[JIGF]

I searched and found a couple of threads that are similar to this one, but I had something different in mind.
 
Your Album of the Month consists of just that, your album of the month. What is different here is:
 
- It will be only one each month for each person, and you'll have to include a good quality image of the cover.
 
- It is encouraged you post your thoughts on the album. No matter how short, crazy, long or eloquent they are.
 
- It can be any album, old or new, black or white, as long as it is music. 
 
- It could be something you heard a lot something you heard just once but struck you as something special.
 
- It does not matter if someone has already posted Your Album of the Month; there can be repetitions, that just means the album is really good.
 
- It has to be as on rails as possible by just posting Your Album of the Month, and nothing else. If you want to further discuss an album with someone please do so by personal messages.
 
- It should sound specially well through headphones. Excellent recording sound quality is key.
 
I'll be the first then.
 

 
Tool - 10,000 Days
 
Rhythm: Vicarious, Jambi, The Pot, Rosetta Stoned and Right in Two; they all keep a rhythmic pattern with variations that ascend the most climatic moments of the album. Each of those climatic points represent a realization, wether it be that you vicariously live while the whole world dies, or that you **** your pants again. What is amazing is that they are written in a way that you can relate sonically, no matter what the lyrics say; the dominant medium here is the sound, the rhythm.
 
Trance: Wings for Marie, 10,000 Days, Lipan Conjuring, Lost Keys, Intension. They provide an ambient in which you can feel comfortable, relaxed; serving as important transits to the more rhythm and explosion loaded titles. Very climatic and ecstatic in their own sense, you can reach very high trancing levels with them.
 
Viginti Tres, a good, but quite scary closing.
 
Listening to the whole can be exhausting at times, and while the songs are very fluid between each other and connected, they can stand alone as single experiences.
 
If you have not heard Tool before, this can be one great introduction to them; it was for me.

 

[IPodPJ]

I have two.
 
The first one is a benefit album called For Nihon with all proceeds being donated to the relief efforts in Japan.
 
http://www.unseen.bigcartel.com/product/for-nihon-various
 
You can buy the album as 2CDs, FLAC, or MP3 files.  $20 for 38 songs is a great price.
 
"For Nihon" features some of the premier names in ambient / experimental music. 100% of the profits from the sale of this album will be donated to the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund set up by New York's Japan Society.
 

 
TRACKLIST
1. Rhian Sheehan - Places In Between
2. Arms and Sleepers - Crash
3. aus - Daylight
4. Christina Vantzou - Your Changes Have Been Submitted
5. Dustin O'Halloran Featuring Adam Wiltzie - Opus 43
6. Peter Broderick - Quiet Long Enough
7. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Kizuna
8. Cokiyu - Volar
9. Clem Leek - A Light To Guide You
10. Biosphere - Inner Ohm
11. Last Days - Hanami
12. Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd - We Enter The Night
13. Goldmund - Nihon
14. Amman Abbasi - Fragmented Earth
15. Ex Confusion - Chapter 5
16. Colin Kenniff Featuring Hollie Kenniff - Wind and Distance
17. Hammock - Sora
18. Sawako - Lightlit
19. Deru - Days Then
20. Hollie Kenniff - This Time Tomorrow
21. The American Dollar - Near East
22. Joseph Minadeo - Roads
23. Bexar Bexar - Gold 1
24. Ametsub - Opening
25. Olafur Arnalds - Edalaus II
26. Nils Frahm & Anne Muller - Aussenseiter
27. Jon Hopkins - Abandon Window
28. Rafael Anton Irisarri & Goldmund - Dissolution
29. Helios - Sing The Same Song Twice
30. Ulrich Schnauss & Mark Peters - Balcony Sunset
31. Taylor Deupree - For A Morning When
32. Alva Noto - Is Otto Roessler Right?
33. Balmorhea - Candor
34. Near The Parenthesis - This Too
35. Little Phrase - Time Is Golden
36. Ryan Teague - Even Space
37. Rob Simonsen - 2.4 Metres
38. Max Richter - Bach Mirror
 
__________________________________________________________________________
 
 
My second pick is "Aamukaste 5AM" from a Finnish experimental band called Slusnik Luna
 

 
 
http://www.slusnikluna.com/aamukaste5am.php
 
Unfortunately you either have to order the album from a store in Finland, or buy it online from Beatport.com and they charge about $15 for the MP3 version and $27 for the WAV version.  The sound quality is really good on most of the tracks, and sounds almost binaural.  It's a real treat listening to it through headphones.  You're completely surrounded by a sonic bubble.
 

Track list

1	So It Begins	2:06
2	Morning Star	5:29
3	Sun (Kössin mix)	6:17
4	I Dream of the Other Side	8:00
5	10 Years Later	6:41
6	Aamukaste 5AM	4:14
7	Symphony (Performed by the Lowland Orchestra)	6:00
8	Sun (Softy's mix)	7:53
9	Azure Breeze	3:31
10	Nocturne	4:21
11	Breaker	8:15

 
 

 

[SkinnyPuppy]

Zomby - Dedication

 
One of my favorite albums this year. Everything from unusual percussion to powerful leads to 8-bit chiptunes, Dedication has it all.
 
 
 

 

[JamieTheSonger]

 
Sounds ridiculously good on the brand new Spider realvoices.
 
You can download it free from the artist here: http://www.andyzipf.com/

 

[moriez]

Huge for headphones! This is electronic dub music with typical dub elements like percussion, stabs and even horns at times. Versatile, produced so so well and deeeeep bass

 

01. First Quarter (11:40)

02. Second Quarter (12:00)

03. Third Quarter (The Vampire of Mumbai) (10:39)

04. Fourth Quarter (Cala's House) (11:36)

05. Plateau Quarter (Hope in Numbers) (11:44)
 
Something to listen / buy / read -> http://www.kompakt.fm/releases/drawn_and_quartered
Something to listen / buy / read -> http://www.juno.co.uk/products/drawn-quartered/423849-01/
 

 

[volted]

 
Portugal. The Man -- In the Mountain in the Cloud

 

[Tendolhorse]

Album of the Month for July: Battles - Gloss Drop
 
I found myself listening to this a lot throughout the month.  The entire album contains so much energy and bright tempo, that I can't help but smile and move to it (which helped out a lot during the long drives I had to take).  I especially love how each instrument layers upon each other.  The tracks that feature guest vocals (Ice Cream, My Machines, Sweetie & Shag, Sundome) really stand out, but certainly do not take away from the other songs.  My favorite tracks would have to be: Ice Cream, Futura, Wall Street, Sweetie & Shag and Sundome.

 

[JIGF]

 
I have been interested to get to know Dave Matthews Band for while now, but it wasn’t until the beginning of this month before going to visit my family in Margarita that I decided to get a couple of their albums. The one I got more acquainted with was:
 

Dave Matthews Band - Before These Crowded Streets
 
The first three tracks (Pantala Naga Pampa, Rapunzel and The Last Stop) were not too much to my liking, a bit all over the place without much cohesion. Nevertheless what struck me was the great quality of the recordings, so I hoped that it would get better.
 
Don’t Drink the Water. Here’s when I started to feel it. I remember having watched the video for this song when I was a kid and being amused by the guy (Dave) hanging from the chandelier. Is that Alanis Morissette at the end? This is among the tracks that have little jams at the end.
 
Stay (Wasting Time). Sunny, fun, joyful song. Very apt for a drive to the beach accompanied by someone special.
 
Halloween. Feels like a jam. That is what characterizes a lot DMB’s music right?
 
The Stone. Wow, what a spectacular ascension! I had Goosebumps all along this track. The inflection points are natural; it all flows. Follows a beautiful curve. Possesses some precious lyrics too.
 
Crush. The Dreaming Tree. Both Pleasant and mellow. Overall nice tracks.
 
Pig. Loving the instrumentation.
 
Spoon. Fleck plays his banjo here.
 
This is among the best records from DMB, according to a friend of mine who is a great fan it even was released in vinyl. Musicianship and sound quality is above par. Guests include Béla Fleck, Alanis Morissette, Kronos Quartet, among others. After listening to it I immediately became a DMB fan.
 
Amazing album.

 

[9pintube]

I finally got a beautiful sounding copy of Eva Cassidy's "Songbird" on Vinyl"

 

[jtaylor991]

Destroy and Rebuild by thePhantom*, local KC hip hop *artist*
 

 
Great album of neo-conscious hip hop full of emotion and meaningful lyrics, and very good singing and production/instrumentals.
 
The tracks of Rain, The Omega, Step Child, and Soar are probably the best (in order) if you want to listen to a little to see if you want to preview the whole thing. Even if you don't like hip hop generally, I still must say PREVIEW IT. You will at LEAST be able to say "Eh, it's okey." even if you absolutely HATE hip hop.
 
http://music.phantastic.me/album/destroy-rebuild
 
The rest of his music can be found at music.phantastic.me
Newest album is The Fountain of Youth, released July 2011.
 
He also has some remixes on SoundCloud (soundcloud.com/thephantom816) and he did a thing called "Phantom Phridays" where he released a new single every Friday until his latest album, The Fountain of Youth, released, since he pushed the date to a few months later than the original date.
 
Also, everything on music.phantastic.me is available in FLAC, ALAC, MP3 320, and a bunch of other formats. Click on MP3 320 when it's preparing your download for a drop down list.
 
 

 

[BotByte]

 
I'm more into Rock and Jazz, but I like to check out some Rap every once and a while and found Big Sean after he went on a Mike Posner album a while back.
 
Looked the boy up and found his first release. Some big players add their sound to his album like all good rap albums, but man I'm hooked.
 
His rapping style is odd, maybe not too rhythmic, but there's something else there. The beats aren't too great, swearing and some autotune. But I see that he's got heart on his stuff. He swears to a point in which it's not needed anymore. He puts some heart in his words and some of the songs had me hanging at breaking out in tears. It might feel nice and fun at first, but after a bit, it almost feels like a blues album.
 
It's mostly a story of him hitting big, but songs compare and talk about his family's views on his gain.
 
Along with and B.O.B.'s latest mix tape, some of my favorite albums of the last two years. Which this that 5 years have been filled with big hit and miss albums.
 
I really hope that this boy moves on and starts on his next album, nothing Gangster, but nothing like this one. I want to hear more heart from him.

 

[JIGF]

 
I was pleasantly surprised two weeks ago when I stumbled by chance with Incubus’ new album if not now, when?
 
Being an Incubus lover, I was even more surprised that I did not know about it the moment it came out. Feeling a bit ashamed as a fan.
 

Incubus - if not now, when?
 
First off, the album cover, definitely the best since Morning View; I am glad they decided to go with the earlier logo too.
 
Onto the music, I’ll try to keep it short.
 
Highlights for me were, in no particular order: Friends and Lovers, Thieves, Defiance, Adolescents (sounds like something from Light Grenades) and Tomorrow’s Food.
 
I must say that Tomorrow’s Food is up there with Just a Phase from Morning View. Still, not as epic.
 
The opening is quite a big departure from the usual Incubus sound. The first two tracks, and a couple more throughout the album, go too much on the pop-like ballad side of things for my taste. Not really my cup of tea, but I always say the same thing with each new Incubus album and end up loving it all the same. Lets see if it grows on me.
 
You can really feel how the group has improved in recent years, especially Mike’s new arranging abilities acquired in while studying at Harvard, and Brandon’s boundless voice inspired by who knows what. The rest of the guys must struggle to keep up; Kilmore had to take piano lessons, Jose started playing with timpani, and Ben still plays his base.
 
The live songs are a nice addition.
 
Sound quality on the album is great. I was a bit worried there since the last two Incubus related releases (The Wild Trapeze, Monuments and Melodies) were deplorable.
 
I like it, and am grateful Incubus still makes music. Not as significant a release as Morning View, which has become a monument of nostalgia for me.

 

[BobSaysHi]

I've seen some good stuff in this thread.
 

 
here's mine: Chelsea Wolfe - Ἀποκάλυψις
 
dark, melodic, destorted.
 
8/10
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA5HbCtlbFM

 

[Uncle Erik]

When their breakup was announced, I reached for R.E.M.'s "Eponymous." it's a collection of their early hits.

Damned if I can't get it out of the CD player.

 

[tru blu]

These were my September songs…they rock like hell and are plenty smart to boot…
 

 
Wild Flag - Wild Flag