Ólafur Arnalds - ...and they have escaped the weight of darkness

Born in 1987, Ólafur Arnalds hails from the suburban Icelandic town, Mosfellsbær, just a few kilometres outside of Reykjavík. He is an extremely talented artist, who explores the crossover from classical to pop by mixing chamber strings and piano with discreet electronics which makes him a perfect fit for cinematic pop label Erased Tapes. His is previous albums Eulogy for Evolution (already posted in this blog) and Found Songs (available for free here) are awesome. This is his latest album, which is - once again - excellent!

Artist: Ólafur Arnalds
Album: ...and they have escaped the weight of darkness
Year: 2010
Genre: neo-classical, ambient, piano

Tracks:
1. Þú Ert Sólin
2. Þú Ert Jörðin
3. Tunglið
4. Loftið Verður Skyndilega Kalt
5. Kjurrt
6. Gleypa Okkur
7. Hægt, Kemur Ljósið
8. Undan Hulu
9. Þau Hafa Sloppið Undan þunga Myrkursins

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

As The Stars Fall - Tempus Fugit

As The Stars Fall is a French band that plays beautiful ambient/post-rock music with some electronica/trip-hop elements. This is their debut album, released earlier this year. Mesmerising!

Artist: As The Stars Fall
Album: Tempus Fugit
Year: 2010
Genre: ambient, post-rock, electronica

Tracks:
1. From Another Time
2. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
3. A Dead Leaf Dance
4. Some Tears Can Never Dry
5. Frozen River
6. The Road
7. I Gave You a Choice
8. Revolt

Official Website (buy from here)
Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Guests - Moa Anbessa

Gétatchèw Mèkurya is an Ethiopian jazz saxophonist. He began his musical studies on traditional Ethiopian instruments such as the krar and the messengo, and later moved on to the saxophone and the clarinet. The Ex are an anarchist punk band from Amsterdam, They formed in 1979 at the height of the original punk explosion and have released nearly twenty full-length albums. They heard Gétatchèw Mèkurya on Negus of Ethiopian Sax and invited him to perform at their 25th anniversary concert. In turn, Mèkurya asked The Ex to be the backup band for his 2006 album, Moa Anbessa. The album is a mix of studio and live tracks. The melodies are at once stomping, blusterly, joyous, wistful, searching, and triumphant. Very interesting! Highly recommended!

Artist: Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Guests
Album: Mon Anbessa
Year: 2006
Genre: jazz, punk, world

Tracks:
1. Ethiopia Hagere
2. Sethed Seketelat
3. Eywat Setenafegagn
4. Che Belew Shellela
5. Aynamaye Nesh
6. Aynotche Terabu/Shemonmwanaye
7. Musicawi Silt
8. Tezeta
9. Almaz Yeharerwa
10. Tezalegn Yetentu
11. Aha Begena


The Ex official Website
Gétatchèw Mèkurya (Wikipedia)
Last.fm

Buy from here
Check the comments to listen first.

Subheim - Approach

Subheim is the personal project of electronic music composer and visual artist Kostas K., who is also the co-founder of Spectraliquid, an independent label active between 2007 and 2010. Subheim is a downtempo, experimental venture fusing IDM elements with rich ambiance and female vocals by Katja. Complex and uncompromising, Subheim’s debut album on Tympanik Audio is full of intricate rhythms, deep reverbs, and bitcrushed sounds, combined with pianos, cellos, and beautiful synthwork. Haunting melodies and distant voices meet complex beats and luring atmospheres to create a unique blend of dynamics and emotion. "Approach" flirts with post-rock and atmospheric downtempo styles, while still maintaining an original sound that is both captivating and inspirational. Outstanding!

Artist: Subheim
Album: Approach
Year: 2008
Genre: electronica, downtempo, ambient, idm

Tracks:
1. Hush
2. Ybe 76
3. One Step Before The Exit
4. Howl
5. Away
6. Hollow
7. Stranded
8. Intact
9. Voces Perdidas
10. Hollow (rmx by Mobthrow)
11. One Step Before The Exit (reconstructed by Flaque)

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from Tympanik Audio.
Check the comment to listen first.

EZ3kiel - Barb4ry

Founded in 1994, EZ3kiel is a magnet-dub band originating from Tours, France. The band expresses itself in different music genres (electronica, dub, hip-hop etc.) and does lots of experimentation. In their music, beauty and melancholic mood quickly change to aggression and cruelty. The efficiency of EZ3kiel lies in their ability to surprise the audience. During their live performances, they are known for creating a poetic universe with beautiful visuals and graphics, which are made by bass guitarist Yann N’Guema. He uses samples of various photographs, which in combination with the music creates a special audio-visual experience. Bar4ry is their third album, released in 2004, probably their best album to date. Excellent!

Artist: Ez3kiel
Album: Barb4ry
Year: 2004
Genre: electronica, dub

Tracks:
1. Kika
2. Versus
3. Another
4. 3 Rue Montplaisir
5. Phantom Land
6. Tôt Ou Tard
7. Obssd
8. Barb4ry
9. Thought
10. Sûrement
11. Coaxial

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here.
Check he comments to listen first.

Kammerflimmer Kollektief - Wildling

Kammerflimmer Kollektief is an amazing German band. I have already posted their 2003 masterpiece Cicadidae. This is their latest album, released earlier this year. For the first time Heike Aumüller's vocals have an important role in the album, while saxophone parts and free-jazz improvisations, that characterised their previous albums, are limited. Perhaps, Wildling is closer to psychedelia than nu-jazz. A great surprise in my opinion by a fantastic band. Highly recommended!

Artist: Kammerflimmer Kollektief
Album: Wildling
Year: 2010
Genre: electronica, jazz, psychedelic

Tracks:
1. Move Right In
2. Silver Chords
3. Aum A Go-Go
4. In Transition (Version)
5. Spookin' The Horse
6. Blind
7. Rotwelsch
8. Time Is The Fire In Which We Burn
9. Cry Tuff
10. We Paint The Town Beige
11. There's A Crack In Everything
12. Milte Hi Ankhen (aka Bird In Hand)

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from Staubgold.
Check the comments to listen first.

Strangers Die Every Day - Aperture for Departure

Strangers Die Every Day was a post-rock band from Portland, USA, formed in 2003 and disbanded in 2008. Their music is rich with haunting cellos and violins, their sound is a mesh between classical and goth along the lines of Black Heart Procession and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. This is their last full-length album, released in 2008. Beautiful!

Artist: Strangers Die Every Day
Album: Aperture for Departure
Year: 2008
Genre: post-rock, instrumental

Tracks:
1. …And The Blood Shall Spill
2. Aperture for Departure
3. Slow Bike
4. Romanticism
5. Charcoal #1
6. Esther
7. Charcoal #2
8. Safer in the Ground
9. Charcoal #3
10. Bicycle
11. The Dirge

Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen.
Most of the band members have a new project, called Alameda, and have recently released an EP. Check out their website and listen to the EP at their MySpace.

The Crises of Capitalism

An animated lecture by Prof David Harvey (also see Wikipedia) for RSA.org about the crises of capitalism and the growing need for a new responsible and just social order.



Watch original lecture:

sgt. - Perception of causality

Formed in 1999 in Tokyo, Japan, the four-piece sgt. utilises a broad range of genres to create their distinctive sound, including that of post-rock, jazz, ambient and improvisation. Using a guitar, violin, drums and bass guitar, the band creates uplifting instrumental compositions comparable to such acts as toe or Anoice. This is their debut mini album, released in November 2005. Beautiful!

Artist: sgt.
Album: Perception of causality
Year: 2005
Genre: post-rock, instrumental

Tracks:
1. 万能感に関する素描
2. 銀河の車窓から
3. 春風
4. Moewe
5. .......

Official Website (buy from here)
Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

The Q4 - Sound Surroundings

The Q4 (The Quadraphoni Quartet) is a collaboration of three (used to be four = quartet!) Dutch producers: Arts the Beatdoctor, Sense and STW. The band was formed in 2005 in Amsterdam and, since then, they have created an impressive amount of material together, coloured by a wide range of musical influences and artistic collaborations. Although hip-hop is the foundation for all their music, material ranges from jazz & dub to hardcore hip-hop beats and drum & bass. This is their most recent album, released earlier this year. Reminds me of last year's amazing 2econd Class Citizen. Excellent!

Artist: The Q4
Album: Sound Surroundings
Year: 2010
Genre: hip-hop, trip-hop, electronica, downtempo

Tracks:
1. Intro
2. One of These Days
3. Oscuros Angeles (feat. Curra Suarez)
4. Demagogues (feat. PAX)
5. Look Again
6. Goin’ Down (feat. Terryman)
7. My Own Advice (feat. Unorthadox)
8. Pulse (feat. BLS)
9. Split Personality, Pt. II
10. Trouble With Me
11. Trouble Dub (Outro)

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from hhv.de.
Check the comments to listen first.

Distrails - Virginia Creeper

Distrails is a musical duo from North Carolina, composed of vocalist/ guitarist/ percussionist Jared Draughon and pianist/ keyboardist Bitsy Pina. This is their debut album, released in 2008. A unique fusion of piano, lush orchestration, layered sounds, and the phenomenal range of Jared Draughon’s melodic, haunting vocals. Jared Draughon’s mellow, beautiful voice is complemented well by Bitsy Pina’s complex piano themes. This year's EP, "Dry Flies", is also great. Highly recommended!

Artist: Distrails
Album: Virginia Creeper
Year: 2008
Genre: indie, piano

Tracks:
1. Virginia Creeper
2. Always
3. Hourglass
4. Pursuit...
5. Critical Mass
6. Attractive Nuisance
7. Broken English
8. Waning and Waxing

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

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

Laura - Radio Swan is Down

Laura is a six-piece band from Melbourne, Australia. Formed in 2001, they released a couple of EPs, while their first full-length album, "Mapping Your Dreams", was released in 2005. This is their fantastic second album, released in 2006. They play beautiful post-rock music, using instruments like piano, cello and synths, but also a variety of electronics and samples. They have recently supported band like Isis, Cult of Luna and legendary post-rockers Mono. Excellent album!

Artist: Laura
Album: Radio Swan is Down
Year: 2006
Genre: post-rock

Tracks:
1. Radio swan is down Part 1
2. Is there no help for the widow's son?
3. I hope
4. Numbers stations
5. Every light
6. Lake Vostock beachfront
7. It's kind of like the innocent smiles
    you get at the start of a relationship 
    before you fuck everything up
8. Radio swan is down Part 2
9. Patterns not people
10. Cambridge bypass
11. Another near miss

Official Website (buy from here)
Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Be Happy, It's An Order - Mutlu Ol, Bu Bir Emirdir

A brilliant Turkish short film about government efforts to control folk music. Directed by Sinan Çetin.

Bitcrush - Of Embers

Bitcrush is the escapist solo project of Mike Cadoo (ex-Gridlock member). Bitcrush strives to fuse live instrumentation with experimental electronica’s glitch-centric production techniques. This is his latest album, released earlier this year, in which he is continuing to expand upon this style of fusing emotive electronics and live instrumentation to create post-rock and downtempo music. Recommended!

Artist: Bitcrush
Album: Of Embers
Year: 2010
Genre: electronica, downtempo, post-rock

Tracks:
1. Of Embers
2. Dream Unto Fathoms
3. Fray The Middle To Meet The Ends
4. The Days We Spent Within
5. Ascension
6. Demons & Dandelions

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from n5MD.
Check the comments to listen first.

RQTN - Monolithes En Mouvement

RQTN is the solo musical project of the young french producer Mathieu Artu. His music is a subtle mix between classical music and modern influences such as new-wave, post-rock and pop music. This is his first full-length album, released in 2009. Stunning piano-based neo-classical/ambient music. Highly recommended!

Artist: RQTN
Album: Monolithes En Mouvement
Year: 2009
Genre: neo-classical, ambient, piano, instrumental

Tracks:
1. Debout, Decharges Passives
2. Comme Suspendu a Regarder Passer, Sans Jamais Toucher
3. Le Point Culminant, le Reveil, les Mains Brumeuses
4. Effleurer du Doigt, Deplacer les Masses
5. Remuer les Pieds dans L’Eau, les Yeux Clairs
6. Aurore, Lettres Manuscrites (G. Hoepffner)
7. Departs et Decalages
8. Marcher a L’Envers et Detourner le Regard. Sur le Rebord
9. Photographies, Emulsion. Interpretations

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Download (direct link from archive.org)

port-royal - Dying in Time

port-royal is an Italian band formed in the summer of 2000 in Genoa. They play a dreamy, heady, melancholic, wide music on the border among electronica, ambient, shoegaze with some dance elements. "Dying in Time" was released in 2009 at n5MD. A brilliant album!

Artist: port-royal
Album: Dying in Time
Year: 2009
Genre: electronica, ambient, shoegaze

Tracks:
1. Hva (Failed Revolutions)
2. Nights in Kiev
3. Anna Ustinova
4. Exhausted Muse/Europe
5. I Used to Be Sad
6. Susy: Blue East Fading
7. The Photoshopped Prince
8. Balding Generation (Losing Hair as We Lose Hope)
9. Hermitage Pt. 1
10. Hermitage Pt. 2
11. Hermitage Pt. 3

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from n5MD records.
Check the comments to listen first.

Calla - Scavengers

Calla is an American indie band formed in 1997 in New York City. Their music is beautiful, sometimes lo-fi, cinematic, apocalyptic and at times electronic and noisy. This is their second album, released in 2001. Excellent!

Artist: Calla
Album: Scavengers
Year: 2001
Genre: indie

Tracks:
1. Fear Of Fireflies
2. Hover Over Nowhere
3. Traffic Sound
4. Tijerina
5. Slum Creeper
6. The Swarm
7. Mayzelle
8. Love Of Ivah
9. A Fondness For Crawling
10. Promenade

Official Website (buy from here)
Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Beneva vs. Clark Nova - Sombunall

Beneva vs. Clark Nova consists of the Oslo-based duo Frank Benjamin Finger and Rudi Simmons. Their soundscapes are detailed and full of contradictions as they are concerned about melodies, but at the same time are fond of abstract sounds. The sound of the duo is richly detailed and filled with constrasts, tripping with ease from childish play to beat-intensive melodies, from ambient to industrial noise. This is their much celebrated debut album, released on Fenêtre Records in 2008, following the ambient gem Flotsam/Jetsam on 3” CD in 2007. Their latest album "Dramadadatic" was released in 2009 on How Is Annie Records/Fenetre Records. Awesome album! Highly recommended!

Artist: Beneva vs. Clark Nova
Album: Sombunall
Year: 2008
Genre: electronica, idm, ambient, downtempo

Tracks:
1. I'm Twins (The Babies Said)
2. 88 Kilos of Excrement
3. His Freefloating Affection (feat. Therese Aune)
4. Institute Benjamenta
5. Thora's Inferno
6. With Love, Etc. (feat. Therese Aune)
7. Suppose She Was Telepathic
8. Social Wrist-Twistings
9. Lazy, But Comfortable Size
10. Two Men Being Hospitalized When Only One Had to Be
11. Poligraph Polygraphikov
12. Nothing, Only Worthwhile

Last.fm
MySpace

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

Melorman - Out in a Field

Melorman is the moniker of Antonis Haniotakis an electronic artist from Athens, Greece. His sound is based on melodic elements and coloured loop lines with a tone of melancholy. This is his latest work in Symbolic Interaction. Very nice electronica/ambient music. Recommended!

Artist: Melorman
Album: Out in a Field
Year: 2009
Genre: electronica, ambient, idm, downtempo

Tracks:
1. Apricot fields
2. 5 o’clock spring time
3. Hold us
4. Small arms to hold
5. Sunlight noise
6. Toy
7. Silent breath
8. Watercircle
9. Theros
10. Tell me more stories

Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from Symbolic Interaction.
Check the comments to listen first.

Saddleback - Night Maps

Saddleback is the work of acclaimed Australian producer, arranger and composer Tony Dupé, who plays piano, pump organ, guitar, drums and clarinets; constructing loops from small musical sounds. Saddleback has released two albums "Everything's A Love Letter" and "Night Maps". Tony has moved to Berlin to make a third album and to pursue arrangement and production work. This is a stunning album, influenced by jazz, electronica and neo-classical music. Highly recommended!

Artist: Saddleback
Albums: Night Maps
Year: 2007
Genre: electronica, instrumental, jazz, neo-classical

Tracks:
1. Pushing Upstream
2. Hanging at Picnic Rock
3. Rain in Sea
4. Dance Card
5. For Crying out Loud
6. So Low Now
7. Shot Through
8. Singing Scribbles

Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from Preservation records or Boomkat.
Check the comments to listen first.

Glittering Blackness, Fall - Untitled EP

Glittering Blackness, Fall is an instrumental/post-rock band from South Korea. Their music is clearly influenced by bands like Explosions in the Sky and Mono. This is their first album, released earlier this year. Excellent post-rock music. Recommended!

Artist: Glittering Blackness, Fall
Album: Untitled EP
Year: 2010
Genre: post-rock, instrumental

Tracks:
1. 0
2. 1
3. 2
4. 3
5. 4

Last.fm
MySpace

Contact the band to buy (gb.fall@gmail.com)
Check the comments to listen first.

Mono & World's End Girlfriend - Palmless Prayer/Mass Murder Refrain

A collaboration between two of the greatest bands around: post-rock band Mono and fellow Tokyo native and modern electronic composer World’s End Girlfriend. In 2005 they released "Palmless Prayer/Mass Murder Refrain", a five-part album of neo-classical/post-rock music. Dark, sad, moving and beautiful. Massive!

Artist: Mono & World's End Girlfriend
Album: Palmless Prayer/Mass Murder Refrain
Year: 2005
Genre: neo-classical, post-rock, instrumental, ambient

Tracks:
1. Trailer 1
2. Trailer 2
3. Trailer 3
4. Trailer 4
5. Trailer 5

Last.fm
Mono: Official Website
World's End Girlfriend: Official website, MySpace

Buy from Temporary Residence
Check the comments to listen first.

Millimetrik - Northwest Passage's New Era

Millimetrik, aka Canadian Pascal Asselin from Quebec, has been crafting honest, vivid musical landscapes taking sounds from hip-hop to classical music. His constantly evolving sound has a way of expressing his moods in exceptionally beautiful ways. At times melancholic, Millimetrik’s sounds will deeply brings you into an authentic journey. The music of this album, released in 2008, is a fantastic mix of electronica, idm and ambient. Recommended!

Artist: Millimetrik
Album: Northwest Passage's New Era
Year: 2008
Genre: electronica, idm, ambient

Tracks:
1. Sournoise supercherie
2. Reykjavik (Version)
3. Les artefacts du futur
4. Suicide bi-polaire
5. La sonate de l’homme bon
6. Le libraire obscur du Mont d’Iberville
7. En mémoire de Terror et Erebus
8. The owls are watching us
9. À travers le temps de retour
10. Courants intimistes
11. Pascaline Knight

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace (buy from here)

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

Electric Litany - How To Be A Child & Win The War

Electric Litany is a rock band, formed in the spring of 2007 in North London, England. They consist of a Greek (Alexandros Miaris - Vocals, guitars, piano) an American (Duane Petrovich - Bass) and an Englishman (Richard Simic - Drums). The three piece spent the past two years rehearsing in abandoned buildings and performing intimate shows in venues across Europe. This is their debut album, released earlier this year on Inner Ear Records. Their music has many influences, from Joy Division and Cure to Black Heart Procession, Interpol and even Sigur Ros. Very promising debut! Highly recommended!

Artist: Electric Litany
Album: How To Be A Child & Win The War
Year: 2010
Genre: indie

Tracks:
1. Don’t Fear The War
2. Home
3. The Dunes
4. Tear
5. (Like We Do In) January
6. Minute
7. The Roses Came
8. A Dream Worth Dreaming
9. A Time (Never Be Late)
10. February

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Please support this band. Buy from Inner Ear.
Check the comments to listen first.

Watch the official video of Tear:

Glass America - Redivivus

Glass America is an American four-piece ambient/instrumental post-rock band from Boston. Formed in 2008, they wanted to create an original sound that encapsulated the best of ambient, instrumental music without succumbing to its clichés or being limited by what has come to be expected. Redivivus is their debut, released in 2009. Beautiful!

Artist: Glass America
Album: Redivivus
Year: 2009
Genre: post-rock, instrumental, ambient

Tracks:
1. We Hung Our Harps
2. ...and then the sun
3. Harbinger (Sought After,
4. If I Forget You, O Jerusalem
5. Gomer (Returning Home)
6. A Voice From Behind
7. Sinai
8. The City No Longer Deserted)

Last.fm
MySpace

Register to GimmeSound to dowload for free and support the band:

Glass America
FREE MUSIC DOWNLOADS

Boy is Fiction - Broadcasts In Colour

Boy Is Fiction is a studio project by Melbourne producer Alex Gillett. His debut, self titled album was released in 2007. This is his second album released in earlier this year. His music “captures those quiet moments of introspection just before sleep”, a fusion of idm, ambient and electronica. Excellent album! Highly recommended!

Artist: Boy is Fiction
Album: Broadcasts In Colour
Year: 2010
Genre: idm, electronica, ambient, downtempo

Tracks:
1. In
2. As Far From Here As Possible
3. Feeling Lazy
4. Pinprick
5. Silo
6. Sand
7. Rat
8. I Close My Eyes
9. Either Way, I’m Dead
10. Your Name On My Skin
11. I Left You There
12. My Veins Are Blocked
13. Until Morning Comes
14. For My Friend

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

No.9 - Usual Revolution and Nine

No.9 is the musical works of multi-instrumentalist "sound designer" Takayuki Joe. Growing up in Tokyo, Joe was interested in a wide range of music including Chicago blues, the jazz of Eric Dolphy and Thelonious Monk and the Japanese modern classical composer Toru Takemitsu. He also dug into Japanese Group Sounds, spy music, animation, funk and psychedelic rock, with one of his all-time favourite albums being the Beatles White Album (which includes the Beatles weirdest ever song “Revolution 9”, with the repeated refrain “No.9, No.9, No.9...”). He composes melodic instrumental music that has many influences, including jazz, ambient, electronica and pop. This is his fifth album, released in 2008. It was released in 2009 in a remix version, which featured work by I Am Robot and Proud, Aus, Kettel and miaou, among others. An outstanding album that brings to mind the likes of World's End Girlfriend and Kashiwa Daisuke. Brilliant!

Artist: No.9
Album: Usual Revolution and Nine
Year: 2008
Genre: electronica, ambient, experimental, instrumental, idm

Tracks:
1. Introduction
2. I Hope [Canon No.9 Remix]
3. Alive
4. Future Airport
5. Again and Again
6. Symmetry World
7. Meguru
8. Found it
9. Princess
10. Prays
11. Afterglow No.9 Remix
12. Clover Classic
13. Over There Empty
14. With Millions of Love - Fine -

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Go here to buy
Check the comments to listen first.

Gry with FM Einheit and his Orchestra - Public Recording

The extraordinary young Danish voice artist Gry Bagøien was attending the "Academy for Untamed Creativity" in Copenhagen when she met her musical partner FM Einheit, a former member of the legendary German band Einstürzende Neubauten. They formed a band called Gry and released two albums: Touch of E! (1998) and today's album, Public Recording (2000). This one features numerous special guests, including Pan Sonic and Neubauten’s Alexander Hacke. Their music is a fusion of trip-hop and electronica. They disbanded in 2002. A fantastic album, one of the best of the last decade. A must!

Artist: Gry with FM Einheit and his Orchestra
Album: Public Recording
Year: 2000
Genre: trip-hop, electronica

Tracks:
1. Rocket
2. Coctailism
3. Ray
4. Pop
5. Ego
6. Count to down
7. Princess Crocodile
8. Helicopter heart
9. Summer wine
10. Unreal
11. Ghost
12. Christo's revenge

Gry: MySpace
FM Einheit: Official Website, MySpace
Last.fm

Buy from FM 4.5.1
Check the comments to listen first.

edPorth - Saying vamos and thinking let's go

edPorth (aka Patrizio Piastra from Italy) is an electronic and instrumental solo-project for post-rock followers, glitch maniacs, ambient dreamers and lap-pop fans. This is his debut album, availabl for free download. Very good!

Artist: edPorth
Album: Saying vamos and thinking let's go
Year: 2010
Genre: electronica, ambient, post-rock, instrumental

Tracks:
1. Eighteen Degrees Below The Horizon
2. Kreuzberg And The Sun
3. Saying Vamos And Thinking Let’s Go
4. Meeting At The Utility Pole
5. Kadievka
6. Your Sand
7. Long Exposure

Last.fm
MySpace

Download for free (or buy the physical CD)

Not To Reason Why - Would You Hug Fire?

Not To Reason Why is an American four-piece band based in California. They lure their audience into a relaxed malaise with pleasant piano riffs and encapsulates their souls with heavy rhythmic articulation and soaring guitar lines with some of the most intense post-rock stylings this side of Japan. This is their first full-length album, released in 2009. Beautiful, melodic post-rock!

Artist: Not To Reason Why
Album: Would You Hug Fire?
Year: 2009
Genre: post-rock, instrumental

Tracks:
1. Forever
2. Bodes
3. Monsieur
4. Zeitgeist
5. Aurora
6. Give
7. Her
8. Ancients

Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from CB Baby.
Check the comments to listen first (update: link removed by request)

Near the Parenthesis - Of Soft Construction

Near the Parenthesis is Tim Arndt, a San Francisco based electronic musician. While playing piano and guitar in several bands through the years, Tim has continually been grounded in electronic and experimental music. His current approach focuses on full compositions, gentle and restrained, yet deeply layered and evolving. Passages never stray too far major or minor, centering themselves in between, and grow unexpectedly from simple rhythms and chords to swirling combinations of sound intensified with dissonance before resolving itself and quietly exiting. This is his second album released in 2007. Recommended!

Artist: Near the Parenthesis
Album: Of Soft Construction
Year: 2007
Genre: electronica, ambient

Tracks:
1. It’s Not Even Midnight
2. Mare Nostrum
3. The Language Explosion
4. Litnum
5. The World Is Inside You Now
6. Open Sources
7. Trailing
8. A Little Damaged
9. Sitting in a Room
10. For, From
11. This Morning

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here or here.
Check the comments to listen first.

New Century Classics - Natural Process

New Century Classics was formed in Krakow, Poland in 2006. They play beautiful instrumental/post-rock music. After recording a few mini albums, "Natural Process" was released in 2009 and is available for free downoad. Very good!

Artist: New Century Classics
Album: Natural Process
Year: 2009
Genre: post-rock, instrumental

Tracks:
1. Post-Cards
2. Congratulate You, Where?
3. Hedgehog
4. Drift Motion
5. Sandbox Love
6. Children of an Uncertain Future
7. Seven Days
8. Buddha Pilot
9. Fish Went
10. Is
11. A Small Misunderstanding
12. Spiders in the Attic

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Download (or name your price)

edIT – Crying Over Pros For No Reason

Edward Ma, better known under the recording name edIT (or The Con-Artist), is a Los Angeles electronic producer and DJ. His music is a fusion of electronica, downtempo, idm and hip-hop. This is his debut album released in 2004. Recommended!

Artist: edIT
Album: Crying Over Pros For No Reason
Year: 2004
Genre: electronica, downtempo, idm

Tracks:
1. Ashtray
2. Ants
3. Laundry
4. Situps Pullups
5. Dex
6. Twenty Minutes
7. Screening Phone Calls
8. Mop Head
9. LTLP
10. Mildew

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

Old places new faces: A history of Home (2010)

Renovation work on the much-anticipated Home for Cooperation in the divided island of Cyprus has begun. The Association for Historical Dialogue and Research has spent the last three years raising funds and acquiring all the necessary permits to buy and renovate the dilapidated building sitting in the heart of the buffer zone in Cyprus split capital, Nicosia.

The Home will be the first intercommunal building dealing with history education. The Cyprus Community Media Centre takes a look at the history of the place and the hopes for the future.

Her Name Is Calla - The Heritage

Her Name is Calla is an English post-rock/indie band. After playing live all over the UK to much critical acclaim with the likes of iLiKETRAiNS and The Twilight Sad, they released their debut album, "The Heritage", in 2008, which was also positively received. They are currently working on their next album, "The Quiet Lamb", due to be released on Denovali Records in June 2010. Excellent album! Recommended!

Artist: Her Name is Calla
Album: The Heritage
Year: 2008
Genre: post-rock, indie

Tracks:
1. Nylon
2. New England
3. Paying for Your Funeral
4. Wren
5. Motherfucker! It’s Alive and It’s Bleeding
6. Rebirth

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - The return!

Excellent news! Godspeed You! Black Emperor are back! (click on the image to read)
First show: The Nightmare Before Christmas, ATP festival

Kashiwa Daisuke - Program Music I

Born in Hiroshima, Kashiwa Daisuke (柏大輔) started off as the composer and guitarist of post-rock band yodaka in 2001. Being inspired by the band’s psychedelic sound due to a post-rock approach, and by Maurizio Bianchi, he started a solo project in 2004. As a solo artist his idea is to create not only acoustic, but also electronic filmy soundscapes and atmospheres, by melting together a variety of classic instruments, spoken word snippets and crisp beats. With a proper amount of ambient music, all of these form an exquisite sound experience. His first album - april.#02 - was released in 2006, followed by april.#07 - a remix album. Program Music I is his second album, released in 2007, which features only two tracks, whose runtime is still over an hour. It is a brilliant electronic album; particularly the first track, Stella, is out of this world. Highly recommended!

Artist: Kashiwa Daisuke
Album: Program Music I
Year: 2007
Genre: electronica, experimental, post-rock, ambient

Tracks:
1. Stella
2. Write Once, Run Melos

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from noble records.
Check the comments to listen first.

Jóhann Jóhannsson - Fordlândia

Jóhann Jóhannsson is an Icelandic multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer. He is one of the most compelling composers working today. His stately, slow-building and hauntingly melodic music frequently combines electronics with classical orchestrations. Fordlândia, his most recent album, combines a darkly romantic minimalism and baroque counterpoint with kraut-rock, post-rock, glitch electronics and melodies inspired by North European folk music. The album is thematically influenced by the failure of Henry Ford's Brazilian rubber plant Fordlândia. As stated in his official website:

One of the two main threads running through it is this idea of failed utopia, as represented by the "Fordlândia" title - the story of the rubber plantation Henry Ford established in the Amazon in the 1920’s, and his dreams of creating an idealized American town in the middle of the jungle complete with white picket fences, hamburgers and alcohol prohibition. The project – started because of the high price Ford had to pay for the rubber necessary for his cars’ tyres – failed, of course, as the indigenous workers soon rioted against the alien conditions. It reminded me of Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo, this doomed attempt at taming the heart of darkness. The remains of the town are still there today. The image of the Amazon forest slowly and surely reclaiming the ruins of Fordlândia is the one that gave spark to this album.

A classical masterpiece! Get it now!

Artist: Jóhann Jóhannsson
Album: Fordlândia
Year: 2008
Genre: neo-classical, minimalist

Tracks:
1. Fordlândia
2. melodia (i)
3. The Rocket Builder (Lo Pan!)
4. melodia (ii)
5. Fordlândia – Aerial View
6. melodia (iii)
7. Chimaerica
8. melodia (iv)
9. The Great God Pan Is Dead
10. Melodia (Guidelines for a Space Propulsion Device Based on Heim's Quantum Theory)
11. How We Left Fordlândia

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from 4AD.
Check the comments to listen first.

Jatun - Jatun

Jatun is an American band formed in 2004 in Portland. This is their highly acclaimed debut album, released in 2007. They play shoegaze with pop, electronica and post-rock elements. Very good!

Artist: Jatun
Album: Jatun
Year: 2007
Genre: shoegaze, electronica

Tracks:
1. Ghost and Grey
2. Ghost and Grey 2
3. Ion Crush (Remix)
4. Zombie Hotel
5. Bee Bee
6. Voila and the Case
7. Weakness
8. Young Crooks
9. Fashion Whore
10. George
11. A Reason for Enigmas
12. Move It or Lose It
13. The Temptation of Joy

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

Jacaszek - Treny

Jacaszek aka Michał Jacaszek, born in 1972 in Poland, is a composer and producer of electroacoustic music, combinig electronically prepared sounds with acoustic instruments. Treny is an ambient masterpiece, his most mature record, released in 2008. Beautiful music that combines neo-classical music with ambient and electronica. Recommended!

Artist: Jacaszek
Album: Treny
Year: 2008
Genre: neo-classical, ambient, instrumental

Tracks:
1. Rytm to nieśmiertelność
2. Lament
3. Orszula
4. Żal
5. Powoli
6. Taniec
7. O ma żałości!
8. Tren IV
9. Walc
10. Martwa cisza
11. Rytm to nieśmiertelność II

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from Boomkat
Check the comments to listen first.

The Unwinding Hours - The Unwinding Hours

The Unwinding Hours is the new band formed by Iain Cook and Craig B., former members of Glasgow alternative/post-rock band Aereogramme. This is their debut, released earlier this year, an intensely rewarding experience with the literate flair of the song-writing effortlessly matched by Craig and Iain's musical ambition and creative scope. Recommended!

Artist: The Unwinding Hours
Album: The Unwinding Hours
Year: 2010
Genre: post-rock, indie

Tracks:
1. Knut
2. Tightrope
3. Little One
4. There Are Worse Things Than Being Alone
5. Solstice
6. Peaceful Liquid Shell
7. Child
8. Traces
9. Annie Jane
10. The Final Hour

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

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

Anoice - Remmings

Anoice is a Tokyo based six-piece group that have been working together since 2004. One of their members is Takahiro Kido (I posted one of his albums here). They play dreamy post-rock music with neo-classical/ambient influences. This is their highly acclaimed 2006 debut. Excellent!

Artist: Anoice
Album: Remmings
Year: 2006
Genre: post-rock, instrumental, ambient, neo-classical

Tracks:
1. [Untitled]
2. Asprin Music
3. [Untitled]
4. Kyoto
5. [Untitled]
6. Liange
7. [Untitled]
8. The Three-Days Blow
9. [Untitled]

Official Website (buy from here)
Last.fm
MySpace

Check the comments to listen before you buy.

The Ascent of Everest - How Lonely Sits the City

The Ascent of Everest formed in the spring of 2005 in the shadows of Music City USA (Nashville, Tennessee). Since then the band has worked tirelessly touring and playing regional shows in support of their 2006 debut release "How Lonely Sits the City". An excellent post-rock album, clearly influenced by legendary bands like GYBE and Mogwai. Really good!

Artist: The Ascent of Everest
Album: How Lonely Sits the City
Year: 2006
Genre: post-rock, instrumental

Tracks:
1. Alas, Alas! The Breath of Life
2. As the City Burned We Trembled for We Saw the Makings of It's Undoing in Our Own Hearts.
3. Molotov
4. A Threnody (For the Victims of November Second)
5. If I Could Move Mountains
     i. Majesty and Awe
     ii. Collapse Into Understanding
     iii. Gathered Hearts Rise and Sing at the First Breath of Dawn

Last.fm
MySpace

The original self-released album is sold-out. Re-released by SHELSMUSIC label in 2008. Buy it from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

The Abbasi Brothers - Something Like Nostalgia

The Abbasi Brothers is an experimental duo based in Manhattan, New York City, that consists of Yousuf and Amman Abbasi. This is their highly acclaimed debut album, released in 2008. In 2009, they scored two feature documantary films: The Wall and Warrior Champions. They blend brilliantly electronica with shoegaze. Really beautiful music! Highly recommended!

Artist: The Abbasi Brothers
Album: Something Like Nostalgia
Year: 2008
Genre: electronica, shoegaze, instrumental, ambient

Tracks:
1. Stacy's Day Parade
2. Kompa
3. Something like Nostalgia
4. Camera Flashes Blue
5. The Way of the Wanderer
6. Dreams of a Graffiti Artist
7. The Social Evening (in 1992)
8. Mr. Boe
9. A Long Weekend
10. In a Field
11. Playtime in Spacetime
12. Approaching the End
13. Fragments of Memories as a Child
14. Reprise
15. Clouds are Sleeping

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

Sven Weisemann - Xine

Sven Weisemann is a German artist who has been DJ’ing since 1997 and producing since 2001. Xine is his full-length debut. Playing with classical instruments such as piano, layers of violins mixed with mellow sounds, spaced reverbs. Sounds like a soundtrack of a movie with its fragile athmosphere. Beautiful! Highly recommended!

Artist: Sven Weisemann
Album: Xine
Year: 2009
Genre: neo-classical, ambient, electronica

Tracks:
1. Xine
2. Xine II
3. Xine III Aeron
4. Xine IV Lyra
5. Xine V Tearily
6. Xine VI Habor Lights
7. Xine VII Abroad
8. Xine VIII Life Cycle
9. Xine IX Suri
10. Xine X Awake
11. Xine XI The Swan Of Desire
12. Xine XII Ajna
13. Xine XIII Ray
14. Xine XIV Streams Of Living Water
15. Xine XV Suna¹s Flow
16. Xine XVI Avedon
17. Xine XVII Blandish
18. Xine XVIII Love In Vein
19. Xine XIX Swell
20. Xine XX Tyree's Meaningful Look

Last.fm
MySpace
YouTube channel

Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first (update: link removed by request).

Slow Six - Tomorrow Becomes You

Slow Six is an instrumental band from Brooklyn, New York. Broad genre descriptors do little to describe their striking compositions. Post-rock, experimental neo-classical, minimalism and ambient are among their influences. This is their third full-length album, released earlier this year. Outstanding!

Artist: Slow Six
Album: Tomorrow Becomes You
Year: 2010
Genre: neo-classical, instrumental, post-rock, experimental

Tracks:
1. The Night You Left New York
2. Cloud Cover Part 1
3. Cloud Cover Part 2
4. Because Together We Resonate
5. Sympathetic Response System Part 1
6. Sympathetic Response System Part 2
7. These Rivers Between Us

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from Western Vinyl.
Check the comments to listen first.

We Fell to Earth - We Fell to Earth

We Fell to Earth are an electronic rock band from London, UK, consisting of Richard File, former member of UNKLE, and Wendy Rae Fowler, known for her collaboration with Queens of the Stone Age and Mark Lanegan. The duo’s debut album contains grains of that desert night ambience. It bleeds an otherworldly quality tinged with psychedelia, melancholy and songs that float into the stratosphere. Excellent electronic music, clearly influenced by psychedelia and kraut-rock. Recommended!

Artist: We Fell to Earth
Album: We Fell to Earth
Year: 2009
Genre: psychedelic, kraut-rock, trip-hop

Tracks:
1. Spin This Town
2. Lights Out
3. Sovereign
4. The Double
5. Burn Away
6. Careful What You Wish For
7. Sun Shadow
8. Lost in Flames
9. Undone

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

Wooden Shjips - Dos

Wooden Shjips is a refreshingly inspired quartet from San Francisco playing loud rock ‘n’ roll in a style heavily influenced by the experimentalism of psychedelia, classical minimalism and garage rock excess. Started as an experiment in rhythmic primitivism and group improvisation, the current lineup brings a more structured rock approach to its performances, utilizing a traditional lineup of drums, bass, organ, guitar and vocals. Dos is their second full-length album, released in 2009. Absolutely brilliant psychedelic music with hints of kraut-rock. Awesome!

Artist: Wooden Shjips
Album: Dos
Year: 2009
Genre: psychedelic, kraut-rock, experimental

Tracks:
1. Motorbike
2. For So Long
3. Down by the Sea
4. Aquarian Time
5. Fallin'

Official Website
Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from here.
Check the comments to listen first.

Afformance - A Glimpse to the Days That Pass

Afformance is a four-piece band formed in 2005 in Greece. This is their first full-length album, released earlier this year. Beautiful instrumental soundscapes inspired by post rock, alternative, ambient and postcore scenes. Recommended to post-rock fans!

Artist: Afformance
Album: A Glimpse to the Days That Pass
Year: 2010
Genre: post-rock, instrumental

Tracks:
1. Will Teasle Hopes
2. Countryside Somnambulance
3. A Tide Before The Flickering Sun
4. Taming Waves/Riding Tigers
5. Zgy-Kix
6. Lugano
7. Do
8. Self-Killing Intruders

Blog
Last.fm
MySpace

Please support this band. Buy from their MySpace. Limited 500 unique handmade copies!
Check the comments to listen first.

Talvekoidik - Silent Reflections

Talvekoidik is the electronica side-project of German musician, Kai, founding member of S.K.E.T. (Hands Productions). This is his first release as Talvekoidik, an album of brilliant and original electronica that finds its influences in Gridlock and Beefcake as well as in Scandinavian, Baltic, Arabic and African musical traditions. Conceived in terms of rhythmic structures supporting catchy melodies, "Silent Reflections" is a work full of oppositions and contrasts enriched by a Celtic feeling, a somewhat epic touch. Very good!

Artist: Talvekoidik
Album: Silent Reflections
Year: 2007
Genre: electronica, idm, downtempo, industrial

Tracks:
1. Such a Perfect Day
2. Concealed Longings
3. Rough Baltic Shore
4. Eismeer
5. The Moebius Strip
6. Sandstorm
7. Goodbye of the Certainty
8. Silent Reflections
9. Power of Eclecticism
10. The Cliff
11. Eismeer (Lomonossow Ridge Mix By Heimstatt Yipotash)
12. Atlas (Shrugged Mix By Fragment King)
13. Eismeer (Synthetic Coldness Mix By 16Pad Noiseterrorist)

Last.fm
MySpace

Buy from Brume records.
Check the comments to listen first.

Team B - The Lost Son

Team B is the new musical endeavor of Kelly Pratt (Beirut, Arcade Fire). Their music is a combination of indie and eastern european folk, similar to Beirut's music. All of the lyrics on this short album (their second EP) are by the late Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Theodore Roethke. The album is available for free download. Very good!

Artist: Team B
Album: The Lost Son
Year: 2010
Genre: indie, folk

Tracks:
1. Intro - The Lost Son
2. The Visitant
3. The Reckoning
4. My Papa’s Waltz
5. Genesis/Reply To Censure
6. Toil
7. The Lost Son
8. Gob Music
9. Praise To The End!

Official Website (if you like it, donate here)
Last.fm
MySpace

They plan to release it on vinyl later this year, so get it while you can!
Download