I Don't Care About Sleep

Neil Young - Tonight's the Night (1975)

2012-02-18T18:47:00.000+13:00

1. Tonight's the Night 4:39

2. Speakin' Out 4:56

3. World on a String 2:27

4. Borrowed Tune 3:26

5. Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown 3:35

6. Mellow My Mind 3:07

7. Roll Another Number (For the Road) 3:02

8. Albuquerque 4:02

9. New Mama 2:11

10. Lookout Joe 3:57

11. Tired Eyes 4:38

12. Tonight's the Night - Part II 4:52

This album secured Neil Young's place as all time greatest singer-songwriter (in my mind) when its brilliance hit me. Less free-form than his similarly bleak On the Beach, Tonight's the Night is a unique blend of conventional country rock with skeletal, disorienting parts, making it strange and unsettling to suit the lyrical despondency.

Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love (1987)

2012-02-18T18:30:00.002+13:00

1. Ain't Got You 2:11

2. Tougher Than the Rest 4:35

3. All That Heaven Will Allow 2:39

4. Spare Parts 3:44

5. Cautious Man 3:58

6. Walk Like a Man 3:45

7. Tunnel of Love 5:12

8. Two Faces 3:03

9. Brilliant Disguise 4:17

10. One Step Up 4:22

11. When You're Alone 3:24

12. Valentine's Day 5:10

Tunnel of Love is Springsteen's follow-up to the immensely successful Born in the USA. The former had Springsteen modelling himself on Deer Hunter's scathing blue-collar nationalism mixed with Rambo's exaggerated masculinity, with bombastic working class anthems to suit. Tunnel of Love, on the other hand, had him stripping back Born in the USA's epic hard rock arrangements and appreciation of the universal working class for the sake of sparse, sad songs, with very personal lyrics. Marriage in decline, his tunnel of love is unlike the ones found on terrible cards where couples honeymoon for a bit and then have to face stresses such as children, jobs, and debt. Rather, it's one that nobody ever leaves, going in together and then wandering alone. Anyone who thinks when you're alone, you're alone is a useless truism has never had his or her heart broken. Cheesy but profoundly touching, particularly if you're a fan of the boss.

Pretty much perfect for forever alone day, sorry I'm four days late posting it

NOFX - Punk in Drublic (1994)

2012-02-18T18:15:00.002+13:00

1. Linoleum 2:10

2. Leave It Alone 2:04

3. Dig 2:16

4. The Cause 1:37

5. Don't Call Me White 2:33

6. My Heart Is Yearning 2:23

7. Perfect Government 2:06

8. The Brews 2:40

9. The Quass 1:18

10. Dying Degree 1:50

11. Fleas 1:48

12. Lori Meyers 2:21

13. Jeff Wears Birkenstocks 1:26

14. Punk Guy 1:08

15. Happy Guy 1:58

16. Reeko 3:05

17. Scavenger Type 7:12

Their most critically acclaimed release for good reason- awesome song-writing, quick riffs, tempo and mood shifts, retarded non-punk songs, funny songs, good songs, and Linoleum which is just the best thing

Alkaline Trio - Goddamnit (1998)

2012-02-18T18:08:00.000+13:00

1. Cringe 2:23

2. Cop 2:18

3. San Francisco 3:52

4. Nose Over Tail 2:37

5. As You Were 2:11

6. Enjoy Your Day 2:18

7. Clavicle 2:28

8. My Little Needle 3:01

9. Southern Rock 3:05

10. Message From Kathlene 3:22

11. Trouble Breathing 3:55

12. Sorry About That 3:19

I was using Grooveshark to listen to albums that I used to like but didn't particularly want to download and buy, but that didn't work out 'cause I remembered why I loved Alkaline Trio via Private Eye and then checked out Goddamnit 'cause it's their first album and they're even better than I remember

The album is filled with catchy, enthusiastic punk/pop-punk with lyrics mainly centred around heartbreak. The singer sounds like a gentleman, something I didn't expect from pop punk. It's kind of cheesy but so good that you don't really feel self-conscious listening to it. Even with songs like Clavicle where the chorus is I just want to wake up naked next to you / kissing the curve of your clavicle

It's incredibly sweet, bitter, and earnest. Easily one of the best 90s punk albums I've heard and one that since I've (sort of) re-discovered, will undoubtedly stay on high rotation alongside guilty pleasures like Enema of the State and Sing the Sorrow, and less embarrassing ones like Punk in Drublic, Diary, and Schmap’n Schmazz. Somehow it covers all those bases.

Burial - Kindred (2012)

2012-02-16T18:47:00.000+13:00

1. Kindred

2. Loner

3. Ashtray Wasp

Incredibly good EP, everyone's impressed and you should be too

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Lindstrøm - Six Cups of Rebel (2012)

2012-02-13T11:08:00.000+13:00

1. No Release

2. De Javu

3. Magik

4. Quiet Place to Live

5. Call Me Anytime

6. Six Cups of Rebel

7. Hina

I have no idea why nobody seems to be into this. Addictive space-disco with funk, manipulated vocals, crazy synths, and crazy rhythms

I've not found many 2012 releases I'm into yet, but this one is really good

try

buy

Oblivians - Play 9 Songs With Mr. Quintron (1997)

2012-02-13T10:08:00.002+13:00

1. Feel All Right 3:26

2. Live the Life 3:12

3. I May Be Gone (How Long) 3:27

4. I Don't Wanna Live Alone 1:56

5. Final Stretch 3:52

6. What's the Matter Now 2:39

7. Ride That Train 3:38

8. If Mother Knew 2:53

9. Mary Lou 2:11

I have no idea how this ended up on my computer... I was just scrolling through 'recently added' to post some stuff and saw this and thought I'd listen

It's fucking incredible. A garage punk band playing gospel, neither religious nor mocking

256

NOFX - The Longest Line (1992)

2012-02-13T10:08:00.001+13:00

1. The Death of John Smith 3:51

2. The Longest Line 2:04

3. Stranded 2:08

4. Remnants 2:59

5. Kill All the White Man 2:48

It's easy to see why a million suburban punk bands out there are heavily influenced by NOFX. The music is incredibly tight, the humor is off the wall, and they have no intentions in hiding the fact that they don't take a thing seriously. But the punch line is that they all make a living off this band, so go figure. Released between Ribbed and White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean, The Longest Line documents two firsts for NOFX: not only does it feature the debut of guitarist El Hefe, but it's also the first release on their Fat Wreck Chords label. As for the music, it's as tight and fast as ever with lots of added harmonies -- most notably on "Stranded" -- and a sarcastic sense of humor, most of which can be found on the ska parody "Kill All the White Man."
-AMG

192

Girls - 3 (2011)

2012-02-09T12:31:00.000+13:00

Sup guys, leaving this hear to replace the 320 rip in circulation with skips in Forgiveness

One of 2011's best albums and one that hopefully should secure Album in the indie canon 'cause it shows they aren't just riding the success of a catchy single

Less great moments than their debut but way more consistency and niceness to the heartbreak narratives

I got to see them a week ago and it was cool even though they sounded the same as they do in the studio and Christopher Owens tried to look like Kurt Cobain

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Scientist - Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires (1981)

2012-02-08T18:55:00.001+13:00

1. The Voodoo Curse 3:48

2. Dance of the Vampires 3:26

3. Blood on His Lips 3:00

4. Cry of the Werewolf 4:25

5. The Mummy's Shroud 4:25

6. The Corpse Rises 3:27

7. Night of the Living Dead 4:14

8. Your Teeth in My Neck 4:38

9. Plague of Zombies 2:49

10. Ghost of Frankenstein 3:20

Whether it's because of the wonderfully reggae/b-horror-movie album cover or the actual music's presence on K-Jah, Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires is one of the most danceable yet atmospheric and nocturnal albums I've ever heard. The horror themes gave a darker and more surreal edge to Liberty City 'cause the crack fiends became zombies and all that.

The Replacements - Tim (1995)

2012-02-08T16:17:00.002+13:00

1. Hold My Life 4:21

2. I'll Buy 3:25

3. Kiss Me on the Bus 2:54

4. Dose of Thunder 2:19

5. Waitress in the Sky 2:02

6. Swingin' Party 3:51

7. Bastards of Young 3:38

8. Lay It Down Clown 2:24

9. Left of the Dial 3:44

10. Little Mascara 3:36

11. Here Comes a Regular 4:45

Highly acclaimed at the time of its release, Tim is now often believed to be inferior to the classic Let it Be. Let it Be had the band mastering their diverse influences for the first time. Tim is just as diverse in its sound, but with 11 totally new and different sounding songs.

The main difference I find when listening is that Let it Be has 2-3 songs that aren't beat anywhere on Tim. And that the awesomely catchy Waitress in the Sky is strangely misogynistic seeming coming from a band that wrote Androgynous. On the other hand, there's no wasted space on Tim as there is on Let it Be. I'd never want to skip a song.

O yea, there's Here Comes a Regular probably one of the most moving singer-songwriter-y songs of all time.

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Nature and Organisation - Beauty Reaps the Blood of Solitude

2012-02-08T16:02:00.002+13:00

1. Introduction 2:54

2. Wicker Man Song 4:33

3. Blood of Solitude I 1:17

4. Bloodstreamruns 4:38

5. My Black Diary 5:26

6. Tears for an Eastern Girl 5:41

7. Beauty Destroyed 1:34

8. Skeletontonguedworld 3:01

9. Obsession Flowers as Torture 1:51

10. Blood of Solitude II 1:52

11. Bonewhiteglory 9:46

The best Current 93 album in my opinion- dark arrangements courtesy of Michael Cashmore going from blissful and moving (Blood of Solitude I) to unfortunately banal industrial fragments (Obsession Flowers as Torture)

I don't care for the Douglas P. song (My Black Diary) or any of the short industrial ones, but Beauty Reaps the Blood of Solitude features some of Tibet's most moving vocal efforts over some of the lushest folk you're likely to hear

U-Roy - Dread in a Babylon (1975)

2012-02-03T12:23:00.000+13:00

1. Runaway Girl 3:47

2. Chalice in the Palace 3:23

3. I Can't Love Another 3:29

4. Dread Locks Dread 2:47

5. The Great Psalms 2:50

6. Natty Don't Fear 2:30

7. African Message 2:43

8. Silver Bird 3:12

9. Listen to the Teacher 2:40

10. Trench Town Rock 2:47

One of the best album covers of all time, it's also impossible not to love hearing U-Roy sing, bark, and chant over songs this good

My favourite is the love song I Can't Love Another

here

The Replacements - Let It Be (1984)

2012-02-03T12:14:00.000+13:00

1. I Will Dare 3:11

2. Favorite Thing 2:17

3. We're Comin' Out 2:20

4. Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out 1:51

5. Androgynous 3:14

6. Black Diamond 2:36

7. Unsatisfied 3:59

8. Seen Your Video 3:05

9. Gary's Got a Boner 2:25

10. Sixteen Blue 4:21

11. Answering Machine 3:37

Let It Be is one of my all-time favourite albums (along with the follow-up, Tim). A crazy versatile album released the same year that Meat Puppets and Hüsker Dü tried (and succeeded) to do something new with punk rock and then released classics. I Will Dare is everything I want from an REM song (Peter Buck plays guitar on it), Androgynous is moving in its drunken lo-fi-ness, Unsatisfied is epic, and Sixteen Blue features one of the best guitar solos ever recorded.

Bridging the gap between their punk origins and less cool shit like country music, Tom Petty, KISS, and Bruce Springsteen, this probably influenced alternative music in a huge way. And then there's the fact that every song is awesome in its own way, Paul Westerberg has one of the best voices in rock (part of that Lennon, Springsteen, Cobain lineage), there's an affecting, shameless sincerity to songs like Answering Machine, and at half an hour Let It Be feels like the perfect length.

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John Cale - Music for a New Society (1982)

2012-02-03T11:44:00.001+13:00

1. Taking Your Life in Your Hands 4:46

2. Thoughtless Kind 2:41

3. Sanities 5:58

4. If You Were Still Around 3:29

5. (I Keep A) Close Watch 2:11

6. Broken Bird 4:44

7. Chinese Envoy 3:10

8. Changes Made 3:14

9. Damn Life 5:15

10. Risé, Sam and Rimsky-Korsakov 2:13

12. In the Library of Force 5:57

Whether it's comparisons to Scott Walker's Tilt or Lennon's Plastic Ono Band, nothing can really prepare the listener for Music for a New Society. It's a heavy listen, but contains some of Cale's sparsest arrangements- instruments drift in and out at different volumes and with different effects as his seemingly aimless voice half-sings poetic lyrics.

Disorienting skeletal songs delivered in the most disorienting way!

An incredible record

Horace Andy - Dance Hall Style (1982)

2012-02-03T11:27:00.003+13:00

1. Money Money

2. Cuss Cuss

3. Eating Mess

4. Stop the Fuss

5. Spying Glass

6. Lets Live in Love

Dark songs stretched out and echoed in a beautifully spaced out way, also love these vocals

By modern standards, a six-song set barely qualifies as a single, never mind as a full-length album, but with each stellar song featured in its extended form, Dance Hall Style doesn't merely pass muster as an album, but as a masterpiece. As with all the Wackies sets from this era, it's the riddims and arrangements that inspire absolute awe, but as Horace Andy gives each of them his all, this album is as notable for his performances as for Lloyd Barnes' sensational production and his studio band's phenomenal musicianship. Incidentally, Andy himself provided bass, rhythm, and lead guitar on the album. Not all the songs, however, are new -- two revisit a pair of the star's earlier hits. Andy cut "Lonely Woman" for Derrick Harriott back in 1972, and for it, Barnes created a sizzling new riddim that bristles with militancy, while still echoing back to the days of early reggae, before flashing over into pure roots rockers in the tense dub section. "Money Money" was cut for Bunny Lee a few years later in rockers style, and so Barnes instead takes it immediately into deep dread territory, filling the atmosphere with absolute menace. "Cuss Cuss" was also an old hit, not for Andy, though, but for Lloyd Robinson back in 1969. Here Barnes creates a riddim that is pure malevolence, with a stark atmosphere that is dread-filled but with an arrangement that sizzles with the blues. Andy's own powerful "Stop the Fuss," a new number, tackles the same topic, but adds a strong unity message that Robinson's "Cuss Cuss" decidedly lacked. That's a theme the singer revisits on the emotive "Let's Live in Love," with Andy's delicate delivery beautifully intertwining with the equally delicate and intricate roots reggae riddim. Both were fabulous numbers, but "Spying Glass" was the stunner of the set. Its haunting melody sweeps out of the organ, while the propulsive rhythm courses across the grooves and Andy's vibrato-laced vocals buffet about overhead. The backing has a definite bounce, but Barnes' production plays up the song's haunted quality, which perfectly dovetails with Andy's claustrophobic lyrics. Years later, Massive Attack would version the song, with Andy himself providing the vocals, on their 1994 Protection album. It's amazing what Barnes and his band could do with a mere six songs, and just as impressive what Andy himself brought to the numbers old and new. A phenomenal set by any standard.
-AMG

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Moderat - Moderat

2012-02-02T02:17:00.005+13:00

1. A New Error

2. Rusty Nails

3. Seamonkey

4. Slow Match

5. 3 Minutes Of

6. Nasty Silence

7. Sick With It

8. Porc#1

9. Porc #2

10. Les Grandes Marches

11. Berlin

12. Nr. 22

13. Out Of Sight

Bonus Tracks

14. BeatsWaySick

15. Rusty Nails (Shackleton Remix)

Moderat is a collaboration between Berlin artists Apparat and Modeselektor. They sound like a perfect mix of house, dubstep, electro, experimental, and trip-hop resulting in some of the most creative yet catchy dance tracks I have heard. This album is diverse with slow paced, brooding tracks such as opener A New Error which contrasts hard hitting euphoric tracks such as Les Grandes Marches. Despite this diversity, a track selection that is well paced along with incredible production keeps this album cohesive while engaging. In some ways Moderat reminds me of Fuck Buttons or Burial, but is far more suited toward a club setting. Nevertheless, this album sounds great on headphones (or a nice stereo), and with a number of elements and layers to keep things interesting it's a good listen in solitude as well.

Download

Purchase

Femme Fatale - From The Abundance Of The Heart, The Mouth Speaks

2012-02-01T18:20:00.003+13:00

Femme Fatale is the solo project of Jesse F. Keeler of Death From Above 1979 and MSTRKRFT, all of which I love. Before these groups JFK was involved in a number of 31G-style punk bands, and in many ways Femme Fatale fits this sound also. Stylistically, Femme Fatale is similar to DFA1979 but noisier, heavier, and faster (and with the addition of guitars). Despite their frenetic sound, these songs still retain the dance punk style that characterizes DFA1979 and many other 31G groups underpinned by electronic interludes and samples. This EP is Femme Fatale's third and in my opinion best, although they are all great - apparently there is a fourth recorded long ago which Jesse is sitting on - who knows if it'll ever be released. If you enjoy DFA1979, The Blood Brothers, The Locust, etc. check this EP out.

Download

Purchase

Descendents - Everything Sucks [1996]

2012-01-31T19:02:00.000+13:00

Descendents Everything Sucks
[1996]

Being way too eager to listen to things, I'm not the type to archive properly [The opposite of my big brother]. But the collection of Descendents on my iPod doesn't mind competing with 'the Descendents' or the various underscores in the_song_titles.
I mean, what’s more badass than an anarchic iPod? Descendents.
The album has decent melodies and break downs with punky lyrics that make me feel bad ass when walking to my friends’ houses in the suburbs.

Now, I’m not saying this is the best album, but it was the first I was introduced to, maybe the album itself is a bit sentimental, maybe I am a bit sentimental.

OK I’m fucking sentimental so download Everything Sucks if you haven't got it already. [192]

Also shameless plug to Parents of whom were named after the Descendents track of the album Milo Goes to College.

Thank-you Grant for the introduction to both of these bands

21 #1 Hits: The Ultimate Collection - Buck Owens

2012-01-31T13:16:00.002+13:00

Like most country greatest hits collections, they are usually solid through out the entire album...back then it was all about the hit's and here's 21 of them!

The Beatles covered him and John Fogerty sings about chilling to his music....you can truly hear big chunks of his pop-sensibility/rootsy-flare within both of those bands

here!

or here!

Hivemind - MMXI (2011)

2012-01-31T12:28:00.001+13:00

Evolved from their former Buzzkill, the band believed they were killing too much buzz, so renamed themselves Hivemind. I like the new name, inspiring a great intro track - hell how could you not love a song with bugs from the hive? The vocalist used to use cue cards, but we put those days behind us, along with the old detrimental name.

I like their * music * - so you should too!

-Click the link above, you should be sold on the artwork alone-

Blondes - Touched

2012-01-31T11:32:00.006+13:00

1. You Mean So Much To Me

2. Moondance

3. Spanish Fly

4. Paradise City

5. Virgin Pacific

Blondes is a dance duo out of Ohio with a sound that is rooted in the synth-heavy stye of Giorgio Moroder but with a dreamier, more layered sound. With a collection of vintage analogue equipment, Blondes improvise songs that build upon themselves, eventuating into a swirl of synth sounds that are euphoric yet grounded by heavy side-chained kicks - the first song, and my favourite, 'You Mean So Much To Me' is the best example of this. While they are certainly a throwback to 80s house music, Blondes interestingly sound very 'now' and fitting amongst contemporary chillwave or even witch house acts. At the same time, they avoid the popularity of dubstep drum structures or even the harsh synth sounds most modern dance seems to rely on. Check this out if you are intrigued by dance that is both suited to your headphones and house parties.

Download

This release is OOP but if you enjoy it, they are releasing an album which can be purchased here.

Super - Soundtrack

2012-01-29T19:34:00.001+13:00

1. Calling All Destroyers – Tsar

2. Two Perfect Moments – Tyler Bates

3. It Hurts Too Much – Eric Carmen

4. I Do – Lo-def Dollz

5. The Prayer – Tyler Bates

6. If You Want My Love – Cheap Trick

7. God Knows My Name ’11 – Moneybrother

8. Finger Of God – Tyler Bates

9. Holy Avenger’s Advice – Tyler Bates

10. Nobody Knows You Anymore – Terra Naomi

11. What It Was – Aceyalone

12. The Second Prayer – Tyler Bates

13. Born Under a Bad Sign – Moneybrother

14. Let Your Body Decide – The Ark

15. Libby Goes Down – Tyler Bates

16. Aftermath And Resolution – Tyler Bates

17. Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White – The Nomads

This movie is so good and I like the soundtrack too. Tyler Bates knows what's up (obviously - Dawn of the Dead, 300, Watchmen etc.). Two Perfect Moments score is so bad ass in my opinion, bouncy and soft, nice poppy sound. Check out the movie if you want something that's like Kick Ass but edgier and without any watered down hollywood buzz.

Download

Les Rallizes Dénudés - Mizutani (1991)

2012-01-28T10:13:00.002+13:00

1. 記憶は遠い 5:54

2. 朝の光 L'aube 1:37

3. 断章１ 3:45

4. 断章２ 1:45

5. 亀裂 4:35

6. The Last One 22:14

7. 黒い悲しみのロマンセ Otherwise Fallin' Love With 8:05

As more and more previously obscure Japanese noise rock bands and bootlegs were unearthed and distributed via music blogs, Les Rallizes Dénudés remained my favourite for sticking to the formula of a simple repetitive bassline followed by waves and waves of feedback. They never fucked with my head as much as anything Keiji Haino was involved with, and had sweet album titles like Heavier Than a Death in the Family and Blind Baby Has Its Mother's Eyes. The White Light/White Heat worship was always strong, but there was something soothing about their sound too.

Mizutani! Exploring the Velvet Underground (not the one with Nico) side of their VU worship rather than just the Sister Ray one, Mizutani's first side is primarily melancholy folk. Side two features The Last One which you can find different recordings of in LDR bootlegs. Here it fits with the rest of the album, starting like it has emerged out of the fragile folk before building steam and ending up wonderfully noisy.

It doesn't seem as well regarded as some of their other stuff which is a shame because I love it for being so different.

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DJ Screw - Bigtyme Recordz Volume II: All Screwed Up (1995)

2012-01-28T09:49:00.002+13:00

1. DJ Screw - Intro 1:00

2. UGK - Short Texas 4:33

3. Point Blank - Wreckless (feat. K-Rino) 4:00

4. UGK - Pregnant Pussy 4:39

5. Point Blank - After I Die 9:06

6. 20-2-Life & PSK-13 - Backstreets 7:31

7. UGK - Tell Me Something Good 6:43

8. 20-2-Life - Inside Looking Out 6:43

9. Point Blank - My Mind Went Blank 6:37

10. PSK-13 - 13 Ways 5:03

11. Point Blank - Straighten It Out 3:34

12. PSK-13 - Headin' Fo My Trunk 7:27

13. 20-2-Life - Da Music 6:51

DJ Screw spent his days chopping and screwing dirty south records for the consumption of purple drank. The originals, as you can imagine, are often that characteristic mix of chattery snares, quick MCing and hard as fuck lyricism. Slowed down, the drums become hypnotic, the rapping becomes deep and percussive, and each hard as fuck line gets to linger. Probably perfect for the consumption of codeine, people distanced philosophically, geographically and temporally from the Screwed Up Click have nonetheless been fascinated by this shit since Screw's death in 2000, and even moreso since guys like Main Attrakionz, A$AP Rocky and SpaceGhostPurrp started referencing that Houston sound within the last couple of years.

All Screwed Up is my favourite Screw tape. Inside Looking Out blew my mind one day and I couldn't stop listening to it and geeks gush over After I Die the same way they do One Day on Endonesia. For me, it's really the otherworldly sounds that I like it so much and not the highlighted existential angst.

Here you go:

Royal Trux - Twin Infinitives (1990)

2012-01-28T09:17:00.000+13:00

1. Solid Gold Tooth/Ice Cream/Jet Pet/RTX-USA/Kool Down Wheels (16:19)

2. Chances Are the Comets in Our Future/Yin Jim Versus the Vomit Creature (16:46)

3. (Edge of the) Ape Oven (15:03)

4. Florida Avenue Theme/Lick MyBoots/Glitterburst/Funky Son/Ratcreeps (20:31)

Twin Infinitives is a very polarizing album. You'll either think its incredible or awful. Moreso than a lot of albums of its kind, people who are open to experimental music can hate it just as much as those who aren't

So you've got

1) pretentious avant-garde bullshit played by junkies
2) the second step in the deconstruction of rock n roll
3) Trout Mask Replica for generation x
4) unlistenable shit

which is the usual difference of opinions you get- it's either pretentious and unlistenable or intentionally unlistenable for the sake of some greater project- i.e. deconstructing music, and so it is not dissimilar to undisputed all time great album x

but then you get

5) I love Trout Mask Replica but this is unlistenable (not pretentious, just bad)
6) this is more and less than you expect: it's neither consciously deconstructing the way you listen to music, nor is it bad by any means. It just is.

Seeing how long and famously difficult it is (if these tracks were split into individual tracks I probably wouldn't have found it so taxing), I was actually nervous about listening to it for the first time at work! I thought I was undertaking a big project for some reason. The first time I listened to someone like Merzbow I got used to the noise within a few minutes and then found the experience refreshing and exciting. Twin Infinitives is not like that though. It occasionally does something relatable or recognisable and then departs on some other bizarre avant-noise-rock tangent. The fact that the tracks are grouped together in this way makes each one feel more dependent on the next, so even though you occasionally go hey, I like that!, you know it's only a temporary thing and so the whole listening process is very uneasy.

Romantic in the most gen x way, it sounds like the couple didn't leave their room for a few weeks, recording music for only themselves. I find this makes listening to the album more enjoyable than the Royal Trux are two geniuses self-consciously deconstructing the way we listen to music theory. At the same time though, Neil Michael Hagerty played for Pussy Galore who are nowhere near as strange as this, so there must be some sort of ideology or it'd just sound like bluesy noise rock. He's obviously capable of more than the excellent amateurism that I want to give him credit for. Still, I'm more happy believing that Cats and Dogs is a deconstructionist album because it emulates so much more of the sounds that it deconstructs. It's so close to being conventional but constantly undercuts itself and collapses in a noisy heap. Twin Infinitives is the noisy heaps from Cats and Dogs taken to the extreme and there's really nothing like it. So I can't tell whether it's an intellectual project for rock critics to celebrate and loathe, or a romantically amateurish mess like lo-fi don't give a fuck about music theory guys Half Japanese, just more avant-garde than Jonathan Richman. It would be corny to end this with maybe it just is... Give it time, it's not unlistenable. If you want to think it's a consciously difficult project for intellectual means, then that's cool, think that. If you want to think it's unpretentious lo-fi goodness by way of fuck I don't know there's really nothing else like it- The Dead C?, then think that! It's a disgusting mess and I love it.

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Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run (1975)

2012-01-28T09:14:00.001+13:00

1. Thunder Road 4:50

2. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out 3:11

3. Night 3:01

4. Backstreets 6:30

5. Born to Run 4:30

6. She's the One 4:30

7. Meeting Across the River 3:19

8. Jungleland 9:33

I'd like to apologise to anybody who has ever lived with me for playing this album nearly every day for I don't know how long.

Born to Run is one of those perfect albums that you play and then you're pissed off that nothing can follow it up so you listen to it enough times to kill your appreciation of it for the day and move onto something completely different. Int'l Players Anthem does the same thing for me.

I swear it does what Dylan should do for me but doesn't. Well, that injected with sax parts, big piano parts, leather jackets and masculine screams. Oh, the masculine scream. The Replacements' Paul Westerberg got his voice from that masculine scream (in my mind any way) and then Kurt Cobain got it from him (and Lennon) thus establishing the four greatest rock vocalists evuhhh (in my mind any way).

From the cheesy line I've got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk (guitar part) to the 10 minute has everything in it but still sounds really passive closing track Jungleland, I wouldn't change a thing about it.

How many ways can you say hey girl let's ruuunnnn? At least 8 really good ways. Thank you, Bruce Springsteen, I love you, man.

320

John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Unfinished Music No.2: Life with the Lions (1969)

2012-01-25T13:22:00.002+13:00

1. Cambridge 1969 26:29

2. No Bed for Beatle John 4:41

3. Baby's Heartbeat 5:10

4. Two Minutes Silence 2:00

5. Radio Play 12:35

Bonus tracks

6. Song for John 1:31

7. Mulberry 8:58

The suggestion that any of the best-selling artists of today would have the balls to create something like Unfinished Music No.2: Life with the Lions is laughable if not entirely unthinkable.

In 1970 Lennon would release John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band to great critical acclaim, getting praise for being one of the rawest and most honest popular albums of all time. Reliving childhood trauma on songs like Mother and My Mommy's Dead, declaring all idols dead on God, and pushing his cathartic primal scream to lengths arguably unmatched until Nirvana's In Utero 23 years later on tracks like Well, Well, Well, it's easy to see why it's still so loved. So what about Unfinished Music No. 2?

It's a universally loathed mess of an album often too painful in its aesthetic and content to listen to. And yet I love it. The content is so personal that it makes Lennon's 1970 album sound like I Want to Hold Your Hand being played 11 times . The cover shows Lennon and Ono in Queen Charlotte's Hospital following Ono's miscarriage. Baby's Heartbeat is a recording of the baby's heartbeat before the miscarriage. Two Minutes Silence commemorates this.

The album's aesthetic is totally unique also. Cambridge 1969 is the track which brings most people here. Lennon showcases some fantastic guitar and feedback over Ono's bizarre vocal improvisations. Things come together in the most chaotic way possible when they're joined by saxophonist John Tchicai and percussionist John Stevens towards the end of the track. It's excellent as a noisy improv track and then there's the fact that it's John Lennon in the same year that Abbey Road was to be released.

No Bed for Beatle John features the couple sing-reading news clipping about each other, which, given the context, adds to the freakishly personal nature of the album. Ono's very existence was painful to the public, blaming her for The Beatles' demise, so there's something strange and very sad about the couple acknowledging their public image whilst holed up in a hospital following a personal tragedy. The songs following Cambridge 1969 are isolated and claustrophobic avant-garde tracks like you wouldn't hear until Royal Trux did Twin Infinitives in 1990. Add everything mentioned before though and it's something infinitely more heart-rending.

Behold the ballsiest album by a popular artist ever! I've let the contextual information effect my description of each track, but even without it songs like Cambridge 1969 are totally necessary for anyone interested in noise or improvisation. For all I know they were just continuing to troll Beatles fans, but I don't really give a shit 'cause that track rules so hard.

320

Katharsis - VVorldVVithoutEnd (2006)

2012-01-25T13:22:00.001+13:00

1. Eden Belovv 8:11

2. Kross Fyre 6:04

3. VVytchdance 11:09

4. Ascent From Ghoulgotha 8:39

5. Kosmik Sacrifice 1:46

6. VVorldVVithoutEnd 16:23

This is fun. An onslaught of quick ear-splitting riffs and echoed distorted shrieks reminiscent of a decent noise rock record's intention to shock and excite the listener simultaneously.

Yeezy - 808s & Heartbreak (2008)

2012-01-25T13:21:00.002+13:00

Sad Kanye is sad. Could be relationship ending, could be recently deceased mother, could be lonely at the top stuff Drake is into. Perplexing at the time, I actually re-evaluated it after by chance liking Thank Me Later which has this all over it. Uneven: what was he thinking putting Jeezy on here? Saccharine: every single beat is a heartbreak, there's a song called RoboCop which makes you think about the way the guy needed the machine to survive and express himself meanwhile longing for his wife and the parallel that might suggest in the mechanical sound of the album- that for the guy who brought the soul to rap he needed processed minimalism to express genuine heartbreak, and if you think that interpretation has gone too far, wait 'til you get to Pinocchio Story which seems like such a parody of everything that happened before that it cheapens it. Some lines are quotable because of how cheesy they are, but it's actually pretty hard to deny the sadness the album expresses, or wallows in, or embodies. Auto-tune, pitch shifted 808s, synth drones, all minimalist, 808s is as peculiar as it is touching.

It's only 11 tracks long (I don't count Pinocchio Story) and you probably need to delete a few (Jeezy), but Say You Will, Love Lockdown, Paranoid, Street Lights, and Coldest Winter are all excellent and touching. It's been called hip hop's Low but it's probably more Trans. Interesting how it foreshadowed or inspired a whole movement in rap (though probably not a good thing, and Yeezy's good enough to do something totally original here and then move on to MBDTF), interesting as the half way point between the synthy Graduation and every sound ever MBDTF, and actually much better than it's given credit for as a standalone album (or EP if you're into deleting a few). Opinions are gradually being revised, it'll probably eventually be declared considered a classic of minimalist-r&b-synth-pop.

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Cap'n Jazz - Burritos, Inspiration Point, Fork Balloon Sports, Cards In The Spokes, Automatic Biographies, Kites, Kung Fu, Trophies, Banana Peels We've Slipped On and Egg Shells We've Tippy Toed Over (1994)

2012-01-25T13:21:00.001+13:00

1. Little League 3:56

2. Oh Messy Life 2:02

3. Puddle Splashers 2:03

4. Flashpoint: Catheter 3:24

5. In The Clear 1:57

6. Yes, I Am Talking to You 2:36

7. Basil's Kite 2:36

8. Bluegrassish 1:08

9. Planet Shhh 2:59

10. The Sands Have Turned Purple 2:45

11. Precious 2:43

12. Que Suerte! 3:04

I'd be one of those assholes claiming that old school emo was actually awesome but I like My Chemical Romance too much to imply that they aren't awesome, but here's Cap'n Jazz's Schmap’n Schmazz any way.

Members from Cap'n Jazz went on to form American Football and numerous other important bands, and were very influential themselves. I'd call their sound 'jerky' but that'd make Bluegrassish's boys kissing boooooyyysss chorus sound even more funny 'cause handjobs are fucking hi-larious

They're insanely likeable, you'll certainly like Cap'n Jazz if you haven't heard them

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Jo Armstead - A Stone Good Lover

2012-01-24T15:05:00.003+13:00

This was posted a few days ago just before megaupload spazzed out and Max had to burn this blog to the ground. This should make everyone feel better. This is pop so good even if you feel like everyone is looking at you and judging you, you will still want to dance.

This is worth it just for the fantastic 'I Feel an Urge Coming On' - but then, it is worth it for everything else too. Now, Golden Classics seems like the kind of mediocre publisher or label or whatever that is actually detrimental to know something about, but like I said when I posted this the first time, I'm sure they never hurt anyone.

I wish Jo Armstead was more famous. She wrote most of her own songs, and did a lot for Ray Charles. Great voice, great vibe etc. Have a party and play this. More soul to come, so stay tuned I guess.

Download

Pelt - Empty Bell Ringing in the Sky (1999)

2012-01-24T13:55:00.006+13:00

1. Ghosts are Never Forgiven

2. Empty Bell Ringing in the Sky No. 2

3. Empty Bell Ringing in the Sky No. 5

4. Ghost Galaxies

Is drone / experimental or whatever still cool? There is always a dingy bar in some city where painful bands will play on and on thinking that if they try to overwhelm you they will persuade you with the sheer force of their "soundscapes." Maybe that is why it is no longer cool in Auckland at least.

But you will always find a Pelt or La Monte Young to make you realise that there is actually an art to drone music. In the same way Duchamp and Picasso could paint in a pretty accomplished formal style, the members of Pelt bring a certain formal skill to this cold butterscotch aural drenching. These lads can play. Jack Rose is dead though, goddammit.

Max: I am free this week, let's listen to drone with Belgian beer as a way to toast the continuation of your blog.

Download

Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans (2009)

2012-01-23T23:29:00.004+13:00

False Jesii Part 2

Half Idiot

Dream Smotherer

Pleasure Race

She is Science Fiction

Request for Masseuse

Human Upskirt

Lip Ring

Spent

R-Rated Movie

Goodbye (Hair)

This is one of my favourite albums of the last couple years and probably ..ever. It is the second LP punk band Pissed Jeans released on Seattle's renowned Sub Pop label. Every song has it's own ... je ne sais quoi. Almost as if each has its own sub-genre. Request for Masseuse and Spent, for instance, have a sludge-ridden Melvins-esque feel where as Human Upskirt speeds up the pace with some Black Flag sounding riffs and the attitude to match. False Jesii Part 2 and Pleasure Race have a similar repetitive groove that if you can manage to stay still to you have to be tied down or something I swear.

The whole album paints a picture of the bleak moments in the 20-something male suburbanite's life, including girl issues and not really giving a fuck about things. I want to talk about the fucktonnes of apathy but the songs are way too awesome to suggest any sort of depression, so I'll just say that some of the lyrics are dark. I hate having to say that.. The first song, False Jesii Part 2, Matt Kosloff continually suggests the normal activities he could go out and do, quickly followed with "but I don't bother!" e.g. telling jokes, going to gym.. and then a boyish yell "NYAH NYAH NYAH NRYAH RNYAH RYAH NYAH" follows. I'll go ahead and say it's my favourite song on the album. Hard choice though.

Download

This is one of the best records I own, you should own it as well. White marble!!! Buy it from one of these guys. Or straight off the label!

BBC Radiophonic Workshop (Paddy Kingsland) - Fourth Dimension (1973)

2012-01-23T18:17:00.000+13:00

Early electronic music (with some acoustic accompaniment; guitar, drums, etc.) that sounds melodic rather than consisting primarily of unstructured or atonal noise. This compilation covers some of Paddy Kingsland's contributions to the music of various BBC radio and TV shows. Because every post I make is doomed to be related to video games, I first discovered a couple of these tunes due to their inclusion in surreal indie RPG Space Funeral, which I also recommend.

Download (256)
Recording courtesy of Dinosaur Gardens.

Anton Bruckner - Symphony 8 [Karajan] (1979)

2012-01-23T14:38:00.006+13:00

I want to help Max by keeping the blog as diverse as he originally envisioned all these years ago. So, here is some Bruckner. I occasionally think how great it would be to listen to Bruckner, even though he is very rarely at the top of my listening priorities. But, sweet jesus, I think he should be. Just listen to this! This gives you some pretty triumphant romantic vibes, rich colour and all the other stuff that academic musicians talk about.

Download

Sisters Love: Give Me Your Love (2006)

2012-01-23T14:24:00.006+13:00

This is some pretty funky Soul. Despite forming in 1968 a lot of the music here would probably not be out of place in an 80s Detroit (that I admittedly know nothing about). I think half this band used to be in a backing band for Ray Charles. I haven't listened to Ray Charles for a year at least, so probably I should get some up.

This album is pretty great anyway. I think it is a compilation of stuff they recorded during their relatively short lifetime (1968-1973). They toured with the Jackson 5 for a bit, and recently some cuts from an unreleased LP were finally made available, but other than that I don't know too much about this group. Their most famous song is 'Are you Lonely?' but it isn't on here, and I've not come across it yet. However, 'Give Me Your Love' is definitely here, that totally sweet tack that gave was remixed by Danny Krivit and gave them a new audience of disco fans.

Note lyrics "If you can't fix it / maybe the milkman can"

Oh yeah.

Download

oh god damn

2012-01-23T10:45:00.002+13:00

I put some essentials on there so we could start bringing this back. Oh well, we'll see what happens. There's at least three of us wanting to keep this up and running.

Rites of Spring - End on End (1991)

2012-01-23T10:41:00.001+13:00

1. Spring 2:09

2. Deeper Than Inside 2:17

3. For Want Of 3:09

4. Hain's Point 2:08

5. All There Is 2:54

6. Drink Deep 4:55

7. Other Way Around 3:59

8. Theme 2:19

9. By Design 2:38

10. Remainder 2:30

11. Persistent Vision 2:21

12. Nudes 2:48

13. End on End 7:24

14. All Through a Life 2:57

15. Hidden Wheel 2:31

16. In Silence/Words Away 3:00

17. Patience 1:58

Fucking love this album

Released on CD by Dischord in 1991, this digital version of End on End covers the complete recorded output of the legendary Rites of Spring: their self-titled LP, the All Through a Life EP, and one extra song. One of the first bands to be labeled emocore, Rites of Spring would seem to transcend all labels as their music cuts right through to the heart of universal human experience. Emotional? Yes -- check out the bitter memorial relived on "For Want Of," the pulse pounding moment-grab that is "Drink Deep," or the devoted searches for honesty and meaning explored on "End on End," "Theme," and really just about every track on the disc. Hardcore? Yes -- emerging from the D.C. scene, the music is pure focused energy, not a single note wasted. The band at times is fast and furious, at other times lush and evocative though always with a sense of drive and melody. Rites of Spring hint at some of the territory vocalist/guitarist Guy Picciotto and drummer Brendan Canty would later survey with Fugazi, but this band is much more than just a stepping stone. End on End, quite simply, is a testament to the rich possibilities of sincerity in music.
-AMG

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Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown

2012-01-23T10:33:00.001+13:00

1. Keep on Dubbing

2. Stop Them Jah

3. Young Generation Dub

4. Each One Dub

5. 555 Dub Street

6. Brace's Tower Dub

7. Brace's Tower Dub 2

8. King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown

9. Corner Crew Dub

10. Skanking Dub

11. Frozen Dub

12. Satta Dub

Totally essential

320
buy

Peter Jefferies - The Last Great Challenge in a Dull World (1990)

2012-01-23T10:27:00.000+13:00

1, Chain or Reaction

2. Domesticia

3. On an Unknown Beach

4. Guided Tour of a Well Known Street

5. The House of Weariness

6. Cold View

7. Likewise

8. The Fate of the Human Carbine

9. Catapult

10. The Last Great Challenge in a Dull World

11. While I've Been Waiting

12. Neither Do I

13. The Other Side of Reason

14. Listening In

An album I admire greatly but can't listen to often due to Jefferies' difficult arrangements and intentionally off-key drone singing.

Features songs you might recognize without having heard the album such as On an Unknown Beach and The Fate of the Human Carbine.

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This Kind of Punishment - A Beard of Bees (1984)

2012-01-23T10:18:00.004+13:00

1. Prelude 2:08

2. From the Diary of Hermann Doubt 3:19

3. The Horrible Tango 4:36

4. Trepidation 3:56

5. East Meets West 3:51

6. Turning to Stone 4:30

7. Although They Appear 3:54

8. The Sleepwalker 3:36

9. An Open Denial 7:12

This Kind of Punishment was a band formed by Graeme and Peter Jefferies who both released fantastic albums before and after A Beard of Bees, writing songs which would be covered by people like Amanda Palmer and Cat Power.

The melancholy piano parts that would, in my opinion, make At Swim Two Birds as good as it is both introduce the listener to and close A Beard of Bees. It's lo-fi, it's post-punk, and it's experimental, but it's also just really introspective and dark. The two final tracks The Sleepwalker and An Open Denial are the best.

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American Football - American Football (1999)

2012-01-23T09:55:00.000+13:00

1. Never Meant 4:28

2. The Summer Ends 4:46

3. Honestly? 6:10

4. For Sure 3:16

5. You Know I Should Be Leaving Soon 3:43

6. But the Regrets Are Killing Me 3:54

7. I'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional 3:42

8. Stay Home 8:10

9. The One With the Wurlitzer 2:42

American Football were an emo band formed by members of the the equally celebrated Cap'n Jazz. I am a big fan of both bands but much prefer American Football.

Whereas Cap'n Jazz were jerky and excited in their uh emo-ness, American Football went for a more reserved melancholy which was complimented perfectly by the math/indie influenced guitar lines- clean, melodic and perfect.

It's the only album of its kind that I really like- more distant and passive than Sunny Day Real Estate, less experimental and violent than Unwound, and I've already said how it's different to Cap'n Jazz. For that it's completely unique and is made even more appealing by its length and place as sole album by the band.

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Harry Pussy - In An Emergency You Can Shit on A Puerto Rican Whore (1993)

2012-01-22T18:06:00.001+13:00

1. Youth Problem
2. 1986
3. Pussy Control
4. Riot Riot
5. I Fought the Police
6. Fuckology
7. Dream Driver
8. I Don't Care About Sleep Anymore
9. Showroom Dummies

Harry Pussy were a noise rock band who kind of pushed the noise and no wave components of their sound to their limits without ever ending up entirely unlistenable. In fact, initial listens will prove that there's something fascinating in something this chaotic, and as the sounds become less offensive, there's something beautifully cathartic in their less furious, more dramatic tracks like Fuckology, Dream Driver, and I Don't Care About Sleep Anymore.

192

Danny Brown - XXX (2011)

2012-01-22T17:55:00.005+13:00

1. XXX 1:51

2. Die Like a Rockstar 2:26

3. Pac Blood 2:32

4. Radio Song 2:22

5. Lie4 3:12

6. I Will 3:16

7. Bruiser Brigade (feat. Dopehead) 3:45

8. Detroit 187 (feat. Chip$) 3:05

9. Monopoly 2:45

10. Blunt After Blunt 3:26

11. Outer Space 2:44

12. Adderall Admiral 1:43

13. DNA 2:57

14. Nosebleeds 1:37

15. Party All the Time 3:28

16. EWNESW 2:23

17. Fields 2:33

18. Scrap or Die 3:56

19. 30 3:18

The punchline album of 2011. Drug-rap and not weed-rap, even the weed song Blunt After Blunt is fucking intense and dark. Danny Brown's XXX is a drug-fuelled world where each song sets the scene with its production and Brown's drug-fucked cartoon-character narrator tells a story. Suitably moods vary like crazy from fascination with one's own death, to huge boasts, to aggression, to depression, to careful observation.

A disturbing mood-swinging hyperreality culminating in the epic 30 where Brown's bizarre Kool Keith meets x cartoon performance sounds like its about to collapse and we're going to witness something really raw and twisted. And we get as close as we ever will with the 30 year old talking less about drugs and eating pussy and instead explaining how he got to where he is on the record. He embodies a realness he claims is derived from Pac (Pac's Blood) but is rather unique to him.

The best alternative rap album in ages- unpretentious, funny, fun, honest and anxiety inducing

Danny Brown "XXX" by foolsgoldrecs

Big Blood & the Bleedin' Hearts - Big Blood & the Bleedin' Hearts (2008)

2012-01-22T17:55:00.004+13:00

1. Bah-mum

2. Baron In The Trees

3. New Dish Rag

4. Graceless Lady

5. Blood Mumble

6. Curee

7. Oh Country (Skin & Bones)

8. The Birds & The Herds

9. Tease It Like A Cop

10. Night Laser

11. Terrapin (Oh Syd!) (Yeah, Syd Barrett cover)

An unusual kind of folk if you're not already familiar with Big Blood, Oh Country (Skin & Bones) pretty much secures the album's place in my music collection forever and always

The Dead C - Harsh 70s Reality (1992)

2012-01-22T17:50:00.001+13:00

1. Driver U.F.O. 22:23

2. Sky 3:38

3. Love 11:51

4. Suffer Bomb Damage 3:40

5. Sea Is Violet 7:57

6. Constellation 6:43

7. Baseheart 6:53

8. Hope 9:23

The Dead C are a noise rock band from New Zealand who have been releasing albums since 1987. They tend to be very well regarded by critics and musicians alike for their focus on improvisation and their lo-fi sensibilities which leads some to call them free rock instead of just noise rock. Harsh 70s Reality is often considered their best album.

Love embodies the album's spirit of ambivalence- hazy indifference and latent violence. Hope is suitably the darkest track and the best way to finish the album- strummed detuned guitars and murmured vocals set the scene before frustration and violence emerge only to be drowned out by the sound of people talking. Even the 22 minute Driver UFO has its place- initially seeming like a way to weed out casual listeners, it becomes clear after a few listens that the band are masters at free-form noise jams.

There's a consistent atmosphere over the duration of the album leading some to declare it A rock opera for a post-nuclear war society which seems insincere or hyperbolic but it was only when I took the album as a whole and recongised its frustration, violence and apathy that it became a coherent story, which, yeah, is desolate and sometimes incredibly sad.

Harsh 70s Reality took something like three years to fully grow on me and I recommend those who don't completely love it persevere until it clicks.

192 1/2

SKECH185 - New Age Middle Finger (2011)

2012-01-22T17:45:00.000+13:00

SKECH185's New Age Middle Finger continued to grown on me even after I'd put it on my best albums of 2011 list.

SKECH spits some of the most pissed off tongue-twister raps of the year and beatmaker Analog(ue) Tape Dispenser knows exactly how to compliment his frenzied-hyperventilate-core style. Sharp and sometimes funny- I particularly like how he starts The Truth with the line I'd fuck every female friend I have if given the chance!

Feeling lazy, here's the RapReviews review 'cause they do it well:

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://skech185.bandcamp.com/album/analog-ue-tape-dispenser-skech185-new-age-middle-finger"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Analog(ue) Tape Dispenser SKECH185 : New Age Middle Finger by SKECH185&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

Think very hard: when was the last time you heard a well-written rap record? I'm not talking about punchlines, song structure, hooks, or bridges - but when can you remember wanting to read the lyrics you'd just heard on paper? Skech185 is one of the best writers in rap, hands down, and "New Age Middle Finger" - his new album with Texas-based producer Analog(ue) Tape Dispenser - is the best-written rap release of 2011.

It's not that his style is so image- and metaphor-heavy that it's almost nonsensical (a la Aesop Rock) or that he can string together crazy multisyllabic rhyme schemes effortlessly (a la Elzhi) or that he's got a million clever punchlines or pop culture references (a la Chino XL). But he discusses relevant subject matter with an adroit wit and a sharp eye for detail. He's got a voice that sounds like it should narrate a "Sin City" sequel and a flow that hits the drum from unusual angles, switching from quintuple time on "Inventory" to the simplistic-by-comparison third verse on "Surgeon General Warning."

His semi-automatic flow, however, can occasionally jam, but it comes across almost intentionally at times. Lines like "She's scrapbook beautiful" on "Tree in Frame" can escape a listener's grasp easily because of the barrage of lyrics Skech is hurling at you. Thus, the lyrics that he's (thankfully) transcribed for you on his Bandcamp page becomes required reading for his album.

As for the production, eleven of the album's thirteen beats are provided by Analog(ue) Tape Dispenser, who often utilizes soft melodies atop bass-heavy drum tracks and dusty breakbeats to accentuate Skech's fire-and-brimstone delivery. The easiest comparison I can think of is El-P using DJ Shadow's MPC.

The perfect introduction to the duo's sound just so happens to be the album's opener, "Content," where a light piano loop cascades into a hurricane of choral samples and an avalanche of bass. Skech matches it vocally, barreling through the instrumental like Poseidon with a trident in his hand. The album's bookended by songs with apolcalyptic implications: "Content" flips a familiar R.E.M. chorus into a dark refrain ("Where's the love? Lost in the dark. Where's your compassion? Trapped in a box! The world's fallin' and I feel fine") and "The End" concludes the record by placing an emphatic stamp on the thoughts that cloud the album.

"The Truth" has a hook that sounds like a meeting of chopped-and-screwed music with the infectiousness of propagandistic subliminal messaging; the blatant iconoclasm ("Who gives a fuck if Tupac's dead?"), political incorrectness ("I'd fuck any female friend I have if given the chance"), and harsh facts ("We clap for heroes, but villains have better songs!") that populate the verses; and k-the-i??? provides a ridiculous organ-fueled monster of a beat. Skech's energy hits insane levels on songs with great choruses, including "The Truth," "Surgeon General Warning," and "Hang Me." Even those that drop into spoken word monologues midsong (such as Lana Simpson's spoken-word prologue and epilogue on "Tree in Frame" and Gilead7's theology lesson on "Christmas") don't lose their effectiveness, and even those without discernable choruses carry a refrain or bridge of some sort to allow the listener to exhale a bit between dense columns of verse.

Despite the uniqueness and genuine passion of Skech's delivery, the album's best moments come when he settles into a comfortable cadence and allows his words to do the work, as he does on "Breathing Room," a defiant ode to the parents who don't get his music or his politics:

"I'm a nigga to ni--ers and I'm a ni--er to you
I'm a nigga to non-blacks who think saying nigga is cool
When I graduate, I'm just another ni--er that went to school
And when I die I'm just one nigga you never knew"
The same technique adds venom to the punchline-heavy "Surgeon General Warning":
"Y'all bastards gon' do right by me
Ya right by me, find yaself needing nine IVs
Multiplied by three, and a different type of ID
I piss on my wife... Imagine if I don't like what I see

[...]

Please, don't respect that I battle
Expect I'm an asshole
Accept you're cattle
If you talk tough, why you flex so Snapple?
Got a crew that'll protect my shadow
Talk shit, punch you
and leave your brain with a Connect Four rattle"

There are spots on the album where Skech's writing is completely tuned out by his delivery, the main example being "Inventory," where the lyrics are almost completely lost in the flow. However, this is the only point of the record where the cadence becomes problematic; the rest of it is rewarding in its complexity.

"New Age Middle Finger" won't be everyone's cup of tea, and that's okay. However, they'd be missing out on some truly next-level rap, even if it can wear a bit harsh at times. Listening to the debut record from Analog(ue) Tape Dispenser and Skech185 is like watching a volcano explode, and the lava's inviting - but feel free to wade in it at your own risk.

Music Vibes: 9 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 9.5 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 9.5 of 10

-RapReviews

Parents - Parents II EP (2011)

2012-01-22T17:38:00.000+13:00

1. XXIV 0:45

2. XV 1:43

3. XVIII 0:35

4. XVI 1:36

5. XIII 1:53

6. XXI 0:53

7. XXIII 0:42

8. XXII 2:49

Get their EP

Like them on Facebook and check out their shows and merch

Nine Simone - Pastel Blues (1965)

2012-01-22T17:14:00.001+13:00

1. Be My Husband
2. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
3. End of the Line
4. Trouble in Mind
5. Tell Me More and More and Then Some
6. Chilly Winds Don't Blow
7. Ain't No Use
8. Strange Fruit
9. Sinnerman
10. Mood Indigo (not part of album, but still, a nice track)

The voice! Beginning with the chant Be My Husband which was covered by Jeff Buckley on a live DVD I saw long before I'd heard of Nina Simone and then thought I heard the influence but couldn't tell why exactly years later, moving into a frightening rendition of the already tragic Strange Fruit and then climaxing with one of the greatest songs of all time- Simone's 10 minute Sinnerman.

320

Oval - Ovalcommers (2001)

2012-01-22T17:02:00.001+13:00

I won't pretend to know much about Oval. I've only heard this and the much more widely acclaimed 94 Diskont (noted for "deconstructing music and digital audio by using exacto knives, paint, and tape to damage the surfaces of the compact discs, only to stitch it back together in loops of melody punctuated by the disc's physical skips"). As far as I can tell, 94 Diskont is a masterpiece of glitchy microsound electronica (that's right, I get my tags from wikipedia), which, despite apparently deconstructing the music, seems to have much more of a direction than Ovalcommers. It sounds like a fucked up glitchy, repetitive idm inspired album, perhaps similar to something by Autechre.

Ovalcommers, on the other hand, is a directionless sea of distortion, glitches and sonic textures, which has lead some to claim that it is too harsh, or even gimmicky. I find the complete onslaught of synthesized noises almost invigorating, and that the attention paid to layers and textures makes the album a unique experience every time I listen to it. It's exciting that Oval moved into complete free-form territory for this release, I'll definitely have to look into more of his (Markus Popp's) releases, in particular the album's twin Ovalprocess.

256

Dixon - Live At Robert Johnson Volume 8

2012-01-22T17:00:00.000+13:00

Dixon makes the best mixes. Most of the tracks are dark & long streched out techno. Over the tracks there's the occasional vocals....just enough to make this mix sound more like a darker pop record than a collection of techno tunes.... hah you could even trick those conservative 'musos' by saying that you found this really cool album by this band called 'dixon'.

copied and pasted from the first link on google
Wupload
Fileserve
Filesonic

RIP all our links

2012-01-20T11:03:00.003+13:00

Megaupload is dead and so are our links.

(something about SOPA)

(something about how many albums I've bought having discovered them through music blogs)

I don't know what we will do with this blog now.

Thank you for following and commenting.

We'll see what happens.

It's been good.

We love you.

Edit: fuck it, we back

Soul

2012-01-15T16:06:00.004+13:00

When my computer somehow deleted all my soul (left all my white music for some reason. Racist machine) I collected some of my favourite stuff on youtube. I want to post a few of these videos because this is some of the best pop music ever recorded and must be shared. The youtube playlist I made for this is simply entitled "good" because I wanted to express through the title my opinion of the music.

This is one of my all time favourite songs. Listen to it more than once.

Classic.

This song is so good but please ignore the bizarre picture that accompanies it

Another Lorraine Ellison. One of my favourite singers.

No idea when this was recorded, but I am going to guess 1964. I don't want to find out, because that year has now attained a kind of mystic significance. Note the 'lolz' in the web address.

This rules. I wish I knew more about this group.

Famous remix of a soul great. I wish it didn't cut out abruptly at the end. Can't really find a good version to download. I will hopefully post a Sisters Love album pretty soon.

Mazedude - The American Album (2006)

2012-01-01T18:18:00.000+13:00

Happy belated New Year! For the final day of Weaboo Week I'm uploading something that barely fits the theme at all... in fact, this tribute to American video game composers came about partially as a reaction to the abundance of tributes to Japanese composers being released at the time. This pretty much ended up being video game music week, huh? Oh well!

In the American Album, Mazedude (a.k.a. Chris Getman) remixes music from several American video games in a very wide array of styles. Due to his unusual choice of audio software, Mazedude's style has a distinct sample based sound to it which you'll probably either love or hate. A follow-up called American Pixels is due for release later this year. Pre-order it if you're so inclined and in the meantime you'll also get a bonus EP of progressive chiptune remixes.

Because this is one of my favourite albums ever, I also put together a 'companion' download filled with bonus items. Download that too if you'd like to hear the original compositions behind every remix on the album, pieces of music that served as stylistic inspiration for the remixes, unfinished 'sketches' for tracks that never made it onto the album, source files in .IT format for three of the songs... and more.

Download (320)
Download The American Album Companion

Jake 'virt' Kaufman

2012-01-01T07:00:00.007+13:00

Jake Kaufman (a.k.a. virt) is an American video game composer responsible for the amazing soundtracks to games such as Shantae, Shantae: Risky's Revenge and BloodRayne: Betrayal. He has also released a vast quantity of original music and arrangements, many of which are freely available on his website. A highlight of his oeuvre is his series of fictional video game soundtracks (FX, FX 2.0 and FX3), the first of which you may have encountered in arranged form in an earlier Weaboo Week upload. Four of his notable recent works follow:

Jake Kaufman - Contra Dual Spirits Original Soundtrack (2008)

Contra 4, released in Japan as Contra Dual Spirits, is probably Kaufman's most famous soundtrack. Composing a Contra soundtrack was seemingly Kaufman's dream from a fairly young age, as such this is an extremely developed stylistic homage which even features an updated version of his Contra-style track Vile Red Falcon made for the album FX2 in 2002. Fans of this soundtrack should be sure to check out the remix album, Contra 4: Rocked 'n' Loaded.

Download (320)

Jake Kaufman - Mighty Milky Way / Mighty Flip Champs OST (2011)

This album opens with one of the best Vocaloid songs I've ever heard (actually, I prefer the extended version that appears later, but they're mostly the same song). This track is distinctly J-pop, even featuring some Japanese lyrics despite its American origins, but other tracks on the album offer completely different styles. Incidentally, Kaufman is also responsible for what is probably my favourite Vocaloid song, Lorem Ipsum.

Free / name your price at Bandcamp

Jake Kaufman - Mighty Switch Force OST (2011)

Self-descibed as "space disco house music", this follow-up features both original music and some familiar tunes from the previous games in the series rearranged as Daft Punk-esque electro. I feel this album exceeds hipster-favourite Glass Swords in its insane happiness, especially the track Love You Love You Love which I've found myself listening to more times than I feel comfortable admitting. Towards the end of the album this track gets remixed by coda in the style of Tree of Knowledge, an album coda worked on which pays tribute to the eroge soundtracks of Ryu Umemoto.

Free / name your price at Bandcamp

Jake Kaufman - Kwakfest (2008)

Last is Kaufman's first physically released album, an anthology of songs made for the speed composing party known as Kwakfest. Every song here was made within a strict 1-hour time limit using the MIDI format. In spite of this (and/or because of it) virtually every track is amazing, with Choppastyle and World's Most Wanted Wiener being my favourites. Also of note is Supabonk, one of only two pieces of synthesised music I've heard that manage to sound pornographic despite being entirely instrumental. The other is Chibi-Tech's Oniichan Dakara Iiyo, which is even worse if you know some Japanese.

Buy the CD
Download (V0)

Ryu Umemoto

2011-12-31T02:47:00.010+13:00

Here's a last minute addition for day 5 of Weaboo Week. Ryu Umemoto was a video game composer who worked primarily with FM synthesis and scored mostly shoot 'em ups and eroge (pornographic visual novels). He passed away earlier this year at the tragically young age of 37.

Ryu Umemoto, Ryu Takami - Eclipse "The Album" - Ryu Umemoto Rare Tracks Vol.1 (2007)

Unlike subsequent entries in the Rare Tracks collection, this album offers CD quality audio rather than music created under strict hardware limitations. This definitely results in a greater variety of styles, but I find myself more drawn to Umemoto's pure FM music. Luckily for me, this album features a bonus disc comprised entirely of FM arrangements.

Download V0 (4S)
Download V0 (MF): Part 1 Part 2

Ryu Umemoto - Desire "The Origin" - Ryu Umemoto Rare Tracks Vol.2 (2008)

This is probably my favourite Rare Tracks album. I consider it a masterwork of FM synthesis with several amazing tracks. Ishtal and Reflector are two such tracks, and the album even features subtly different renditions of these themes played on alternative sound chips.

Download V0 (4S)
Download V0 (MF): Part 1 Part 2

Ryu Umemoto, Ryu Takami - Xenon "The Origin" - Ryu Umemoto Rare Tracks Vol.3 (2008)

Xenon "The Origin" takes the multiple renditions theme of the previous volume even further by offering the complete soundtrack as recorded on both the YM2203 (OPN) and YM3438 (OPN2C) sound chips. Some of these tracks have an intriguing lo-fi techno sound that's not the sort of thing I expect to encounter on a video game soundtrack.

Download V0 (4S)
Download V0 (MF): Part 1 Part 2

Ryu Umemoto, Ryu Takami - EVE burst error "The Perfect" - Ryu Umemoto Rare Tracks Vol.4 (2009)

This marks the end of the Rare Tracks series, with the exception of a special volume only attainable by purchasing the first three together. I considered getting this shortly after learning of Umemoto's passing, but the cost of about $100 was just too much for me. It appears to be out of stock currently... for now you'll have to settle for Vol.4 which contains about 2 hours of sweet FM tunes.

Download V0 (4S)
Download V0 (MF): Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Ryu Umemoto - Konoyo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo: YU-NO (YM2608 rip)

This is probably Umemoto's most famous soundtrack and spans an impressive 5 hours. There's a little debate as to whether Ryu Takami, Umemoto's close collaborator, also worked on this, so don't deem my attribution of this solely to Umemoto definitive. As far as I know, official recordings of the soundtrack in its original FM format were never released (in spite of its popularity) so provided here is an excellent rip by Knurek in direct link form. Hopefully this won't crash anyone's server...

Download VBR
(Source)

Ryu Umemoto - Akai Katana Original Soundtrack (2010)

Another CD quality audio soundtrack, with some FM thrown in for good measure (it's what Umemoto does best, after all). Tracks 15 and up are voice samples from the game. I don't recommend listening to them, but decided not to exclude them for completion's sake.

Download V0 (MF)

Ryu Umemoto - NIN2-JUMP Sound Track / Akai Katana FM Sound Collection (2011)

The first half of this album covers NIN2-JUMP, which I believe was Umemoto's final solo soundtrack. It's a neat mix of FM with more modern samples and sounds. The second half of the album remixes the Akai Katana soundtrack in a similar FM fusion style.

Download V0 (MF)
Download FLAC (4S): Part 1 Part 2

(Thanks to danacol for the majority of the Rare Tracks links)

Kanar - Steppes III (2007)

2011-12-30T00:06:00.011+13:00

Kanar is Yann van der Cruyssen (a.k.a. Nurykabe, Morusque) and Léo Mathieu, the former of whom contributed to the soundtracks of indie games such as Knytt Stories, Blocks That Matter and Saira along with the controversial remixed score for the Steam / Mac App Store / WiiWare version of Cave Story.

This album features arrangements from not only these games' soundtracks, but others such as Chrono Cross, Grim Fandango and Monkey Island. Also included in the MP3 upload is a great cover of Song of Storms (the Windmill Hut music from Ocarina of Time) which appeared on Steppes II.

Download (VBR)
FLAC version available on Nurykabe's website

P.S. I'm pretty sure the attribution of track 15 to Yasunori Mitsuda on Tracklist.png is a typo which should say track 11.

Studio Ghibli Arrangements

2011-12-29T00:02:00.012+13:00

Day 3 of Weaboo Week and I apologise in advance for utterly failing as a weaboo in this instance. Although I've seen several Studio Ghibli films, I haven't listened to the soundtracks in isolation and the only piece of Ghibli music I especially remember is the opening to My Neighbour Totoro. Nonetheless, there was some interest in Studio Ghibli music, so I've decided to irresponsibly post a bunch of arrangement albums I've barely listened to. Note: most of these didn't survive the great Megaupload purge of 2012 and have been removed.

Various Artists - Ghibli meets Bossa Nova (2009)

This was an impulse buy based solely on the cute cover. To this day, my regrets are minimal.

Download (V0)

Lisa Nakazono - Chopin de Ghibli (2009)

These piano arrangements do a pretty stellar job of emulating Chopin, so if that's what you're looking for I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Download (V0)

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Plays Studio Ghibli Symphonic Collection (2005)

A collection of straight orchestral covers.

Download (V0)

Mega Man 9 Mega Post

2011-12-28T01:46:00.005+13:00

Day 2 of Weaboo Week brings a plethora of Mega Man Downloads. Most Mega Man games have pretty great music (with Mega Man 2 probably being the fan favourite) but my main focus here is on Mega Man 9, a fairly recent entry in the series.

TSSF - RockMan (Mega Man) 9 NES Retro Soundtrack (2008)

The soundtrack of Mega Man 9 ostensibly emulates the 8-bit style of its NES predecessors, but ignores some of the subtle technical limitations of the console. This download is not the OST itself, but almost perfect recreations of every song using the NES sound format that have then been recorded using NES hardware.

Download (V0)

Random - Mega Ran 9 (2009)

Mega Ran 9 is a hip hop concept album that features backing tracks based on the game's music and an ongoing narrative inspired by the game's story. Absent from the download I've posted is the Splash Woman instrumental which was added for the digital release. If you really want it, head to Random's Bandcamp page, where the other two entries in the Mega Ran series are also available.

Download (VBR)

Various Artists - Chiptuned Rockman (2009)

Chiptune remixes of chiptunes. Lots of people thought this was a dumb idea, but not me! Some of these arrangements showcase ridiculous talent and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in getting into chipmusic. The source tracks for this span the entire franchise. Don't be put off if you don't know the original versions, but one track I think seriously benefits from familiarity with the original is virt's take on Tornado Man, so consider checking that track out in the Mega Man 9 soundtrack above before listening.

Download (V0)
Download FLAC: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

OverClocked ReMix - Mega Man 9: Back in Blue (2011)

This fan-made remix album covers a wide variety of styles and genres. I don't adore everything on offer, but it outdoes the official Mega Man 9 arrange album massively. One track I think will appeal especially to readers of this blog is Morricone Man, which references Ennio Morricone's style along with some of his most famous melodies. Mazedude even includes some sneaky samples from the previously posted Morricone RMX (in fact, he was the one who introduced me to that album).

Download free from the official site. MP3 and FLAC and torrents, oh my!

OverClocked ReMix - Rockin' Sockin' Cinder Blockin' (A Concrete Man Remix EP) (2011)

This one's a mixed bag in terms of quality, which is understandable given that it was proposed, produced and released in the space of two weeks to address the absence of a Concrete Man remix in Back in Blue. The standout track for me is probably Concrete Heart.

Download (mostly 192)

LSD - Uptime (2007)

2011-12-26T22:08:00.004+13:00

Merry belated Christmas! Today marks the beginning of what I'm calling 'Weaboo Week' even though that title barely applies to most of the stuff I'll be posting. I plan to make 7 posts over 7 days with vague recurring themes of covers, music originating from Japan or music I consider generally nerdy.

Today it's Uptime by LSD, a jazz trio led by Sam Ascher-Weiss (a.k.a. Shnabubula) who I've posted about here twice before. Sam performs piano solo on the first three tracks but is later joined by Dustin Kaufman on drums and Lenwood Turner on trumpet (performing only briefly due to the effects of wisdom teeth removal). My favourite track is an arrangement of the main theme of Chrono Trigger, which is embedded above.

Uptime isn't technically an album, the name simply refers to the studio it was recorded at. Unfortunately it doesn't serve as a very good advertisement for the studio; the tracks feature low bitrates, questionable volume levels and occasionally audio glitches. Still, I recommend this release wholeheartedly on the strength of these arrangements alone. Also, do yourself a favour and check out Sam's other performances on YouTube and Bandcamp.

Download

Music by 9-10 year old boys

2011-12-26T13:50:00.000+13:00

Human Skab - Thunder Hips and Saddle Bags (2009) [v0]

A reissue of 1986 cassette recordings from Human Skab, age 10. The lyrical content of this is frequently bizarre and disturbing, and instruments include such oddities as buckets, rakes and a really badly tuned piano. It's pretty great!

Download

Alex Mauer - blast (2006) [192]

This Alex Mauer EP revisits music he made for a fictional video game called 'blast' as a child. For most of the tracks, the original recordings are played (complete with commentary by the 9 year old Mauer) which then transition into versions remade by Mauer 15 years later.

Download

You could also download blast and other Alex Mauer releases in ALAC from his website, if that's more your thing.

Lloyd Banks - The Cold Corner 2 (2011)

2011-11-24T14:42:00.001+13:00

I was expecting last year's The Hunger For More 2 to be my biggest surprise of the year. Expecting a surprise! How about that.

So then The Cold Corner 2 came along and I wasn't expecting anything which is likely the only way a surprise can actually occur. Well, I was surprised. Am surprised. The Cold Corner 2 is dope. I'm surprised. G-Unit's best lyricist stays good for the duration of the mixtape over consistently grimy, wintry beats. Shame I'm heading into summer

2dopeboyz

Freddie Gibbs - Cold Day in Hell (2011)

2011-11-01T09:35:00.000+13:00

Coolest album art, about to listen to the album now

Unlike so many of his peers, Freddie Gibbs has proven that he doesn't need anybody's help to succeed. The Gary, Indiana emcee has found more acclaim on free projects like 2009's two-piece The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs and midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik than he has with more recent retail experiments like the feature-heavy Str8 Killa EP and 24-hour-sketch Lord Giveth, Lord Taketh Away with Statik Selektah. Now with a CTE deal, Young Jeezy's profile player brushes off his original blueprint, and waxes O.G. wisdom under the age of 30. Cold Day In Hell is an assuring reminder than Freddie Gibbs' inspirations might bare rust, but this emcee is oiled and polished for the big stage.
"Barely M.A.D.E." is a great opener to show where exactly Freddie Gibbs' head is at for Cold Day In Hell. Here the emcee recalls his early-twenties Midwest hustling exploits with proclamations like, "Baptized in a lake of fire, so this how hell feels." The fearless rapper uses this opportunity to show the listener that his starving years are still his motivation, as his convictions to succeed won't buck towards trends or easy-ends. The same end of life imagery carries through to "Heaven Can Wait." Freddie looks at how he would spend his last day on earth, comparing the hypothetical chain of events with a first day out of incarceration. That same criminology inspires "Rob Me A Nigga," with Alley Boy. This unveils the mind-state of a premeditated robbery, with tongue-in-cheek explanation of the violent sociology found in streets like Gary, with longtime associates seeing past commonalities in pursuit of paper and power.

Like Str8 Killa, Gibbs uses some minor musical experiments to signify stamps in his growing career passport. "Menace II Society" with Dom Kennedy and Polyester, chronicles Freddie's assimilation in West Coast life, with a common interest in women and weed, yet still refusing to tuck chains or tail in a land of colors and fierce territoriality. "Let Ya Nuts Hang," with CTE label-mate Scrilla, cements Gibbs' fit in the Trap Muzik sound. "Doin' wrong is my rite of passage," declares Gibbs as he makes a song about taking ownership of a block, and surrounding defenders at all entrances and exits for pole position. Arkatech Beatz supplies a track that has the Jeezy/T.I. sound, as Gibbs' Midwestern flow does adapt, but takes the synth-driven track by force. The actual Jeezy-assisted track, "Twos and Fews" is one of several recent collaborations between CTE founder and star signee, but the mainstream chorus and the vesres make for one of the less interesting moments on Cold Day In Hell, despite the fanfare. "Str8 Slammin'" with Three 6 Mafia's Juicy J is a more organic pairing with a platinum star, with a SMKA beat that truly sounds Hypnotized. The message might be limited to debauchery and survival, but its presentation is so convincing that the engaging listen rarely wavers.

Now a passenger on private jets, Gangsta Gibbs is still making music for box-frame Chevys with packed kick-panels. Cold Day In Hell is the definitive mixtape fans have been asking for. With his Interscope recordings unveiled, a plethora of powerful songs since and a restless catalog of verses, videos and features, this tape is very telling of the type of album Gibbs has made before, and now has the Corporate Thugz in his corner to see it through.

-HipHopDX

http://smokingsection.uproxx.com/TSS/2011/10/download-freddie-gibbs-cold-day-in-hell

Freddie Gibbs - Cold Day In Hell by LiftedResearchGroup

Li Xiang Lan (李香蘭)- Selection

2010-12-08T13:54:00.000+13:00

First,an introduction from the new poster - me : Hi !!!! ^o^
Second, here we have an amazing artist, the one that is really a gem , Li xiang lan, or also know as Yoshiko Yamaguchi, who's been the leading lady of chinese cinema in the 40s and was one of the Seven great singing stars. An individual with an amazing life, and ofcourse, amazing music had a very exciting but still troubled life: after the war, the Chinese authorities acccused of treason and collaboration with the Japanese,but luckily was free of charges,so she moved to Japan and had a carreer there and after some time in the US and Hong Kong too until she retireed in 1958 from acting.
In this great selection of 22 songs, you can really feel the power of her voice and the beauty of the accompaning music whether it is chinese traditional, japanese traditional, or in most of them, jazzy/swingy which was in that time quite popular. So, I'm sure most of you'll like it :)
p.s. I hope that my English doesn't suck so much :)
see you!
Deawn

more info on her: Wiki

Download

Klaus Schulze - Dune (1979) [320]

2010-07-27T02:43:00.007+12:00

This is one of several albums I downloaded while searching for some ambient music I heard prior to a movie screening. That music involved organ and alien critter like synthetic noises, followed by (in I assume a subsequent track) almost bossa-nova style percussion.

This album isn't really very similar, though some of Schulze's other music is. Dune was the album I found most enjoyable of those I discovered, though. I prefer the solely instrumental first track to the second, which features a reading of a poem to cheesy percussion. Your opinion may vary.

Of course, if anyone has any ideas about that music I heard, I'd appreciate comments.

Download

Miscellaneous Goto80 songs (1997-2010) [MP3]

2010-05-09T21:47:00.000+12:00

Goto80 is an incredibly prolific 8-bit/chiptune musician. When I say prolific, I refer to stuff like him and a few others releasing a song every day for a whole year. Since he's had such a ridiculously high output, I decided to compile a small (well, 2 hours long) collection of his songs from the hundreds I have listened to. I've talked to quite a few people about Goto80 over the years, often asking what their favourite Goto80 song is. Ever answer I remembered is included in this package.

There's a wide variety of styles here, so it's entirely possible you'll hate some tracks and enjoy others. However, if you loathe every one of the above four videos, I don't recommend listening further.

Download

Samuel Ascher-Weiss - Ender's Game (2006) [320]

2010-05-07T21:20:00.000+12:00

A symphonic suite by Samuel Ascher-Weiss (a.k.a. Shnabubula) based on the novel Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Owners of the book may be interested to know the the name of each movement corresponds to the names of the chapter it begins with and the chapter it ends in... I doubt it would be feasible to read the book in time with this 41 minute long composition, but to anyone who wants to try I wish you luck.

There's an incredibly interesting soundscape here consisting of somewhat standard orchestral fare, but augmented with 'ethnic' instruments and strange electronic noise. Recommended for anyone interested in listening to something unique.

Download

P.S. There's no official cover art that I know of, the image above is just something I whipped up.

Bad Dudes - Thai Guy (2008) [VBR]

2010-04-19T23:44:00.003+12:00

Behold, an EP comprised entirely of covers of Sagat's theme from Street Fighter 2. There are 10 covers in all, including styles such as prog rock, porno groove, solo piano waltz and obscure tracker module tribute.

Hopefully this will appeal to some people. As far as I'm concerned, there is no need to know or care about Street Fighter to listen to this, as that was pretty much the situation I was in when I first heard it.

For those interested, the MP3 comments tell a little story. Oh, and Sagat is from Thailand, hence the title. Apparently Max is friends with Sagat on Facebook, so maybe we can hook up the man himself?

Download from MediaFire or the Bad Dudes website.

Grant Morrison & Steve Yeowell - The New Adventures of Hitler [CBZ]

2010-04-06T04:00:00.005+12:00

I wish I could have found a better scan for this, but after a lot of searching I'm fairly certain that there isn't one. It's still readable and enjoyable.

Download

If you don't know what .CBZ is, just open the file as a .ZIP (rename the file extension if needed).

Shintaro Kago - Dance! Kremlin Palace! & more [NSFW]

2010-04-05T15:53:00.008+12:00

A warning! When you read anything by Shintaro Kago, you are likely to encounter the following: nudity, defecation, graphic acts of violence and gore, fetishization of tragic medical conditions and bizarre sexual acts including necrophilia. The stuff I'm linking to is comparatively tame (only featuring the first few things from this list) but don't blame me should you choose to further investigate his work.

(These comics read from right to left)

Dance! Kremlin Palace! is a surreal alternate history of Russia seemingly based on clichés of Russian culture and elaborate puns. Some of it is pretty messed up, but I feel I can safely recommend the first chapter, which revolves around Russian roulette and is fairly devoid of gross imagery. The rest you can find here. The English translation is a work in progress, going up to chapter 8.

For further Shintaro Kago, Same Hat is the place to go. Some of what I consider the best comics by Shintaro Kago are posted there. Check them out below, but once again be aware that they feature sex, nudity and disturbing imagery prominently.

Abstraction [download] - A must-read. A simple comic is progressively mapped onto three-dimensional space. That in itself is pretty strange, but believe me it gets stranger.

Blow-Up [download] - Along the same lines as Abstraction. I feel this would be better to read in print, but it's still pretty amazing.

Multiplication [download] - "Like Abstraction and Blow-Up before it, Multiplication dissects, digests and smears the constraints of sequential art across the walls."

Labyrinth [download] - A story about mazes that is at several points told using mazes. I believe drawing the correct path through some of the mazes reveals pictures (mostly pornography) but I haven't tried it myself.

Jason - Kill the Cat [PNG]

2010-04-01T03:29:00.005+13:00

Some of us have been talking about this for a while, and I've decided to take the first step in adding comics sharing posts to this blog. To kick this thing off, I'm posting a short story by Norwegian indie comics darling Jason called Kill the Cat which I scanned myself from the collection Pocket Full of Rain. As it's only 3 pages long, I hope you wont mind that I've just posted them directly on the blog.

I guess what I'd like to know is what sort of comics you'd like to see? I've been thinking of putting up The New Adventures of Hitler, but I've never been able to find a good enough scan. Does anyone here have a strong opinion on Shintaro Kago? I like him, but his stuff can be ultra-disturbing, plus it already gets posted around blogs quite a bit...

Preferred formats would also be good to know. Do you guys like the CBZ/CBR format? PDF? Just zipped or rarred image files? Do you want lossy JPGs or lossless PNGs? Both?

For those of you who really love the music aspects of the blog, have no fear! Most of us will continue to post music instead of comics, just not me, nostalghia, naguine or Lazzarus.

L. Ron Hubbard - Space Jazz: The soundtrack of the book Battlefield Earth (1982) [320]

2010-03-30T23:17:00.005+13:00

SPACE JAZZ is a completely new musical sound destined to be hailed as the music of the future. The many and varied forms of music are an integral part of the cultural heritage of Earth.

Download the official soundtrack to L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth right here. Comes with authentic vinyl scratches! (sadly)

(source and further information)

Iannis Xenakis - Electronic Music (2000) [320]

2009-07-07T02:28:00.000+12:00

1. Diamorphoses (1957)

2. Concret PH (1958)

3. Orient-Occident (1960)

4. Bohor (1962)

5. Hibiki-Hana-Ma (1970)

6. S.709 (1992)

This is a collection of some of the most important electronic music composed in the 20th century. Few composers have risen to Xenakis' level of sophistication and vision, to which this album is testament. This is music which shaped the development of electronic music and is therefore not just an extremely enjoyable and challenging listen, but a hugely important historical document.

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