Julianna Barwick

Julianna Barwick - Florine [EP (2009)]


Julianna Barwick - Sanguine (2006)

Sorry I'm so late with this, I meant to put it up sooner but I've been very lazy. The first link is her new EP which released Dec. 1st, the second link is her full length release which is pretty much perfect. If you haven't heard her yet definitely give her a listen, shes starting to gain a lot more listeners. Her music is mostly all loops of really beautiful droning vocals that blend sooo nice together. She creates an amazing sound with the range of just using vocals as an instrument.

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors.

A triumphant (hopefully) return?

My god, let us hope.

(Your) Favorite Albums Of 2009

You can totally just go ahead and visit the

STRATOSPHERING LAST.FM GROUP

to voice your opinion about that shit. We may or may not post our own lists in full -- with colorful images and fancy word-based synopses! -- in a week or two, when we're done busying ourselves with the desperate goal of passing all our classes. I suppose I was referring to myself as a royal we, just then. Hmm.

Shrinebuilder - Shrinebuilder (2009)

Shrinebuilder

A supergroup that doesn't suck. It does the opposite. It blows. In a good way. It blows your throbbing organs.

Those throbbing organs are your ears.

Scott Weinrich of The Obsessed, Al Cisneros of Sleep/Om, Scott Kelly of Neurosis, and................ DALE FUCKING CROVER of MELVINS.

From the first track it is obvious that he is laying down the skins. This album is really tough and really spacey. If it wasn't coming from the men whom they base their entire careers off of, I would say the aethereal vibes I got from the vocals and effects in this are reminiscent of Mastodon's newer material. It has some very relaxed moments woven fairly seamlessly into some pieces fit for the battlefield. Good, solid release.

Buy

Cobalt - Gin (2009)

Gin

Black Metal.

What did you think of?
Norway? Early 90's? Church burnings? Satan? Murder?
Those are all perfectly justifiable. They are the words that come to mind whenever I hear the name of one of metal's most notorious subgenres. I mean, when it comes to Black Metal it gets no better than those staple bands that came out of Norway: Mayhem, Burzum, Emperor, Gorgoroth, Enslaved, etc. However, this band is up there with the quality of those power houses, and they released this album in some small Colorado town. That's right, Colorado. This album is one of my favorites of the year, it got suggested to me by a close friend and I have been listening to it since. It shows a great amount of musicianship and stays true to the Black Metal sound whilst incorporating some unexpected turns here and there. The bleak lyrics dealing with such themes as war, death, and sorrow are screeched out by the vocalist at times and sang in a haunting harmony at others. Black Metal lives on.


EDIT: I don't know what is happening with this link, but it keeps dying. I can only resuscitate it so many times. After so long, I am only playing god. God apparently thinks nobody should download Cobalt. As he should, they are heathenistic Black Metal sons of bitches. It's alive for now, but no guarantees.

Myspace

Vacations

I WAS BIKINI / BUT RAIN AFRAID

I was originally going to post this for the amazing non sequitur album title. Then I was going to post this because it features Bobby Burg of my favorite Joan Of Arc Family band, The Love Of Everything. It also features two members of the somewhat Joan of Arc related band Chin Up Chin Up that broke up some time ago and whom I admit I never was totally into (awkward sentence structure ftw). Then I was going to post it because I started listening and was all like, holy smokes, this is actually really good. And then I remembered, damn, last time I posted something from Record Label it was taken down by Mediafire.

And then something amazing happened. I visited their Myspace and made the incredible discovery that they are offering the album on a pay-what-you-want basis. Fate has been kind to us today, folks.

Oh yeah, and if you're wondering what it sounds like -- kind of a cross between the aforementioned bands and then some Ukulele.

Big Spider's Back : Warped

Warped

don't dismiss this as ac fandom.

there's good stuff here.

it's spectacular, especially given that it's only one guy.

perfect machine is amazing.

give this a chance to grow on you.

because it will.

guaranteed.

Myspace

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.