http://hiphopmusicnow.com/wp-content...on-the-sun.jpg
Album: Shadows on the Sun
Artist: Brother Ali
Genre: Hip Hop/Rap
Suggested by: DwnWthVwls
Familiarity: None.

1. Room with a View - Woah, what the heck is happening at the start there. Beyond that, it's a pretty solid track.

2. Champion... - Another cool mix with rap over top. Great, but it's getting a bit boring.

3. Star Quality - The mix has a bit of a melancholy feel this time. It's a slight change, but it works. The rapping is solid, and the lyrics are pretty good too. This one's very good.

4. Prince Charming - Really love the funky feel of this one. Yeah, it's awesome.

5. Win Some Lose Some - Very bluesy this time, and there's a harmonica. I really love the way these songs are mixing rap in with other genres. The lyrics are still awesome, and the rapping is very tight, so no complaints really. There's some spoken word parts at the end, which further enhance the feel of the record.

6. Pay Them Back - Another great mix, more tight lyrics and yet more awesome rapping. Not much else to say, but it's still good.

7. Blah Blah Blah - Pretty much the same as above. As much as I'm not saying, this album has been incredibel so far. Everything about this is awesome, so I hope it keeps going like this.

8. Shadows on the Sun - Again, similar stuff, but just stellar quality all around.

9. Prelude - A small little, you guessed it, prelude. Hard to rate, so I'll just say whatever.

10. Forest Whitaker - There's a happy little keyboard ditty on this mix. It's really good. Other than that, pretty similar stuff. Very cool.

11. B****slap! - A lot more record-scratching stuff here. Other than that, same stuff. It's good.

12. Back Stage Pacin' - Same stuff again.

13. When the Beat Comes In - Yup, pretty much the same, maybe I could point out a bit more guitar in the mix. Despite all of the songs' similarities, they don't get old. Mostly due to small variations in the themes of the lyrics, and also the feel of the mix. Simple yet effective.

14. Missing Teeth - Cool stuff. Again, not much else to say.

15. Dorian - Good.

16. Soul Whisper - Better mix than the last one. Lyrics are better too.

17. Picket Fence - Beautiful mix.

18. Victory! (Come Forward) - Basic mix, but still great.

This album seems like any other rap album, but there's something about it that sets it a notch above the rest. Certainly, the lyrics are great, but there's something about the mixing that's addictive and hooks you in to every song. The mixing incorporates many different styles of music, including jazz, blues and of course, R&B. Overall, there's nothing really special about it, but I've no complaints. It's just a great album.
OVERALL RATING: 9/10

@ TechnicLePanther

Cool man, thanks for the write-up. It's Days of the New's second album and their best one. It's also one of the more experimental albums that I can get into. The transitions you spoke of work seamlessly toward making it a complete piece of art, IMO, instead of just a collection of tracks. I had the album for ages before I ever looked it up, but the female singer is Nicole Scherzinger of The Pussycat Dolls and later of The X Factor fame. How she came to work with Travis Meeks on a project like this a mystery to me. That withstanding, "Phobics of Tragedy" is the ****.

While I never made the butt-rock comparison, if I do, indeed, have to lump Days of the New with Nickelback and Creed (whose first album I do like by the way), then consider me Miles Davis.

yo I'm gonna nominate this album for you:

Pretty easy to find on Spotify :D

Buddy Rich - The Roar of '74
http://www.monkeydummy.com/wp-conten...08/1016368.jpg

Fantastic pick. The opener is Rich's best track imo.

Gracias, and yeah that opening track is supercool. I got it on vinyl, for me Big Mac is my favorite. That climax drum solo at the end of Big Mac is godlike.

That sounds really interesting. Rec for "Love or Hate?" when I reopen soon maybe?

You have to get through Familiars first :P

Part 7. I think.
http://musicmp3spb.org/images/m/merz...133cea31cb.jpg
Album: Paradoxa Paradoxa
Artist: Merzbow
Genre: Noise
Suggested by: grindy
Familiarity: None.

Paradoxa Paradoxa Pt. 1 - A lot of generic Merzbow stuff. It's actually a bit more interesting. There's more stuff happening here, it seems like. Kind of bad audio quality, but it was '81, and Merzbow wasn't very popular back then, so I'll give him a pass. I think I hear a vacuum too. Yup, pretty much just generic Merzbow stuff. It's more on the fun side of his stuff, rather than the boring side. Yup, it's just some fun, lighthearted noise. Oops, nope. It starts to get a bit more scary and annoying towards the middle. Lots of really abrasive stuff. Anyways, the less abrasive parts are definitely better, and because it's mostly the less abrasive stuff, it's pretty good.

Paradoxa Paradoxa Pt. 2 - A little tape loop intro enters some abrasive accompaniment. It's a very abrasive song. The tape loop keeps cutting and jumping randomly, which adds a lot of texture to the song. And despite it being more abrasive, this is probably my favorite of the two tracks. It may even be my favorite Merzbow song so far. The apocalyptic atmosphere is really good. The squealing of the feedback doesn't really get super annoying, as it's usually quiet and drowned out by the rest of the noise. This is a very cool song. Towards the end, it even sounds like they're sampling a j-pop song. Really good stuff here.

Overall, this album is pretty cool. The most abrasive one so far, it's also a lot more unique. You could tell these songs from any other Merzbow songs, due to some key elements. The second song especially blew me away, so I have to give this one a pretty high rating.
OVERALL RATING: 9/10

http://f1.bcbits.com/img/a0140853903_10.jpg
Album: The Oblique Perspective
Artist: Jesus the Carpenter
Genre: Experimental
Suggested by: Frownland
Familiarity: None.

1. Dearly Beloved/Summertime - Got what sounds like wind on a cheap camcorder. I actually like the (what sounds like screwing around on a guitar) music. It's nothing really interesting, but I'm sure it would be deep if I were stoned. Great for background music, as far as I'm concerned. Some great guitar interplay, even though it lacks any functional rhythm.

2. Dust Devils - Starting out worse than the other one. About a minute in, it gets a bit more complicated. The production value is absolutely terrible. It sounds like a live album, or like someone playing guitar through an amp and then recording it with a microphone. Gets a lot more noisy and less drony towards the middle. It's a welcome change. Really abrasive towards the end. I like it just fine.

3. Summer Heat - Heaviness level is in between the last track and the first track. Still electric, but a bit more jangly. There's some random banging noises too. Reminds me of Merzbow a lot. It's alright. Like the middle of the Merzbow road.

4. Oblique Perspective - A lot of droning, reverb and guitar. I can't say I liked it terribly because it sounded too random, and the quality was still pretty bad. Meh.

5. Water Streams - This one was really good. Just guitar, but it felt a bit more planned out, and it was relaxing to listen to.

6. Hard Lines - Hard line, hard line after hard line! More guitar noise, but it's mixed up with some effects. I like it.

This album is compiled of generic noise, and decent experimental guitar. It's nothing particularly special, and some of the noise was pretty simple and annoying, but the softer acoustic tracks were for the most part good. So this one's gonna end up in the middle.

OVERALL RATING: 5/10