Kona Triangle

Sing A New Sapling Into Existence

Fans of Flying Lotus, Teebs, etc. will absolutely love this. It's got those glitchy electronic beats and blissed-out samples, but on a few tracks (including closer "Mauna Loa") the beat slips away and you're floating through pitch-shifted synth-warbling oblivion. It's a collaboration between Lone and Keaver & Brause, both of whom I still haven't tracked down any releases from, having been too busy with this one (also not helping: Lone's terrible album art).

Myspace // Last.fm
Buy it!

Oneohtrix Point Never

Because Rifts seems like a heavy introduction to devote your time and money into on a whim (or a 4 1/2 star review, for that matter), I'm going to give you just a taste: My favorite three releases that happen to contribute their bulk to that 2-disc collection. If you are unaware, Oneohtrix Point Never (pronounced on-ee-oh-trix) is Daniel Lopatin, an extremely lovable ambient musician/cyborg equipped with his trusty Roland Juno-60 and miscellaneous effects. This is another artist I'm tempted (at the risk of coining a term) to describe as hyperactive ambient -- because, sure, all those swirling synth arpeggios and crescendos wash over you like a wave of meteor dust drifting in a vacuum, but it also feels like a swarm of TIE fighters* are slowly approaching from beyond the vast luminous hydrogen clouds that obscure your path. Or maybe that cloud is made up of nanobots preparing to absorb your organic fuel. I'm in a sci-fi mood, I guess. This is certainly the kind of music that'll take you there.


A Pact Between Strangers (2008)


Betrayed In The Octagon (2007)


Zones Without People (2009)

Myspace

*I really hope some knowledgeable nerd says something like, "Ha, that simile makes no sense! TIE fighters don't travel in swarms, idiot." There's possibly something scientifically inaccurate about "vast luminous hydrogen clouds" too, but that's a different story, and, well, I'm no astrophysicist. Even though I have a vague suspicion that's not even the right kind of scientist for this.

Parotia Tree & Tycho Anomaly & Memory Screen

Stay with me here, this might get confusing. Recently, some dude on www.CollectedAnimals.net posted some of his music. And it was awesome. Some members of the forum requested that he post more music. So he did. All of it was awesome.

The first and most recent thing he posted was this:
Balloons Split
One half is Chordata Primate, the other half is Tycho Anomaly (the guy that posted it). It was recorded "over the past few months".

Chordata Primate is now known as Memory Screen. Memory Screen's album can be downloaded HERE for free (watch the video, too). Get this if you're a fan of Do Make Say Think and miss the way they used to play jazz like they wanted to hypnotize the Titans.

These are both awesome records. Listen to them at their myspace links below if you want a better idea of how they sound. Also, do you see how many genre labels I used on this post? I even resorted to using "experimental". That should tell you something, because I usually make it a point to avoid that tag simply due to its cop-out, anti-descriptive nature. Today, I can't avoid it. I'm of the opinion that the fact of this being posted on an Animal Collective fan forum is enough incentive to download all this stuff.


Then, he posted this album, which the Tycho Anomaly guy made with the guy who is now Memory Screen. And it is awesome. I've been listening to this one the most, which is weird, because it apparently was recorded "several years ago" and, according to the dude who is now Tycho Anomaly, is "definitely not as well developed as some of the stuff on the split". I don't know what he's on about, really.

Parotia Tree Myspace
Tycho Anomaly Myspace
Memory Screen Myspace

HELLA

Hold Your Horse Is (2002) 320kbps


The Devil Isn't Red (2004) V0(VBR)


Chirpin' Hard/Church Gone Wild (2005) V0(VBR)


There's No 666 in Outer Space 192kpbs

All of Hella's full lengths. If you follow this blog at all I probably shouldn't need to tell you anything about this band.

Preview on Myspace
Buy the albums.

The Watery Graves of Portland - Portland (2007)

Adrian Orange does drums for this project. That's mostly why I found it. It also includes Curtis Knapp on piano and Davis Lee Hooker on bass.

Preview on Last.fm
DOWNLOAD - V0(VBR), .mp3, mediafire
Buy it!

Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday (2008)

"Written and recorded over the last 18 months, Doomsdayer's Holiday delivers on the promises made by their previous albums, taking equal pride in smoky psychedelics and mountain-ascending riffs .... Doomsdayer's Holiday finds their already-broad palette continually expanding with 70s European film noir and cosmic free jazz explorations complimenting the Middle Eastern psychedelic folk-metal the group is already known for."

Nothing else can prepare you for Grails. This album is worth listening to just for the last track, "Acid Rain". It reminds me of the opener of Deerhunter's new record, "Cover Me (Slowly)", except it's eight minutes of the same bliss. Everything tastes different.

Preview on Myspace
Try it
Buy it!

Because Of Ghosts - This Culture of Background Noise (2008)

"The album was tape-recorded in Montreal at Hotel2Tango by Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Silver Mt. Zion) with additional production work from Efrim Menuck (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Silver Mt. Zion) and guest strings from Thierry Amar and Jessica Moss."

They come from Australia. You've got a pretty killer post-rock record right here.

Preview on Myspace
Try it
Buy it!

Fang Island - Sky Gardens EP (2008)

Mostly-instrumental happiness reminiscent of Ponytail and Ecstatic Sunshine with some epic arena-metal and pop-punk thrown in. One of the guitarists is also in Daughters.

Preview on Myspace
Try it
Buy it!

BONUS - The Day Of The Great Leap, their full-length from last year. I couldn't find the artwork. Bummer.
Try it

Sharks Keep Moving

Desert Strings and Drifters (1998) 320kbps


Sharks Keep Moving (1999) 192kbps

Sharks Keep Moving was a fine little band from Seattle that wasn't around for very long but made some very nice mathy and slightly jazzy indie music in the vein of cool bands like Karate. To paraphrase Last.fm.

Preview on Last.fm
Buy it!

Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling (2008)

If you're a fan of Mogwai, you should know by now that they never disappoint. In any case, so far, I enjoy this more than Mr. Beast, whatever that means.

Preview on Myspace
[My link was removed by mediafire, try the SORDO Music Archive]

Talkdemonic - Eyes at Half Mast (2008)

Talkdemonic is an instrumental, self-described "folktronic hop" duo from Portland. It's very densely layered and simultaneously light and airy stuff, with a lot of post-rock borrowed dynamics. Did I mention beautiful? Creative?
This album will be released September 16th on Arena Rock.

Preview on Myspace
Try it - 192kbps(VBR), .mp3, mediafire
Buy it!

MONO

Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and The Sun Shined (2004)


You Are There (2006)


Preview on Myspace
BUY!

Ólafur Arnalds

Eulogy For Evolution


Variations Of Static

"Only 21 years of age, Ólafur hails from the suburban Icelandic town, Mosfellsbær, just a few kilometres outside Reykjavík. He has immersed himself completely in the world of delicate symphonic compositions in a near weightless orchestral undertaking. Mixing strings and piano with loops, ambiance, electronics and beats. Debut album 'Eulogy for Evolution' takes the listener on a journey, representing different periods in life, from birth to death. The follow-up 5-track EP ‘Variations of Static’ so far has only been available as a limited tour edition. While keeping the classical foundations of his debut album, here Arnalds incorporates crackling electronics and the dead voice of a machine; like vague memories of tradition lost within the digital age we all live in."

Tracks streaming on Last.fm
BUY

Piglet - Lava Land (2005)

Sadly, the only release from an incredibly talented band. Fans of Owls, Tera Melos, and Maps & Atlases will be blown away by this. If comparisons alone don't convince you, stream a few tracks HERE.

Try It - mp3, mediafire

Ahleuchatistas - What You Will (2006)

Why I don't bother with descriptions:

"Third and best yet from this amazing instrumental, post-Beefheart, avant-technical, improv-core, math-metal, art-damage, punk-rock power trio from Asheville, NC. Using the simple and classic skeleton of guitar, bass and drums, these three make powerful music that is undeniably 'rock' but is also undeniably much wider in musical influences than what one would imagine in such rock-based work."

Try it - .mp3, mediafire, 200 kbps (VBR)
Buy it!

Grails - Take Refuge In Clean Living (2008) and more!

Phenomenal new album. To be released on May 13th. The best description actually comes from their Sounds Like on Myspace: "Tibetan Crime Jazz." The name of the first song sums it up nicely, as well: "Stoned at the Taj Again."

Try it - mediafire, .mp3, 192kbps

If you don't know them, here are links (not mine! is that allowed?) to their two previous albums. Both also phenomenal. Yes, that really is the only word to use.

Burning Off Impurities (2007) - megaupload, 192kbps

Black Tar Prophecies Vol. 1, 2, 3 (2006) - megaupload

Pelican - After the Ceiling Cracked (2008)

This is the 3-song EP included with their new DVD set.

Try it - 185-225kbps(VBR), .mp3, mediafire
Buy it!

Hauschka - Room to Expand (2007)

"Hauschka is the alias of Düsseldorf–based pianist and composer Volker Bertelmann. His work is based upon an exploration of the possibilities of the prepared piano - a playfully disruptive intervention into the preconceived idea of the piano as a pure-toned, perfected instrument waiting for a gifted virtuoso to play on it. Instead, Volker explores and influences the outcome of his playing by getting right down inside the instrument - clamping wedges of leather, felt or rubber between the strings; preparing the hammers with aluminium paper or rough films; placing crown corks on the strings, weaving guitar strings around the piano's guts, or pasting them down with gaffa tape. These little modifications throw up an array of rustling, drumming, shivering, scraping, resonating sounds which either provide the focus / drive for a piece or hook the ear into an intriguing, slightly unusual frame." Wikipedia

Try it - 192kbps(VBR), .mp3, mediafire
Buy it!

Hella - Acoustics (2006)

The cover is a melted chocolate bunny. If you get the CD and open up the jacket, you get to see it at different stages of being melted in a frying pan. There is also for some reason a gnome in the upper left-hand corner.
The songs are all re-workings of previous songs on acoustic instruments. If you've listened to other Hella albums, you know how intriguing this is.

Try it - 320kbps, .mp3, mediafire
Buy it!

Eliot Lipp - Eliot Lipp (2004)

I found this in the 25 cent bin at a local record store a couple of years ago. He seems to just now be generating a little buzz, probably due to the album he released last year. This is his first.

Try it 230kbps(VBR), .mp3, mediafire
Buy it!