Sinoia Caves – The Enchanter Persuaded [MP3][320]

The Enchanter Persuaded
Label: Brah Records
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 2006
Genre: Rock, Electronic
Style: Progressive Rock, Ambient








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The Enchanter Persuaded, the debut album from Black Mountain keyboardist Jeremy Schmidt (billed here as Sinoia Caves), is a nice example of the early-21st century's fascination with synthesizers. Unlike his contemporaries, who tend to echo new wave acts, Schmidt draws inspiration from a different pack of synth gods -- bands that boasted cosmic monikers like Tangerine Dream and Hawkwind, musicians who wielded their Moogs and Mellotrons like mighty swords. And as such, this album shouldn't be viewed as a particularly innovative work but rather as an adept tribute to the analog wizards of the mid-'70s and early '80s. The standout tracks here are the soundscapes, which echo Tangerine Dream's Phaedra both in terms of the vast aural territory covered and in terms of actual length. "Dwarf Reaching the Arch Wonder" and "Sundown in the New Arcades (Milky Way Echo)" make for over half an hour of galactic terrain built on sheet after sheet of analog synth and Mellotron effects. There's a definite sense of composition here; every whoosh and drone serves the structure, and Schmidt does a good job of keeping these sprawling compositions under tight rein. Shorter, acoustic guitar and vocoder-knit tracks like "Naro Way" and "Through the Valley" are a nice break from the epic stuff going on elsewhere, and they'll probably draw more than a few comparisons to some of the tracks on Air's 10,000 Hz Legend. From the druggy green cover art right down to the humid, slightly grimy production, The Enchanter Persuaded is a convincing period piece, not to mention a fitting showcase for Schmidt's impressive synth sorcery.

Review by allmusic [http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-enchanter-persuaded-mw0000451923]

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Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. [320][MP3]

Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. 

Label: Sub Pop Records
Format: CD, Album

Country: US

Released: Feb 2011

Genre: Rock

Style: Post Rock

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Mogwai never seemed like a particularly good bet to age well. They came out of the gate as a band that Meant Something to many people, namely fans of heavy guitar music and rock critics. They established a clear, identifiable, and exciting new sound, but their latest LP-- Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will-- doesn't change the pattern Mogwai have set for themselves on recent, often middling, releases: There are some anthemic guitar blasts, some prettily drifting comedowns, and one or two vocal tracks.

The band has regained none of its prior fierceness, but Hardcore is, importantly, the band's least self-conscious album in ages. There are no attempts to be really heavy, man. There are no stale electronics. The songs that wander out of the band's comfort zone-- most notably the Neu!-indebted "Mexican Grand Prix"-- are the types of genre exercises a veteran rock band of Mogwai's stature should probably undertake. Hardcore feels comfy and lived-in, backhanded compliments only to those who didn't slog through The Hawk Is Howling and Happy Songs For Happy People.

The price for all this hominess is basically any lingering sense of mystery. Mogwai can chime away pleasantly during "Death Rays"-- featuring the band's best guitar lick in years-- but it can't turn "Rano Pano" into "Stanley Kubrick". This is fine, as long as we're willing to admit that we get different things out of Mogwai albums these days. This is a record of savvy rock vets kicking at distortion pedals until something frothy emerges. I'm on board if the results are going to be as page-turning-ly melodic as "How to Be a Werewolf" or as playful as the pitch-shifted "George Square Thatcher Death Party". The mistakes are easy to forgive: "White Noise" is the band's most vanilla opening track ever. The slide-guitar panorama of "Letters to the Metro" will still your blood just as surely as "Like Herod" once boiled it, but it's merely the type of innocuous doodling the band has long padded its albums with.

Mogwai's prior output and general demeanor has made it difficult for them to be a group that fans simply enjoy. The band built its reputation on sonic extremes, and that purview has infected their reputation: deliver a masterpiece-- I don't think they have it in them-- or suffer indifference. On Hardcore Mogwai sound like they're enjoying being Mogwai again. I'm ready to enjoy them being Mogwai again too.

Review by Pitchfork [http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15100-hardcore-will-never-die-but-you-will/]

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Cocteau Twins - Victorialand [320][MP3]

Victorialand

Label: Virgin Schallplatten GmbH

Format: Vinyl, LP

Country: Europe

Released: 1986

Genre: Rock

Style: Ethereal, Ambient, Dream Pop

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The premise of Victorialand is really a good one, and a great one for this particular band. It's essentially a concept album, in the best sense since they aren't trying to tell a damned story but rather are making a collection of songs aimed at invoking a concept. The concept is a simple one (as concepts should be), they're making a whole album of songs meant to sound like Antarctica or other polar regions. It's right in the title of the songs and the album itself (Victoria Land is the name of a British portion of Antarctica).Every song here plays toward the theme without exception, and if you know anything about their delicate gorgeous sound you should definitely be nodding your head in agreement that this fits them well. And you know what? They do it pretty proud.

The songs are without exception extremely pretty, and all sound like perfect soundtracks to montages of glaciers and icebergs. It is basically a success. Unfortunately though..... it falls victim to one major issue. That everything more or less sounds exactly the same. Not sort of the same. Exactly the same. All the tracks pretty much could at best be different movements of the same symphony, you could make them fade into eachother with little issue. Sure they have a pretty well defined sound, but nothing about their sound means that the stuff has to be this similar. After all one of the major strengths of Treasure was that every gem on it had it's own personality even if they were basically cut from the same sort of cloth. "Ambient Snowscape Aria" could be the descriptor of damn well everything here.

There's much they could have done to avoid this honestly, namely they could have dared to add percussion? Yeah, there's next to no percussion on here at all. They stick to this very very rigidly. I don't really know why they did either, maybe they thought drums would break the concept?? Beats me. Drums on some of these tracks would have gone a long way toward making some stand out from others. Overall it's a huge shame because the songs are all so gorgeous, they didn't just forget all the genius on Treasure, this is definitely the same band that made that one. Except they've stuck to one note through and through, a really wonderful note, but one note nevertheless. This might be better suited to actually being a soundtrack, a perspective it seems 100% tailored toward. But as an album it can't really be considered great.

This review was made by Zephos [http://rateyourmusic.com/~Zephos]

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Grouper - A I A : Alien Observer [MP3][320]

A I A : Alien Observer

Label: Yellow Records

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album

Country: US

Released: April 2011

Genre: Rock

Style: Experimental, Drone, Ambient

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The tools Liz Harris uses to make music as Grouper tend to be pretty basic: piano, guitar, synths, drones, hiss, and lots of reverb. If you've been following along with the twists and turns of noisy ambient music these last few years, this collection of elements may sound familiar, possibly bordering on cliché. But it's all in how you fit the pieces together. Despite sharing characteristics with a lot of other current music, Harris' has a distinctive sound that she pretty much owns. These short LPs, released at the same time and that share an overall aesthetic, sound beamed in from another realm, and they also sound like they could have come from no one else.

Part of the distinctiveness can be traced to Harris' voice, which floats above the music and can sound delicate and shrouded and mist and can also evince an approachable earthiness. Particularly on Alien Observer, she layers her voice in a way that occasionally brings to mind Julianna Barwick, but Harris sounds comparatively distant and less immersive. Her voice haunts these songs instead of leading them; it's a presence and not a personality, and the voice and instruments are in balance, serving each other without any one element becoming more prominent.

The other aspect that sets Grouper apart is an approach to sound that feels somehow both cruder and more sophisticated than the majority of the lo-fi crop. It's crude in the sense that it seems to hearken back to the dark, home-recorded songs of an earlier era. David Pearce's music as Flying Saucer Attack, recorded mostly during the 1990s, was often referred to as "rural psychedelia," and that description would fit this pair of records. This music feels both spacey and expansive and also oddly intimate and grounded, the work of someone who has mastered her tools and knows how to get the most out of them. The sophistication comes from the care in presentation. This music doesn't sound like it was built from mistakes or thrown together, it seems precisely ordered and arranged even while it's often muffled and warbly and distorted. Every sound exists for a reason.

Full review and more please follow this link [http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15332-a-i-a-alien-observer-a-i-a-dream-loss/].

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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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The Rapture - Pieces Of The People We Love [MP3][320]

Pieces Of The People We Love

Label: Universal Motown

Format: CD

Country: US

Released: 2006

Genre: Electronic, Rock

Style: Indie Rock, Disco, Electroindie








It's been three years since The Rapture's full-length debut, Echoes, arrived on the tail end of the early aughts dance-punk mini-craze, seeming to bridge a gap between that now defunct genre's more electronic sound and the emerging guitar-based indie rock. Now, along with LCD Soundsystem and !!!, The Rapture stand at the top of this strangely wonderful hybrid of clubby dance music and a catchy bar band indie stomp. Pieces Of The People We Love consolidates this cross-pollination, deepening both of the influences, usually to good effect. Certainly, the album's best cuts, like "Don Gon Do It" and "Whoo! Alright-Yeah…Uh-Huh", find just the right balance between nervous, Talking Headsy indie-funk-pop workouts and dancefloor-filling, DJ-pleasing, hip-shaking dance tracks. A few songs seem to ride off on tangents, keeping the disc from being excellent. Still, Pieces Of The People We Love is a great record and will keep your body moving without making you feel like you're giving your brain the day off. Now that's a nifty trick.

Comment by markeefe




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Boston - Boston [MP3][320]

Boston

Label: Epic

Format: LP

Country: US

Released: 1976

Genre: Rock

Style: Arena Rock, Pop Rock, Hard Rock

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Another album that changed my life. When I was a teen I listened heavily to this album, Pink Floyd and some other psychedelic bands. Worth every track.

MP3 ripped from pure FLAC.
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Tom Scholz started off jamming in a makeshift band that included drummer Jim Masdea, lead guitarist Barry Goudreau, and vocalist Brad Delp. Unsatisfied with the live sound, the perfectionist Scholz disbanded the act and instead made demos in his home studio with Delp on vocals and Masdea on drums. The demos eventually attracted the attention of Epic Records.

Scholz was satisfied with the demos to the point that he wanted to finalize them to a real album. Unfortunately, Epic declined. "The material had to be recorded in a 'professional' studio in exactly the same way!" Scholz later wrote. Scholz insisted on doing the re-cuts in his basement. Epic producer John Boylan, who had worked with the Little River Band among many others, made a deal with Scholz. Boylan would have the rest of the makeshift band record some studio arrangements in Los Angeles, to "create a diversion" while Scholz made his multitrack recordings at home.

Most of the instrumentation was performed by Scholz and recorded at his basement studio in Massachusetts, After Scholz recorded the instrumentation the tracks were then transferred from his 12 track tapes to a 24 track machine in a remote recording truck outside his basement studio to make them compatible with standard professional studio equipment. Delp's vocals were then recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood with producer Boylan. The album was then mixed by Scholz, Boylan and Warren Dewey at Westlake Audio in Los Angeles.

Drummer Sib Hashian plays on all but "Rock & Roll Band", and only two tracks feature the contributions of Goudreau and Fran Sheehan, "Foreplay/Long Time" and "Let Me Take You Home Tonight". This quintet would perform and tour under the name Boston.

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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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