TotW - Nhato - Phantom in Da House

Nhato is a Japanese DJ who primarily makes techno/trance remixes. Don't let that or the anime scare you off. This is a damn catchy electro-fidget house track coming straight from the Killed Dancehall album from Comiket 81 (C81). It's a remix of the Phantom Ensemble track from the Touhou franchise and the album just came out today. Booty bounce to this song all night long gurl.
8 out of 10 people will like this.

Azure Emote - Chronicles of an Aging Mammal

Azure Emote is an Experimental Death Metal band from Philadelphia. This is the only material they've released. They really like to include electronic and industrial sounds to their mostly death and progressive metal music. The electronics are a nice touch to give these guys a more unique sound. Although most songs sound pretty good, they aren't very memorable, save for a few. A numerous amount of these songs also feel like they lack energy. Still, they have an interesting sound worth checking. From what I've heard, they also have a new album in the works, so that's something to look forward to.

6 out of 10 people will like this.

[Mediafire]

Takagi Masakatsu - COIEDA

Every year, on a forum I frequent we hold a music tournament called DRAFT (Dazzling Roulette of Audio Files Tournament). Basically, each person nominates 8 of their favorite songs and all the songs then go head to head in a single elimination fashion with people voting which song they've preferred. In the end, one song remains and it is crowned as the best of the bunch. It's a great way to discover new music. Anyway, New Flat was a runner-up a few years back. That's how I was introduced to the genius that is Takagi Masakatsu.

Okay, maybe not genius, but his music is stellar. This album was released back in September of 2004 and is his 8th studio album. It's an interesting mish-mash of electronic and acoustic sound in an experimental style. It's chock full of interesting sounds and evolving ideas. I can't really seem to find an overall theme or idea. The closest thing that I can think of is that Takagi is trying to fill our heads to the brim with beautiful distorted images of our everyday life and shedding a new light on it. The mix of electronic sounds with acoustics obviously isn't a new concept, but I can't help but love the way Takagi uses it.

Let's take that song I mentioned earlier, New Flat, as an example. When I first heard it, I didn't really get it. I thought some guy just put some random bleepy bloopy sounds and called it art or something. After opening up my taste in music over a year later, I fell in love with it. There's a field recording of a few people taking a bike ride through town, conversing about whatever is on their minds. It's accompanied by various strange noises as well as piano and strings that later get effects layered onto them. It has an overall nostalgic feel and builds up slowly as the recording plays. There's no big climax. It simply builds, and slowly dies, and I think that was a good choice.

The piano is very prominent on this album, whether it's at the forefront or laying low in the background. Birdland #3 is a good example where the piano is the main focus of the track. It plays a beautiful yet spine-chilling, almost haunting melody and eventually "explodes" about two-thirds of the way through. In Exit/Delete, the piano is in the background, accompanying the acoustic guitar. It starts out calmly enough with guitar and piano playing lazily and later develops with added sounds and and instrumentaion. All the while, David Sylvian is doing a great job on vocals, as per usual. The album is filled with intricately woven textures and inspiring instrumentation that forces the mind to take an all-expenses paid vacation. Possibly to Cuba, since that's the names of one of the tracks.

Listening to this album is quite the aural experience. So many different ideas and sounds are being thrown at you, some within the course of a single song. If you like experimental electronic music, you'll definitely want to put this at the top of your priority list. Now if you'll excuse me, I got to say 10 hail Hail Marys in hopes that the girl in the cover art doesn't kill me in my sleep. Seriously, A grade horror movie type shit.

9 out of 10 people will like this. (Yeah this is my new grading system. Deal with it.)

[Mediafire]

Yoko Kanno - Blue

Yoko Kanno is my favorite composer of all time. Something about her music makes me feel really emotional, and if you know me, I'm not a very emotional person at all. I don't even feel emotionally attached to any other of my favorite albums. I can't put my finger on it; I don't know why. Is it the instrumentation? The lyrics? Who knows, but I digress. The Cowboy Bebop OST is the quintessential anime soundtrack. Nothing else tops it, in my opinion. There's just so much variety spread out on numerous discs. I want to take a moment and talk about my very favorite disc in the OST appropriately titled Blue.

I tend to prefer sad or depressing songs over happy and upbeat ones. As obvious as the sky is, well, blue, this album is filled to the brim with sad undertones. It's not just sad songs though. There are quite a few more upbeat tracks as well for those who can't handle those sad ones. I can't exactly give this album a specific genre, simply because there are so many different genre spread out throughout the album. There is a lot of jazz present on this album (as well as the majority of the OST) and blues, but you will also find some operatic music and even some break beats. I don't even know what to label Go Go Cactus Man. Cactus-core?

This album is beautiful. Some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. Like I mentioned earlier, it's filled with emotion. I guess I should start with the sad songs. Blue, the title track, is just perfect. The instrumentation sings with such emotion and the vocals of Mai Yamane is just one of the most powerful voices I have ever heard and fits this song to a T. The gentle start builds up to one of the biggest climaxes on the album. The children's chant and the beginning is a really nice touch. Although this sad song plays after the death of the main character in the show, I also feel a sort of optimism radiating from it, which is an interesting dichotomy. The final lines at the end of the song are probably my favorite lyrics of all time, and I'm not even religious. This song is the only song that have ever made me cry.

Because I don't want to write an entire paragraph detailing how much I love each track, I'll summarize. Words That We Couldn't Say is very nice with some great vocals by Steve Conte. Adieu has some of the most beautiful piano playing on this album and is played exquisitely well, complementing Emily Bindiger's vocals beautifully. Call Me Call Me probably has some of the most emotional vocals on the entire album. The instrumentation on that track is also some of the best, with the bass really standing out as phenomenal. Kanno's interpretation of Ave Maria is one of my favorite, solely because of the instrumentation accompanying it. Both Road to the West and Farewell Blues are some of the best jazz tracks in the entire OST, the latter having some of the smoothest instrumentation ever. And then, of course, there's See You Space Cowboy. Such memorable words and such a memorable song.

Now onto the more upbeat songs. Most of them are near the beginning. My favorite is probably Mushroom Hunting. It's really catchy and playful. Autumn in Ganymede has some of the funkiest bass on the album. The song sounds like a day on a beach in the Caribbeans. Flying Teapot has some very playful vocals and great piano playing, as per usual. All the songs that I haven't mentioned just don't really do that much for me. Although I do like them as individual songs, I wouldn't miss them if they were removed from the album. That's my only qualm, but it doesn't really detract anything from my listening experience.

This is one of two albums that I have ever given a perfect rating of 10 out of 10 to. You can listen to this as a whole or just to individual tracks. You can listen to this when you're feeling down or when you're in a really good mood. There isn't a time of day or year that is inappropriate to pop it on. So much variety, in genre and emotion, and it's all consistently good. I'd recommend this to anyone in a heartbeat. If you enjoy this, you'll probably enjoy the rest of the OST and some of Yoko Kanno's other work as well, like the Brain Powerd OST.

I will always hold this album close to my heart. Figuratively, obviously.

[Mediafire]

TotW - Macklemore and Ryan Lewis - Wings

I can't believe I just found out about this just this week. It really is a beautiful track. Macklemore, a.k.a. Ben Haggerty raps about the fashion trend from back when he was a kid in school. More specifically, he raps about shoes. He shares the story of how he got those brand new Nikes that just came out and he became cool because of it. He later learns that shoes don't matter as much as he thought and that materialism can be a dangerous thing. His flow is great and easily conveys a wide variety of emotions throughout the track. I also have to praise the production of Ryan Lewis. Beautiful pianos and strings that go eerily well with Macklemore's lines. It's the first time that I heard a solo strings section in a rap song. Really great song and the video is not too shabby either. Check it out.

Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas

Ah, Christmas! Talk of visiting family and gossip of what gifts they got for whom flutters in the air. Like noxious gas. I hate it. Well, maybe hate is a harsh word, but I personally think Christmas is overrated. Sub-par Christmas specials air on TV to poison our minds with jolly old Saint Nick and try to get us into the mood. It doesn't work for me. The worst has to be the outdated holiday tunes that play on repeat on the radio and dig into your brain like an earwig. If I hear another arrangement of Jingle Bell Rock, I will slice my throat with a rusty swiss army knife and throw myself off a bridge. At least it's only seasonal. Well, this album is different.

Vince Guaraldi. That name might not ring a bell at first glance, but after hearing just one of his songs, you'll instantly recognize who this man is. A Charlie Brown Christmas may be the only Christmas album I currently enjoy. Why? Many reasons. The first is pretty obvious: it's memorable. It's instantly recognizable. Maybe because we all saw the show as kids and just remembered the quiet soundtrack in the background. Would someone who has never watched the show find this as memorable? I can't say. Maybe I suffer from a nostalgic bias.

Speaking of quiet soundtrack, that leads me to another point. It's quiet and ignorable, which sounds kind of bad but it isn't in this context. I believe that the point of Christmas music is to be atmospheric and put people in the holiday mood while it's playing in the background. Most of these tiresome tracks on the radio are really overproduced and very in-your-face about it, making you acknowledge it's existence while you mindlessly chatter with the person beside you discussing how terrible the song is. You can leave this on in the background while enjoying yuletide cheer. And alcohol. Especially alcohol.

The instrumentation is really great. Most tracks are different arrangement of popular instrumental songs usually associated with the holiday season but the great thing about it is that it's enjoyable all year long. The cool jazz style makes it so that it can be enjoyed outside the context of Christmas, and that's rare when it comes to Xmas songs. I can't actually think of another Christmas album that I'd be able to enjoy in July. The piano on some of the tracks can be pretty impressive and the bass is solid throughout.

Some songs, granted, are a little too corny for their own good. I felt that way about Hark, the Herald Angels Sing. Too Christmas-esque for my own personal taste. Für Elise kind of stuck out as a sore thumb for whatever reason and could have been left out. I don't really think I have a big problem with any other song on this. This is probably the perfect Christmas; perfect mood-setter while being perfectly ignorable. Now if you'll excuse, I have to go purchase materialistic goods to make someone happy for a month or two. *sigh* This is why I appreciate Festivus a little more every year.

[Mediafire]

Suffocate for Fuck Sake - Blazing Fires and Helicopters

The full album title is "Blazing Fires and Helicopters on the Front Page of the Newspaper. There's a War Going On and I'm Marching in Heavy Boots." This shit is pretentious as hell, and I'm loving every second of it. A nice variety of sounds, from post-rock with screamo vocals to Swedish spoken word. It has some short tracks, as well as long, drawn-out songs.


[Mediafire]

Kendrick Lamar - Section.80

I really felt like elaborating a little more than my summary I wrote for my top 50 favorite albums list, mostly because I've had this album in my head for quite a while and I felt like more needed to be said.

Hip-hop always had a place in my heart. It was the first genre of music I was really into (granted it was mostly ganster rap). After some time, I had grown tired of the genre thinking it was just a teenage phase and moved on to mainstream rock (because that's not a teenage phase, am I right guys?) Anyway, years went by and my musical taste slowly grew more and more open. Eventually, I stumbled back to listening to hip-hop, mostly the underground kind, and rediscovered how much I loved the genre. It can be about so many things: poetry, social commentary, political commentary, a rant, pretty much anything. Right now, the mainstream rap scene comprises mostly of songs about parties, money, women and the like. It makes me want to cut myself and die. Luckily this album makes me believe in rap.

Kendrick Lamar is a 24 year-old rapper hailing from Compton and guess what? He doesn't rap about thug lyfe! Hooray. In fact he is quite the opposite. He mostly makes songs about social and politcal commentary and he isn't afraid of taboo subjects (pretty obvious when the first track is called Fuck Your Ethnicity). He talks about race, religion, prostitution, and government, among other things. It also has some very interesting stories in there as well, like on No Make-Up and Keisha's Song (Her Pain). That leads me to his voice.

His voice is a little nasally, so some people might not like it as much, but it doesn't bother me at all. On a technical level, his flow feels really nice and he can rap fairly quickly (I like that sort of stuff). Stylistically, I love the way he raps. He gets emotionally wrapped up while rapping (especially on Keisha's Song) and it makes everything seem more personal to him and that he's actually rapping about something that he holds dear and near to him. When he raps fast, he consistently changes up his style which is something that I also enjoy. The way he plays off the female vocalist on No Make-up is really a joy to listen to. There's also a track (Ab-Soul's Outro) with a beautiful spoken word rant which is an incredible window into his psyche. It probably has some of the best lines on the entire album. Kendrick plays off really well with Ab-Soul on this track. The track itself sounds like something you might see in a movie, where there's some hipster spoken word poetry accompanied by bongo drumming in some little hipster coffee shop. Another thing worth mentioning is the guest rappers. They all do a pretty good job, but never overshadow Kendrick, which is good.

The beats are another thing to take notice from this debut album. There are a ton of producers collaborating on this album and I'm still amazed at how consistently good they all are. Of course, a wide array of producers mean a nice variety of beats. Some have a more electronic sounds and effects while others are a lot softer and more jazz-influenced. Tammy's Song has these neat bleep bloop sounds. HiiiPower, which has my favorite beat of the year, was produced by J. Cole and is just so good with it's really soft electronic sounds. Ab-Soul's Outro's beat is pretty much a straight-up jazz song. If it was an instrumental track, that's what I would assume it was, at least. It even has a minute-long saxophone solo at the end.

Of course I do have a few qualms with this album. My biggest one is the couple of weak hooks here and there; not exactly the catchiest. The hook on A.D.H.D. is actually a little irritating to listen to. I also thought that this album starts out a little slow. The first three tracks felt weak in comparison to the rest. Really, that's all I have to complain about. This is easily one of my favorite albums of the year and even of all time, mostly because of the amount of passion that went into this. Kendrick definitely left me with a really good impression of him, definitely top-tier work. I really can't wait for his sophomore album Good Kid in a Mad City coming up sometime in 2012. Thinking about it makes me giddy.

[Mediafire]

Track of the Week - Bop Alloy - Still Think Different (Acoustic Version) ft. Peter Lee Johnson

Damn.

Top 50 Albums and EPs of 2011

Another year has come and gone and music artists are releasing more music than ever. Whether 2011 was a good year for music is completely subjective, but I like to think so. I've heard so many new artist that have a unique sound or different twist on any given genre. I've compiled a list of my top 50 favorite albums and EPs of the year.

50. Moonlit Sailor - Colors in Stereo
49. The Venetia Fair - The Pits
48. Destroyer - Kaputt
47. Modeselektor - Monkeytown
46. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
45. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
44. La Dispute - Wildlife
43. Goreshit - Semantic Compositions on Death and Its Meaning
42. Iroha - Iroha
41. Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow
40. Jóhann Jóhannsson - The Miners' Hymns
39. Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting
38. CunninLynguists - Oneirology
37. SBTRKT - SBTRKT
36. David Sylvian - Died in the Wool
35. Greenwood Sharps - Things Familiar EP
34. Submotion Orchestra - Finest Hour
33. Boris - Heavy Rocks
32. Shlohmo - Bad Vibes
31. Mastodon - The Hunter
30. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
29. Rustie - Glass Swords
28. 88Kasyo Junrei - SYG88
27. Chelsea Wolfe - Apokalypsis
26. The Roots - Undun
25. Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
24. Field Rotation - Acoustic Tales
23. Dakota Suite & Emanuele Errante - The North Green Down
22. Jacaszek - Glimmer
21. Einar Stray - Chiaroscuro
20. Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
19. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
18. Danny Brown - XXX
17. Keffa Kay - Angel
16. Disasterpeace - Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar
15. Blazo - Colors of Jazz
14. Kashiwa Daisuke - 88
13. O'Death - Outside
12. Balam Acab - WANDER / WONDER
11. Unexpect - Fables of the Sleepless Empire

10. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

Annie Clark really came out with quite the art pop album. A mix of beautiful vocals and really catchy instrumentation is what makes this album good. The guitars have a really weird but aurally nice effect to them. It really stands out in the track Cruel, which is probably my favorite track off the album.

5 word review: Weird at times, but catchy.

9. Nujabes - Spiritual State

Nujabes a.k.a. Jun Seba was a jazzy hip-hop producer from Japan. I say "was" because he unfortunately passed away after a car accident back in 2010. Yep, this is a posthumous album. These are unreleased track he was working on before his untimely death and was later mixed and mastered by friends. This album is really heavy with jazz making really beautiful music. Some tracks feature emcees doing their thing while some songs are just plain funky with its instruments. A great final chapter.

God just needed a producer.

8. A Winged Victory for the Sullen - A Winged Victory for the Sullen

This duo is a collaboration between Stars of the Lid member Adam Wiltzie and Dustin O’Halloran. They make some very beautiful neoclassical ambient music. My favorite thing about this album is just the atmosphere it sets up. The mix of Wiltzie's ambient drone elements with O’Halloran's piano playing is a match made in heaven. Very simple and very relaxing. Great stuff.

Pretentious names but beautiful music.

7. Giles Corey - Giles Corey

Giles Corey is a one man dark-folk project by Dan Barrett (member of Have a Nice Life). This is his debut album, some time after attempting to commit suicide. This is probably the darkest album I've heard all year. Lots of echoing going on during every track, haunting instrumentation and a feel of dread on some of the songs and yet it's all beautiful. Some songs are more upbeat though, balancing it out.

Damn Dan Barrett, you scary!

6. Hiromi - Voice

Hiromi Uehara is back as strong as ever with her 7th studio album. If you are unfamiliar with her work, she is a jazz fusion pianist all the way from the land of the rising sun. Her piano playing is as great and catchy as ever, with great performances by drummer Simon Phillips and bassist Anthony Jackson. The compositions are very memorable and just so upbeat and catchy that you can't dislike it. Maybe not as top tier as Another Mind or Spiral, but definitely a great addition to her discography.

Truly speechless, no pun intended.

5. The Middle East - I Want That You Are Always Happy

The Middle East is a folk/post-rock outfit from Australia (not a middle eastern country). It's a shame that they broke up shortly after the release of this album; I would have loved more from them. Most of the songs are rather short, averaging 2 to 4 minutes or so but they easily get their point across. One track, Deep Water, is an exception. It's about 10 minutes long and takes it's time. It's one of the most emotional songs on this album too. It actually almost made me tear up on the first listen, a feat that no other song has ever done. Beautiful stuff.

It's deep water, driving rain ;_;

4. Efrim Manuel Menuck - Plays "High Gospel"

Efrim is the most influencial musician alive, at least to me. The co-founder of Godspeed You! Black Emperor changed the way I listened to music. This is his debut solo album, and what an entrance. A mix of experimental post-rock and singer/songwriter tracks, this album is very much like Efrim. Many samples and long drawn-out sections with a larger-than-life feeling. It has beautiful and sometimes haunting vocals that fit perfectly with the instrumentation. I really feel the emotion in each song. Never have I heard an Efrim release that disappointed me. I'd say this album is closer to A Silver Mt. Zion in terms of style, but the tracks feel a lot more personal.

Familiar style but new sounds.

3. James Blake - James Blake

James is a dubstep producer from the UK and this is his debut album. Although he's often labeled as dubstep, I prefer to call his style "electronic soul". It's a really nice and refreshing new sound that I've just never heard before. The songs are very abstract and minimal in terms of content and the lyrics repeat themselves a lot in each song and yet it's that simplicity that what make this album so great. The voice effects he has going on throughout the album is so hypnotic and sounds really great. Each track sounds different from each other but all goes together so well.

Short album, lot's to say.

2. Kendrick Lamar - Section.80

Kendrick Lamar is a rapper from Compton. I bet after seeing Compton, you made the assumption that he makes gangster rap or something like that, but you couldn't be more wrong. For a 24 year-old rapper, he's very socially aware and it really shows in his songs. Most of his songs have a social or political message to it. No Make-Up is about a girl who covers up herself with make-up because she thinks she's unattractive and to hide black eyes from physical abuse. The way Kendrick and the female vocalist play off each other on that track is just awesome. Keisha's Song, which is my personal favorite song of the year, is about the life of a prostitute and it has a twist ending. Every song has a story or message to hook you in.

The production is absolutely fantastic. HiiiPower is probably the best beat I've heard all year. It's not just that these beats are good, but there's just so much variety in them as well. Some beats are really electronic, like Tammy's Song with all it's bleepy bloopy sounds, and some are really soft and jazzy. Hell, the beat to Ab-souls Outro sounds like a straight up jazz song. Kendrick has really great flow and can rap pretty fast at times. His voice is a little nasaly but it isn't irritating so it isn't a problem. If it didn't start off slowly, it might have been my favorite album of the year.

Political social rap done perfectly.

1. *shels - Plains of the Purple Buffalo

"When we titled the album back in 2007, we didn't realize how appropriate and relevant it would be to our own Endeavour of completing this record. The Neverending story is all about not losing hope, taking a leap of faith and believing in something you may not be able to see, touch or understand - and overcoming fear -- it's about letting go and realizing your own power and allowing yourself to reach your full potential -- these ideals are at the core of this album" -- Mehdi Safa

*shels is a post-rock/post-metal band with some sludgy influence and this is their sophomore release. This is my introduction to this band, and boy, what a way to give me an impression. This album is epic, in the literal sense of the word. It sounds big. It sounds loud. It's atmospheric. Every song just fills your head with some very beautiful imagery of buffalos running across the beautiful plains while the sun is setting.

The instrumentation is just fantastic and the production is really great. The sludgy guitars, the drumming, the horns, everything goes together so well. The horns are probably the best thing on this album and they know just when to use them. In case you aren't already aware, the title is a reference to The Neverending Story and like he mentioned, it couldn't be more appropriate. Every single track on this album sounds hopeful. Another reason why I like the horns is because of that; they sing an emotional tune of hope and prosperity.

Huge, epic and incredibly beautiful.

And there you have it. My top 50 albums of the year. Hope you enjoyed these as much as I did.

Ne Obliviscaris - The Aurora Veil

This is quite possibly the best demo ever. My favorite, at least. It's amazing that they don't have an album out yet, but there is one coming up in 2012 and I'm really looking forward to it. Ne Obliviscaris is an Australian Progressive Black Metal band, and they arguably have one of the fastest drummers in the world. Seriously, it kicks ass. They also have a violinist in the band. I always thought the violin is a great instrument to have in a Black Metal band, because it can sound beautiful, yet chaotic, depending on how it's played. They put it to very good use with the drums, setting up a great atmosphere. Another thing that you may notice is that they feature both clean vocals and death growls, which is really neat to see.

And here's a preview from their upcoming album.

[Mediafire]

Miaou - The Day Will Come Before Long

Miaou is a post-rock outfit hailing from Japan. This is their fourth full-length album which came out earlier in September. The interesting thing about this band is their interesting use of various electronic sounds throughout the album. It certainly adds a nice element to what would have been your everyday crescendo-core. It is crescendo-core, but every track sounds relatively different, so it isn't a bore. Certainly a decent release. Also, DAT ALBUM COVER.

[Mediafire]

I'd also like to add that this blog isn't exclusively about post-rock music. It just happens to be that post-rock is my favourite genre, but I do listen to many genres and am open to everything. I never entirely disregard a genre because I didn't like a few artists.

65daysofstatic - Silent Running

Might as well post something before the list. Here's a review I wrote a while ago.

I love 65daysofstatic. They were my introduction to post-rock and made me discover other great post-rock bands. One Time for All Time is still one of the greatest albums ever, in my opinion. But enough with the past, let's talk about the present. Many good folks seem to be upset about the path the band has been taking, going away from their traditional mathy post-rock and experimenting with different sounds. But the thing, that's what usually happens with bands. You can't always expect them to stick to one particular sound. Sooner or later, they will get bored and start experimenting. That's what they did with We Were Exploding Anyway, but the result wasn't that satisfactory, even for me. And now, we have Silent Running.

This album is basically a soundtrack turned into an album due to popular demand. It really does sound like a soundtrack at times, but that is kind of expected. Some tracks start with an idea but don't really go anywhere with and just kind of end. Soundtracks don't need to be like that. It's a little disappointing too because they seemed like interesting ideas and could have been amazing if they followed up on them. Rantaloupe is a perfect example. There's a great build up near the end but then it just ends. Space Theme and The Announcement also suffers from Sudden Ending Syndrome. On a completely different note, Finale is a very weird song. It starts out as normal like any other track on this album as suddenly turns into a dance-like beat. It just felt, well, weird. It's the only way I can describe it. It was sort of an anti-climactic ending.

Enough with the qualms, it's making me look like I didn't like the album, because I did. I really liked the electronic noises and effects. I thought they set up a really great spacey mood. It really felt like they were going for atmosphere more than anything. The Scattered Disk was definitely the most ambitious track, electronically, with glitches and IDM-esque sounds in the intro of the track. I generally thought the instrumentation was great through out the album. The piano I think is a really great instrument for space themed songs and it works really well on this album. Burial Scene is a great piano-oriented track. Although some tracks did seem to stick to one idea without really following it, quite a few of them did and built up into something magnificent.

This album certainly is a step up from We Were Exploding Anyway in my eyes, but doesn't really compare to The Fall of Math or One Time for All Time. It features solid instrumentation while still experimenting with new sounds. Those who enjoy the more mathy side of 65DoS may not like this that much. It certainly was an ambitious project for the band and I'm looking forward to what they bring to the table with whatever their new project will be. Standout tracks for me are Safe Distancing (for the great build up and evolving ideas) and Burial Scene (for the wonderful mood it sets up with the piano). The more disappointing tracks to me are Finale and Space Theme.

[Mediafire]

Oh man! Obligatory Shitty First Post

This is just a test to see how my profile looks. My first real post will be my 50 favourite albums of 2011, which will probably be out next week. I'll try to update at least once a week with something substantial.

Here's a cat.