Broken Social Scene, You Forgot It In People -- maybe I haven't listened to it enough, but I don't hear it as the answer to pop as which I've heard it described. It certainly is more interesting than most pop, but I don't find it significantly more "accessible" than most other post-rock. Good, but I can't give it the ol' alien "three thumbs up" (buy it without hesitation or even hearing it first).
Grandaddy, Sumday -- now we're getting somewhere. Still don't like his voice, never did, not sure I ever will. And it's still not as good as Sophtware Slump, but makes for a nice respite to Flam'n'co. (Flaming Lips, Yo La Tengo, Radiohead, Wilco, et al).
Radiohead, Hail to the Thief -- okay, now we're really talking, I really like this. I don't think it's a return to the style of OK Computer as much as critics are saying, I still think it falls in step more with their last two (Kid A and Amnesiac). But it does sound like it has more guitar than those two, that's about all I can say.
Elliott, Song in the Air -- OMG, LOTW (Listen of the Week!), this is so good. Nothing at all like their previous album, False Cathedrals, this one falls more in line with the post-rockers (see list above), with some shoegazer thrown in, a la Voyager One, et al. Highly, highly recommended.
Also, False Cathedrals -- didn't like this one as much, at first, but it has since grown on me. Not as much shoegazery, or spacey, just good alternapop.
Subarachnoid Space, Almost Invisible -- I so dig this band. Recommended for fans of Mogwai, Tortoise, etc. I have yet to hear anything by them I don't like.
Amorphis, Chapters -- Arugh! Still waiting for the new album, this is just a compilation. Weird order -- reverse chronological. I guess they wanted to put their most accessible music first? Anyway, couple of nice tracks from the sessions of my favourite albums that weren't on those albums, and hard to argue with most of the choices ("Summer's End"!).
Fiona Apple, "Fast as You Can" single -- nice version of "Across the Universe".
Mariann Kafer, Animal Farm -- electronica, some accessible, some deliberately annoying in an enjoyable way. Lots of "found sounds" (pigs squealing, etc.). Recommended to fans of the genre, if you can find it (the "a" in Kafer is with an umlaut).
Urban Select, White Spaces -- more electronica, somewhat Tangerine Dreamy. Only three tracks, very good.
The Clarke & Ware Experiment, Pretentious -- I really wish they had mixed this one binaurally. Surprisingly good, but not what you'd expect from these two 80's pop mavens.
O Yuki Conjugate, Peyote -- a little too abstract without the occasional melodious florishes that I usually enjoy, but otherwise recommended to fans of "darkwave" (dark, abstract, somewhat minimalistic ambient-ish music).
Phylr, Contra La Puerta -- more electronica, very, very good. Kinda reminds me of Secret Chiefs 3, if you're familiar with that project. Probably the best electronica I listened to in the past several weeks.
Air Liquide, Red -- a little dated early 90's electronica, otherwise good.
Kreidler, Appearance and the Park -- I'm not usually fond of downbeat, much less the works of K&R (independently, nor together). I mean, it's okay, but nothing special, compared to the frequency with which they're lauded praises. That said, this is probably my favourite recording from either one of them. Really good, track it down if you're into them, and even if you're not into them but curious, this is probably the only thing I can recommend.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mustt Mustt -- really good world music, with the occasional flourishes of Michael Brook "infinite guitar" ambience, and one remix by Massive Attack which kinda sucks...the world out of the world music.
Strung Out on OK Computer -- as recommended by Goose, pretty cool, but I don't think I'm familiar enough with the original about to fully appreciate it. Not as melodious as, for example, the Strung Out on Garbage one.
String Quartet Tribute to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon -- amazing. You know those sequencer-driven lines that run throughout "On The Run"? They play these. All of them. As trills. Too short...but then, what did I expect? The album's only 43 minutes long.
Mozart Violin Concertos (Huggett and Standage) -- not bad, will be keeping, but pretty sure I don't need any more incarnations. Not enough minor chords.
Katatonia, Tonight's Decision -- shoegazer metal, of the ear candy variety.
Woven, 8 Bit Monk -- kinda reminds me of Dredg.
Mogwai, Happy Songs for Happy People -- mostly instrumental (were they always mostly instrumental, or is my memory shot?). Very cool. Could be my favourite release by them ever, time will tell.
Firewater, The Man on the Burning Tightrope -- just good old rock'n'roll, with a touch of alternative thrown in. I love this guy's voice.
Enya, A Day Without Rain -- definite bonking music.
Reanimator, Black Market Science -- dubby.
Yama****a+Laswell+Sakamoto, Asian Games
Kit Watkins, Sunstruck -- ethereal.
TAGC (The Anti-Group Collective), Burning Water
Main, Motion Pool -- one of these last two was delightful dark ambient, the other was, also, but one of them was surprising rock'n'rolly. I think it was the Main.
Lisa Gerrard, Whalerider -- whoa! Lisa Gerrard does "alienware" (or as close to it as she is capable). I like it a lot, but I listen to stuff like this all the time. Don't go in expecting DCD-type music (Duality) or neo-classical type stuff. Beatless and free (kind of time-signature-less). My only criticism of it is that it sounds a little quickly thrown together. Not her usual well-thought-out, "composed" sound -- sounds more "improvised".
ohGr, SunnyPsyOp (great pun -- hint: say it out loud, but don't say "Psy Op" like it's one word) -- stupendous, I will be listening to this a lot. Not like the last one, doesn't have Mark Walk's signature all over it. In fact, I double-checked, just to make sure he was still on it. He is. Only one track has the "swagger" of the last one.
Forma Tadre, Navigator
Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 72, Brahms Piano Trios 1 & 2 -- fun.
PJ Harvey, "A Place Called Home" and "Good Fortune" singles.
Passenger, (---) -- metal with keyboards, yay! Melikes.
Naglfar, Sheol -- a bit more bludgeoning, recommended.
Lamb of God, As the Palaces Burn -- Opeth fans should hear this one.
Antimatter, Lights Out -- still sounding vaguely Porcupine Tree-ey, Pink Floyd-esque, (although still metal) but less so than the first album. Better produced, I think, too.
Razed in Black, Damaged -- very good for the rivetheads and goths, nice variety, even one experimental-ish track.
Devin Townsend, Infinity -- master of the "wall of sound" layers of guitars, overwhelming. Lots of distortion, which is nasty, but I think it's on purpose. One of my favourites by him.
The Coral, (---), Skeleton Key EP, and Don't Think You're the First EP/single -- I'm really digging these guys. Start with the album if you're curious. Kind of reminds me of non-metal Monster Magnet.
Jimi Hendrix, Voodoo Child and First Rays of the New Rising Sun -- great music, there is a reason he was a classic.
Robin Trower, Caravan to Midnight/Victims of the Fury -- more Jimi-type music.
The Cars, Candy-O, Panorama -- I don't think they can do any wrong.
Van Halen, (---) -- more exercising my HDCD player. I forgot how good some of their deep cuts are ("Little Dreamer"), and they're very Beach-Boys-ey harmonies. Why weren't they bigger? Oh, that's right, they were.
Halou, Sans Soucie -- if you are into the more ethereal musics, driven by electronica, then just get anything by these guys. The (female) vocalist makes my toes curl (in an ecstatic manner).
Alio Die, Under an Holy Ritual -- alienware! Good stuff.
Steve Hackett, To Watch the Storm Special Edition -- very cool, worth the wait. Lots of variety: prog, blues, covers (!). Definitely recommended to the likes of Braver, Demetrio, David S, et al.
Machine in the Garden, Out o the Mists -- "dark music", very cool.
Black Sabbath, Never Say Die -- I only remember liking two tracks on this, but none of it was really that bad. I really like the introduction to "Junior's Eyes" -- very Wakeman-esque. I think what I liked the least about this album was the guitar tones, they're a little rough. Funny that this was Ozzy's last album with them, because it sounds nothing like Blizzard of Ozz.
True Love Waits Christopher O'Riley plays Radiohead -- ...on the piano! Again, not familiar enough with the original versions to truly appreciate, I need to find my copy of OK Computer.
PHD^2, Universum -- very cool electronica.
Delerium, Chimera -- not their best album, but still enjoyable if you've liked their recent works. I prefer Conjure One.
Premiata Forneria Marconi, Photos of Ghosts -- a little dated sounding, but still great music.
Silverman, State of the Union -- surprisingly cohesive, considering it's a collection of tracks.
Legendary Pink Dots with Friends & Relatives, Kollabaris -- very nice. Possibly a good introduction to them.
Mortiis, The Smell of Rain -- my feelings on this are well known in the Darkest Desires thread. This is the special edition version with the four remixes -- they're disposable, pass. Don't feel like you're missing anything if you get the regular version.
Controlled Bleeding, Between Tides -- I love these guys.
Echoing Green, Evergreen Collection
Soul Whirling Somewhere, Pyewackit
Hot Hot Heat, "Bandages" single -- b-sides are alright, not as good as anything on the album, though.
Amazing Transparent Man, Taking Back the Covers -- an unusual collection of covers -- most of the songs are more familiarly done by women.
Pitchshifter, "Dead Battery" single 2
Venetian Snares, printf("shiver in eternal darkness/n"); -- I'm getting everything by this guy.
Blood Group, Volunteers -- surprisingly dark swirlipop. Surprising, in that I don't like it as much as you would think from the description. It's still good, though, I just think it's more of a grower.
Die Form Akt Sideprojects and Experimental Collection -- some of my favourite Die Form music ever.
Also, L'âme électrique
Annie Lennox, Bare -- believe the reviews! This is as good as markl, et al have been saying it is. Lots of croony stuff, but nice variety as well.
Joy Electric, The Tick Tock Treasury -- synthpop, what can I say? I love this stuff.
Venus Hum, Big Beautiful Sky -- poppy synthpop.
Flash and the Pan, (---), Lights in the Night, Headlines, and Early Morning Wake Up Call -- just good old pop, catchy as L, slightly quirky, highly enjoyable.
Dave Gahan, Paper Monsters -- meh. Good if you like him (Depeche Mode lead vocalist), not recommended to anyone else. I need to hear it some more, but I'm pretty sure he's not cutting any new cloth here.
Notwist, Shrink -- for those of you who miss the classic New Order...
Aphex Twin, 26 Mixes for Cash -- shows how amazing he is. Surprisingly varietous. He doesn't have a "signature sound", in terms of his remixes. He took a singular approach to each one. I mean, it's still electronica, but unless you were familiar with the track, you'd be hard pressed to put your finger out and say, "that's an Aphex Twin -ism".
Hum, You'd Prefer An Astronaut -- I was told I'd really like these guys -- and I do -- but they're not the saviors of the world, y'know?
Dead Soul Tribe, (---)
Various Artists:
Autechre curated All Tomorrow's Parties 3.0 -- weird, all over the place stylistically, and, as would be expected, some great tracks, some sucky tracks. I especially didn't like the way it started off, but that's more of a reflection of my tastes than it is anything else.
Trance League Express -- techno ("trance") versions of Human League songs, pretty cool, surprising, since most of these trance tributes suck, but this one rises above the crowd by keeping a lot of the melodies and such, so that the tunes are actually recognizable.
Amberdelic Space -- surprisingly good. Lots of classic artists like The Orb, Woob, and As One, to more unknown artists.
Audio Ravers -- Goa, Rave, Gabber. I'm not really into this stuff, but that said, there's a lot of good tracks on this. I may sell it, I don't know.
Electronic Tribute to the Grateful Dead -- I'm not a huge fan of the dead, so with most of this, I wasn't familiar with the original versions. Sorry, can't say much about it.
Talvin Singh Presents Sounds of the Asian Underground
The Beach Motion Picture Soundtrack
True Faith A Tribute to New Order -- mostly faithful (ahem!) covers. Nicely synth-poppy, nothing leaps out, though.
Virgin Voices The Ultimate Madonna Tribute -- you have not lived until you've heard some of these. Ogre doing "Borderline"?!?!?
Uncut's Acid Daze -- whoa!
Altered Beats Assassin Knowledges of the Remanipulated -- hippity hoppity!
