31.10.11

Halloween Mix (No. 9) - oxide joyride



In honor of a holiday that isn't really a holiday, here is a mix of some scary songs and others that make me smile. No those aren't really dead people.

01 Blood Freak - Aerobicide
02 Boris - Untitled
03 Boogiemonsters - Strange
04 Ghoul - Life of the Living Dead
05 cyriak - Oddity
06 irr. App. (Ext.) - Significant Memory in the Grip of Declension
07 Dwarves - You Gotta Burn
08 Der Blutharsch - When Did Wonderland End? XI
09 Peter Evans Quintet - Ghost

Download.

30.10.11

Max Richter - Waltz with Bashir OST


 
2009; 20 tracks
 

The soundtrack to Ari Folman's groundbreaking animated documentary Waltz with Bashir. In one of Max Richter's most rich and stunning scores, you will be sure to find an incredible array of simplicity, passion, and longing. Among the originally composed pieces is "Enola Gay" by O.M.D. (Ochestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) and "This Is Not a Love Song" by P.I.L. (Public Image Ltd.) My favorite track is definitely "Haunted Ocean," a single image with 5 variations.

Memory takes us where we need to go.

29.10.11

Making - EP


2011; 6 tracks


This Australian trio's debut release is a mix of noise and math rock, I guess, but honestly I just really like the way it sounds. Repetitive. Instrumental (for the most part). Pretty.

download / bandcamp

26.10.11

more brahms love + thoughts

hi everyone.

i hope you enjoy my latest mix, it is actually one of my favorite ones. "do it again" is like my favorite song on earth right now. fuck. it's extremely similar to the song "recommencons" by shit and shine. the album art was tricky but whatevs. the title comes from a particular translation of a particular kafka novel.

i was bored yesterday and went into a practice room and browsed through my brahms piano book and a piece caught my eye (there were many sixteenth notes and rests) - Intermezzo Op. 117, No. 2. i'm teaching it to myself. it's not the hardest thing on earth, but it will still be a challenge. it's so great to be actually excited about something again. here is what it sounds like~



there's something about the music of brahms that draws me like no other. i used to feel this way about chopin - starting a piece, especially one that i had never heard before, was always an incredible adventure. in the better pieces, there are unexpected beautiful moments that flower out of the most dreary parts. it was just fun to unearth them, i guess. but with brahms, there ARE no dreary parts. there is no guilt, and there is no shame. i am fully and completely positive that his music will always be beautiful, always be perfect, from the very first to the very last moment. it takes me about 15 minutes to get through this piece right now because i try to get every single note right, and sight-reading isn't my strongest ability. anyway. i just love traveling through those brahmsian landscapes slowly, continuously making progress until i can finally call myself finished.

in short, he gives me something to live for.

25.10.11

Mix No. 8 - melancholy inhabitants



01 Pogo - Tunnels
02 R. Stevie Moore - Do It Again
03 The Slits - Typical Girls
04 Light Bearer - The Metatron
05 Magik Markers - Bad Dream/Hartford's Beat Suite
06 Naked Raygun - Leeches
07 Brian Eno - The Big Ship
08 Angel'in Heavy Syrup - Water Mind
09 Jandek - Your Visitor

Download.

24.10.11

Erkin Koray - Elektronik Türküler




1974; 8 tracks


This is a fantastic prog/psych rock album. Erkin Koray, a Turkish guitarist and musician, was a major figure in the anatolian rock music scene throughout the 60s, 70,s and 80s. Anatolian rock is the term for Turkish rock music emerging in the mid-1960s, blending traditional folk music with rock. Elektronik Türküler, the musician's second full-length and first album to be recorded for the LP format, is an entirely Turkish-sounding album with many psychedelic and progressive rock elements. I thoroughly enjoy it, the whole way through, and if you'll notice I included the track "Cemalım" in my latest mix because I really, truly love that track.

01 Karlı Dağlar
02 Sır
03 Hele Yar
04 Korkulu Rüya
05 Yalnızlar Rıhtımı
06 Cemalım
07 İnat
08 Türkü


Download.

23.10.11

Rachel Grimes - Book of Leaves


2009; 14 tracks


Rachel Grimes is the pianist for the group Rachel's, whose album I posted a few days ago. This is her only solo album, but it is an entirely gorgeous and entrancing work. If you listened to the Rachel's album and enjoyed the piano parts, Book of Leaves is solely that, accompanied occasionally by ambient and nature elements. With a very neo-classical sound, though more free and never confined to any one style, Rachel Grime's music transports one quicker than thought to many nostalgic places hidden deep in the mind. It is wonderful to hear her play... she is one very talented being.

Download.

18.10.11

Rain



Here is a Dutch short film from 1929 entitled Regen, or "Rain." It was directed by Joris Ivens and runs about 14 minutes.

A friend told me of it and I found the entire piece on Youtube... I fell quite in love with it. It is the simplicity of rain falling on a Dutch city, filmed in an infinitely gentle way. I really do like the music, although it is quite clear that this isn't the original music from the film, which was supposedly composed by Lou Lichtveld.

Rachel's - Music for Egon Schiele


1996; 12 tracks


This is the second album by the American post-rock/classical/instrumental group Rachel's. I found it to be simply beautiful and full of incredible passion and intimacy, the pianist and cellists especially. Favorite tracks: "First Self-Portrait Series," "Wally, Egon, & Models in the Studio," and "Promenade.

It was written for the play Egon Schiele, by Stephan Mazurek, about the life of Austrian painter Egon Schiele.

Download.

HTRK - Bendin'



This song has literally been on repeat for the past 2 hours. I don't know if I can ever get it out of my head.

Anyway, on to other things. I'm reading Franz Kafka's The Castle right now. It is very similar to The Trial, in some ways, but I think I might like it better. I'm astounded at the similarities between his writing and that of Murakami, and I can see where Murakami's idea of the village in Hard-Boiled Wonderland might have come from... God I love that book.

I'm going to bed now. I'll let you (all) know when I discover any new music, but that may not be for a while because I have HTRK ♥

15.10.11

Skinny Girl Diet





I only recently found out about this band, but I really dig their sound. Like, a lot.

Skinny Girl Diet is three teenage girls from London playing riot grrrl/post-punk music, and it's really quite fantastic. Plus they sing about mermaids!

They have a tumblr account with links and stuff. Also, here are a few songs I really like of theirs:

Mermaid Veins by Skinny Girl Diet

Sunburn by Skinny Girl Diet

Insomnia by Skinny Girl Diet


I guess I just envy them. I've always wanted to be in an angry girl band... I want to kick and scream and yell about how much boys suck and I wanna beat them all up. Plus these girls are really pretty and yeah.

14.10.11

Fantastic Plastic Machine - Beautiful


 
2001; 13 tracks
 
Okay. The truth? I did not like this album. Not as much as I wanted to. Fantastic Plastic Machine is Tomoyuki Tanaka, a Japanese electronic/shibuya-kei artist/DJ. This is his third album, and it incorporates elements of jazz, electronic, downtempo, and even some j-pop.

Here's a review just in case you're not convinced:

"The Fantastic Plastic Machine’s third album, Beautiful, is much more steeped in disco than his previous two, which is both good and bad. It's bad in that it narrows the eclectic sound that made his first two albums so fun; it's good in that he can still pump out a great track like 'Beautiful Days.' There's no mistaking the disco strings on 'On a Chair;' 'The Whistle Song' isn't a remake of the famous Frankie Knuckles track as you might think - it's a peppy number with more of a flute than a whistle. 'I'm Still a Simple Man' sounds like it came straight from vaudeville. Not all the tracks are as charming, though: 'God Save the Mona Lisa' seems rambling and 'Take Me to the Disco' shows you why disco had a short shelf life. Still, not a bad album."

I am beautiful

13.10.11

HTRK - Work (Work, Work) / Eat Yr Heart ♥ Sweetheart


2011; 10 tracks

Listen. *



2011; 2 tracks

Listen. *


The Australia-based group HTRK's two most recent works are incredible perfection. I know I was raving about Marry Me Tonight earlier, and I'm still unsure whether I like these new works better or just the same, but it really shouldn't matter. Starting with the full-length, Work (Work, Work), there is an incredible sense of rhythm associated with it - cold atmospheres and pure, unfaltering pulsations. At odds with each other, groovy, club-like beats accompany the sexy vocals of Jonnine. Eat Yr Heart ♥ Sweetheart is three tracks ("Eat Yr Heart" also appears on Work) of a same, piercing quality. "Eva" is eerie, and "Sweetheart" is a masterpiece (it is a cover of the song by Suicide). Ugh I can't explain how much these two releases rule. Favorite tracks: "Bendin'" off of Work (Work, Work), and "Sweetheart" off of Eat Yr Heart ♥ Sweetheart.

* Download links taken down upon request.

11.10.11

Gauze - Fuckheads


 
1984; 10 tracks
 
Gauze was a punk/hardcore group from Japan whose style of "sounding fast without playing fast" influenced many other Japanese punk bands in the 80s. Though it was their first ever release, Fuckheads is fucking destructive. 1984 was a good year.

Power Fuck Head Shot

Felix Mendelssohn - Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 / Violin Concerto in E minor


 
2002; 9 tracks
Eugene Ormandy / Philadelphia Orchestra
Rudolf Serkin, pianist
Isaac Stern, violinist
 
Felix Mendelssohn was a German composer of classical music during the Romantic period. I'll admit I am not very familiar with him or many of his works, but I still very much appreciate these three pieces.

This is one of the greatest recordings of Mendelssohn's two piano concertos, the first of which being quite nice and the second slightly simplistic, and the violin concerto which continues to be performed at a highly frequent rate.

Download.

Bluetile Lounge - Lowercase






1995; 5 tracks


Lowercase is astoundingly gorgeous. Mesmerizingly so. Australian post-rock group Bluetile Lounge are more slowcore than anything. Their music is sad and slow. Subtle beauty arises from the gray evenness as mist from the waves; sporadically, unexpectedly. I was reminded of Idaho, vocal-wise, and God is an Astronaut (somewhat), in terms of the post-rock-sounding music. This might just be one of the most... how do I put this... not just beautiful, but alluring albums.

Extra note: I think their band name explains the atmosphere of their music nicely. I've never been in a bluetile lounge, but if I ever was, this is the music I'd like to hear playing.



Download.

10.10.11

f(x) - Pinocchio


 
2011; 10 tracks
 
Fun and cute and really awesome all-girl pop from one of South Korea's biggest girl-pop groups, f(x). I love this album. So. Much.

"빙그르 (Sweet Witches)" is my favorite track!

Download.

Tenhi - Complete Discography


Hallavedet EP




1998; 2 tracks


01 Hallavedet (The Glacial Waters)
02 Hiljaiseksi Lampi Jää (The Pond Stays Still)


Download.




Kauan




1999; 10 tracks


01 Näkin Laulu (The Chant Of Näkki)
02 Huomen (Morrow)
03 Revontulet (Northern Lights)
04 Hallavedet (The Glacial Waters)
05 Etäisyyksien Taa (Beyond Distances)
06 Lauluni Sinulle (Mavourneen's Song)
07 Taival (Straying)
08 Suoto (Drift)
09 Kielo
10 Niin Auer Hiljaa Vie


Download.




Airut:Ciwi




2001; 3 tracks


01 Tuulennostatus
02 Kielo
03 Ciwenkierto


Download.




Väre




2002; 12 tracks


01 Vastakaiun
02 Jäljen
03 Vilja
04 Keväin
05 Yötä
06 Suortuva
07 Tenhi
08 Sutoi
09 Katve
10 Varis Eloinen
11 Kuolleesi Jokeen


Download.




Maaäet




2006; 12 tracks


01 Varpuspäivä (Sparrow-Day)
02 Kuoppa (Depth)
03 Kuulut Kesiin (July's Wreath)
04 Salain (Shapeless)
05 Viimeiseen (Through Bloom-Blades)
06 Vähäinen Violetissa (Lithe In Lilac)
07 Sarastuskävijä (Frail)
08 Maa Syttyy (Orphan Joy)
09 Tuulenkaato (Falter)
10 Aatos (Reverie)
11 Uuvu Oravan Luu (Ease Squirrel Bone)
12 Rannalta Haettu (From The Shore)


Download.


I'm actually quite upset with myself that I haven't posted any Tenhi before now. I mean, seriously? They are one of the greatest ensembles of musicians this world has ever brought forth, and every single one of you needs to immediately drop what you're doing and listen to them. That is an order.

Tenhi is a Finnish group that plays neofolk and traditional folk music of a very dark and atmospheric kind. Exquisitely beautiful melodies and vocals are only two of the varied aspects that make Tenhi better than others of this style. From a few sources now I have seen that "Tenhi" means "village elder" in the Finnish language, so I am inclined to believe that is true. All throughout their music, ritual chants accompany extremely nature-based landscapes. There is a definite traditional aspect to the Tenhi's music, so much so that one wonders whether these are the very sounds of a Finnish village centuries and centuries ago. One can dream.

If you don't know where to start, my personal favorites are Kauan and Maaäet, respectively. I also really, really love the final track of Väre.

9.10.11

Loop - Fade Out



1989; 8 tracks
 
Shoegazey, spacey, and sinister, this British noise rock band's second full-length flourishes with fuzzy, repetitive riffs. Enjoy.
Download.

7.10.11

the stranger god



That night he had a fearful dream - if dream be the right word for a mental and physical experience which does indeed befall him in deep sleep, as a thing quite apart and real to his senses, yet without his seeing himself as present in it. Rather its theatre seemed to be his own soul, and the events burst in from outside, violently overcoming the profound resistance of his spirit; passed him through and left him, left the whole cultural structure of a lifetime tramped on, ravaged, and destroyed.

The beginning was fear; fear and desire, with a shuddering curiosity. Night reigned, and his senses were on the alert; he heard loud, confused noises from far away, clamour and hubbub. There was a rattling, a crashing, a low dull thunder; shrill halloos and a kind of howl with a long-drawn u-sound at the end. And with all these, dominating them all, flute-notes of the cruellest sweetness, deep and cooing, keeping shamelessly on until the listener felt his very entrails bewitched. He heard a voice, naming, though darkly, that which was to come: "The stranger god!" A glow lighted up the surrounding mist and by it he recognized a mountain scene like that about his country home. From wooded heights, from among the tree-trunks and crumbling moss-covered rocks, a troop came tumbling and raging down, a whirling rout of men and animals, and overflowed the hillside with flames and human forms, with clamour and the reeling dance. The females stumbled over the long, hairy pelts that dangled from their girdles; with heads flung back they uttered loud hoarse cries and shook their tambourines high in air; brandished naked daggers or torches vomiting trails of sparks. They shrieked, holding their breasts in both hands; coiling snakes with quivering tongues they clutched about their waists. Horned and hairy males, girt about the loins with hides, drooped heads and lifted arms and thighs in unison, as they beat on brazen vessels that gave out droning thunder, or thumped madly on drums. There were troops of beardless youths armed with garlanded staves; these ran after goats and thrust their staves against the creatures' flanks, then clung to the plunging horns and let themselves be borne off with triumphant shouts. And one and all the mad rout yelled that cry, composed of soft consonants with a long-drawn u-sound at the end, so sweet and wild it was together, and like nothing ever heard before! It would ring through the air like the bellow of a challenging stag, and be given back many-tongued; or they would use it to goad each other on to dance with the wild excess of tossing limbs - they never let it die. But the deep, beguiling notes of the flute wove in and out and over all. Beguiling too it was to him who struggled in the grip of these sights and sounds, shamelessly awaiting the coming feast and the uttermost surrender. He trembled, he shrank, his will was steadfast to preserve and uphold his own god against this stranger who was sworn enemy to dignity and self-control. But the mountain wall took up the noise and howling and gave it back manifold; it rose high, swelled to a madness that carried him away. His senses reeled in the steam of panting bodies, the acrid stench from the goats, the odour as of stagnant waters - and another, too familiar smell - of wounds, uncleanness, and disease. His heart throbbed to the drums, his brain reeled, a blind rage seized him, a whirling lust, he craved with all his soul to join the ring that formed about the obscene symbol of the godhead, which they were unveiling and elevating, monstrous and wooden, while from full throats they yelled their rallying-cry. Foam dripped from their lips, they drove each other on with lewd gesturings and beckoning hands. They laughed, they howled, they thrust their pointed staves into each other's flesh and licked the blood as it ran down. But now the dreamer was in them and of them, the stranger god was his own. Yes, it was he who was flinging himself upon the animals, who bit and tore and swallowed smoking gobbets of flesh - while on the trampled moss there now began the rites in honour of the god, an orgy of promiscuous embraces - and in his very soul he tasted the bestial degradation of his fall.

The unhappy man woke from this dream shattered, unhinged, powerless in the demon's grip.

From Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
Translated from the German by H. T. Lowe-Porter
1911

6.10.11

Cortex - Tropeau Bleu


1972; 11 tracks


Smooth and jazzy music from 70's France, gilded with glittering female vocals that are shockingly high-pitched. I am personally obsessed with the song "Chanson d'un jour d'hiver," it is sooo pretty! Tropeau Bleu is a very nice and wintry album, so I'll just leave it at that.

Download.

5.10.11

Earth - Pentastar: In the Style of Demons




1996; 8 tracks

I'd never heard of Earth before this album, and it is thanks to a friend whose taste in music I literally worship that I even picked this up. Earth are a renowned stoner/doom/drone metal band, founded by Dylan Carlson in 1990. Repetitive, slow, and steady, their sounds blend the best of solid doom metal with disarming monotony. This is a lovely work, I highly recommend it.

3.10.11

I am SO HAPPY today!!!! :3 for many reasons.


Also, here are two songs I have been enjoying lately~


Fikret Kızılok - Vurulmuşum


Rat At Rat R - Asshole


real power is something you TAKE
Okay, I don't mean for this to turn into a gushy teenage girl blog, I really don't, but...

Oh my god. :xxxx

You know that harry potter guy I was talking about? We sort of went on a date... I think. After class today he was talking to me for a bit and I randomly asked him if he has a car. He said YES and then I asked if he could possibly drive me to the mall (there is a post office in there) so I can drop off a birthday present I have for my friend. He agrees to do it, so I get the package, and we walk to his car which is an '86 Celebrity (I'd never heard of it either) and it doesn't lock. I put my stuff in it and we start to drive there... and we just talk, about all sorts of things. Evil Dead 2, country music, all sorts of things. I start to open up about things that I like but I didn't say too much because it is always hard to articulate my feelings about things like that. He is a really intelligent guy, and so far I haven't found anything wrong with him. At all. He is funny, really easy to talk to, handsome, CUTE, smart, has good taste in things, tall, has a car, generally fun, generally likable, and.. yeah. I think I have a major crush on him :(

Secret - Moving in Secret






2011; 10 tracks


More delightful k-pop.


Download.