Gift From Me To You Series
 

For people who are on my friends list, this should look familiar. However for people who are not on my list, let me tell you what this is all about. Every Tuesday, I do a mass send out of an album I"m certain nobodies heard. I started this five weeks ago after I gave "...With the Spirit of a Traffic Jam" by Gruvis Malt a really good listen and thought that more people should be given the opportunity to listen to it. At first I figured it was just a random act of kindness and that I would revert back to my usual **** head self, but a week later I felt that same desire. After that I decided to turn it into a weekly event, done on a Tuesday as a way of brightening up a rather bland and frankly horrid day. What I hope this thread becomes is a gathering grounds for the people who receive the albums and the people who want to receive the albums. I will post my own mini reviews (one paragraph tops) that explains why I thought I should send out this album. If you wish to post your own then by all means, but I also hope that it can turn into a discussion, talk about the things you liked and didn't like. Also a great way of recommending similar artists and overall lets us do what the website title says and banter about music. I was originally going to put this in the Member Journal section but changed my mind when I remembered that each post must be approved first, I figure this way the thread is a little more productive and the mods don't have to spend all the time approving each post. However, mods, if you feel that this threads place would be better in the Member Journals section then by all means please move the thread and I apologize for putting it in the wrong place, should that be the case. Anyhow, without further ado, here are my first four reviews.



Band: Gruvis Malt
Album: "... With the Spirit of a Traffic Jam"
Year: 2002

Like a good portion of my music, I became aware of this group through a person who I consider to be an older brother. This was the only album he had and gladly passed it onto me. Upon my first listen I wasn't overly impressed, but that was partly due to the fact that I was trying to concentrate on the essay I was writing. However one evening I was going through some of the albums that I had had for quite awhile but didn't know very well and decided to spin this again, but this time with headphones. I was not prepared for the exceptional level of musicianship from each person in the band. The way they blended jazz with hip hop and elements of progressive rock was done so smoothly that I cannot believe I didn't catch it on the first listen. I ended up listening to it two more times after my second hearing and became totally intranced by how amzing this group was. Sadly they are now disbanded, but did leave us with four other equally as amazing albums. The best track on the album would probably have to be the 6th one "Even The Scars Forget The Wounds" which is just so smooth and easy to listen to without being boring.

Band: WarsawpacK
Album: "Gross Domestic Product"
Year: 2001

Ahh WarsawpacK... possibly one of my favorite political and environmental hip hop groups that incorporate elements of reggae in their work. Ohkasey put it best when she described their sound as "Like if Rage Against The Machine took a chill pill, but with better grooves". Just as political as RATM, yet they also focus their attention towards things like the environment and the depletion of oil reserves and the ozone layer. One of the things that politcally motivated groups can have issues with is they tend to focus more on the subject matter and the melody tends to float somewhere in the middle. Of course RATM doesn't suffer from this as they've created some of the best songs of the 1990's. Regardless of whether or not you agree with the policies and ideas stated in the songs, you can enjoy them just because of the way they flow, perfect for background music for a nice hot day if you're just chilling and doing whatever helps you relax. Hard to say what the best song on the album is however as they're all pretty good. The one that really got me was "Doomsday Device" but it's rather lengthy running in at over 9 minutes and not everybody has the same opinion on longer songs. However as that song is not on youtube, you'll just have to make due wtih "Attention to Deficit" and I'm sure you'll manage.

Band: Bohren & Der Club of Gore
Artist: "Black Earth"
Year: 2002

This was an album I was a little worried about sharing. I obviously liked it if I thought it was worthy of being shared, but at the same time if it's not listened to under the right circumstances it can be very boring. I made sure to warn everyone ahead of time that this isn't the album you listen to if you want something active to listen to. It's extremely laid back and dark jazz that sounds like a slower version of the type of stuff you'd hear in the TV series Twin Peaks. I had this album for a good year, but never really gave it much of a listen until very recently. I found that it worked wonders for when I was writing or doing my math homework because it just sat in the background, occasionally letting you know that it's there. I'm not much of a jazz enthusiast, not by dislike of the genre, but there's just so much there that trying to get into it feels like learning to swim during a tsunami. I really liked the dark sound to it, very unsettling yet not threatening.

Band: Two Cow Garage
Album: "Speaking In Cursive"
Year: 2008

I cannot honestly say what made me want to pass out these guys. I like them obviously, but there were other artists I was debating with last Monday. I had just uploaded their album for savannah because of how much they reminded me of her favorite group Lucero. I suppose I just got lazy and decided it was easy and less time consuming to send out that link rather than uploading something new. The album had some good tracks on it, specifically the third one "Folksinger's Heart". However I felt that most of the songs were pretty easily forgettable. I think everyone really felt that way because I really didn't receive too much in the way of feedback on them. If there was a week I wish I could re-do I think it would've been this one.

*Again, this is not only for the people who received the albums, if you wish to view them and form you own opinion on them please ask and I will hook you up. As I go by friends list each Tuesday, sending me a Friend Request is a good way of ensuring that you'll get the album every week. Also I know this may look like an elaborate scheme to get a higher friends list, and while I do measure my self worth by how many Internet friends I have, this is mainly about my passion for sharing music.

I Apologize for the double post, but I could not post another photo in my first post.


Artist: The Smalls
Album: "My Dear Little Angle"
Year: 1999

The Smalls are a band I'm particularly fond of. They are a punk rock band with elements of jazz and hard rock boarding on metal. Extremely talented musicians who met up at College in Edmonton Alberta. "My Dear Little Angle" has been one of my favorite driving albums for quite some time now, and has gotten me through horrible sections of Nevada where there's absolutely no life. If you're a fan of bass driven rock, then you'll really like these guys as their bassist Corb Lund is pretty talented. It's hard to say what song is my favorite off this album, the first four are all equally good. The 4th track "My Saddle Horse Has Died" is a really fun and fast song, but the opening track "My Dear Little Angle" has everything I could really want to get sucked into an album. I really hope the people who've downloaded it so far have enjoyed it. Sadly though, The Smalls played their last show back in 2001, and while the fact that "My Saddle Horse Has Died" appeared on Corb Lund's 2007 country album "Horse Solider! Horse Solider!", the chances of a reunion are still small :(

I downloaded this earlier today. I just put it on my iPod so I'll report back tomorrow.

I would be very interested in doing this thing, the Weekly Music Trading Post seems to be over and I am in desperate need of random albums from people I don't know in real life.

I would like to keep the Weekly Music Trading Post going, this is just something that I do on my own time with no desire to gain anything other than turning some people onto some new music. I think I may take over for that until Rezz gets whatever is going on with him sorted out.

sorry I don't PM you back about these things Pobody's that doesn't mean I don't listen though. The first two were misses for me but I've liked the other ones, especially The Smalls.

Ah, so you've gone public with this! I must admit, Po I haven't downloaded them or listen to them because I wasn't sure on how to go about it. I DID however save all of your PMs and I'm trying to download Gruvis Malt right now, but it says I have to provide a password.

Ha! So one of my roommates just woke up to your Gruvis Malt clip and immediately knocked on my door to ask me who it was! :)

Edit: Did I miss week IV?

You shouldn't have, but if you did not receive Two Cow Garage I will resend you the link.

I haven't had time to listen to any of them yet, but good job on making a thread, I'll be sure to give a report once I get around to them. Thanks for the effort...(:

Listening to Gruvis Malt right now and I already like it. You're missin' out, adidasss.

Gruvis Malt gets a fair few plays by me, a really cool blend of styles with a mellow vibe.
I've been a bit lazy since then, although Warsawpack has always been on my mind, and that video you just posted was so awesome that I was startled into downloading it on the spot.

I can always count on you to point me towards good hip hop, so those entries will always get the most attention from me. The other genres you've been upping haven't quite appealed to me as much. But at some point in time I'll have to dive into Gothic Country because it sounds pretty cool.

I'm glad Gruvis Malt and WarsawpacK are agreeing with you. As far as the Gothic Country is concerned, I would suggest going back in my Gothic Country thread to the beginning, I've been adding to it ever since, but I don't really think it's been catching anyone's attention :( I'm doing a massive Gothic Country upload this week, so if you're interested I can just give you the link to my folder and you can download at your own discretion.

Your stuff is awesome and I have been enjoying. Thanks a lot for sharing it, great stuff!

Yes, yes, yes. Pobodys the guy that will point you in the right direction here. I've yet to pick up where I left off, but I'll be hittin' up his G.C thread very soon here.

I have a few bands that I need to add to it, however I need to get the videos up first as the ones available on youtube aren't that great quality.

Out of all of them, I'm loving WarsawpacK.

Thanks for this, man.

I haven't listened to any of them yet but don't take it personally. I always have tons of stuff to get through and I eventually will.

Tis alright my man, I know you're a busy man. If you could somehow make listening to all the new music you get into a full time job you'd be set for life.

I did give Gruvis Malt a quick listen a little while ago and I am listening now. It's not awful at all and quite mellow but I'm finding it TOO smooth and a little bland personally. When it comes to Hip Hop I either generally like a beat heavy sound with emphasis on bass lines or a funky undertow so this doesn't really do either for me.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...titheworld.jpg

Artist: Rehab
Album: Graffiti The World
Year: 2005

About this time last year (it was actually July) I received this album in my inbox on another music forum with absolutely no previous experience with this group. When I read that they were a rap/rock band I immediately put on my skepticism pants and prepared myself for yet another group vainly trying to produce the same sound and style as Korn or Limp Bizkit. However it turns out I prepared myself for nothing because this is by far one the best album of that genre. Now I know what you're saying "it's not really hard to improve on shit" but not only do these guys prove that rap/rock can be a good genre, but they blow some other live band hip hop groups out of the water. Many of their songs deal with, you guessed it, rehabilitation from drug and alcohol abuse, in which the three founding members Steaknife, Danny Alexander, and Brooks Buford met at a rehab center and combined their love of hip hop and rock music. Since then they have released two studio albums "Southern Discomfort" in 2000 and "Graffiti The World" in 2005, later re-releasing it in 2008 with two new songs and an updated version of their hit song "Sittin' At A Bar". The version I'm giving you is their original 2005 one, because I felt the songs that they replaced were incredibly good, and did not deserve to be bumped off the album, also the updated version of "Sittin' At A Bar" while good, isn't as good as the original found on their 2000 release "Southern Discomfort". So sit back and enjoy the sounds of Rehab one of my favorite Southern groups.

Didn't you also send out Peculiar Pretzelmen? I gave that a listen today, and all I could think was Tom Waits. Not to say that's a bad thing. The key with them, for me, would be the same as with him... small doses. :D

And I think I missed Gruvis Malt...

First album you sent me that I didn't like. I've never really liked them, but gave them another shot, anyway. They cease to impress me. I think a lot of it has to do with his voice. I think he sounds so obnoxious.

This album has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. Bottles and Cans, Graffiti The World and Chest Pain all have special meaning to me. I agree with 333 that his voice can be obnoxious, but I dig it.

Same here. I couldn't really get into them :(

Am I the only one that hears Insane Clown Posse in them?

I am sorry that Rehab is not turning out to be as big a hit as I thought it'd be, however I am not infallible, eventually something I gave out would get less than favourable feedback. Does not change my opinion on the album though, "Graffiti The World" is still one of my favourite rap/rock albums of all time. I will, however, be a little bit more selective on next week's entry, something I think is more agreeable for everyone.

I wanted to like it. Just needed to be funkier – to break away from that stereotypical sound.

Artist: Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip
Album: Angles
Year: 2008


I know I've sent this album off to a couple of people in the past, but never in mass before. This album, along with Sadistik's album "The Balancing Act" were quite easily my two favourite hip hop albums of 2008. This album is set up like the more traditional hip hop groups with one DJ (Dan Le Sac) and one MC (Scroobius Pip). Dan Le Sac's beats are very electro based, sometimes a little bit in the minimalistic area, but the way they flow with Scroobius Pip's lyrics are really well done. One song in particular serious sounds like Sonic Youth in the background, which for being a hip hop group that's quite an achievement. The one thing that really puts this album at the top of my list for 2008 was due to the extremely well written and intelligent lyrics. There are two songs in particular that are extremely depressing, but each have a deep meaning behind it and are delievered very well. It's the last song however "Waiting For The Beat To Kick In" that sold me though. It's told in a sort of... "Christmas Carol" style, in which a man (Scroobius Pip) is in place similar to New York City and he meets with three people who each give him a piece of advise to help his life for the better. All of the advice given to him was extremely relevent to me, so that's why the album has stuck so well to me. Do not let the low score on Pitchfork Media (.02) throw you off. In one song Scroobius Pip talks about how people put recording artists on ridiculouls pedistls and then goes to list 15 artists who generally make up the Top 20 Bands of all Time as being "just a band". That really seemed to piss off the reviewer who spent the entire review scatching him for that, rather than praising him for his songs about suicide, religion, relationship issues, social norms, and so on. I hope you guys enjoy this album more than Rehabs.

Hey cool I'm going to give this one a spin. I'll let you know what I think of it. Thanks!

Before I listen to the newest one, I'd like to point out that Rehab is amazing. Two thumbs up on that one, even though I've already had it purchased.

Downloaded this Angles album now.

I already love Angles, I'll give it another listen once I get the 20 other things out of the way.

Yes, yes you are and should feel kind of ashamed.

Has anyone had a chance to listen to Angles yet? If you have, please post something, your thoughts, your criticisms, what you liked, what you thought he could do better, etc.

There were some definite winners on here for me. Back From Hell being the biggest.

The only complaints I have are for the tracks that sounded more like him giving a speech than actually rapping. While it was amusing, those parts didn't do much to enhance the music.

All in all, I'm quite thankful to have this. But did anyone else think he sounded exactly like Ali G?

Artist: Blue Sky Black Death With Hell Razah
Album: Razah's Ladder
Year: 2007

This was my first experience with Blue Sky Black Death and unless you're a big fan of instrumental hip hop albums, I think this may be the only album from these guys a large majority of the people will like. This is a collaboration album with Kingston Maguire and Ian Taggart who make up Blue Sky Black Death and rapper Hell Razah. The beats and Hell Razah's flow work evenly with each other, and there is a lot of symbolism throughout the album, the most obvious being the album title. I found myself spinning this album quite a lot this weekend and decided it would be the best one to share, that is until sidewinder sent me Crying Over Pros For No Reason by edIT.



Artist: edIT
Album: Crying Over Pros For No Reason
Year: 2004

I started to get into edIT back at the beginning of the year when I was sent his 2008 more dance orientated album Certified Air Raid Material. When sidewinder sent me Crying Over Pros For No Reason I assumed that it would be more of the what I heard before, but my god I was wrong. This album is far more laid back and doesn't feature any guest vocals like Certified Air Raid Material did. The only vocals you'll hear on the album is the occasional sampling done. The most amazing thing about this album is that even though it's an instrumental, it still keeps your attention the same way it would if there were vocals. You find yourself actually listening to the sounds and trying to anticipate what's going to happen next. That's the other thing that I love, you can never really prepare yourself for what's next, there's no real formula to the song, no real repeat. All thanks go to sidewinder for this one, he's the man that sent it to me upon my request on Sunday. Oh yeah, if you've never heard edIT before and start checking your computer after the first song, don't worry it's suppose to sound like that, it's called glitch-hop for a reason.

Lol classic. :laughing: I'm throwing this on the iPod for today.

sidewinder's the guy that gave me the edIT album originally so if you're liking it be sure to thank him.

But if you hate it, blame LoathsomePete. :D

Both are great listens.
(I'll be giving a further opinion when I've had more time to appreciate them.)
Thanks, boys.

Thanks man, the edIT album is blowing my mind all over the place.