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Ty Segall Sleeper

Wherein Segall goes acoustic. Slap a 1971 copyright on the album and it could easily be passed off as a hard-to-find rural psych Holy Grail. I suppose the album will also find acceptance among the power pop crowd. As always, there's great songwriting and the change of pace from lo-fi garage really works. My favorite track is "6th Street", a bluesy-psych number that has earned its way to my next mix-tape.

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KT Tunstall Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon

What a great departure from her usual style. There's a bluesy Americana vibe throughout an album that has a dark edge. Her songwriting has definitely matured, this may be in part to the rough year she had before this album was recorded- her divorce and the death of her father have a definite effect on the mood of the music. It's not all melancholy as there as some fine ballads of hope tossed in. Favorite tracks: "How You Kill Me", "Old Man Song" and "Honeydew". It helps that Howe Gelb produced & brought in a crack team of musicians.

This is a great band (best I've ever seen live) and this record is solid enough, but if you dig this you really need to check out their first two albums or anything by mclusky...

On a pretty large hip hop binge lately. Mobb Deep and Sadistik being my two most listened to recently. Also Mos Def and Dizzee Rascal a lot as well.


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(Hell on Earth > The Infamous fyi)

I have really been getting into Gil Scott Heron recently A LOT. His final release I'm New Here is phenomenal and it made me back track into his older stuff even though I already had The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. He is simply brilliant and this from I'm New Here is a testament from a man sadly departed:


Continuing a tenuous link from Gil Scott Heron, Ghostpoet is a mish mash of the aforementioned and Linton Kwesi Johnson with Ghostpoet himself saying that he just talks over murky beats. Don't do yourself a disservice here! I Think Heron and Johnson had a child and called him Ghostpoet who is best friends with Tricky. Many thanks to Gavin B. for introducing me to him.
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Yes I should really have listened to this band a lot more than I have. Just great songwriting.

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Author & Punisher—Women & Children
For those unfamiliar, this guy builds his own electronic instruments and made a jaw droppingly great first album that was heavily Godflesh inspired and felt like an electronic answer to doom metal. This second album does exactly what I always hope a second album will do: it sounds pretty different from the first one while still retaining all its best attributes. This is a lot more atmospheric than the first album. It's also a lot more poppy and a lot more 80s sounding, and all of those things are employed perfectly. This is still extremely mood-heavy music that's best heard at maximum volume, just for different reasons.

Edit: on a side note, this album cover bears an uncanny resemblance to the first Rise Robots Rise album, which if the idea of genre-bending sci-fi music made by an absurdly talented two man funk band sounds appealing to you, is well worth a listen.

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Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground

Basically does what it says on the tin. Hardcore fans of that period in music will unlikely discover much new, but there are some gems on here.

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I love Akuma No Kuma goddamn! the sinking belle is also a stellar track.
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should have gotten way more attention this year, it's still holding up!

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A very decent mess of Glitch Hop.

Oh snaps. Can't wait til I get home to dive into that album.

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Ras G & The Afrikan Space Program Back on the Planet

Sci-fi electronic funk from somewhere in the Sun Ra-verse. Favorite tracks: "Culture Riddim" and "Asteroid Storm".

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RocketNumberNine Meyouweyou

Techno electro-jazz with some awesome funky percussion. Favorite tracks: "Steel Drummer" & "Lope".

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Hidden Masters Of This & Other Worlds

New Glasgow band takes on prog-tinged psych-folk with a definite early '70s feel. Favorite tracks: "She Broke the Clock of the Long Now" & "There Are More Things".

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XNY Orange

First full length from the Brooklyn-based alt-rock duo. Excellent vocals from Pam Autuori. Favorite tracks: "Jaw" & "Rabbit".

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V/A Mutazione - Italian Electronic & New Wave Underground 1980 - 1988

Title says it all. The better electronic tracks remind me of Kraftwerk or other German electronic acts & several of the new wave songs show influence from early Cabaret Voltaire.