Engine7 - Me, But Perfect

Engine7 revel in emotional, electronic music. Originally formed as a one-man project by lead provocateur, Glasgow-based Alan McNeill, Engine7 now comprises six members with a bass player, backing vocalists and live video artist accompanying McNeill. ‘Me, But Perfect’ delivers an incendiary slice of modern electronic music, heavily laden with stirring post-rock guitar and bass rhythms, staccato beats, dark and broody atmospherics - all coated with a rich layer of glitched up sonic ambience. Really beautiful electronica!

Artist: Engine7
Album: Me, But Perfect
Year: 2008
Genre: electronica, ambient, idm

Tracks:
1. Sunrise_Catalonia_(7.14am)
2. Me But Perfect (7.48am)
3. Obsessive Compulsive (9.12am)
4. Glitches (10.08am)
5. Tempertantrum (11.36am)
6. Path of LeastResistance (12.42pm)
7. Nichts (2.46pm)
8. A Conversation (4.21pm)
9. The Air Sings (7.08pm)
10. Hive Mind (7.21pm)
11. Goodnight, I Love You (8.07pm)

Official Website (buy from here)
Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Rachel Grimes – Book of Leaves

Rachel Grimes is a core member and pianist for Rachel’s, a fantastic neo-classical/post-rock group (check this post). This is her first solo album, a neo-classical, piano-based album that everyone must listen. Flawless!!

Artist: Rachel Grimes
Album: Book of Leaves
Year: 2009
Genre: neo-classical, ambient, piano

Tracks:
1. Long Before Us
2. Every Morning
3. The Corner Room
4. She Was Here
5. On The Morrow
6. My Dear Companion
7. Far Light
8. Mossgrove
9. Bloodroot
10. At The Pond
11. Starwhite
12. The Side View
13. Every Morning, Birds
14. A Bed of Moss

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here.

Check the comments to listen first.

Johnnytwentythree - JXXIII

Johnnytwentythree is an American instrumental rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio. The band’s first album, “Thirty Pieces Of Silver”, was released in 2004. The album was essentially a soundtrack to a short film by one members of the group, Stephen Imwalle. This is their second album, released in April 2007. They took a different direction and released an Enhanced CD, which contains 3 videos to accompany the music. Really great instrumental, post-rock music! Highly recommended!

Artist: Johnnytwentythree
Album: JXXIII
Year: 2007
Genre: post-rock, instrumental

Tracks:
1. Red Bird
2. Ghost Soldiers
3. Into The Depths
4. Last Exit
5. Fall Of Swords
6. A Minutes Warning

Official Website (buy from here)
Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport

Fuck Buttons is a two-piece experimental, electronic group based in London, England. Formed in late 2004 and signed to the ATP label, they released their fantastic first album, Street Horrrsing, in 2008 and received widespread acclaim. This is their second album released earlier this month:
“The album, ‘Tarot Sport’, is one of unbound possibility and lucid cohesion; a cerebral pilgrimage that refines, crafts, explores and develops the experimental aesthetic of last year’s critically acclaimed debut, ‘Street Horrrsing.’” ATP
One of the best electronic albums of the year! Highly recommended!

Artist: Fuck Buttons
Album: Tarot Sport
Year: 2009
Genre: electronica, experimental, instrumental

Tracks:
1. Surf Solar
2. Rough Steez
3. The Lisbon Maru
4. Olympians
5. Phantom Limb
6. Space Mountain
7. Flight of the Feathered Serpent

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace
BBC Music

Buy from ATP store.
Check the comments to listen first.

Finneyerkes - Bastard

Finneyerkes is an American duo from Alabama/Virginia consisting of Matt Finney and Randy Yerkes. Together they make a mixture of electronica, post-rock and ambient and the result is really beautiful. They have released a number of short albums this year, all available for free download at their myspace page. "Bastard" is my personal favourite! Every should give a try to this one!

Artist: Finneyerkes
Album: Bastard
Year: 2009
Genre: ambient, electronica, post-rock

Tracks:
1. Cobain (feat. Yawning)
2. Mountain lion
3. Keely
4. Lins
5. Chicago
6. Lark
7. Dismix (by Cylon)
8. Honeymoon at the holocaust museum

dotContemporary

Last.fm
MySpace

Download (via)
Get all their releases from their MySpace.

Many thanks for this Matt. Keep it up!

Hauschka - Ferndorf

Hauschka is the alias of German pianist/composer Volker Bertelmann, who currently resides in Düsseldorf. His music combines the sound of piano with modern electronic music and minimalism. Ferndorf is his fourth album, released in 2008. Everyone must give it a try! Excellent!

Artist: Hauschka
Album: Ferndorf
Year: 2008
Genre: electronica, piano, experimental, minimalist, ambient

Tracks:
1. Blue Bicycle
2. Morgenrot
3. Rode Null
4. Freibad
5. Barfuss durch Gras
6. Heimat
7. Nadelwald
8. Schönes Mädchen
9. Eltern
10. Alma
11. Neuschnee
12. Weeks of rain

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from FatCat records
Check the comments to listen first.

Piano Magic - Ovations

Piano Magic is one of the greatest bands around, in my opinion. Glen Johnson, the band's only constant member, has already released a solo album earlier this year (here). Ovations is their 10th album released on October 12th. I don't think there are many bands that can release a masterpiece after ten albums. Ovations features guest appearances by Brendan Perry and Peter Ulrich of Dead Can Dance. Perry sings on The Nightmare Goes On and You Never Loved This City, whilst Ulrich adds percussion and hammered dulcimer to March Of The Atheists, A Fond Farewell and La Cobardía de los Toreros. This album finds Piano Magic at their most confident, melodic and unabashed, merging early 80’s coldwave electronics with Eastern European acoustic instrumentation. A fantastic album, one of the best I've listened so far this year! Highly recommended!

Artist: Piano Magic
Album: Ovations
Year: 2009
Genre: indie, post-rock, electronica, post-punk

Tracks:
1. The Nightmare Goes On
2. March of the Atheists
3. On Edge
4. A Fond Farewell
5. The Blue Hour
6. Recovery Position
7. La Cobardia De Los Toreros
8. You Never Loved This City
9. The Faint Horizon
10. Exit

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace
Wikipedia

Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

Monsieur Minimal - Lollipop

Monsieur Minimal is Christos Tsitroudis, an electronica music composer from Thessaloniki, Greece. This is his first album released in 2008 with The Sound of Everything, a promising Greek electronic label. The album was born through the underground site of the Hellenic indie scene, but evolved into a pop album with excellent response to a very wide range of listeners. Really great debut. Get it now!

Artist: Monsieur Minimal
Album: Lollipop
Year: 2008
Genre: electronica, pop

Tracks:
1. Lollipop (album version)
2. Smile
3. Beautiful
4. Soul
5. Missing You
6. Love Story
7. Love Is A Circle (album version)
8. Silk (album version)
9. BMF
10. Relaxation
11. Lovers
12. Soul (The Flying Silly Brothers remix)
13. BMF (The Flying Silly Brothers remix)

Last.fm
MySpace

Please support this artist. Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

DJ Krush & Toshinori Kondo - Ki-Oku

DJ Krush is known as the father of japanese trip and hip-hop. His sounds create a unique dark downtempo atmosphere. Toshinori Kondo is one of the top trumpeters from Japan. The combination of a turntablist such as Krush and the trumpeting of Kondo seems like it wouldn’t be a match. Yet, the mixture once again proves that Krush’s ability to produce with live musicians creates very impressive and moving results. Amazing album! A must!

Artist: DJ Krush & Toshinori Kondo
Album: Ki-Oku
Year: 1998
Genre: jazz, trip-hop, electronica, downtempo

Tracks:
1. Toh-Sui
2. Tobira-1
3. Mu-Getsu
4. Ha-Doh
5. Sun Is Shining
6. Mu-Chu
7. Tobira-2
8. Fu-Yu
9. Ki-Gen
10. Ko-Ku
11. Shoh-Ka
12. Bu-Seki
13. Tobira-3

Official DJ Krush website
Last.fm
Wikipedia

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Collapse Under The Empire - Crawling

Collapse under the empire is a post-rock band from Hamburg, Germany. I have already posted their previous album, "Systembreakdown". This is a digital single release on Sept. 25th. It comes with two tracks from their upcoming album "Find A Place To Be Safe". The physical CD release is on Nov. 27th 2009!

Artist: Collapse Under The Empire
Album: Crawling
Year: 2009
Genre: post-rock, instrumental
Similar: Systembreakdown, Captured Moments

Tracks:
1. Crawling
2. Captured Moments

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Download

La Maison en petits cubes

La Maison en petits cubes is a Japanese animated short film created by Kunio Katō, with music by Kondo Kenji. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2009. A brilliant film!

More info:
IMDb
Wikipedia
Anime News Network

Watch:


[Via veror.blogspot.com]

Brother/Ghost - Black Ice

Brother/Ghost is a band from Austin, Texas, USA. This is their debut album, released earlier this year. Really nice post-rock/experimental/shoegaze music. Excellent debut! Highly recommended!

Artist: Brother/Ghost
Album: Black Ice
Year: 2009
Genre: post-rock, experimental, shoegaze

Tracks:
1. Black Ice
2. Waal
3. Touch Something and Say Dead
4. Baby Sharks Pt. One
5. Baby Sharks Pt. Two
6. Black Ice Reprise

Blog
Last.fm
MySpace

You can download for a minimum of $1.

Check the comments to listen first.

Ocoai - Breatherman

Ocoai is a US post-rock/post-metal instrumental group from Tennessee, formed in 2006. This is their debut full-length album, released in 2008. Ambient guitars swell into crunching riffs while sparse back beat rhythms develop into a tsunami. A fantastic post-rock/post-metal album! Highly recommended!

Artist: Ocoai
Album: Breatherman
Year: 2008
Genre: post-rock, instrumental, post-metal

Tracks:
1. O Bowen
2. Breatherman
3. Manifestant
4. Pour Rever
5. Babble
6. Lunoir
7. Liberer le Piano

Official Website (buy from here)
Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Epic45 - In All The Empty Houses (EP)

Epic45 is a great British band; I have already posted one of their previous albums here. This is their new album released earlier this year. A beautiful combination of post-rock, shoegaze, electronica and pop. A fantastic band! Highly recommended!

Artist: Epic45
Album: In All The Empty Houses EP
Year: 2009
Genre: shoegaze, electronica, post-rock, ambient

Tracks:
1. We Were Never Here
2. Daylight Ghosts
3. In All The Empty Houses
4. The Future Is Blinding
5. Their Voices In The Rafters
6. Ghosts On Tape


Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from Norman Records.
Check the comments to listen first.

Chinawoman - Party Girl

Chinawoman is a solo recording artist from Toronto, Canada. Her sound can be traced to the exclusive Russian-only clubs of Toronto, where men in silk shirts croon tales of heartache over bossa nova synth, and to the ballet school where Chinawoman spent her youth a spectator of melodrama set to Chopin. Songs are lush with 70’s epic and/or Red Army Choir-style choruses, East-European melodies and restrained low-spoken vocals. All songs are written, performed and engineered by Chinawoman, who plays all the instruments. Chinawoman self-released her debut album “Party Girl” in the spring of 2007. Moscow based label Exotica-Soyuz did a reissue of the album in the fall of 2008. This is a fantastic debut! Dark, melancholic and beautiful! Highly recommended!

Artist: Chinawoman
Album: Party Girl
Year: 2007
Genre: dark, melancholic, folk

Tracks:
1. Lovers are Strangers
2. Aviva
3. Party Girl
4. I Kiss The Hand of My Destroyer
5. Left You at The Farm
6. Friday Night
7. I’ll Be Your Woman
8. Montreal Love Theme
9. Party Girl (Party Mix)

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from CB Baby.
Check the comments to listen first.

The Cat Piano

In a city of singing cats, a lonely beat poet falls for a beautiful siren. When a mysterious dark figure emerges, kidnapping the town’s singers for his twisted musical plans, the poet must save his muse and put an end to the nefarious tune that threatens to destroy the city.

The Cat Piano is a brilliant animated short film directed by Eddie White and Ari Gibson. It features the voice of Nick Cave narrating a poem written by Eddie White. The poem blends Jack Kerouac inspired beat poetry with the romantic and haunting poems of Edgar Allen Poe.

Everyone must watch this one! Absolutely brilliant!

More info:
The Cat Piano official website
The poem
Wikipedia
The People's Republic of Animation (production)
IMDb

Watch:

I am you we are - The Masquerade

I am you we are is a four-piece band from Sweden, formed in 2008. The Masquerade is their debut released last month. Their music is a unique combination of dark folk with experimental music. Many instruments are used (which makes every song in the album unique) such as piano, flute, djembe, accordion, mandolin etc. Really impressive! All in all, a very promising debut that everyone should give a listen. Recommended!

Artist: I am you we are
Album: The Masquerade
Year: 2009
Genre: experimental, dark, folk

Tracks:
1. Love song for the mob
2. Veil
3. Killing Time
4. Elements
5. The Masquerade

Official blog (contact the band to buy)
Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Many thanks for this Anahita! Much appreciated!

Gaza, We Are Coming

In August 2008, two small Greek fishing boats with 44 activists from 17 different countries broke the naval siege, illegally laid by the state of Israel on Gaza, for the first time after 41 years. The mission was the brainchild of the Free Gaza Movement, founded in 2006, who realised that the only realistic way of breaking through the blockade was via the sea. Gaza, We Are Coming, is a special documentary that charts the history of the project to break the blockade of Gaza by sea.

The film was directed by filmmakers Yorgos Avgeropoulos and Yiannis Karipidis and produced by Small Planet. Full list of credits here.

More info:
The Free Gaza Movement (Wikipedia)
Small Planet documentary production company (YouTube)
Al Jazeera English
TVXS.gr (Greek)

Watch:

Supercar - Highvision

Supercar was a Japanese rock band active from 1995 to 2005, and who made their debut in 1997. Their music combines alternative/indie music with electronica. This is their fourth album, released in 2002. Really good!

Artist: Supercar
Album: Highvision
Year: 2002
Genre: indie, electronica

Tracks:
1. Starline
2. Warning Bell
3. Storywriter
4. Aoharu Youth
5. Otogi Nation
6. Strobolights
7. I
8. Yumegiwa Last Boy
9. Nijiiro Darkness
10. Silent Yaritori

Last.fm
Wikipedia
Sunday people - Fan site

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Sonic Flower - Sonic Flower

Sonic Flower is a side project of Japanese Band Church of Misery. Formed in Tokyo, their music is a mixture of stoner rock, psychedelic groove, funk, progressive and even doom metal. This is their first, and only, album so far, released in 2003. Really good album. Recommended for Kyuss fans!

Artist: Sonic Flower
Album: Sonic Flower
Year: 2003
Genre: psychedelic, progressive, stoner

Tracks:
1. Cosmic Highway
2. Black Sunrise
3. Astroqueen
4. Sonic Flower
5. Indian Summer
6. Going Down

Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.