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Here we have a midsummer mélange of picks from the Staff team, the Build Team, and two special Legend picks. Put on your shades, pull out a lawn chair, and chill out to these sweet grooves.
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Staff Picks
Sinetax's Staff Pick
Mary Chapin Carpenter - Come On Come On
Genre: Country
Torrents: torrents.php?id=211724
Review:
This was probably my mom's favorite album of the 1990's. She would play it on Saturday mornings most weekends. I came to really like it too.
brancusi's Staff Pick
Olivier Messiaen performed by Olivier Latry: Complete Organ Works
Genre: classical
Torrents: torrents.php?id=343023
Review:
If you think of Bach's greatest organ works as constructing a cathedral of sound, then Messiaen's masterpieces are the stained glass in the cathedral, catching, changing and transforming light as it enters the sacred space - illuminating the interior, sending the spirit soaring beyond the confines of the stone.
It's no exaggeration to describe these pieces as the greatest works for the instrument since J S Bach, and they repay similar close study and investigation.
Seethewaves's Staff Pick
The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Genre: Alternative, Rock, Art rock
Torrents: torrents.php?id=71399
Review:
I like this album so much that I'm picking it even though Looped already picked it a couple years ago.
I like this album so much that I broke a personal rule and listened to it twice in one day.
Glacier's Staff Pick
Trio of Uncertainty - Unlocked
Genre: Avant-Garde, Jazz, Free Jazz, Free Improvisation
Torrents: torrents.php?id=72249925
Review:
Unlocked by request.
Ajax's Staff Pick
Springtime Carnivore - Springtime Carnivore
Genre: Indie, Dream Pop
Torrents: torrents.php?id=72821984
Review:
About two years ago I was introduced to a band called Gold Motel and soon there after The Hush Sound. I fell in love with their rich and colorful sounds but what stood out to me the most was the female vocalist, Gretta Morgan. In November of 2014 she released her first self titled LP under the name Springtime Carnivore and since then I've had it playing on repeat. I'm having a hard time choosing the right words to describe this album so I'll rely on Morgan's own words in a quote take from an interview with Issue Magazine. "Waking up from an acid trip and walking around Disney World. You still have that night-time mind, but it’s early morning and everything is bright and colorful". This is an incredible album and a thank you to Coruscating for getting me hooked on the wonderful sounds of Gretta Morgan.
Side note, this live KEXP performance only made me love this album more.
kufic's Staff Pick
Herva - Dreamers Of Unknown Tales
Genre: acid, techno, experimental
Torrents: torrents.php?id=72953013
Review:
Italy's Herva drops a stack of crooked 'floor tricks on Semtek's Don't Be Afraid label following his aces for Delsin, Kontra, M>O>S and All City. As we've come to learn, Herva's a bit of a free spirit, always keen to buck the grid and feel out for uniquely sensual, visceral thrills. With 'Dreamers of Unknown Tales' he follows suit into a unstable world of electro-acoustic tones, shredded breaks and mutant acid, twisting the lines from beat-less concrète zones of the title track to a sort of desiccated, nervy funk attack with the spitting drums and fuzz-junky dip of 'From The Inside', while 'Nice and Crisp' gets down on a sampler-juggling broken beat pivot and 'Pissed Monitoring' jacks off on a flighty acid techno vector. Imagine Madteo with 'phet jitters or a mutant Anthony Shakir and you've almost got the measure of this 12".
vitiate's Staff Pick
cEvin Key - The Dragon Experience
Genre: Industrial
Torrents: torrents.php?id=31822
Review:
There's a lot to like in cEvin Key's solo work outside Skinny Puppy and its various side projects. The Dragon Experience is a dark, representative slice of Key's solo output. Much of the album is filtered through the same sensibilities as Skinny Puppy's instrumental work, Download, and side projects such as Doubting Thomas. As is typical with a lot of the more ambient work of the Skinny Puppy crew, the vocal samples occupy the background; the songs rarely feature original vocals in the foreground, and never on this album. The overall feel of the album is one of mystery, murky ambient dread, with cinematic sensibilities never far from the surface.
The guy on the cover, incidentally, is not altogether unknown, having appeared on another famous cover in his youth.
nando's Staff Pick
Sohn - Tremors
Genre: Soul, RnB, experimental
Torrents: torrents.php?id=72672821
Review:
SOHN is something different. Not quite the type of music that you mostly find out there. His music contains a lot of soul and emotional content as well as great vibe to chill to. One of my all-time best and the most appreciated albums in life.
Gautam's Staff Pick
Beenie Man - Blessed
Genre: dancehall, reggae
Torrents: torrents.php?id=610280
Review:
Just queue it up and dance. You will not be sorry.
brd's Staff Pick
Whale Fall - Whale Fall
Genre: post.rock
Torrents: torrents.php?id=72068888
Review:
This record carries many surprises with it. It feels like walking through a city unknown and letting the city pulse fill you with a feeling of excitement. Yet as you stroll along you notice how bleak and lonely the buildings are and that the blank stares of the people are daunting. There is a lot to experience here.
This album takes you through a range of emotions and it's an absolute beauty. This energetic, melancholic and grand debut is highly recommended.
sprinkle's Staff Pick
Jane Jane Pollock - Jane Jane Pollock
Genre: Experimental
Torrents: torrents.php?id=71927933
Review:
JANE JANE POLLOCK is strange dreamy palatable pop, Laced with Halloween nostalgia, and dusty southern Gothic dream scapes. A treat!
sauria's Staff Pick
Circle J - Year of the Goat
Genre: celtic, folk, punk, rock
Torrents: torrents.php?id=72993284
Review:
A small Dutch celtic folk punk rock band. Reminiscent of the Dropkick Murphys.
When this came across my (virtual) desk, I decided I just had to hear "Warrior Monkey Princess". I mean, is there anyone out there who doesn't like warrior monkey princesses? I thought so.
Logos' Staff Pick
Parra for Cuva - Majouré
Genre: Electronic, Deep House, Downtempo
Torrents: torrents.php?id=72841378
Review: Nad Khan wrote:
Majouré takes its time to implant a mood of happiness and melodic satisfaction in your mind, without overstaying its welcome. There's a certain element of unpredictability that makes each sound distinctive and never at risk of becoming dull.
eXistenZ' Staff Pick
Tears Run Rings - Distance
Genre: dream.pop, shoegaze
Torrents: torrents.php?id=810348
Review:
Breathy male/female vocals and lush guitars create an atmosphere that brings to mind classic shoegaze-era greats like Slowdive and The Pale Saints.
Hyperion's Staff Pick
Three Trapped Tigers - Route One or Die
Genre: experimental, post.rock, instrumental
Torrents: torrents.php?id=71959799
Review:
What is most impressive about Route One Or Die is the utter sense of conviction and commitment brought to every aspect of this complex, intricate music.
coriander's Staff Pick
Speedy J - G Spot
Genre: Electronic, Experimental, Ambient, Acid House
Torrents: torrents.php?id=54870
Review: tigersprout@discogs wrote:
Besides his uniquely marketed (and extremely lovable) ethereal composition style of swirling electronic nebulae like layers suspended over rubbery beats and breaks and infused with a bright spectrum of coloured, interchanging melodies, 'G-Spot' is a concrete testament to the early magical imagination of the techno genre, becoming in a certain way, what i would call the re-incarnation of disco or maybe better put, the multi-facetted, prodigious, progeny of disco married with the early 70's new aged vibe of Kraftwerk / Art of Noise / Jean Michel Jarre.
Peppermint's Staff Pick
Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain
Genre: Downtempo, Electronic, Future.Jazz, Trip.Hop
Torrents: torrents.php?id=13453
Review:
Still the best Goldfrapp album for me. It is a focused vision with a cinematic feel, electronica chilled with cool, honeyed female vocals; a glacial lake laid out beneath a mountain range. Also, my dog needs new ears.
Build Team Picks
felix1429's Build Team Pick
Glass Animals - Zaba
Genre: Alternative, Psychedelic, Electronic, Rhythm and Blues, Indie
Torrents: torrents.php?id=72732842
Review: The Line of Best Fit wrote:
With Zaba, Glass Animals presented us with a genuinely unique premise, stuffed with the warped tie-dye drones of psychedelia, the sultry slither of noir&B, a dash of soul, a jigger of synthpop and elements of grandiose baroque-rock, trip-hop and ‘90s pop. No one else really sounds like Glass Animals, who wield, quite majestically, both astute hind and foresight. They are, undoubtedly, one of the most exciting British bands for a long time.
guitarman0831's Build Team Pick
Avenged Sevenfold - City of Evil
Genre: Heavy Metal, Hard Rock
Torrents: torrents.php?id=12729
Review:
Classic Avenged Sevenfold.
Slack's Build Team Pick
ASP - Aus der Tiefe
Genre: Gothic Rock, Darkwave, Electronic
Torrents: torrents.php?id=156833
Review:
ASP is a gothic / darkwave band which was founded in 1999 in Frankfurt,Main (Germany). Today's members are: Asp (Alexander Frank Spreng) - vocals, Matthias Ambre - guitar, Andreas Gross - bass guitar and Oliver Himmighoffen responsible for the drums.
This is one of their best albums.
apopagasm's Build Team Pick
mind.in.a.box - Lost Alone
Genre: EBM, Futurepop, Industrial
Torrents: torrents.php?id=147845
Review:
Hailing from Vienna, Austria, mind.in.a.box is an electronic music duo formed in 2002. Their sound can be described as a cross between futurepop and progressive trance. The songs feature monologues, snippets of audio logs and conversations that combine to tell a story that spans each of their albums. Together, they form a mysterious epic that draws on science fiction, fantasy and noir fiction.
_pnwLight's Build Team Pick
Griz - Say It Loud
Genre: Glitch hop, EDM, Future jazz
Torrents: torrents.php?id=72938287
Review:
This is Griz's latest release from All Good Records. Griz brings forth a refreshing electronic take on the funk and soul over yesteryear, and as an proponent of open flow of information by distributing his music freely - this is one artist to be highly regarded. This album provides a great ride through a glitch/edm take on funk and jazz. With live saxophone coupled with catchy basslines and kicks this is one album you will be sure to tap your foot in beat with.
DutchDude's Build Team Pick
Douglas Adams / BBC - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (complete radio series)
Genre: audiobook: Comedy, drama
Torrents: torrents.php?id=72227106&torrentid=28954383#torren t28954383
Review:
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Legend Picks
puddy's Legend Pick
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphonies Nos. 35, 39, 40
Genre: Classical
Torrents: torrents.php?id=72183163
Entrapment's Legend Pick
Tangerine Dream - Stratosfear
Genre: electronic, progressive.rock, ambient, experimental
Torrents: torrents.php?id=7263
Review:
Along with one of my previous picks,, this album really showcased the power of electronic music and especially the synthesizer and impressed upon me at a young age the power of manipulating waves directly. Plus, the album art is... well... sublime.
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