Featured Selections

Apoptygma Berzerk, You and Me Against the World (14)

Apoptygma’s Stephan Groth met stiff scene resistance in shifting from earlier, harsh attack EBM to the kind of epic synth rock exhibited here to great effect. Naturally, cries of ’sellout’ and fan rebellion were followed by the album achieving runaway success, particularly in Tokio Hotel-loving Germany. Anthemic, crashing chords tear the roof off with tracks like “In This Together” and the gripping “Cambodia.”

Asobi Seksu, Hush (12)

Asobi Seksu return with more immaculate, Lush-esque twee dreampop.

Autechre, Amber (11)
-, Incunabula (11)

Before they got self-consciously experimental to the point of becoming ‘difficult’ music, Autechre put out some wonderfully melodic IDM in Incunabula and Amber, which would be followed shortly after by Tri Repetae.

Scooter, Jumping All Over the World (24)

It’s Scooter. Jumping All Over the Place is pretty much self-descriptive.



See Also

Apples in Stereo, The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone (12)
-, Let’s Go! (5)
-, Velocity of Sound (11)
-, Her Wallpaper Reverie (15)
-, Tone Soul Evolution (14)
-, Look Away (5)
-, Science Faire (13)

A Camp, Stronger Than Jesus (1)

Ace of Base, Wheel of Fortune 2009 (2)

And One, Frontfeuer (5)

Apoptygma Berzerk, Welcome to Earth (13)
-, 7 (10)
-, Apocalyptic Manifesto (12)

A Shoreline Dream, Recollections of Memory (10)

Beirut, March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland (11)

Belle and Sebastian, The BBC Sessions (14)

Gavin Bryars, Amjad (17)

Claire Voyant, Time and the Maiden (13)
-, Time Again (13)
-, Love Is Blind (10)

Clannad, An Diolaim (14)

Download, Charlie’s Family (9)

Faith & The Muse, Annwyn Beneath the Waves (14)
-, Elyria (14)
-, The Burning Season (12)

Faunts, Feel.Love.Thinking.Of (10)

Front 242, Pulse (12)
-, Still & Raw (6)
-, Headhunter 2000 (9+8)
-, Re-Boot Live ‘98 (12)

Grizzly Bear, Yellow House (10)
-, Friend EP (10)

Gus Gus, Need in Me (4)

Jean Michel Jarre, Oxygene (6)
-, Equinoxe (8)
-, Les Chants Magnetiques (5)

Cevin Key, Music for Cats (13)

Kill Hannah, Hope for the Hopeless (10)

Ladytron, 604 Remixes (13)

LCD Soundsystem, 45:33 (2)

LFO, Frequencies (14)

Love is Colder Than Death, Mental Traveller (12)

Timo Maas, Subtellite (1)

Nightmare Lodge, Blind Miniatures (8)
-, Tentacled (10)

Nightmares on Wax, A Word of Science (15)

Old 97’s, Hitchhike to Rhome (13)

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (10)

Plateau, Spacecake (16)

Polygon Windows, Surfing on Sine Waves (11)

Praga Khan, Not Strictly Rubens (10)

Ratatat, Mirando (2)

Rhea’s Obsession, Between Earth and Sky (11)
-, Re:Initiation (14)

Robert Rich, React (11)

Gabrielle Roth, Jhoom (5)

Sabres of Paradise, Sabresonic (8)

School of Seven Bells, Iamundernodisguise (2)

Scooter, Jump That Rock (4)

Tindersticks, The Hungry Saw (12)

M. Ward, Hold Time (14)

Wendy & Lisa, White Flags of Winter Chimneys (9)
-, Girl Bros. (13)

soundtrack, The Count of Monte Cristo – musical (13)
-, Coraline (12)

various, Artificial Intelligence (10)
-, Bytes (11)
-, The Evolution of the Groove (9)

Free

Giant Brain, Thorn of Thrones (1)

Melissa Giges, Evident (1)

The Rosebuds, Sweet Beats Troubled Dreams (10)

various, An Introduction to Truth & Soul (12)
-, eMusic Sampler Vol 2 (13)
-, The Wages of Syntax (18)

Spoken Word

Anais Nin, Delta of Venus (4)

Basil Rathbone, Sherlock Holmes – The Unfortunate Tobacconist/The Paradol Chamber (2)

eMusic Feature

Saddle Creek Essentials

Featured Selections

Andrew Bird, Noble Beast (12)

Andrew Bird continues to veer further away from his swing jazz roots with the Bowl of Fire while continuing to produce consistently pleasing pop/folk concoctions, with trademark violin, whistling, and lyrical flourishes to challenge The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy.

Client, Heartland (12)
-, Untitled Remix (12)
-, Xerox Machine (6)

Not as immediately infectious as preceding albums Client and City, Heartland takes a few listens to gell, but ultimately still delivers the retro synthpop with a bit more Gary Glitter stamp and stomp, particularly the Alice Cooper-esque “Lights Go Out” and their cover of Adam Ant’s “Xerox Machine.” The Untitled Remix includes primarily mixes from Heartland plus collaborations with Douglas McCarthy and fellow synthetes Replica.

Stoa, Silmand (13)

More silky-swoopy neoclassical darkwave from ex-Hyperium act Stoa.

Maria Taylor, Lynn Tweeter Flower (11)

Both Taylor and fellow Azure Ray bandmate Orenda Fink get several older solo releases added (below), while Lynn Tweeter Flower represents the latest output of AR’s more straightforward half.



See Also

AFX, Analogue Bubblebath (4)

Duplicate.

Antony and the Johnsons, The Crying Light (10)

Apples in Stereo, Fun Trick Noisemaker (13)

Attrition, Kill the Buddha! (11)

Azure Ray, Hold On Love
-, November (6)
-, The Drinks We Drank Last Night (3)
-, New Resolution (3)

Big Country, Rarities IV (12)
-, Rarities VI (16)

Bola, Mauver (4)

Bon Iver, Blood Bank (4)

Boomkat, A Million Trillion Stars (14)

Bright Eyes, Letting Off the Happiness (10)
-, Easy/Lucky/Free (5)
-, Four Winds (6)
-, When the President Talks to God (1)

Bunnygrunt, Action Pants! (8)
-, Jen-Fi (16)

Crystal Method, Bones Theme – Remixes (3)

Cut Off Your Hands, You & I (12)

Cyberaktif, Nothing Stays (4)
-, Temper (3)

Dälek, Gutter Tactics (11)

Eden, Return to Innocence (12)

Excessive Force, Gentle Death (13)
-, Conquer Your World (12)

The Faint, Danse Macabre (9)

Orenda Fink, Invisible Ones (10)
-, Bloodline (3)

One half of Azure Ray.

Gravity Kills, Gravity Kills (11)
-, Guilty (11)

Gus Gus, Lust/Porn (2)

Hilt, Journey to the Center of the Bowl (16)

Hood, Compilations 1995-2002 (20)
-, Structured Disasters (18)

Icon of Coil, Machines Are Us (14)
-, The Soul Is In The Software (10)
-, Uploadedandremixed (14)
-, Serenity is the Devil (10)

Cevin Key, The Ghost of Each Room (10)
-, The Dragon Experience (11)

Kristeen Young, That’s What It Takes Dear (1)

Love Is Colder Than Death, Oxeia (14)
-, Teignmouth (13)

Modern English, Beautiful People (6)

Mogwai, The Hawk Is Howling (10)

Repost?

Mos Def, Audio 3 (24)

My Brightest Diamond, Shark Remixes Vol 2 (4)

Gary Numan, Jagged (12)

Of Montreal, Jon Brion Remixes EP (5)
-, Mad Decent Remixes (3)

The Pica Beats, All Mysteries Solves Themselves (12)

Planet P Project, Planet P Project (16)

Psykosonik, Unlearn (10)
-, Silicon Jesus (6)
-, Welcome To My Mind (7)

Jorge Reyes, Tomani (8)

Rilo Kiley, The Execution of All Things (3)

Sister Machine Gun, Addiction (5)
-, Not My God (5)
-, Wired/Lung (5)

Maria Taylor, 11:11 (10)
-, Time Lapse Lifeline (1)

Other half of Azure Ray.

The Timelords (KLF), Doctorin’ the TARDIS (5)

Toyko Police Club, Elephant Shell Remixes (5)

X Marks the Pedwalk, Drawback (12)
-, Retrospective 1988-1999 (14)
-, Freaks+ (14)

Xorcist, Insects & Angels (12)

The Watson Twins, Southern Manners (8)

Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Heartcore (12)

Free

Mars Laser, Free Music from Mars (10)

various, Builder Vol 1 (4)
-, Relay the Fallback (9)
-, Supraphon Selections (14)

Spoken Word

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2)

Anais Nin, Henry & June (4)

Ayn Rand, Anthem (12)

Tribute Corner

Amonn-v2, New Year’s Day (1)

Vitamin String Quartet, String in the New Year (12)
-, Performs the Hits of Rock Band (12)

Major additions this month from the Metropolis Records back catalog, featuring Darkwave/EBM/Industrial acts like Clan of Xymox, Combichrist, Covenant, Haujobb, KMFDM, Suicide Commando, Velvet Acid Christ, VNV Nation, and Wumpscut.

Featured Selections

Cranes, Cranes (11)

Cranes choose their eighth album to go eponymous, four years after Particles and Waves. Alison Shaw’s child plaint remains a constant in their dream pop repertoire, backed with the familiar strumming of Jim Shaw, and accompanied by the bell-like tones from their more recent outings.

Gotan Project, Live (24)

As it says on the tin, live renditions of Gotan Project’s electronic-flecked nuevo tango add spice and uncertainty to their more battened-down studio versions. The album covers material from their tours supporting La Revancha del Tango and Lunático, plus two orchestral reworkings.

Sigur Rós, Med sud I eyrum vid spilum endalaust (11)

Translating as “With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly,” the fifth release by Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Rós adds more upbeat whimsy than earlier Hopelandic laments and includes their first song in English, “All Alright.”

Hector Zazou, L’Absence (11)

A companion album to Strong Currents, featuring some of the same featured female vocalists (Nicola Hitchcock of Mandalay, Caroline Lavelle, Emma Stow) plus others including actress Asia Argento, and a rare male voice by the French singer Edo. Sadly, among the last of Zazou’s collaborative efforts before his untimely death late last year.


Special Star Wars Copyright Challenge

Boba Fettt, Meisters des Universums (16)


See Also

Air Miami, Sixteen Songs (18)
-, Fourteen Songs (14)

And One, Bodypop (12)

Repost.

Apoptygma Berzerk, Harmonizer (11)
-, APBL2000 (13)
-, Singles Collection (13+18)
-, Soli Deo Gloria (14)
-, Kathy’s Song (6)
-, Black (10)

At the Drive-In, This Station Is Non-Operational (18)

The Breeders, Last Splash (2)
-, Off You (3)

Bright Eyes

Anne Clark, The Law Is An Anagram of Wealth (12)
-, To Love And Be Loved (10)
-, The Smallest Acts of Kindness (12)
-, Unstill Life (13)
-, Psychometry (19)

Holly Cole, Baby It’s Cold Outside (13)

Noel Coward, Sings Sail Away And Other Coward Rarities (26)

Cut Copy, Far Away (7)

Gigi D’Agostino, L’Amour Toujours II (15+15)

Danú, Think Before You Think (13)

Decemberists, 5 Songs EP (6)

Duplicate.

Deerhunter, Weird Era Cont (13)

Eels, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (17+16)

Repost.

Faithless, A Kind of Peace (4)

Forthcoming Fire, Ekhnaton (14)
-, Illumination? (14)
-, Je Suis (12)
-, Watching Rome Burn (11)

John Foxx, Cathedral Oceans I & II (11+10)

Frightened Rabbit, It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop (1)

Hybrid, Symphony (4)

Jega, Geometry (13)
-, Spectrum (16)
-, Type Xer0 EP (4)

Juno Reactor, Transmissions (9)
-, Luciana (1)
-, Beyond the Infinite (8)
-, Bible of Dreams (8)
-, Shango (9)
-, Labyrinth (9)
-, Gods & Monsters (9)
-, Pistolero (7)
-, Masters of the Universe (5)
-, Hotaka (4)

Ken Kase Group, Extended Play – No Waiting (5)

KRS-One, KRS-One Digital (20)

Ladyhawke, Paris Is Burning (6)

Daniel Lanois, Rockets (10)
-, Here Is What Is (18)

Malicorne, Nous sommes chanteurs de sornettes (Malicorne IV) (10)
-, Quintessence (11)

M.I.A., Mausen (6)

Alannah Myles, Black Velvet (11)

Michael Nyman, MGV & Piano Concerto (9)

O’Death, One (5)

Rasputina, Frustration Plantation – Bonus Disc (9)

Duplicate.

Rilo Kiley, The Execution of All Things (12)

Steve Roach & Eric Wøllo, Stream of Thought (19)

Rocket From The Crypt, Group Sounds (13)
-, R.I.P. (20)

The Silent League, Aeroplanes (4)

Smile.dk, Party Around the World (6)

Toyko Police Club, Elephant Shell (11)

Laura Veirs, Two Beers Veirs (5)

Veruca Salt, IV (14)

Wumpscut, Music for a Slaughtering Tribe II (14)

soundtrack, Anne of Green Gables – Off Broadway cast (16)

Free

BLK JKS, Mystery EP (4)

Spoken Word

The Kama Sutra – Abridged (4)

Tribute Corner

Amonn-v2, A View To A Kill (1)
-, Be Bop A Lula (1)
-, Justify My Love (1)
-, Venus (1)
-, Anybody Seen My Baby (1)

Dan McKie vs Orbital, Halcyon Again (3)

Hampton String Quartet, The Off White Album (14)

Los Straitjackets, Smells Like Teen Spirit (1)

Featured Selections

Au Revoir Simone, Reverse Migration (13)

Remix collection of the entirety of 2007’s The Bird of Music, with “Sad Song” and “The Lucky One” both earning double dips. Some tracks are actually more stripped down rather than built up, such as the spare Slow Club mix of “The Lucky One” which concludes in a rousingly messy chorus round.

Lisa Hannigan, Sea Sew (10)

Longtime musical partner of Damien Rice, Irish sweetheart Hannigan was set free amid some untoward drama, but confidently breaks out on her own on Sea Sew. The album enjoyed early success with the leadoff single “Lille.”

Ladyhawke, Ladyhawke (12)

Kiwi Pip Brown plunders the dusty chest of 80s pop and pulls off the new-new wave secret soundtrack to a John Hughes film that never was.

Ulrich Schnauss, Goodbye (10)

Schnauss moves on from his homage to 70s space rock like Tangerine Dream to epic 90s shoegaze like Slowdive and SoulWhirlingSomewhere, right from the aching swell of opener “Never Be the Same” with its crashing synth waves under blissed out vocals. Music for dreams to ascend into.

See Also

4 Clubbers, Secrets/Sonar (2)

Christina Aguilera, Just Be Free (12)

Asobi Seksu, Me & Mary (2)

Tracy Bonham, In the City + In the Woods (11)

Carla Bruni, No Promises (11)
-, Comme si de rien n’était (14)

Bush, Zen X Four (9)

Cobalt 60, Elemental (12)

Cujo, Adventures in Foam (18)

Ani DiFranco, Little Plastic Castle Remixes (4)

DJ Spooky, Collected Ambient Tracks (12)

Final Fantasy, Plays to Please (6)

Fisher, She Kissed Me (1)
-, Remind Me (1)
-, Closer (1)

Folksongs for the Afterlife, Put Danger Back in Your Life (11)

Repost.

Johann Johannsson, Forlândia (11)

The Handsome Family, Last Days of Wonder (12)
-, In the Forest of Missing Airplanes (3)

Hybrid, Fall Out of Love (8)

Katzenjammer Kabarett, Grand Guignol & Varietes (12)

Lacuna Coil, Visual Karma – Live at Wacken 2007 (12)

Cyndi Lauper, Shine (5)
-, Shine Remixes (6)

Lovespirals, This Truth (9)

Malicorne, Le Mariage Anglais (10)
-, Colin (11)

Material, Seven Souls (10)

Mediaeval Baebes, Miracle (3)

Ingrid Michaelson, Be OK (11)
-, Slow the Rain (9)

Lisa Miskovsky, Still Alive (Theme from Mirror’s Edge) (11)

Gary Numan, New Dreams for Old (19)
-, Scarred (12+10)

The Orb, Vuja De (7)

Plastic Bertrand, Dandy Bandit (11)

The Postmarks, By the Numbers (12)

Rajna, Duality (12)

Rasputina, Frustration Plantation – Bonus (9)

The Raveonettes, Wishing You a Rave Christmas (4)

Robert, Sourde Et Aveugle (12)

Shallow, CD Laser Lens Cleaner (6)

Stars, Sad Robots (6)

Miriam Stockley, Second Nature (10)

aka “The Voice of Adiemus”

Suicidal Tendencies, Suicidal Tendencies – remastered (12)

Taras Bulba, Sketches of Babel (10)
-, Peyote Moon (12)
-, Basta Cosi (3)
-, Von der Wahrheit (3)
-, Shiva Diva (3)

Throbbing Gristle, Thirty-Second Annual Report (9)

The Tiger Lillies, The Little Matchgirl (12)
-, Die Weberischen (14)

Trance Mission, Obsession (10)

Trentemøller, Remixed (5)

Vanilla Ice, Vanilla Ice Is Back! – Hip Hop Classics (12)

John Williams, Raiders of the Lost Ark (22)
-, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (22)
-, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (19)

New Musical Cast, Phantom of the Opera (13)
-, Mama Mia! (12)
-, Valley Girl (12)
-, Valley Girl Singalong (12)

soundtrack, Boom Blox (18)
-, Dead Space (17)
-, The Marvelous Wonderettes (12)
-, Need for Speed Undercover – Paul Haslinger (19)
-, Saw V (12)
-, Were the World Mine (12)

Free

various, BBC Music Magazine Sampler (13)
-, Deep Elm Sampler No. 8 (16)
-, Fiscal Apocalypse 2008 (15)
-, Mint Records Ridiculously Late eMusic Sampler (7)
-, Redeye 2008 Holiday Sampler (13)
-, So Indie It Hurts: ROIR Rocks Volume 1 (11)

Spoken Word

Sherlock Holmes (Sir John Gielgud) – Doctor Watson Meets/The Final Problem (2)

Value

Fear Falls Burning, Fear Falls Burning + Nadja (6)
-, Frenzy of the Absolute (6)

Kronos Quartet, Plays Holmgreen (4)

eMusic Features

Halloween Ear Candy

Featured Selections

Ani DiFranco

Queen of independent alternative folk, Ani DiFranco makes her eMusic debut with a whole mess of albums – from the earliest on her own label Righteous Babe up through recent studio releases.

Lush, Topolino (12)

Along with the sunny change in style Lush showed on Lovelife, they also put out a blizzard of quality B-sides. This Topolino is one of two regional collections of those (the Japanese version having a slightly different track listing), featuring a number of summery gems. Others are included on the singles also added this month.


Scooter, The Age Of Love (11)
-, And the Beat Goes On (11)
-, Back To The Heavyweight Jam (12)
-, Mind The Gap (14)
-, No Time To Chill (12)
-, Our Happy Hardcore (10)
-, Sheffield (12)
-, The Stadium Techno Experience (12)
-, We Bring The Noise (12)
-, Who’s Got The Last Laugh Now? (12)
-, Wicked! (11)

Along with Dune and Blümchen, I spent a lot of time and even more money tracking down these import albums of happy hardcore mainstay Scooter, many of which never made it far out of Germany despite being in English (although they have had significant success in the UK). In addition to the albums above, numerous singles and compilations were also added.

t.A.T.u., Happy Smiles (12)

Despite losing the tabloid allure of their faux teen-lesbian act, t.A.T.u. continues to turn out enjoyable pop albums. And like their prior releases, this saw dual release – first in Russia as Vesyolye Ulybki (Happy Smiles) and then repackaged as Waste Management.


See Also

Ace of Base, Happy Nation – US Version (15)

Kelli Ali, Kids (3)

Animotion, Obsession (2)

The Archies, Greatest Hits – Digitally Remastered (12)
-, Jingle Jangle – Digitally Remastered (12)

Atari Teenage Riot, Burn Berlin Burn (14)

Azam Ali, Elysium For The Brave (9)
-, Elysium Remixes EP1 (5)
-, Elysium Remixes EP2 (5)

Reposts.

Banco De Gaia, 10 Years (11+8)
-, Big Men Cry (7)
-, Farewell Ferengistan (9)
-, Igizeh (9)
-, I Love Baby Cheesy (5)
-, Kara Kum Remixes (4)
-, Live At Glastonbury (9)
-, The Magical Sounds Of (8)
-, Maya (9)
-, Obsidian (4)
-, You Are Here (8)

Beach Boys / Jan & Dean, self-titled (12)

Beach House, Used to Be (2)

Heidi Berry, The Moon and the Sun (4)

Andrew Bird, The Mysterious Production of Eggs (14)
-, Weather Systems (9)

Björk, Army of Me EP (4)
-, Army of Me (4)
-, Big Time Sensuality (7)
-, Nattura (1)
-, Violently Happy (7)

Black Tape for a Blue Girl, The Aflame (4)
-, The Remnants (5)

Blonde Redhead, Elephant Woman (3)

Brian Setzer Orchestra, Christmas Rocks (20)

Michael Brook, Live at the Aquarium (7)

Ane Brun, Changing of the Seasons (14)

Bush, Sixteen Stone (12)
-, Razorblade Suitcase (13)
-, Deconstructed (11)
-, The Science of Things (12)

David Byrne & Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (11)

Tony Carey, Some Tough City (11)

Johnny Cash, Country Boy (11)
-, Folsom Prison Blues (11)
-, The Legendary Performance (16)
-, Ring of Fire – Live San Antonio 1974 (14)
-, Train of Love (10)

CéU, CéU (15)

Chumbawamba, Enough Is Enough (3)
-, Homophobia (4)
-, Ugh! Your Ugly Houses! (4)

Cocteau Twins, Aikea-Guinea (4)
-, Echoes in a Shallow Bay (4)
-, Love’s Easy Tears (4)
-, Lullabies (3)
-, Singles Collection (4)
-, Tiny Dynamine (4)

Chris Connelly, Initials C.C. (13+12)

For more Fini Tribe, check the epic version of “Monster in the House” on One Little Indian’s Greatest Hits Volume 2 (14).

Deerhunter, Microcastle (12)

Delerium, Silence [Lissat & Voltaxx Remix] (4)

Devotchka, Curse Your Little Heart EP (6)

Chöying Drolma & Steve Tibbetts, Selwa (11)

Euphoria, Euphoria (10)
-, Beautiful My Child (12)

John Foxx

Front 242, Moments – Limited Edition (16)

Lisa Gerrard, Abwoon (2)

Gogol Bordello, Live at the Casbah 5/18/2004 (16)
-, Live At Maxwell’s 4/25/2004 (15)

Rachel Goswell, Coastline/Plucked Remixes (4)

Emily Haines with Beausoleil, C’etat dans la Nuit (1)

Neil Halstead, Two Stones in My Pocket (7)

Haddaway, What Is Love – Remix (3)

Handsome Family, In The Air (11)
-, Milk & Scissors (12)
-, Singing Bones (13)
-, Twilight (13)

Her Space Holiday, XOXO Panda and the New Kid Revival (14)

Katjenjammer Kabarett, Katzenjammer Kabarett (14)

Kiln, Sunbox (5)
-, Vaporbend (4)

Kitchens of Distinction, Breathing Fear (4)

Ladytron, Ghosts (Blestenation Mix) (1)

Laibach, Laibach (13)
-, Rekapitulacija (17)

Lambchop, OH ohio (11)

Los Campesinos!, We Are Beautiful We Are Doomed (10)

Lush, For Love (4)
-, Sweetness and Light (3)
-, Black Spring (4)
-, Mad Love (4)
-, Ladykillers (4)
-, Single Girl – 1 (4)
-, Single Girl – 2 (4)

Massive, Not An Angel (10)

Mojave 3, In Love With A View (2)

My Better Half, Twilight – instrumental (1)

Niyaz, Niyaz (10)
-, Remixed (4)

Reposts.

Of Montreal, Skeletal Lamping (15)

Piano Magic, Son De Mar (6)

Duplicate post.

-, Writers Remixed (4)

The Pixies, Velouria (4)
-, Monkey Gone to Heaven (4)
-, Debaser (4)
-, Debaser – live (4)

Preston Klik, Untitled (22)
-, Remixes (4)
-, Remix Reaction Vol 3 (12)

Raveonettes, Beauty Dies (4)

Robert Rich, Illumination (7)

Steve Roach, Dreaming…Now, Then (12+9)
-, Landmass (6)

Scheer, Wish You Were Dead (4)

Scooter, 24 Carat Gold (24)
-, The Age Of Love EP (3)
-, Aiii Shot The DJ (3)
-, Apache Rocks The Bottom! (5)
-, Back In The U.K. (4)
-, Break It Up (3)
-, Call Me Manana (3)
-, Encore – Live and Direct (18)
-, Endless Summer (3)
-, Fasterharderscooter (4)
-, Fire (4)
-, Five Essentials (5)
-, Friends (4)
-, Fuck The Millennium (3)
-, Hello! – Good To Be Back (4)
-, How Much Is The Fish? (4)
-, Hyper Hyper (3)
-, I’m Raving (4)
-, I’m Your Pusher (4)
-, Jigga Jigga! (4)
-, Let Me Be Your Valentine (4)
-, Live – 10th Anniversary (13)
-, Maria – I Like It Loud (4)
-, Move Your Ass! (3)
-, Nessaja (4)
-, The Night (5)
-, No Fate (5)
-, Posse – I Need You On The Floor (4)
-, Push The Beat For This Jam (19+13)
-, The Countdown (1)
-, The Question Is What Is The Question? (4)
-, Ramp! – The Logical Song (4)
-, Rebel Yell (3)
-, Rough And Tough And Dangerous (16+13)
-, Shake That! (4)
-, Shake That! – Remix (4)
-, She’s The Sun (3)
-, Suavemente (5)
-, We Are The Greatest (4)
-, Weekend! (4)

The Shamen, Boss Drum – CD1 (4)
-, L.S.I. EP (4)
-, Make It Mine (4)
-, Move Any Mountain ‘96 (4)
-, S.O.S. (4)
-, Transamazonia – CD2 (7)

Vonda Shepard, By 7:30 (13)
-, It’s Good Eve (12)
-, Chinatown (13)
-, Live (14)

Sneaker Pimps, Becoming Remixed (10)
-, Low Five – CD1 (3)
-, Low Five – CD2 (3)
-, Tesko Suicide (3)

Sonique, Why (4)

Spirea X, Chlorine Dream (3)

Stellamara, The Seven Valleys (12)

Repost.

Sugarcubes, Regina (4)

Terem Quartet, Dog’s Waltz (13)

Emiliana Torrini, To Be Free – CD2 (3)

Trentemøller, Serenetti (3)

Tweaker, The Attraction To All Things Uncertain (13)
-, Linoleum EP (9)

Unrest, Cath Carroll (4)

Chris Vrenna, American McGee’s Alice (20)

Repost.

Windy & Carl, Songs for the Broken Hearted (10)

Wire

various, All Virgos Are Mad (12)
-, Eden – A Collection of Global Chill (11)
-, Facing the Wrong Way (13)
-, Highlander – The Original Scores (16)
-, Lilliput (16+12)
-, Nerdcore Rising Soundtrack (15)
-, Rocky Horror International (17)
-, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (16)
-, The Rocky Horror Picture Show – Audience Participation (2)
-, The Rocky Horror Show – Original Roxy Cast (17)
-, Six Degrees Rarities (9)
-, TOKYOPOP Presents J-Pop Volume 2 (10)

Spoken Word

Orson Welles, War of the Worlds (1)

Tribute Corner

In Strict Confidence, The Sun Always Shines On TV (2)

Derek Marin, A Tribute to Depeche Mode (20)
-, Modemix (18)

Topmodelz, Maniac (4)

Cover of the Michael Sembello hit.

various, Perfect As Cats – Tribute to the Cure (17+20)
-, My X-File (15)

Value

Byron Metcalf, Nada Terma (1)

Featured Selections

Handsome Family, Through the Trees (13)

Funny story – my friend TNG played this alt-country couple’s album essentially non-stop for six months in an office we shared, and I hated it. Now I can’t live without it. I have since sampled the rest of their catalog, and while still quality all, they never top the lyrical genius and sublime modesty of tracks like “Weightless Again”, “My Sister’s Tiny Hands”, “Giant of Illinois” and “The Woman Downstairs.”

The Notwist, Neon Golden (13)

Glitch acoustic-inflected marginal pop, of the Ms. John Soda vein. “Consequence” will remind you of something you can never quite pin down.

Ulrich Schnauss, A Strangely Isolated Place (8)
-, Far Away Trains Passing By (6+6)
-, Passing By (4)

Ulrich Schnauss started out in homage to early Tangerine Dream and gradually evolves over multiple releases into warm 90s shoegazer ambience, sounding like instrumentals left off Slowdive’s Souvlaki.

Hector Zazou & Swara, In the House of Mirrors (10)

It came as a shock to discover that Hector Zazou had died, which I found out simply by reading a user review of this, his final collaboration.


Best Metaphoric Cover

Richard Strauss, Elektra (10+12)

Presumably meant to capture the titular character as “the personification of the passionate lust for vengeance.”

See Also
All Girl Summer Fun Band, Looking Into It (11)

Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam (9)
-, Water Curses (4)

Tori Amos, Live at Montreux 91/92 (16)

Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say That’s What I’m Not (13)

Björk, Dull Flame of Desire (6)

black tape for a blue girl, The Pleasures Everlasting (4)
-, the first pain to linger (7)

Harold Budd, A Song for Lost Blossoms (7)

Tony Carey, Blue Highway (10)

Caribou, Up in Flames (10+6)
-, Start Breaking My Heart (10+10)

Featuring the insouciant title of disc 2, track 8.

Cassette Electrik, Electromagnetic (10)
-, 28 Days (4)

Cassettes Won’t Listen, Freeze and Explode (6)

The Cinematic Orchestra, Ma Fleur (10)

Anne Clark, Wordprocessing (11)

Josie Cotton, Movie Disaster Music (11)

Daft Punk, Leftovers (12)

Matthew Dear, Asa Breed Black Edition (17)

Four Tet, Rounds (10)
-, Pause (11)
-, Everything Ecstatic (10)
-, Everything Ecstatic Part 2 (5)
-, Ringer (4)

John Foxx, Modern Art – The Very Best (18)

Front 242, Moments 1 (18)

The Gathering, Downfall – the Early Years (14+13)

Golden Girls, Kinetic (2)

Grouper, Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill (12)

Halou, Halou (14)

Handsome Family, Odessa (14)

Mickey Hart, Planet Drum Supralingua (16)

Kirsty Hawkshaw vs Arnold T, Good To Be Alive (8)

Gemma Hayes, Hollow of Morning (10)

Horse Feathers, House With No Home (11)

Human Drama, Moments in Time (15)
-, Feel (16)
-, The Best Of (16)

Ladytron, Runaway – single (4)
-, Runaway EP1 (4)
-, Runaway EP2 (4)

Laika & The Cosmonauts, Cosmopolis (27)

The Levellers, Letters from the Underground (11)

Annbjørg Lien, Waltz With Me (10)

Lightspeed Champion, Falling Off the Lavender Bridge (12)

Lovespirals, Windblown Kiss (10)

Love Spirals Downwards, Idylls [Remastered] (16)

Luscious Jackson, In Search of Manny (7)

Mogwai, Batcat (3)

The Notwist, The Devil You + Me (11)

October Project, Angels We Have Heard (1)

Okkervil River, The Stand Ins (11)

Planar, This Battle Will Make Your Blood Boil (8)

Psychic TV, Peak Hour (11)

Ratatat, Shempi (2)

The Raveonettes, Sometimes They Drop By (4)

Rozalla, Everybody’s Free (12)

Kate Ryan, Alive (17)

Lee Safar, Who I’ve Become (5)

Sebadoh, III (23)
-, Bubble and Scrape (32)
-, The Freed Man (52)

If you have been on the prowl for 90s alt-punk Sebadoh, you might want to still check the bargain bin simply due to the track counts (108 over only 3 albums).

Vonda Shepard, (10)

Sia, The Girl You Lost to Cocaine (2)

The Smithereens, B-Sides The Beatles (12)

Solarstone, Spectrum (3)

Stone Roses, Sally Cinnamon (4)

Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs, Under the Covers Vol. 1 (15)

Kristy Thirsk, Under Cover (4)

Channeling her inner Goldfrapp on “Hourglass” and a slinked-up version of “When Doves Cry.”

Jill Tracy, Diabolical Streak (10)

Tricky, Knowle West Boy (13)

Sven Väth, Accident in Paradise (11)
-, The Harlequin The Robot and the Ballet-Dancer (9)

Way Out West, Spaceman (3)

Robert Wyatt, Comicopera (16)

soundtrack, Bones (13)
-, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (14)
-, The Simpsons – Testify (41)

Free

The Real Tuesday Weld, eMusic Compilation 2008 (10)

various, Global Symphonic Sound (6)

various, Simulacra Records Label Sampler (11)

Spoken Word

Lewis Black, Anticipation (11)

George Carlin, It’s Bad For Ya (28)

Randy Pauch, Time Management (1)

Basil Rathbone, Sherlock Holmes – Tales From Baker Street (2)
-, Tales from Baker Street [2] (2)

Tribute Corner

various, Time After Time Vol 3 (12)

Value

Tom Green, Music for MRI Scanners (3)

Featured Selections

Blümchen, Best Of (33)

A fantastic double-album collecting Blümchen’s hits from the happy hardcore of Herzfrequenz to the sophisticated dance-pop of Die Welt Gehört Dir, plus numerous remixes.
[ed. note: Under the revised album credits system, this is an even better bargain - 33 tracks as a 12-credit album.]

Nina Deli, Bricolage (6)

A MySpace discovery, Nina produces hushed post-triphop atmospheric balladry.

Hybrid, Soundsystem 01 (15+12)

Despite being a mix collection featuring numerous high-profile electronic beat artists (Trentemøller, Sasha, Spooky) the composition and prevailing mood frame a much quieter, downtempo, emotive experience anchored by film composers like Harry Gregson-Williams (Kingdom of Heaven, Man on Fire) and John Murphy (28 Days Later, Sunshine).

Ra Ra Riot, The Rhumb Line (10)

Debut album by act often described as a cross between Arcade Fire’s majestic scoring and Vampire Weekend’s jittery pop. Includes their cover of Kate Bush’s “Suspended in Gaffa.”

See Also

Amber, No More Tears (7)

The Archies, Bubble Gum Friends (27)

Archon Satani, Mind of Flesh & Bones (5)

Emilie Autumn, Opheliac (20)
-, 4 O’Clock EP (9)

Blümchen,
-, Verliebt (12)
-, Verliebt – The Fanedition (14)

George Carlin, Early Comedy Dayz (7)

Alice Cooper, Along Came a Spider (11)

Gigi D’Agostino, Suono Libero (17+23)

Vanessa Daou, Zipless (10)
-, Slow to Burn (11)
-, Plutonium Glow (14)
-, Head Music (9)
-, Make You Love (12)

Durutti Column, Treatise on the Steppenwolf (14)

Elsiane, Hybrid (11)

Extreme, Saudades De Rock (13)

Fila Brazilia, The Life and Times of Phoebus Brumal (14)

Fragile Porcelain Mice, The Best of Modern Rock (16)

Gescom, Key nell (4)
-, ISS:SA (5)

Juliana Hatfield, How to Walk Aawy (10)

Head Like A Kite, No Ordinary Caveman (6)

Inanna, Day Ov Torment (9)

Jack Off Jill, Sexless Demons and Scars (14)

Milou Largo, Entre Le Monde Et Moi (18)

Mira, Eve Dönmeliyim (13)

Monkey (Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett), Journey to the West (22)

Ennio Morricone, Malena (18)
-, Il Fantasma Dell’Opera (15)

Motorhead, Motorizer (11)

Jennifer O’Connor, Here With Me (12)

Outta Control, Sinful Wishes (11)

Plastic Bertrand, Plastic Bertrand (19)

The Polyphonic Spree, Live from Austin TX (9)

Speaking Silence, Insides (13)

Steve Roach, Empetus (9+2)

Stray Cats, Hollywood Blues (15)

Sunscreem, O3 (13)

Matthew Sweet, Sunshine Lies (13)

System 7, Golden Section (10)

This Ascension, Walk Softly A Dream Lies Here (9)
-, Light and Shade (9)
-, Tears in Rain (9)

Emiliana Torrini, Me and Armini (2)

Brian Tyler, Bug score (15)

Vidna Obamana/Sam Rosenthal, Terrace of Memories (5)

The Walkmen, You & Me (14)

various, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (19)

Free

The Postmarks, By the Numbers – 8 (1)

various, Over a Dozen Flavors (14)

Spoken Word

H. Jacoby, Phantom of the Opera – The Radio Broadcast of 1943 (4)

Tribute Corner

Barnicle, I Kissed a Girl (1)

Down in June, Covers Death In June (14)

Pickin’ On, Biggest Hits of the 1980s Vol 1 (15)

Scala & Kolacny Brothers, It All Leads To This (15)

Star 13, I’m Afraid of Americans (1)

Studio All Stars, Metallica – Chill Out (11)
-, Evanescence – Chill Out (11)

Vitamin Dub, Dub Tribute to Linkin Park (10)

Vitamin String Quartet, Tribute to Guitar Hero (15)

Voices of Pop, Renditions of Kate Bush (16)

Value

Attrition, This Death House… (2)

Steve Roach, immersion:three (3)

eMusic has (finally?) garnered a Web 2.0 makeover, adding in the obligatory design elements: large type treatments, pastels, glassy controls, AJAX motion, and of course gradients. Each album is also now festooned with related content from YouTube, Flickr, Wikipedia, and 17 other ’social networking’ sites. Fortunately many of these are collapsable so you can avoid them if you’re not doing more than just grabbing an album.

What I find most exciting, in suitably pedantic fashion, is the inclusion of much higher resolution album artwork. eMusic still features a lot of releases that are difficult to source elsewhere, which also includes finding quality cover art. Their prior thumbnails were even smaller than the iTunes default badge, let alone suitable for environments like CoverFlow or the iPod Touch. If you’re appreciably obsessive, you may want to go back into your download library and upgrade some of your album art, although it should be noted that some albums still have only the smaller original image and patchwork default images reminscent of Sierpinski triangles.

Featured Selections

Einstürzende Neubauten, The Jewels (15)

Collection of tracks originally offered to band supporters via the band’s site at neubauten.org. A step back from the more-conventional songcraft of previous works (e.g. Alles Wider Offen) to earlier experimental flair. Doubtless this is due to the origin of the tracks, which were constructed based on idea cards similar to Eno’s “Oblique Strategies” and taking lyrical cues from dreams.

Head Like A Kite, There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere (13)

I originally discovered Head Like A Kite via Pandora suggestion based on a playlist derived from the Cranes, though they sound very little alike. Loud Laughter, HLAK’s second album, takes more chances, covers a wider range of influences, and includes the irrepressive “No Ordinary Caveman.”


Nine Inch Nails, The Slip (10)

Trent Reznor’s online promotion experimentwas to distribute the album digitally for free as a reward to fans (still available on the band’s site). Along with Ghosts I-IV, the album restored my faith that Reznor &co. could still put out quality material that wasn’t generated by the same algorithm and sound blender combination that composed much of The Fragile on. Since you can download the album for free elsewhere, the main motivation to purchase here is to support NIN as you might buying the physical copy.

Ratatat, LP3 (13)

Jubilant rock carnival instrumentals make for infectious playground listening.

The Secret Meeting, Ultrashiver (10)

Collaboration between Curve’s noisemaker Dean Garcia and Collide’s vocalist kaRIN. With Collide already being among the most Curve-esque of the darkwave contingent, the crunch-clash result is the kind of beautiful noise you would expect.


See Also

The Archies, Sugar Sugar (14)

Architecture in Helsinki, Like It Or Not (5)

Beach Boys, Stars & Stripes (12)

Bola, Shapes (9)
-, One (4)

Bubonix, Please Devil Send Me Golden Hair (11)

Can, Out of Reach (7)
-, Inner Space (8)

Csilla, Signifire (13)

Cut Copy, Hearts on Fire (4)

The Damned, The Black Album (12)
-, Machine Gun Etiquette (11)

Dark Sanctuary, Les Memoires Blessees (13)

DJ Spooky, Sound Unbound (45)

Dr. Dog, Fate (11)

The Duke Spirit, Cuts Across the Line (15)

Elephone, Canister (11)

Emerson Lake & Palmer

Future Sound of London, Accelerator Deluxe (12+10)

Haddaway, What Is Love (4)
-, What Is Love Reloaded (5)

When we contact the last remote tribe in the Amazon jungle, they will already recognize this song.

Juliana Hatfield, Bed (10)
-, Juliana’s Pony (13)
-, Beautiful Creature (13)

Lux Aeterna, [a lantern carried in blood and skin] (10)

Malicorne, L’extraordinaire tour de France d’Adélard (11)

Marsheaux, Ghost (2)

Men Without Hats, My Hats Collection (14)

Negativland, Thigmotactic (17)

Gary Numan, Replicas Mixes + Versions (6)

Outta Control, Outta Control (13)
-, One of Us (7)
-, Together In Electric Dreams (8)
-, Tonight It’s Party Time (9)

Emo Phillips, E=MO2 (8)
-, Live at the Hasty Pudding (10)

Pulp, We Love Life (13)

Quivver, Dirty Nails & Vapour Trails (10+10)

Rajna, Door of Serenity (12)
-, Black Tears (17)
-, Otherwise (14)
-, The Heady Wine of Praise (14)\
-, Hidden Temple (12+15)
-, Yahili (12)

Senseless Things, Taking Care of Business (14)
-, Christine Keeler (4)
-, Easy to Smile (4)
-, Homophobic Asshole (4)
-, Is It Too Late (4)
-, Something To Miss (4)

Slowdive, Holding Our Breath (4)
-, Morningrise (3)
-, Slowdive (3)
-, 5 EP (4)

Stray Cats, Very Best Of: Rumble in Brixton (12+12)

Tearwave, Different Shade of Beauty (17)

soundtrack, Dr. Who – Series 3 (28)
-, The Guild Theme Song (1)

From the YouTube series featurning far-more-Internet-famous-now Felicia Day.

-, Hamlet 2 (13)

Free

The Postmarks, By the Numbers – 7 (1)

various, Ba Da Bing Records (11)

Tribute Corner

Floyd, A Chillout Experience (12)

String Tribute Players, Dragonforce String Tribute (10)

Taliesin Orchestra, Rock Rhapsody (10)

Vitamin String Quartet, Tribute to The Cure (14)

RIP George Carlin

Featured Selections

Azure Ray, Azure Ray (11)
-, Burn and Shiver (12)

It’s hard to pinpoint just what stands out about the darkly evocative work of Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor, especially without reference to their following album Hold On Love and its standout “The Devil’s Feet.” The whispery confessionals over quiet strings, strumming, or mysterious clanking make for intimate fare perfect for late night contemplations.

Dead Can Dance, Aion – Remastered (12)
-, Dead Can Dance – Remastered (14)
-, Into the Labyrinth – Remastered (11)
-, The Serpent’s Egg – Remastered (10)
-, Spiritchaser – Remastered (8)
-, Spleen and Ideal – Remastered (9)
-, Toward the Within – Remastered (15)

Almost the entire catalog of Dead Can Dance, evidently remastered – from their goth-rock leanings on their eponymous debut through their trademark medieval ecstacy to the worldbeat of Spiritchaser. Only 1987’s Within the Realm of a Dying Sun is (curiously) absent, which sadly means no “Cantara.”

Ladytron, Velocifero (13)

A continuing shift in sound away from their earliest pure synthpop homage, although not too far astray from Witching Hour. But still, “new Ladytron” is enough for me.


Niyaz, Nine Heavens (9+8)

Second full release from Azam Ali’s electronic collaboration, although this time joined with an album of separate acoustic renderings for contrast. The beats are pulled back (or rendered more natural) compared to the debut, and with the acoustic arrangements this runs closer to the ethno-ambient continuum already inhabited by her work with Vas. Gradually they are becoming more like the aggressive-folk sound of Sweden’s Hedningarna and less like a Persian Delerium, which actually adds to their distinctiveness.

Stray Cats, Choo Choo Hot Fish (11)

You may have heard “Elvis on Velvet” when it was in heavy rotation back in the summer of 1994, a bit of a surprise hit given the general absence of rockabilly from the 90s and the struggles of the band to stay together between albums. The rest of the album besides the breakneck “Elvis” is a good mix of old-school Setzer swing plus classic instrumentals like “Sleepwalk” and the Chris Isaak-esque “Jade Idol.”

See Also

Aarktica, Bleeding Light (8)
-, Matchless (8)
-, Pure Tone Audiometry (7)

Adele, 19 (12)

Alpha, Without Some Help (11)

Arcana, Raspail (10)

Bitter:Sweet, Drama (13)

Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Scarecrow (5)

Mari Boine, In the Hand of the Night (12)

Camper Van Beethoven, Popular Songs of Enduring Strength and Beauty (18)

Eliza Carthy, Dreams of Breathing Underwater (11)

Chandeen, Teenage Poetry (11)

Collide, Live at the El Rey (16)

Gigi D’Agostino, The Greatest Hits (10)

Delerium, Chillout Friends (17)

Not a new album but a theme compilation of similar artists, including ambient side-project Synaesthesia.

The Dreaming, Etched in Blood (11)

Featuring Chris Hall (former vocalist of Stabbing Westward) in a rock setting versus the industrial feel of SW. Would have been awesome in 1988.

The Durutti Column, Sunlight to Blue…Blue To Blackness (11)

Hybrid, Gravastar/Celebrity Science (2)
-, Visible Noise / Know Your Enemy (3)

Justice, Cross (12)

Mogwai, Come On Die Young (12)

Monolake, Hongkong Remastered (6)

Mötley Crüe, Saints of Los Angeles (13)

Sarah Nixey, Le Temps De L’Amour (2)
-, When I’m Here With You – Mixes (4)

Nomo, Ghost Rock (9)

Gary Numan, Exile (9)
-, Pure (11)

Michael Nyman, 8 Lust Songs (8)

The Orb, The Dream (15)

Piano Magic, Disaffected (11)

Maddy Prior & June Tabor, Silly Sisters (13)

Scanner, Sound Polaroids (6)

Looks to be the same as the originally-posted Scanner+Tonne version.

A Shoreline Dream, NeverChanger (3)

Featuring Ulrich Schnauss.

Si-Se, More Shine (12)

Spanish-flavored downtempo.

Synaesthesia, Embody (7)

Maria Taylor with Andy LeMaster, Savannah Drive (7)

Tearwave, Tearwave (10)

Sally Timms & John Langford, Songs of False Hope and High Values (12)

Trance to the Sun, Spiders, Aether & Rain (13)

Two Lone Swordsmen, Emissions Archive Vol 1 (10)

Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend (11)

Vidna Obmana, Passage in Beauty (8)
-, Shadowing in Sorrow (7)
-, Ending Mirage (6)

Together these make up the out-of-print Trilogy collection of early albums converted from LP.

Voltaire, Ooky Spooky (11)

The Weepies, Happiness (8)

Wolfsheim, Pop Killer (12)

soundtrack, The Running Man (Harold Faltermeyer) (17)

studio cast, Songs From: Phantom of the Opera (16)

Christine suffers from a touch of lisp, the Phantom hams a bit, and the orchestra remains overly muted, but generally competent. Last 4 tracks are from “Sunset Boulevard.”

Favorite Artist Name/Reference

Marty McFly, This Is Heavy (4)

Free

The Postmarks, By the Numbers – 6 (1)

various, 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival Sampler (13+12)

various, Chemikal Underground Sampler (6)

various, Prestige/Rudy Van Gelder Sampler (5)

various, White Whale Records Sampler V.1 (7)

Spoken Word

Allen Ginsberg, Howl (6)

Bertrand Russell, 20th Century Philosopher (25)

Orson Welles, War of the Worlds (1)
-, Best Of (10)

Tribute Corner

Pickin On’, The Bluegrass Tribute to Guns ‘N Roses (10)

Some of these (“Welcome to the Jungle”) would fit in quite comfortably on Dr. Demento, while the ballads stand up pretty well and the arrangement for “Paradise City” is surprisingly apt.

-, The Bluegrass Tribute to Classic Rock Volume 2 (15)

Creedence Clearwater Revival makes a pretty smooth conversion, while “Don’t Fear the Reaper” is a natural fit.

Value

Darla Bliss Out Series: “The Darla Records Bliss Out series was created as a venue for uniquely qualified artists who work with more ambience, melody & mood than most to have the opportunity to step off their career path and showcase their epic musical Om.”

1. Flowchart, Tenjira (4)
2. Windy & Carl, Antarctica (3)
3. Orange Cake Mix, Silver Lining Underwater (13)
4. AMP, Perception (no longer available)
5. Fuxa, Venoy (2)
6. Tomorrowland, Stereoscopic Soundwaves (6)
7. Mirza, Anadromous (4)
8. Transient Waves, Wading and Waiting (3)
9. American Analog Set, Late One Sunday (2)
10. Junior Varsity KM, Taking Care of You (not currently available)
11. Sweet Trip, Halica (7)
12. Bright, Blue Christian (7)
13. Piano Magic, A Trick of the Sea (2)
14. The Cat’s Miaow, The Long Goodbye (not currently available)
15. Lilys, Zero Population Growth (6)
16. Technicolor, Normal Control Range (9)
17. Mus, Aida (2)
18. Aarktica, Or You Could Just Go Through Your Whole Life and Be Happy Anyway (7)
19. Japancakes, Belmondo (6)
20. Manual, The North Shore (7)

Scanner, Audiosphere (2)
-, The Crystalline Address (2)

Sunn O))), White 2 (3)

Featured Selections

Aphex Twin, Classics (13)

Early works by Richard D. James are more emblematic of his AFX moniker than later squelch-hop compositions as the Twin. While we wait on Warp to release those later works, this is a welcome addition to the Selected Ambient Works collection already available. Particular standouts include the tranceful “Digeridoo” and upbeat “Polynomial-C.”


Firewater, The Golden Hour (13)

We’ve seen a renaissance of superlative Eastern European-influenced indie lately (Beirut, Gogol Bordello, Yeasayers), which makes the return of Firewater less urgent but still very welcome. Five years after their last proper album (2004’s Songs We Should Have Written was built from covers), former Cop Shoot Cop frontman Tod A. introduces further-East influences from his nomadic travels through India, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia as well as some pointed political invective more reminescent of his “angry period” with CSC.

Radiohead, In Rainbows (10)

Much has been made of the manner of the online distribution for In Rainbows, less about the album itself except that it represents a more accessible palette after some of the freakout experiments of Amnesiac and Kid A. Along with the much-remarked-upon online giveaway, what’s also notable about the album is the sheer ubiquity of its distribution. Contrary to the normal split between the Big Four labels appearing only on services like iTunes and Amazon while the ‘independents’ find outlets at eMusic and others. Yet Radiohead has somehow maneuvered no less than Warner to allow their cross-sales of this release across all of the major online services as well as normal distribution. Hopefully this is a sign of the narrowing of the divide, but in the interim, take full advantage now if you missed the earlier “as cheap as free” offer. (Note that this is the 256-bit CBR version of the album, among the highest available through eMusic I’ve seen.)

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upwards (8)
-, Horses in the Sky (6)

Completing the catalogue for the Godspeed! You Black Emperor offshoot The Silver Mt. Zion [insert twee suffix] ‘chamber rock’ collective. Born Into Trouble… is the gem here, with an unhurried majesty that slowly breaks into sparkling vistas.

Hector Zazou, Corps Electriques (9)

Master collaborator Zazou joins with Katie Jane Garside (Daisy Chainsaw, Queen Adreena), Bill Rieflin (Ministry, R.E.M.), Lone Kent, and Nils Petter Molvaer for a more band-like effort compared with earlier compilations of guest vocalists.

See Also

16 Horsepower, Live March 2001 (10+8)

Apocalyptica, Cult (14)

Natacha Atlas, Ana Hina (12)

Attrition, All Mine Enemys Whispers (7)

Banarama, Careless Whispers (2)

Barenaked Ladies, Snacktime (24)

The Bats (Jon Brion), How Pop Can You Get? (13)

Black Tape for a Blue Girl, the best of… (13)

Brother Sun Sister Moon, Luminous (14)

Gavin Bryars, A Man in a Room Gambling (10)
-, Biped – Music for the Dance by Merce Cunningham (6)
-, Lockerbie Memorial Concert (14)
-, A Listening Room (9)
-, On Photography (10)

Tony Carey, A Lonely Life (18)

Solo efforts by frontman for Planet P Project.

Cherry Poppin Daddies, Susquehanna (13)

Cylon, Battlestar EP (2)

The Egg, Forwards (11)

Eggs, Eggs Teenbeat 96 Exploder (24)

Final Fantasy, He Poos Clouds (10)
-, Has A Good Home (15)

Firefox Ak, If I Were A Melody (12)

Paul Giovanni, The Wicker Man (27)

Eerie soundtrack to the original film.

I Am Kloot, Play Moolah Rouge (10)

Jesca Hoop, Kismet (11)

Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers, Ultimate Jive Bunny Party (9+5)

Straightforward megamixes, notably Swing the Mood.

Spike Jones, Cocktails for Two (24)

Junkie XL, Cities in Dust (6)

Remade from the Siouxsie & The Banshees hit.

Matmos, Supreme Balloon (8)

Melodyguild, Aitu (4)

Modey Lemon, Season of Sweet (9)

Mogwai, Young Team – Remastered (10+9)

Morcheeba, Gained the World (4)

Nightwish, Angels Fall (16)
-, Oceanborn (15)
-, Wishmaster (14)

Three slices of pop-friendly goth metal.

Michael Nyman, And Do They Do – Zoo Caprices (13)

P.D.Q. Bach, The Jekyll and Hyde Tour (29)

Piano Magic, Disaffected (10)

Poi Dog Pondering, In Seed Comes Fruit (12)

Scanner, Lauwarm Instrumentals (6)
-, Mass Observation (4)
-, Messe (13)
-, Nemesis (9)
-, The Radiance of a Thousand Suns (7)
-, Sound For Spaces (9)
-, Sulphur (6)
-, Stopstarting (9)
-, Warhol’s Surface (9)

Steve Roach & Jeffrey Fayman, Trance Spirits (7)

Suicidal Tendencies, Freedumb (14)

Sunscreem, Broken English (8)
-, When (9)

Thee Silver Mount Reveries, Pretty Little Lightning Paw (4)

TransGlobal Underground, Moonshout (14)

Tsunami, Deep End (13)

Steve Vai, The Elusive Light & Sound (40)

Including segments from Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (9-16?).

Vampire Weekend, Oxford Comma (2)

Voyager One, Afterhours in the Afterlife (10)

Windsor for the Derby, How We Lost (10)

various, Tokyopop Presents J-Rock Vol 1 (12)

soundtrack, Grand Theft Auto IV: Vladivostok FM (16)

Free

The Impossible Shapes, 9 (8)

The Postmarks, By the Numbers – 5 (1)

Tribute Corner

Abba Alstars, 20 Golden Hits (20)

The London Theatre Orchestra and Cast
The New Musical Cast

New renditions of numerous classic and modern musicals.

Piano Tribute Conservatory, Piano Tribute to Alvin and the Chipmunks (4)

Just in case you wanted to answer the question, “what would schtick musical comedy sound like without the schtick?” by remaking instrumental versions of songs based on chipmunk-speed vocals.

Pickin’ On, Bluegrass Tribute to Classic Rock (14)
-, Pickin’ on Classic Rock (14)

Pink Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd Instrumental Renditions (21)

Tribute to the Sims, Songs in the Key of Simlish (9)

Value

Steve Roach, A Deeper Silence (1)