Nick Drake – Pink Moon [MP3][320]

Pink Moon
Label: Erased Tapes Records
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Released: 1976
Genre: Rock
Style: Folk











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A classic. That's what I say about this album.
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Nick Drake was an unknown soldier in the 1970s. Blending lush orchestrations with a bluntly emotional voice, his music would although at the time not become popular, grow to be some of the most influential music of the haven that the ‘70s were for originality. Singer/Songwriters are pretty universally enjoyed; I mean who doesn’t like ‘Flake’ by Jack Johnson or ‘Say Yes’ by Elliott Smith. Usually you’ll find that huge Cryptopsy/Spiral Architect fan talking about how whenever he needs to calm down he throws on Damien Rice’s ‘O’. Well, most of these artists owe their ideas to Nick Drake’s ‘Pink Moon’. Sitting next to Talk Talk’s ‘Laughing Stock’ as one of the most emotionally barren and gorgeous sounding records of all time, Pink Moon encompasses the feelings of despair and isolation so effortlessly it’s a wonder it isn’t more widely respected and known than it is. Although I’m a big fan of the acoustic meanderings of most singer/songwriters, I do find myself usually becoming bored with the sheer playing inability in most of these artists, but with Nick Drake this problem is nowhere to be found. His unique and technical ability behind a guitar is astounding and highly compliments his very ethereal vocals. While some people tend to dwell on the suicide he supposedly committed, I try to remember Nick Drake not for the actions he transpired, but for the wonderful timeless music he created.

‘Pink Moon’ has a cast of ten very similar songs. All of the songs are formed between only two instruments, Nick’s guitar and vocals, except for the title track which features some haunting piano melodies. Most of the songs are done in a way that makes them mildly upbeat and beautiful, but the occasional gloomy dark song is experimented with on the album in the form of ‘Things Behind the Sun’ and ‘Parasite’. While the lyrical messages behind most of the songs are typically depressing affairs, this topic only seems to soak through into the actual musical half of the album in the two dark songs. ‘Pink Moon’ is mostly concentrated in the genre of Folk with most of the songs blending together stylistically, but tracks like ‘Know’ which is based around an extremely simple guitar line and the short interlude ‘Horn’ help make the album more interesting and seem less repetitive. Nick’s voice is very unique in itself due to the fact it has a deep yet very soothing, beautiful sound. Whereas most singer/songwriters reach their moments of beauty with the falsetto sound, Nick like Jeff Buckley on his album ‘Grace’ is able to exude emotion in various ranges of his voice, which also helps establish striking differences in the ten tracks on this album. All in all, the tracks on this album are similar yet different, but always rewarding. Few tracks stand out, because they are all excellent by my personal favorite would have to be ‘Things Behind the Sun’ just because of how elegantly depressing it is. Every song can serve the dual purpose of either being, light and relaxing, or tense and emotional depending on how the listener is relating to it.

‘Pink Moon’ is a simple album made by a talented man that any musician or music listener should enjoy. The accessibility to this album is simple, because it is always representing an emotion or feeling that anyone can relate too. While the album does have some depressing undertones, like most popular music Nick Drake is able to make a musically upbeat and happy sounding song out of what were most likely some of his darkest feelings. This ability to make an accessible, moving piece that is both filled with despair and hopefulness is what makes ‘Pink Moon’ such an everlasting and excellent piece of work. It’s really an album anyone can pick up and really enjoy whether you are a metal, rap, or indie fan and that is where the perfection lies in it.

Review by Sputnik Music [http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/6718/Nick-Drake-Pink-Moon/]

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Nathan Fake – The Sky Was Pink [MP3][320]

The Sky Was Pink
Label: Border Community
Format: Vinyl, 12"
Country: UK
Released: Aug 2004
Genre: Electronic
Style: Leftfield, Progressive House, IDM, Downtempo, Minimal

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Of course, the remix of James Holden is absolutely self-dependent track on this release. With its help the world has got to know the name of N. Fake. Of course, if a moment of inspiration of J. Holden would have concurred with appearance of another track, not Fake’s, the world would have got similar masterpiece. In support of this – Holden’s Techno Tool Remix is based absolutely on Holden’s main remix. The Dancefloor has got a similar example – Timo Maas with his remix of Azzido Da Bass “Dooms Night” (have you ever heard the original version?).But it’s not fair not to keep in mind the Fake’s creation. It should be named here - Original Live Take and Icelandic Version. Beautiful (!) melodic progressive downtempo tracks with especial FX, catchy melodie, exclusive IDM-like production. Master’s at work!

Review by IntelliGiant [http://www.discogs.com/user/IntelliGiant/]

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Biosphere - Substrata [320][MP3]

Substrata 

Label: All Saints

Format: CD, Album

Country: UK

Released: 1997

Genre: Electronic

Style: Ambient, Field Recording

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It rapidly turned into my favorite ambient music album, ever. I'm sad I didn't find this before. It's genius how this guy could transfer the ice, mountain and wind into music. Listen to it in your way back home and a simple walk will transform the place around you into a incredible, nature-driven scenery. A must have for all Ambient fans!

Ripped from pure FLAC.

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This small description will fit it. Everything I'd say about this album wont be enough to describe how genius it is. This album is responsible for the coined term "Ambient music". Nice, isn't it?

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Substrata by Biosphere is one of the all-time classic ambient albums, if not THE all-time classic album. Chilling atmospheric tones with ambient samples of ice, snow, forests, Twin Peaks-samples and Russian radio broadcasts… Substrata is difficult to describe in words alone. This is one album that every ambient fan needs to hear, if not own. For my own part the album is never far from my stereo. From the initial drone of an aircraft high overhead to the rambling monologues of later tracks every minute sends a chill down your spine. 

Biosphere’s work is often described as “dark ambient” but to me this sounds to negative as every piece of music Geir Jenssen composed expresses so much different feelings and his albums are not simply a couple of “drones” thrown together. Neither is Substrata 

Substrata is inhabited by the vast spaces spreading across the artic region, endless nights and midnight sun, sub-zero temperatures and northern lights.

Review by Moanerman [http://www.discogs.com/user/Moanerman]

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Four Tet - There Is Love in You [MP3][320]

There Is Love in You

Label: Domino

Format: CD

Country: UK

Released: 2010

Genre: Electronic

Style: IDM, Deep House, Glitch, Leftfield

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Kieran Hebden first came on the scene in the 1990s as a member of Fridge, a post-rock outfit that to me always looked better on paper than they sounded on record. Whatever you think of his first band, Hebden's subsequent career can be seen as the idea of post-rock done right. His appetite for music, on the evidence presented in his albums, singles, DJ sets, and collaborations, is voracious. But Hebden has a way of transforming and integrating influences rather than channeling them. So if his loose improvised collaborations with drummer Steve Reid captured something of the spirit of the classic late-60s free jazz records on Impulse!, they also managed to carve out a unique and identifiable aesthetic that sounds very much like today. When working with others, like the wooly free-folk unit Sunburned Hand of the Man or the dubstep producer Burial, Hebden knows when to lead and when to get out of the way. But all the while, whatever the context, he's absorbing. And when it comes to his own records as Four Tet, he has a knack for combining sounds from all over and making them his own.

Rounds is the one undisputed Four Tet classic, but all are at least good. It's not unusual for Four Tet records to have a few dull patches, but given Hebden's M.O., that's never a big problem. You expect him to explore a bit, so it's okay when once in a while something doesn't quite gel. Ringer, an intriguing EP from 2008 that throbbed with a minimal pulse and revealed a surprisingly austere side to his music, is a good example. It was the kind of record you wanted to inch closer to, because you had the sense there might be more going on beneath the surface than you'd initially realized. The follow-up album, There Is Love in You, is the glorious sound of those ideas being drawn into the light.

This is the most focused Four Tet album by a huge margin, and for some listeners that could be an issue. Hebden apparently refined this music over the course of a long stint as a resident DJ at the London club Plastic People. He'd play developing tracks in his sets, see how people responded, and return to them armed with this information. And while the result isn't dance music proper, There Is Love in You definitely functions on that plane. This isn't fist-pumping music that toys with the pleasure of pop music, like one of my favorite Four Tet tunes, "Smile Around the Face". And it's not an album that bowls you over with the density and intricacy of its textures. Instead, it's both heady and physical, subtle but powerful music for thinking and moving or ideally doing both at the same time: It's been a while since a brisk walk through the city sounded this good.

Very early in the 2000s, the corny word "folktronica" was sometimes applied to Four Tet's style. It never defined him, but the tag was applied because it described his fondness for samples of sounds that seem to be reverberating in a physical space. He sampled jazz cymbals, guitars, gamelan-style percussion, and voices, mixing them in with electronic squiggles and choppy breaks culled from hip-hop. Hebden's fondness for acoustic sounds caused his music to come over as unusually airy and bright. It made you think of daylight rather than the nocturnal crackle of sampled vinyl. Though Love is a very different album from those earlier records, remnants of the sound palette remain, imparting a similar sense of clarity, brightness, and warmth despite its late-night club-bound inspiration.

Visit [http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13861-there-is-love-in-you/] for complete review.

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Nick Drake - Bryter Layter [320][MP3]

Bryter Layter

Label: Island Records

Format: Vinyl, LP

Country: UK

Released: 1970

Genre: Rock

Style: Folk, Indie, Folk Rock

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Nick Drake was without a doubt an underestimated genius. Underestimated not by others, but by himself. He was a man of recluse and low self-confidence. He always thought he wasn’t talented musically, and it puzzles many how he could even think of himself as un-talented, nevermind actually believing it.

One would have no idea that he thought of himself like that after listening to Bryter Layter. This was probably his most orchestrated album, containing not only his soft-spoken voice, guitar and violin but also drumming, bass, piano and a brass instrument here and there (Such as the saxophone in 'At the Chime of a City Clock') even going so far to include a xylophone during the song 'Northern Sky'. He definitely went all out on this album and it really shows.

Even with the use of so many wonderfully arranged instruments, it still seems simplistic enough to be a nice calming listen, but while retaining enough depth so not to come off as boring or repetitive. But when it comes down to it, what do people end up listening to? That’s right, his sweet 'gentleman' tone of voice and his amazing finger picked guitar playing. 

Songs like 'One of These Things First' are easily a prime example of this, when ever you listen to it, you’ll initially be in awe of the majestic piano but by the end your attention always wanders back to Drake’s soothing voice and melodic guitar playing. Not only does his voice leave such as an impression, the lyrics he sings always have a very nice message.

Take 'Hazey Jane I' for example, a song the seems like it’s about a woman so infatuated with a man that she passes by on so many other things in life she could be enjoying. But for some reason these songs never come off as being too depressing, unlike a lot of his other work. Again, this is probably contributed to the fact that the other instruments he experimented with on this album give it more of an upbeat feeling, no matter what the subject matter is.

However, these lyrics and messages are vital, mainly because one of the only let downs on the album (and it’s not really THAT big of a let down) is the title track, 'Bryter Layter'. This instrumental track, clocking in at 3 minutes and 22 seconds sounds slightly dated and sounds like a cheesy intermission tune. Compared to the brilliant songs before and after ('Hazey Jane I' and 'Fly' respectively) it comes of as being a little bit of a filler track, but its intended purpose was probably just for him to experiment on an instrumental song, and just try something out of the ordinary.

Even more out of the ordinary is the 6 minute song, 'Poor Boy'. Easily one of the most epic songs in all of Nick Drake’s relatively short career it truly is a masterpiece. Using choir vocals in the chorus, and his own voice during the verses. It also features such wonderful arrangements for saxophone, piano and guitar.

'Sunday' is really the perfect way to close out an album, a calm flute melody played over a brilliant sounding guitar and later on, an organ. It just puts the whole album in perspective, despite it not being as powerful as the other songs on the album.

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This review belongs to sputnikmusic.com  [http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/8049/Nick-Drake-Bryter-Layter/]

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Boards of Canada – A Few Old Tunes Vol.2 [Cassete][MP3][VBR][Very Rare]

A Few Old Tunes Vol. 2

Label: Music70

Format: Cassette

Country: UK

Released: ?

Genre: Electronic

Style: IDM, Downtempo, Ambient, Dark Electronic

That tiny room at the beach was absolutely the perfect place for my first time. When we came together, I could feel the hairs growing on my chest. I saw my future. I saw my past. 

For a few minutes it was like being alive. They lived happily ever after. All my questions had been answered. All my fears disappeared. All that was left was a kiss. Every move we made was a kiss.

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Ok, I'm jealous of sharing this with you. This is a ultra rare release that I can't even remember where I got it. It's the real cassete rip of a unreleased album. Still, it's one of my favorite albums ever. The album ambient is dark, low ending music with lots of dark textures and black-and-white feeling, low-frequency background and a nice Boards of Canada feeling.

Tip: listen to Sir Pracelot Brainfire in the morning!

Hope you enjoy it.

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Boards of Canada - Geogaddi [MP3][320]

Geogaddi
Label: Warp Records

Format: CD

Country: UK

Released: 2002

Genre: Electronic

Style: IDM, Ambient, Abstract, Dark Electronic

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A masterpiece. No doubts. That's all I have to say of this album. This was the first album I heard of Boards of Canada and it just changed my concept of music in a whole. I started paying attention to each detail on every music I heard after it. I recommend you listen to it at once, the full album.

Recommendations:

• Music is Math
• Sunshine Recorder
• A is to B is to C
• Dawn Chorus
• You Could Feel the Sky

"Although not a follower of sheroK divaD, she is a devoted of the branch Davidians. Nineteen-sixty-nine in the sunshine."

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Let's Face it, BoC with each release leave that style behind for an updated one, and in this case with 'Geogaddi' they have gotten a little more abstract and experimental. Sure they still have there glitched out beats with there non-organic samples of little childeren and nature documentaries, but they are are a different BoC and the fact that they have challenged themselves to step outside There Own Box, i think with a little time this one will grow on us...like Chemical Brothers and Underworld albums we always seem to nitpick them and state that there previous album was better, well what makes good artists is there constant change and evolution. Geogaddi has plenty of there 'Beaty' and tracks with lots of disturbed and meloncholy melodies such as 'Music is Math' and '1969', but now they have a lot more of this strange ambient sound mixed with an anxious yet different IDM sound 'Gyroscope'--'The Beach At Redpoint'--'You Could Feel The Sky' and 'Alpha and Omega', which was unexpected. 

I truly enjoy this album and I give props out to BoC for not letting the fans get to their heads and redoing a second version of MHtRtC. 

Review by Ashitaka_Hamana

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Boards of Canada - Random 35 Tracks Tape [Cassete][MP3][320][Ultra Rare]

No oficial cover.

Random 35 Tracks Tape

Label: Music70

Format: Cassette

Country: UK

Released: 1995?

Genre: Electronic

Style: IDM, Downtempo, Ambient

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Random 35 Tracks Tape (real name unknown) refers to a collection of 35 tracks leaked on P2P networks around September 2004. Unlike other "Old Tunes" tapes, the tracks are completely unlabeled; however, a few match known tracks from other sources, including commercial releases. No liner notes or tape scan have ever surfaced.

Despite its uncertain provenance, the tape is generally believed to be authentic.

Background

Random 35 Tracks Tape seems to be sourced from a cassette tape containing a (presumably) hand-selected set of pre-BoC Maxima tracks. The leaking of these tracks to P2P networks (Soulseek, originally) provided much drama on WATMM.

All files are encoded as 320kbps MP3.

For a long time, it was assumed that this tape was the missing Old Tunes Vol. 1 (since A Few Old Tunes and Old Tunes Vol. 2 were already known), although this was never confirmed. This was finally proven false when, on 08 Aug 2009, Twoism forum member dealer posted new photos of a cassette and liner notes showing the A Few Old Tunes and Old Tunes Vol. 1 were, in fact, the same release.

MDG has said that it is not known who compiled the tracks, calling it "a mystery, just a mixture".

Zoetrope, a user on radiomute.com, refferred to not only the commonly known A few Old Tunes and Old Tunes vol. 2, but also a third volume, which he appeared to reffer to this leaked release as. Some also seem to believe that this is a 'Closes vol. 2'.

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Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today [MP3][320]

Before Today

Label: 4AD

Format: CD

Country: UK

Released: 2010

Genre: Rock

Style: Pop Rock, Psychedelic Rock

When it came time to prove to the world that he was a genius or have his genius forever co-opted by the world, Ariel Pink rolled his eyes and spit out a masterpiece so hard you can practically hear him yawning at terminal velocity throughout the whole thing.  The pops are hardcore, the hooks are hookier, the snaps snappier, the production values through the roof, the whole thing tighter, cleaner, bolder, brilliant, shimmering, and utterly effortless.  Unravel the patchwork sonic freeways of Pink's past albums and roll them up into unique balls of yarn, put titles on those balls of yarn and call them proper "tracks," and you have the most undiluted blasts of Pink's talents yet.  Is something lost?  Yes.  Is something gained?  Yes.  Are these questions rhetorical?

It's hard to properly articulate just what makes an AP'sHG album tick just as it's hard to properly articulate what makes a David Lynch movie tick.  These artists are iconoclasts, busy inventing new languages while we struggle to pin words to them.

Review by trotchky

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Alexi Murdoch - Time Without Consequence [MP3][320]

Time Without Consequence

Label: Zero Summer Records

Format: CD

Country: UK

Released: 2009

Genre: Rock

Style: Folk Rock, Acoustic, Indie, Folk

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The poetry of this album is groundbreaking. This guy's ability with words are genius-like. Specially Shine, All My Days and All My Days helped me alot when I was sad or thinking too much. Hope you like this, and that you become a better person :)

I dare to say he is a modern Nick Drake.

Ripped from pure FLAC to MP3 320Kbps

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Here, after long anticipation from those fans (along with, of course, some more discerning listeners), he releases his first LP, Time Without Consequence. Luckily, it moves him beyond the pop sentimentality of “Orange Sky,” into the more interesting realm of indie folk. 

His voice has an easy appeal, and begs for comparison to Nick Drake, with its melancholic, lazy delivery and vaguely U.K. accent, and it lends itself well to these songs of loneliness, romance, and mortality. The album opens with the slow crescendo of a nicely accessible acoustic guitar line in “All of My Days.” We sense that things may not be headed in entirely the right direction, however, when in the last verse of this tale of a search for love, he finds it. Um, are you sure you’re a folk singer, buddy? It harkens back a bit to the OC, and has the smell lyrics designed to appeal to sixteen-year-old girls. We almost wonder if it was part of the original song. 

Murdoch hits his stride well with the chords, hammer-ons and pull-offs of successfully catchy, creative folk guitar, at times layering acoustic and electric, slide playing and fingerstyle, along with some appropriate bass/drum accompaniment, such as in “Song for You” and “Blue Mind.” He even pulls off some more adventuresome feedback and harmonics on the more jam-oriented “Home.” He best displays his versatility when he throws in some slides and quarter-note bends to create the blues hooks and mood of “Dream of Flying,” probably the strongest effort on the album. 

The musicality does, however, meander at times. On “Breathe,” the muted chords and obvious metaphor for mortality make us wonder a bit if he’s deliberately “trying out a Dave Matthews thing.” “12” is enjoyable, but the outro finds him moaning over some stratospheric slide playing with distortion and effects that come almost uncomfortably close to being a Coldplay song. 

As for the writing, while Murdoch has a knack for phrasings that catch one’s ear for the romantic, he sometimes stretches a bit to use those phrases. In “All of My Days,” he starts with the line “I have been searching for all of my days,” and continues to use “all of my days” as the refrain at the end of each line, which eventually finds him awkwardly singing, “Many a night I’ve found myself with no friends standing near - all of my days.” His repetition of “love you more than anyone” in “Love You More” finds him struggling for rhymes, as in “love you more than time to come.” 

Alexi Murdoch is very talented guitarist with good writing ideas, and the album is more often palatable than not.. His next challenge will be to hone his style into something uniquely his own while keeping up the variety, and working out some of the kinks in the flow of his writing. But neither of these things is unreasonable for a young musician to overcome, and it seems likely that as Alexi Murdoch matures, he will grow into an even more enjoyable folk singer.

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