66 replies to this topic

[Techno]

Every week, two of the members who signed up will suggest an album for the other members to listen to. At the end of the week, we will all get into IRC or something and discuss the albums.

AIM Chat: dgzmusic
IRC: #dgzmusic @ irc.foonetic.net

IRC is preferred, if you want to be taught how to use IRC contact Sykotic (za wryyyeal syko) or Plushie (xoTechn0) on aim


* MosDef
* salad
* א∀א
* Ammit
* ✡Plushie
* Separator
* Reginald
* Apathy
* Ray
* rei
* Exiled
* rkat
* Sykotic
* zuluh
* Rawry
* Dad's other son
* Ocelot
* Rasengan Da Bess
* pkmn master grant
* Wilson
* Logic
* Swaggalo
* Babsy Chan
* Ryu
* Frantic
* Aaron
* Twitter

[Techno]

Week of (5-31 - 6-6):

Spoiler

Below the Heavens is a collaborative studio album by American rapper Blu and hip hop producer Exile, released July 17, 2007 on independent record label Sound in Color. It serves as Blu's debut album, while Exile had previously released his solo album Dirty Science and two albums as a member of the duo Emanon.
Blu provides rap vocals on all of the album's songs, while Exile produces all of the songs and raps just on the bonus track "I Am..". In addition, the album features guest performers Ta'Raach, Aloe Blacc, Miguel and Joseph. The album is widely considered an underground classic and many labeled Blu a "rising star".

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=17LHVASK

Spoiler

pass is luelinks

While Orthotonics were known as a full-size group around Virginia in the '80s, the most satisfying recording was created by a smaller version of the ensemble featuring three core members. The trumpeter Paul Watson, who also doubled on guitars, is no longer present, and although he is missed because of the interplay he used to provide with saxophone foil Danny Finney, the loss of his eager vocal involvement works to the advantage of Rebby Sharp, whose singing style is sometimes chilling and always at the very least dramatically appropriate to the songs. The program jumps around between songwriters, all of the material creative and some of the writers even going as far as providing snobbish critics with ammunition, a service that any artist should be able to proudly take credit for. Take the opening stanzas of Finney's "Cantagish": "No narrative to follow/Weariness behind shallow word woe." Sharp's songs form an effective balance, with their immediacy and a sense of humor responsible for lines such as, "Some of us caught wind/Some of them break wind," from her song "Some of Us." Well-established progressive rocker, guitarist, and composer Fred Frith was fond of this group and mixed the earlier Wake up You Must Remember. Here he seizes control as producer, even wandering down to Richmond to take part in the recording process. It is a labor of love in which his obvious studio and documentation skills are like a goldmine for the group. Drummer J. Pippin Barnett should be particularly proud of his playing on these tracks.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IQOF4KJX

Spoiler

Week of (6-6 - 6-13):

Spoiler

Brooklyn quartet Little Women formed two years ago to create music that blurs the line between structure and spontaneity. The group's sound distilled from a broad range of influences that stretch from classic Chicago free jazz thru pop music, punk rock, math metal, and harsh noise. Little Women never stop pushing into new sonic territory: splitting overtones to create ghost notes, violently disassembling their instruments onstage, and attacking written and improvised material with equal ferocity.

http://www.mediafire.com/?nzwzzcwd5wl

Lewis and Clarke, fronted by singer-songwriter Lou Rogai and here helped by Eve Miller of Rachel's and Russell Higbee of Man Man, have for several years quietly glorified the sound of strings. This second full-length is a pared-down complement to 2005's blues-inspired Bare Bones and Branches. Blasts of Holy Birth is at times cloying, weepy, and overly familiar, but at others it's a naturalistic vision that creates a hunger for some the simple, rural images conjured by the instruments.

http://www.mediafire.com/?2zinny02z25

Week of (6-14 - 6-19):

Spoiler

My choice is Simple Math by Manchester Orchestra.

Here's a torrent:

http://btjunkie.org/...2cb83ae8825b1a4

I can get a mediafire/megaupload link later.

I can't find anything on this band, honest. The only review on rym is "Very easy listening pop, figuring out influences of bands life Slowdive, The Cure, Cocteau Twins, Acid House Kings" but i don't find that at all accurate. Silver Screen is a one man band by Cris Miller who plays vocals, guitar and keyboard.

genres include shoegaze, dream pop, and heavy influence on jangle pop.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5KBOF2AP

Spoiler

pass is duelistgroundz.com

Week of (6-6 - 6-13):

Kool Keith - Sex Style

The first solo album released under Kool Keith's own name, Sex Style expands the dirtier parts of Dr. Octagonecologyst into a near-concept album. Sometimes a pimp, sometimes a pervert, Keith dubs his new approach "pornocore," cribbing dialogue from sex flicks to support astoundingly explicit raps that go places 2 Live Crew never had the capacity to imagine. Not only that, but when Keith turns his attention to inferior MCs, his disses are usually couched in elaborate sexual metaphors (a striking number of which involve water sports). Some songs do deviate from the theme, or at least tone it down a little, and while a few serve as a welcome respite, others simply don't have as much personality. The over the top raunch is Keith's main focus, and that's where the vast majority of the album's most imaginative rhymes come from. That makes Sex Style a polarizing entry in Keith's catalog. Musically, it's one of his most consistent solo outings, especially if you're just looking at the ones under his own name. It definitely benefits from production by KutMasta Kurt, who may not be as wildly inventive as Dan the Automator, but knows how to frame Keith's idiosyncratic flow with deep, funky beats. Thus, the album is borderline necessary for Keith fans; it really depends on your tolerance for the extremity of songs like "Sex Style," "Don't Crush It," "Make Up Your Mind," "Regular Girl," "Little Girls," or "Lovely Lady." But it is a chance to hear one of the freakiest rappers of all time at his freakiest.

http://www.mediafire...797z7zhosoyanzv

Dizzee Rascal- Boy In Da Corner

GRIME

At only 18 years of age, British MC Dizzee Rascal made a strikingly audacious debut with Boy In Da Corner. Born of the UK garage/2-step scene, but inspired by the dark lyrical content of American hip-hop (Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep), Dizzee combines these influences to form his own distinctive style. Boy In Da Corner sounded almost frightening when it arrived, welding squelching jungle bass to the helium raps of a boy whose voice seemed barely to have broken. The astonishing quality of the then 18-year-old Dizzee's production, with its whistling cyber-chimes and pizzicato strings, could not mask the record's clammy mixture of fear, aggression and yearning, describing an emotional state too near the edge to allow relaxation or trust. It was a true transmission from Dizzee's own burning brain. It was also from the council-estate life that still suffers from a cultural apartheid in Britain, examined from a distance as a problem or jeered at as the preserve of "chavs", but otherwise invisible.

http://www.mediafire.com/?m2ycgihzxxk

[Liquid Snake]

I listened to both, afaik I'm the only one so nobody to discuss with.

[Schadenfreude]

the idea was to listen to them more than once anyway.

[rei]

I haven't been home all week and wont be until sunday : (

[secret #rare]

in the clouds

[Bye!]

blu i've listented to already

Orthotonics I haven't must listen again though. I'm on my 2nd run through.

[Exiled]

Luminous Bipeds is amazing. My favorite songs are Why Whatever May and Whack-A-Mole

Already heard Blu/Exile so won't praise it twice

[Liquid Snake]

this Orthotonics record is great

[based greg]

I listened to both albums on the way to Regs this weekned. I enjoyed both no specific tracks really stand out :]

[▲Ɐ▲]

quick summaries of my thoughts on the albums

luminous bipeds is a fun record that im finding it difficult (not that i believe it important) to classify. a gripe i usually have with similar albums (similar insofar as instrumentation) is that the instrumentation feels like a shallow afterthought, almost as if the horns etc were added to give the record an 'intellectual gravitas'. here they are the primary focus and feel very organic. the production, while not particularly showy or outstanding, lends a much needed cleanliness; this could easily have been a jumbled, tuneless mess. the vocals are understated more often than not, but their more manic turns (as in on 'cantagish' and 'black & white tv') prove delightful. the arrangement and sense of melody are excellent, the playful congress between synth and horns on 'some of us' being of particular note. i will resist commentary on the lyrics, as i have no idea what's being said and i feel that any lyrical import comes second to instrumental play here; the vocals are simply another ornament. it's also pleasing in its brevity and lack of indulgence; virtues often lost on progressive/experimental music. oh, and 'whack-a-mole' is just plain awesome.

below the heavens skilfully avoids feeling more like a collection of songs than an album (a trait endemic to hip-hop), with consistently strong production and what i perceive to be a focus on song flow and placement in the album structure. blu demonstrates ample skill as both performer and lyricist, weaving an honest, personal narrative without pretension or braggadocio. as i said the production is consistently strong, the beats are laid-back and the soul samples are well picked. im conflicted, however, because what i laud as 'consistent' could easily be derided as 'homogeneous' with a lot of validity. the beats play it safe and while i find myself saying "this album sounds nice", after 3 and a half listens they've yet to become individually memorable. luckily, the same can't be said for blu's lyrics.

[▲Ɐ▲]

Brooklyn quartet Little Women formed two years ago to create music that blurs the line between structure and spontaneity. The group's sound distilled from a broad range of influences that stretch from classic Chicago free jazz thru pop music, punk rock, math metal, and harsh noise. Little Women never stop pushing into new sonic territory: splitting overtones to create ghost notes, violently disassembling their instruments onstage, and attacking written and improvised material with equal ferocity.

http://www.mediafire.com/?nzwzzcwd5wl

[Muscular Black Ammit]

Lewis and Clarke, fronted by singer-songwriter Lou Rogai and here helped by Eve Miller of Rachel's and Russell Higbee of Man Man, have for several years quietly glorified the sound of strings. This second full-length is a pared-down complement to 2005's blues-inspired Bare Bones and Branches. Blasts of Holy Birth is at times cloying, weepy, and overly familiar, but at others it's a naturalistic vision that creates a hunger for some the simple, rural images conjured by the instruments.

http://www.mediafire.com/?2zinny02z25

[rei]

I'm halfway through Little Women. WHen I get home I'm going to rip a J or two and finish it off + the other album

[my bloody arcanine]

i dont even know how to react to throat

[▲Ɐ▲]

i definitely agree that throat is like a more accesible (tenuous use of the word) homage to brotzmann. it is, for the listener less well-versed in noise or free jazz, no doubt a difficult listen; though its structure and the fact that it's a little more varied than similar releases are definite boons for the uninitiated. there's a definite precision beneath all the frantic discordance, reminiscent of noisier, more aggressive math rock as well as the obvious free jazz. there's also something cathartic about the more intense parts of the album; the guitars sound like they're being played with screwdrivers in traffic (this is good), and the spastic drumming defies rhythmic convention in a very tatsuya yoshida-esque way. 'throat iv''s unexpectedly, uh, emotional first and third quarters are a very welcome calm after the tempestuous first three tracks; the track has a post-rock feel to it, especially in the horns' choice to actually harmonise in places. to my delight, the 'soaring' climax is eschewed in favour of spazzing out again. another definitely positive point is the album's dynamicity; where bands like zs would happily repeat one figure forever and develop noise around it, throat is like the kid that can't sit still.

blasts of holy birth is almost a completely opposite experience. i do take issue with indie folk often being the same feelings or ideas with different instrumentation and a different arrangement of platitudes, and this album didn't change that opinion. my pretensions aside, i do enjoy this album. the arrangements are varied enough not to bore, the instrumentation lends the songs a lush texture and the vocals are solid. the longer tracks, 'before it breaks you' and 'crimson carpets' are definitely the strongest. the songs really are fleshed out through their length; the former autumnal and at the end new-agey, the latter building into a beautiful string-accompanied denouement. this album sounds like its cover art; nature imagery and dreamy melody. but while it's definitely a solid, well put together album, it's inconsistent to me. other tracks don't work nearly as well, and this album pulls its punches in terms of innovation (not that this is all bad; it's more a comfort with the genre than anything). the tracks i liked, however, are strong enough for me to want to revisit in the future.

[Apathy]

Is noise music just spontaneous instrumentation? Does it ever have a structure?

[Liquid Snake]

My choice is Simple Math by Manchester Orchestra.

Here's a torrent:

http://btjunkie.org/...2cb83ae8825b1a4

I can get a mediafire/megaupload link later.

[Liquid Snake]

http://www.mediafire...0thx4h9w0jkpj5e

[Techno]

I can't find anything on this band, honest. The only review on rym is "Very easy listening pop, figuring out influences of bands life Slowdive, The Cure, Cocteau Twins, Acid House Kings" but i don't find that at all accurate. Silver Screen is a one man band by Cris Miller who plays vocals, guitar and keyboard.

genres include shoegaze, dream pop, and heavy influence on jangle pop.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5KBOF2AP

Spoiler

pass is duelistgroundz.com

[dolphin]

I'm going to be active starting next week. Before I leave, I will post my album since it's my turn.

[dolphin]

Kool Keith - Sex Style

The first solo album released under Kool Keith's own name, Sex Style expands the dirtier parts of Dr. Octagonecologyst into a near-concept album. Sometimes a pimp, sometimes a pervert, Keith dubs his new approach "pornocore," cribbing dialogue from sex flicks to support astoundingly explicit raps that go places 2 Live Crew never had the capacity to imagine. Not only that, but when Keith turns his attention to inferior MCs, his disses are usually couched in elaborate sexual metaphors (a striking number of which involve water sports). Some songs do deviate from the theme, or at least tone it down a little, and while a few serve as a welcome respite, others simply don't have as much personality. The over the top raunch is Keith's main focus, and that's where the vast majority of the album's most imaginative rhymes come from. That makes Sex Style a polarizing entry in Keith's catalog. Musically, it's one of his most consistent solo outings, especially if you're just looking at the ones under his own name. It definitely benefits from production by KutMasta Kurt, who may not be as wildly inventive as Dan the Automator, but knows how to frame Keith's idiosyncratic flow with deep, funky beats. Thus, the album is borderline necessary for Keith fans; it really depends on your tolerance for the extremity of songs like "Sex Style," "Don't Crush It," "Make Up Your Mind," "Regular Girl," "Little Girls," or "Lovely Lady." But it is a chance to hear one of the freakiest rappers of all time at his freakiest.

http://www.mediafire...797z7zhosoyanzv

[my bloody arcanine]

9PM is like 4 or 5 am in my timezone so i'll be asleep, sorry. i will listen to the albums tho.

[Liquid Snake]

12 is more than I expected

[rei]

i care!

[Apathy]

Dizzee Rascal- Boy In Da Corner

GRIME

At only 18 years of age, British MC Dizzee Rascal made a strikingly audacious debut with Boy In Da Corner. Born of the UK garage/2-step scene, but inspired by the dark lyrical content of American hip-hop (Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep), Dizzee combines these influences to form his own distinctive style. Boy In Da Corner sounded almost frightening when it arrived, welding squelching jungle bass to the helium raps of a boy whose voice seemed barely to have broken. The astonishing quality of the then 18-year-old Dizzee's production, with its whistling cyber-chimes and pizzicato strings, could not mask the record's clammy mixture of fear, aggression and yearning, describing an emotional state too near the edge to allow relaxation or trust. It was a true transmission from Dizzee's own burning brain. It was also from the council-estate life that still suffers from a cultural apartheid in Britain, examined from a distance as a problem or jeered at as the preserve of "chavs", but otherwise invisible.

http://www.mediafire.com/?m2ycgihzxxk

[Exiled]

Little Women - Throat

skipped/10

Lewis & Clarke - Blasts of Holy Birth

8/10

the album is very soothing and will be listenable when I'm undergoing stress or when I need to relax.

Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

5/10

nothing special for me

Kool Keith - Sex Style

9/10

the opening track solidified the entire concept of the album and I like Keith's flow throughout the album

Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner

6/10

I don't feel most of the songs on this album except for maybe one, and that sampled Billy Squire

[Liquid Snake]

Manchester Orchestra are very different from Brand New and not even close to Weezer.

[based greg]

Manchester Orchestra are very different from Brand New and not even close to Weezer.

Kevin Devine, Jesse Lacey, and Andrew Hull.

All sing each others songs, in duets / trio's.

I see a lot of similarities drawn from the bands.

Like Kevin Devine and Andy Hull( When he did Like a virgin losing a child)

I mean I know they all 'know' each other but in the studio they do a lot of collaborations n'things so to say they sound nothing a like is bullshit.

[Aaron]

blue & exile album has been my favorite by far. show me the good life is mint.

manchester orchestra urhhh,, i usually dislike stuff with the tag indie but these guys are alright.

could someone tell me what time GMT we meet on IRC?

[Liquid Snake]

Manchester Orchestra are very different from Brand New and not even close to Weezer.

Kevin Devine, Jesse Lacey, and Andrew Hull.

All sing each others songs, in duets / trio's.

I see a lot of similarities drawn from the bands.

Like Kevin Devine and Andy Hull( When he did Like a virgin losing a child)

I mean I know they all 'know' each other but in the studio they do a lot of collaborations n'things so to say they sound nothing a like is bullshit.

So just because they are buddies they must all make music that sounds alike? I can name many friendships and collaborations between musicians that don't sound anything alike. Comparing Manchester Orchestra to Brand New is so unimaginative. I'm not trying to say the bands are opposites but there are better comparisons to be made.