strongest tracks, but may never be discovered by some impatient listeners.

Credit is due for the album's centerpiece and most innovative cut, "Daughter in the House of Fools". A stutter-step Jeep anthem blasting Toko's sing-songy vox and bass-quaking beats, the track belches forth an array of blurts, beeps, and bells, with rhythmic bobs and weaves that indicate that Rick Lee's junkyard percussion-- recreated here via MIDI triggering-- remains at least a psychic influence. The album's most immediate highlights, though, are those that feature Schmersal and Yasuda's dueling male/female vocals ("Starcastic", "Murder Sounds", and the surprisingly sweet lilt of "Candy"), an underused technique in any genre, let alone Enon's budget-futurist danceclub pop.

If you can make it past the album's frustrating layout (I've found liberal use of the 'skip' button to come in handy for this), Hocus Pocus proves a fine collection of songs by pretty much anyone's standards. Not so much a step backwards as a failure to leap fully ahead, this may not be exactly what fans were expecting, but if we're going by Schmersal's track record, it's not nearly the last straw.

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

Also here is my favorite track off of High Society, which is probably Enon's best. I don't have that record on mp3, except for this song. I will rectify this soon.

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


Modeselektor - Hello Mom!

Hello Mom! might not be a dance-music crossover on the level of, say, Röyksopp albums; it might not even be a crossover on the level of Mylo's or Vitalic's, but it's still impressive enough to entertain folks well outside its core audience-- German electro-tech geekery not entirely required. "Impressive" isn't even the word: There's hardly a minute on this record that doesn't keep turning out to be way more fun than the last time you heard it.

The album comes from Ellen Allien's Bpitch Control, a label whose artists tend to skirt the lines between dancefloor function and home-listening quirk: Even when they aspire to get you deep and sweaty on your nights out, there's something grainy and queasy about it, a kind of twitchy brutalism that reminds you of the person behind the machines. The sounds here that really hit the body-- say, the face-punching blurts on "Kill Bill Vol. 4"-- stay just as tweaked-out lovable at home. And for every one of them, there's a dozen that are just squishy and colorful and even more fun: Check the back-flipping bass lines on "Die Clubnummer", which sound more like dorky robots acting out Three Stooges routines. "Dancingbox" cuts up French rhyming into a granular stutter over tweaks that are active and constant without ever crossing over to hyperactive or gratuitous. "Silicon" does the same with Sasha Perera's vocals, for one of the best results here-- it's almost as if it were made as a demonstration of How to Improve M.I.A.

The front and back ends of this album are full of treats like that-- circus-trick edits, ultra-modern production, and pure sonic candy. What really makes the record worth it, though, is the way it holds up through its more atmospheric center. This stuff slows down nicely, coasting through a few soft electro grooves, pulling off "thoughtful" tones like Orbital, and even sliding into some clattery dub. The constant hi-fi tweaks and switchbacks might tread close to distraction-- or just empty calories-- but there's an ear for melody and movement that seems to keep them from ever drifting too far off.

So what's scaling back on its crossover potential? Well, the fact remains that it's a technical record. There's emotion (see "I Love You"), but it's not an emotional package; there's pop, but it's not a human pop album. You get what you'd expect from tracks with names like "Tetrispack"-- tweaky computer-age fun, thrilling sound, jittery details, robotic rhythmic switchbacks. Albums like this don't hit so many people with deep bonding experiences; they don't wind up on desert island lists. The good news is that we don't live on a desert island, and this album stands a great chance of enlivening a lot of your days here in the non-hypothetical world. At its best, strangely enough, it's a dance imperative free of those deep, dark depths-- and packed with a shiny, geeked-out joy that keeps you cartoon-dancing beside the speaker.

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


Modeselektor - Happy Birthday!

Better on paper than in practice, glitch-hop was semi-hot around the turn of the decade, when hordes of electronic music listeners realized that IDM probably couldn't survive on sonic sculptury and naval-gazing alone. Musical Darwinism eventually won out, though, and after a few years' worth of dud records and even dudder MCing, glitch-hop eventually went the way of your garden variety Scott Herren pseudonym, never to be awkwardly nodded along to again.

If you remember any of that, or worse yet, happened to be one of those gullible enough to part with your hard-earned money in exchange for some of those records (I'm fairly certain nobody more did than yours truly), the standard logline on Berlin's Modeselektor ("electronic + hip-hop fusion") might be enough to give you the involuntary shivers. Truth is, though, these guys have moments where they're so good at what they do that they practically redeem the concept altogether.

Modeselektor are Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary. Although Happy Birthday! is only their second full-length, they've been recording together in various capacities for almost 15 years, a period during which they've taken a number of different detours ranging from acid to glitch-hop to IDM to offbeat electro. In Modeselektor, all of those influences have come to rest and congeal into a well-articulated and slightly sinister-sounding whole. But what's interesting about Happy Birthday! isn't just that it fuses together the most unfashionable or discarded elements of electronic music's recent history, but that it manages to sound so fresh in doing so.

Longer and less twitchy than its superb 2005 predecessor Hello Mom!, Happy Birthday! finds the duo stretching out its legs a little more. Where that fidgety debut was a minor triumph of ADD-addled production, the songs on Happy Birthday! are allowed to breathe and settle into a groove. The unrushed tone means that some of them end up working as mini-genre exercises. Tracks like "BMI" and "Edgar", for example, bear all of IDM's finely articulated sonic details. Elsewhere, hip-hop tracks like the TTC-aided "200000" and the Puppetmastaz-aided "The Dark Side of the Sun" throw back to glitch's digitally blenderized vocals.

Ultimately, it's Modeselektor's fidelity to the low end that ties this record together. Where a lot of that old school glitch and IDM stuff was traditionally terrible with unimportant things like, you know, basslines and rhythms, Happy Birthday! pretty much bangs. From the stuttering almost-booty beat of "Hyper Hyper" to "Godspeed"s grinding synths to the fluttering ragga of resurrected oldie "Let Your Love Grow", this is a record made with the dancefloor as much in mind as the bedroom. (And, speaking of the bedroom, it's also worth mentioning that vociferous Modeselektor fan Thom Yorke turns up to calmly and casually outdo at least half of The Eraser with the lovely penultimate ballad "The White Light".)

If there's one criticism to be made of Happy Birthday!, it's to do with its length. 70+ minute records are increasingly difficult to justify in the mp3 age, and, of course, this one isn't without its lulls either. You also have to wonder how such a heroic show of ranginess will position Modeselektor in techno's increasingly specialized and splintered landscape. (One local London zine recently described them as "bassbin-blowing techno hop dubstep core" which is scenester for "fine, you file this" if I've ever heard it.) Ultimately, though, I guess those concerns are for Bpitch's marketing department. So much of this record sounds utterly thrilling coming out of the speakers that it seems silly to quibble over something as boring as taxonomy.

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Planet Mu Records - The Mu School

At Bleep's behest, Planet Mu owner Mike Paradinas has specially curated this remastered collection of new wave beat-smiths, the Mu-comers, as an exclusive bundle including an unreleased Falty DL track. What's better than all of that? These fourteen tracks are yours for just £5.99.

Since 1995 Mu has been at the forefront of electronic music innovation, in the last year we have witnessed them beating down a fiery new path, releasing wave after wave of twelves from the hottest new producers on the globe: Floating Points, Raffertie, Starkey, Brackles, Few Nolder, Falty DL. This is your chance to capture all this thrilling Mu talent in the one release.

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[KvP]

Ulrich Schnauss - A Strangely Isolated Place

Take a close look at your record collection. Like me, you probably own dozens of albums with only one or two good songs, mediocre discs you can't bear to sell because of a catchy college radio hit, or that earnest curiosity your friend played you one night during that perfect two-beer haze before a party, full of excitement. Maybe it's even something you came across in your file-sharing exploits. You're probably afraid you'll never find these records again, and as I approach thirty, that's been the rationale for a lot of questionable hoarding on my part. In short, I will not be selling A Strangely Isolated Place.

Ulrich Schnauss isn't a revolutionary artist. Like Guitar's Peter Grove, he's operating in a software-driven world of loops, and not the least bit concerned about hiding his influences. Though he dotes on everyone from Orbital (unintentional "Belfast" bells rise from the multi-track din that closes "Gone Forever") to OMD ("In All the Wrong Place" begins as a sort of minimalist tribute to "Enola Gay"), he is most obviously obsessed with Slowdive. Listening to his second album, A Strangely Isolated Place, I can only assume Morr's Blue Skied An' Clear tribute to those shoegazers was his idea.

Slowdive's Neil Halstead was a similarly indebted artist. A protégé of the Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie, Halstead stretched his predecessor's glistening, reverbed delay to such ephemeral lengths that many early Slowdive songs bordered on precious goth (as did many of their fans). As the band disintegrated, dismissed in the press as students, chaos fueled a masterstroke: 1995's airy, weightless Pygmalion is one of the best of the decade, predicting the ambience that's dominated the independent landscape ever since. Ulrich Schnauss takes cues from "Crazy for You", but more specifically builds from the cathedral electronic tracks appended to the U.S. issue of 1993's Souvlaki (in an odd, backwards moment, this widely available American disc is something of a collector's item abroad-- check out the fold-out poster!).

"A Letter from Home" runs in the fields of Halstead's delay, playing like a ferris wheel ride over teenage abandon abandoned, a slow-motion replay of all the moments you'll never get back. But its aching nostalgia is still too mid-90s danceable-- imagine a hollowed-out taken on Chapterhouse's "Pearl"-- to become oppressively morbid or referential. Schnauss loves the melancholy sound of echoing guitar, but he can't find anything to bleat about, resolutely celebrating the simple joys of life, like faraway trains passing by.

Though "Gone Forever" and "Monday Paracetamol" are made up of instantly recognizable sounds, on closer listen, there's a uniqueness to the way Schnauss brings them together. Where Guitar melded Curve and My Bloody Valentine, so Schnauss plays with Orbital, Slowdive and pre-trip-hop dance beats, popularly abused by the likes of Jesus Jones. Distant vocal moans perfectly drift in and out of his punchy tracks, but his keyboards could use a few new tones. Most of the plastic keys produce sci-fi waves comparable to Vangelis, or the 90s technophilia of B-12's Trans Tourist. By the time of "Clear Day", it seems Schnauss is operating on a premium of equipment and ideas, as most of these tracks are interchangeably paced and compositionally slight.

As if to answer for this borderline monotony, Schnauss closes A Strangely Isolated Place with three wildly different pieces. The almost Spiritualized lament "Blumenthal" drips from plucked nylon strings and xylophone hammers, a proper trip-hop daydream that swells to a glorious walk in the clouds in its most coherent moments. "In All the Wrong Place" is even more daring, a \xB5-Ziq tribute that pays off, properly seating Mike Paradinas' dinky keyboards in a distorted drum-machine bed; I won't go as far as to say it's on par with "Roy Castle", but this is definitely a worthy inheritor to the \xB5-Ziq's electronica masterpiece In Pine Effect.

The title track closer isn't the best send-off-- Schnauss should definitely have closed the record with "In All the Wrong Place"-- but the title track does continue with the reverential Rephlex sounds that work best on this record. When the Halsteadian guitar comes in, it's almost a reminder of what Schnauss has already left behind, a sound with too few options, one he more than explores on the first half of this wonderfully breezy but repetitive full-length.

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Plaid - Rest Proof Clockwork
Oh hey look guys it's another ridiculous Pitchfork review (they gave it an 8.4)

>Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 17:55:41 -0400
>From: Snake [[email protected]]
>X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.06 [en] (Win98; I)
>To: Tony Blair [[email protected]]
>Subject: X-Plaid922-1; Request for Government Assistance

Dear Mr. Blair:

My position is as an undercover agent in London's secret police mafia. I have been hired to investigate allegations that two former members of Black Dog Productions, Ed Handley and Andy Turner, have illegally obtained official documents pertaining to the creation of a highly addictive, mind- altering chemical agent (referred to in goverment documents as X-Plaid922-1) which affects its victims via audio transmissions rather than means of physical intake.

I am concerned that Handley and Turner may have, under the alias of Plaid, not only unlocked previously unrealized secrets about the production of this chemical agent, but also discovered a way to digitally reproduce it onto compact discs, cassettes, and even vinyl records. As you know, it is the reproduction of the X-Plaid agent to compact disc that is of the utmost concern. In this technologically- advanced society, nearly every home has a compact disc unit. Handley and Turner must be stopped before every person on this Earth becomes an X-Plaid junkie.

The first piece of evidence I have obtained is their 1998 release Not for Threes. The music on this record is so painfully wonderful that even I, Snake "Nerves of Steel" Snakeman, was almost drawn into its tangled web of madness. The album is an excellent indication that Handley and Turner are not working alone. Not for Threes features guest appearances by a number of female vocalists, among them Talkin' Loud Records diva Nicolette and even Icelandic sensation Bjork. When tested for levels of the addictive X-Plaid agent, Not for Threes registered a 7.5 out of 10 on Pitchfork- funded equipment. Luckily, the album did not gain widespread mainstream acceptance, though the minds of a number of club- hopping e-consuming electronic music fans were utterly destroyed.

The greatest shock to me is how an album containing the X-Plaid agent, let alone such excessive amounts, was able to garner enough of a following for the band to appear on our own BBC- operated John Peel show! Thankfully, Plaid had apparently not yet perfected their aural narcotic, as Pitchfork equipment registered X-Plaid levels for the band's subsequent Peel Session EP at a slightly less potent 6.8.

Plaid's latest album, Rest Proof Clockwork, is another story entirely. Here, they seem to have enhanced and mutated the X-Plaid agent dramatically through more varied instrumentation and exploration of what is commonly referred to as melodic "ambient" music. This allows the listener to lose themselves completely in a world of X-Plaid- induced bliss, whether they're paying attention to the music or not. A key demonstration of this is the album's closing track, "Air Locked." The music begins with a series of percussive shuffles and squeaks before beautiful, highly melodic chimes and digital effects enter the mix. The sound is almost spiritual, invoking cinematic rainforest imagery.

The X-Plaid agent is planted throughout this entire record, making it difficult or impossible to resist addiction. For instance, the orchestral "Dead Sea" is an irresistable symphony of pure evil, recalling Jerry Goldsmith's timeless score to "Poltergeist." "Little People" is a blend of \xB5-Ziq's spacy melodic attack, and pummelling, cut-up hip-hop grooves. "Pino Pomo" combines backwards effects with the feel of a futuristic spaghetti western. Even the absurdly titled "New Bass Hippo" pulls through, incorporating shuffling percussion and a Stereolab- influenced piano line.

With every passing second I work on this case, I find myself becoming more and more attached to the sound of the music, but I must venture on... to justice. I will require government assistance-- backup, arms, further documentation from the X-Plaid922-1 file, and a free lunch at the Denny's in Golden Valley, Minnesota, USA-- in apprehending these two zany, madcap individuals. Please respond ASAP.

----
Snake Snakeman,
Secret Police Mafia
Check out my Simpsons website:
http://www.simpsons.secretpolice.co.uk

— Ryan Schreiber, June 21, 1999

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[KvP]

FaltyDL - Love is a Liability

If there's one emotion that most defines FaltyDL's debut record, it's curiosity: Love Is A Liability the sound of Andrew Lustman's brain unravelling in tapers of warm rave memory, reaching backwards to touch lightly upon that period in the mid-to-late Nineties where jungle was stolen away from the headz and fucked around with by Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Luke Vibert. For all its awe at those experimenters, the album never feels anything like contrived or unnatural though, possessing a gallant 2-step bounce exemplified best, perhaps, in the questing 'NYG' of 'To New York'.

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[E. Spaceman]

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Syclops - I've Got My Eye On You

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[KharBevNor]

Agalloch - The White EP

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For Bryan, and anyone else who likes sounds.

[Storm Rider]

Awesome, I thought you had forgotten about it!

[ADRIAN WOODHOUSE]

ON THE MIGHT OF PRINCES - sirens (2003)

sounds like:

early at the drive-in / 90's emo/screamo/ post-hardcore.

How has On The Might Of Princes stayed off my radar until now? This is the big question that I keep posing to myself after each subsequent listen of Sirens, OTMOP's third LP and first on Revelation Records. The music this New York quartet brings to the table is wholly fresh and original, but still in touch with it's roots. And I'm digging it, big time.

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The band's sound is an obvious post-hardcore one, but with more twists and turns than your typical group. The band seems to have two personalities musically, each representing one of their singers. One singer spends most of his songs screaming and/or muttering ala Conor Oberst, and there's a big Gainesville sound influence on these tracks - maybe not as spastic as Twelve Hour Turn or I Hate Myself, but not as melodic as Hot Water Music. OTMOP treads that middle ground with pride, and it definitely keeps my ears open.

The other singer takes a more melodic route, especially in songs like "The Swell And The Breaking" and "They Have Teeth," both of which have a much more midwestern mid-nineties post-hardcore sound, ala that of early Braid [with vocals somwhere in between Ted and Tim of Cursive]. If one were to make a comparison to posthumous labelmates Texas Is The Reason, one wouldn't be too far off track, although TITR's songs seemed more focused on straightforward arrangements, whereas OTMOP's songs seem to shoot off into left field at random points, going into dancy drumbreaks and gutteral breakdowns galore.

The production on the record is just lo-fi enough, with a real raw quality making most of the songs shine. I can really get a feel for this band's live show off this recording, and I believe that's a good sign. The lyrics are as obtuse as you'd expect a band like this to be, but not to the point of pretentiousness. I find myself turning to the lyric sheet numerous times to check my lyric memorization, as this stuff does get stuck in your head.

All in all, Revelation has a solid winner on their hands, better than anything else they've put out this year. Recommended

from punknews.org

[pebaker2]

The self-titled debut album by the Love Language (on Bladen County) is the sole product of Stuart McLamb, a total fuck-up and half-genius. A bad break-up, a drunken night in jail and a move back to his parents’ house somehow resulted in nine songs that sound like M. Ward, the Walkmen and Guided By Voices raiding the basement mini-fridge.



"Mark Twain once said “I can live for two months on a good compliment.”  Verbal appreciation speaks powerfully to persons whose primary Love Language is “Words of Affirmation.”  Simple statements, such as, “You look great in that suit,” or “You must be the best baker in the world! I love your oatmeal cookies,” are sometimes all a person needs to hear to feel loved."

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[David_Dovey]

For Bryan, and anyone else who likes sounds.

Me! I like sounds!

[valley_parade]

ON THE MIGHT OF PRINCES - sirens (2003)

Really digging this.

[minus_the_david]

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Everyone should download that! it's so bad that it's GREAT!!!!!!!!!!

[ALoveSupreme]

literally just downloaded that a week ago today from another mediafire link.  Pretty solid.

[gospel]

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This is actually pretty interesting.

EDIT:  Love Language is great too. Makes me want to break out the GBV.

[gospel]

Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard - One Fast Move Or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur

Documentery trailer - YouTube
***FIXED***

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Jack Kerouac's 1962 novel Big Sur.
gibbardfarrar main
Autumn de Wilde/Shore Fire Media

Benjamin Gibbard and Jay Farrar's collaboration is based on Jack Kerouac's 1962 novel Big Sur.

October 13, 2009 - They'd never met until they discovered their mutual admiration for writer Jack Kerouac. Jay Farrar of Son Volt and Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie were both at a San Francisco recording session in 2007, working on music for a Jim Sampas documentary about Jack Kerouac. After completing that project, Farrar and Gibbard decided to work on some music based on words by Kerouac. They would choose Big Sur, Kerouac's 1962 novel, and write 12 songs. Together, they comprise One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur, available here in its entirety for the week leading up to its Oct. 20 release.

The bulk of the songwriting took place during a five-day burst by Farrar. Though Farrar has a library of Kerouac books, he'd never read Big Sur — a novel about an alcoholic who retreats to a cabin in Big Sur to dry out, only to find that he drinks because he has to.

After hearing the demos Farrar had written, Sampas looked for others to work on the musical project. Gibbard heard what Farrar was doing — taking Kerouac's words and putting them to song — and found himself more involved. Over the course of the next year or so, he'd contribute his voice to nearly half the songs on One Fast Move.

The sessions would take place at four different studios, including ones in San Francisco, St. Louis and Los Angeles. The result is a dark, slow-burning record — but, true to the spirit of the novel, bits of light shine through.

Seasick Steve - Man From Another Time (Live) - YouTube

Like T-Model Ford, Seasick Steve (aka Steve Wold) began recording his own music much later in his life than other musicians. A storytelling singer reviving traditional country-blues, Wold spent his childhood in California but left home at 14. As a hobo, he traveled for several years, jumping trains and working odd jobs. After drifting around the U.S. and Europe, he finally ended up in Norway. Aside from his respectable musical background (which includes recording early Modest Mouse, appearing on BBC television and playing with John Lee Hooker), Wold is also noted for his unusual custom-made stringed instruments. By the time he was in his sixties, he finally released some official material. His first solo album was Doghouse Music, out in late 2006, which was performed almost entirely by Wold. Another record, Cheap, was recorded with the Swedish rhythm section the Level Devils.

Seasick Steve - Man From Another Time

Seasick Steve - MySpace

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Produced, written, recorded and engineered by Seasick Steve (with the assistance of engineer Roy Williams), ‘Man From Another Time’ is a resolutely organic album that eschews modern studio trickery in favour of the warm style of ‘live’ analogue recording. Everything on the album was performed by Seasick Steve, aside from drums which are credited to his longstanding Swedish sticksman Dan Magnusson.

Seasick Steve utilised a variety of favourite guitars on the album including a one-string Didley-bo (a 2×4 with a string nailed to it), a guitar made out of an old cigar box (with four strings), his famous 3-string Trance Wonder guitar and an old beat-up acoustic guitar. His array of guitars were complimented by a tattered Fifties Fender Tweed Deluxe amp, old Forties ribbon mics and other weird and wonderful vintage microphones. The natural sounds and echoes of the recording rooms were used for reverb and any delays were done with tape.

Seasick Steve - Dog House Music

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Yes, they really do still make albums like this in the 21st century. Steve Wold, otherwise known as Seasick Steve, released his second album, Dog House Music in 2007, his first purely solo effort; he had previously released an album entitled Cheap several years earlier for which he shared the credit with Swedish band the Level Devils. Dog House Music is like a really old John Lee Hooker or Muddy Waters album, or maybe something even less commercial as Steve strums his guitar and sings along, his voice sounding drowned in bourbon, and occasionally a song such as "Fallen off a Rock" crashes to life, literally, with the guitar no longer picking out a sorrowful blues lick but strumming wildly and the drums smashing away in the foreground played by two members of his family, HJ Wold and PM Wold. Apart from that however, the entire album is played by Steve, recorded in what sounded like one take, when he might have been sitting in a leaky shack by the Mississippi, almost every track given a short introduction almost as if to explain to a personal audience what the forthcoming song is about and why it is important. The album begins with the very short (just over one minute) track, "Yellow Dog" which sounds like it was been recorded at the bottom of a well, the acoustics are so terrible. When the final track, "I'm Gone," finishes, there is a small gap which is followed by Steve reciting a real shaggy dog story, over five minutes long, no music, just Steve rambling about being arrested and after spending six months in jail, looking for his runaway dog; this eventually runs into another sad blues song (about a dog). Not sure why anybody would want to listen to this story more than once. Even the album cover looks like it was designed and drawn by a six-year-old, but that simply adds to the unpolished and underproduced nature of the work, which is a credit, not a fault.

Chris Smither - Time Stand Stills

Chris Smither - MySpace

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Chris Smither has spent the past four decades writing songs and crafting albums that, by all rights, should make him a household name. Instead, he continues to reside just below the public’s radar, garnering high praise from well-known contemporaries like Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris, and earning flattering distinctions like "blues/folk master," "songwriter’s songwriter," and "musician’s musician." On his eleventh proper studio album, Time Stands Still, due out September 29 on the Signature Sounds/Mighty Albert label, Smither captures the immediacy and intimacy of his must-see live shows while reinforcing his stature as a songwriter and interpreter of the highest order.

Teaming with producer/guitarist David "Goody" Goodrich and drummer Zak Trojano, Smither recorded the eleven tracks for Time Stands Still in a marathon three day period. The sessions yielded stripped-down arrangements of eight originals and three well-chosen covers, including Bob Dylan’s "It Takes A lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry," Mark Knopfler’s "Madame Geneva’s," and early twentieth-century bluesman Frank Hutchison’s "Miner’s Blues."

At the heart of Time Stands Still lie Smither’s stylized finger-picked guitar lines and smoky vocal turns. He imbues each of his songs with a timeless quality that make an original track like "I Don’t Know," a contemporary look at parenthood, fit right at home beside Hutchison’s "Miner’s Blues," a song that dates back to the nineteen twenties.

Essential cuts include the bouncy title track, delivered with a soulful intensity befitting the subject matter of falling in love, and "Don’t Call Me Stranger," on which the song’s narrator slyly assumes the role of seducer. Smither’s rendition of Dylan’s "It Takes A lot to Laugh…" is a refreshing take on the oft-covered Highway 61 Revisited classic.

While Time Stands Still may not catapult Chris Smither into the mainstream, it should do just that. Time Stands Still emphasizes the best qualities of one of today’s most under-appreciated singer/songwriter/guitarists and stands as a worthy addition to a back catalog of topnotch albums. Listening to Time Stands Still may just encourage listeners to further explore the discography of Chris Smither, and KindWeb highly recommends this worthy endeavor.

Jimi Tenor & Tony Allen - Inspiration Information 4

Jimi Tenor / Tony Allen Inspiration Information 4 Interview - YouTube

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he most engaging and fully realised album in the series.

Inspiration Information is an ongoing experimental project that mixes and matches artists from quite different backgrounds – but with certain things in common – for a limited amount of studio time to see what they can come up with. This fourth offering is perhaps the most unlikely pairing yet, but one of the most engaging and fully realised albums in the series so far.

Tony Allen is among the world’s most acclaimed kit drummers, famed for having co-created afrobeat with Nigerian bandleader Fela Kuti during the 1970s and currently enjoying a late-flowering renaissance in his seventh decade. Although he knew nothing of Jimi Tenor beforehand, Allen was one of five artists Tenor told Strut he would most like to work with when they approached him.

Tenor is best known for his 1994 electro hit Take Me Baby, but has lately been increasingly drawn to 60s and 70s jazz, psychedelic soul and African funk. So the idea of underpinning these styles with afrobeat (which recombines many of the same African-American sources with their African roots) makes sense.

Tenor plays most of the melodic instruments (including tenor sax, keyboards, bass, kalimba, zither, koto and marimba) and sings on Selfish Gene and Darker Side of Night in a strangulated falsetto, vaguely suggestive of Sly Stone. His Berlin-based band Kabu Kabu includes Cuban trumpeter Daniel Allen Ortiz and percussionists Ekow Alabi Savage and Akinola Famson, from Ghana and Nigeria respectively. Their broken English banter on Mama England satirises the problems non-EU musicians face when trying to get into the UK, drawing on their own bitter experience.

Path to Wisdom features MC Allonymous, whose coolly intoned performance poetry recalls Gil Scott-Heron at his least angry. Other highlights include the jazzy, dream-like instrumental Cella’s Walk, which hints at various TV theme tunes, and the epic Three Continents, a long humid jam that gets wiggier as it progresses.

Sinuhe and Got My Egusi are the most obviously afrobeat-based pieces, but Allen’s trademark double kick (‘B-boom’) on the bass drum is ubiquitous, as are his subtle interlocking polyrhythms – never obvious, but as indispensable as salt in cooking.

[MrDorman]

Philip Glass - Glassworks

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William Ackerman - Past Light

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Kodo - The Best of Kodo II

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Jean Michel Jarre - Equinoxe

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[wespeakinmidi]

i cannot believe you posted that macho man album...

i'm not even lying when i say it's quite the commodity amongst my friends and i could probably recite to you every line on the whole cd, in person, in real life.  true story.  i'm also so surprised i somehow never posted it myself.  haha

[JD]

Hey dorman, give us some reviews

[scarred]

I vouch for Kodo. That shit is ridiculous.

[Jace]

I spent a disproportionate amount of time taking Andrew W. K.'s "I Get Wet" and putting a donk on it.
Here it is:

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http://www.mediaf!re.com/?ijmogy4n1doOh here is a picture I made for it too.

[valley_parade]

Hey gospel, cheers for the Seasick Steve!

btw, "One Fast Move Or I'm Gone" on the Ben Gibbard/Jay Farrar album is all kinds of fucked up in the middle.

[the_pied_piper]

Jean Michel Jarre - Equinoxe

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[valley_parade]

This one's mostly for Rob, but I have a feeling a lot of you will enjoy it.

Tellison - Contact! Contact!

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[MrDorman]

Jean Michel Jarre - Equinoxe

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Parts 1 and 5 won't unzip.

part 1

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[Bowers]

Having problems unzipping Bed Gibbard and some of the Seasick Steve tracks skip. Reup by any chance?