Balloon Bass

Balloon Bass - Air, Rubber and Soul

The balloon bass is a musical instrument made of one round balloon and two skinny (twisting) balloons... The balloon bass is a three-and-one-half octave instrument, costs about $.15 to make, and can last for months at a time. Sean Rooney devised the principle of the balloon resonator in 1992 and invented an instrument he called the balloon guitar. He showed Addi Somekh how to make the resonator one afternoon in 2000 in Montreal. Since then, Addi has made various modifications on Sean's original design, developing more of a bass-type instrument. People encountering the balloon bass for the first time are often struck by how such a strange and simple contraption can produce such a variety of sounds (including very low bass notes) and by the fact that one can really play tunes on it...

Yeah, this guy Addi Somekh really plays a balloon, and it's really good.
The album is sort of like a free form sound piece, with guest musicians and vocalists on each track.
There's no real set genre in this album, if I had to generalize I'd say jazz, but there are also blues and ambient pieces. Even one that features a theremin about 90% of the time.
Overall this is a solid album, if only for the novelty of listening to an album that's based on a balloon.
Definitely check this one out.

Low Vs. Diamond

“Getting asked a lot of questions, but my answers are all wrong”


Low Vs. Diamond - S/T

The biggest disappointment in this album filled with sweeping, atmospheric rock, is the fact that the opening song, “Don’t Forget Sister” is so strong and so good, that the other 10 tracks, while good in their own ways, just can't measure up to the beginning. However any shortcomings found in the previous tracks can be entirely dismissed about halfway through as the rest of the album picks up speed.
Lucas Field's voice has been aptly described as sounding "like Jarrod Gorbel and Brandon Flowers are making out" and I'd be remiss to describe it better.

Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit

Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit - A Larum

American and English folk traditions combine for something that's rooted in old history, but is also undeniably pop.

Dragonette

Dragonette - Fixin To Thrill

One of the better electropop albums I've heard in recent history. Not a groundbreaking album or a bastion of awesomeness. But it's rather fun, and would be a good addition to a party playlist.

Mumford & Sons

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

Julia, over at The Music Geek introduced me to these guys' other single, "Winter Winds", I dug it, so I checked out more, liked the first single "Little Lion Man", and decided to get the album. It's very good. And Little Lion Man is without a doubt one of the best songs of the year.

I've really been falling in love with London's new wave of folk bands so don't be surprised to see even more coming from me.

Pomplamoose

Saw these folk's rendition of Beat It on Facebook(courtesy of a link from my new friend Jenny, who's blog is hnyah), did some Googling and found the album! I really dig their sound, and Nataly Dawn's voice is superb.
http://www.youtube.com/user/PomplamooseMusic
http://www.myspace.com/pomplamoosemusic


Pomplamoose - VideoSongs

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present: Dark Night of the Soul

Two amazing producers collaborating with a ton of amazing musicians, including Wayne Coyne(Flaming Lips), Iggy Pop, and David Lynch(the director).
This album is probably never going to be released thanks to a label dispute between EMI and Lex Records.
It was to be packaged with a 100 page book of photos taken by David Lynch as a visual narrative for the album, when I find it, I'll post it here as well.



Bosques de mi Mente -LO-FI

Real great sound from Spain, mellow soundscapes and piano. Great homework music, haha.



Eugene Mirman - God Is a Twelve-Year-Old Boy with Asperger's

Eugene Mirman is a comic genius, melding jokes with performance art and absurdism, his albums always deliver and this one is no different.


Karen O and the Kids - Where the Wild Things Are: Motion Picture Soundtrack
One of my favorite soundtracks of all time. Very good, and Karen O's voice captures the essence of childishness very well.

My POS computer

My computer(Cyberpower PC - junk brand, you're not saving money for all the hassle) is crashing on me left and right. I am not able to upload anything, or even make a .rar file for a while, but I'll be back soon, hopefully.

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone

Uploaded for my friend John(over at Music is Good, You are Not)

Wikipedia


Answering Machine Music


Pocket Symphonies For Lonely Subway Cars



Twinkle Echo



Etiquette



Vs. Children

Random ups...

Y△CHT - See Mystery Lights
Pretty good, I got it on suggestion from a few music blogs.



Venetian Snares - Rossz Csillag Alatt Született
Electronica and classic orchestral music. One of my more recent favs



The Polyamorous Affair — Bolshevik Disco
80s synth pop, boiled down and refined into this album. Wouldn't say it's great, but there are def. a few gems in here and def. worth a listen.


She & Him - Volume 1
Indie/folk/country by Zooey Deschanel(the actress) & M. Ward. very good soulful kind of music. And the covers are spot on.


P.O.S - Never Better
Another great alt-hip hop musician from Minneapolis(See P.O.S.'s lablemates "Atmosphere"), this album still has elements of punk, but not as much as his earlier albums. Lyrically and musically it's very strong. I've been listening to, and suggesting this to people, a lot recently.


Noah And The Whale - Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down
2008 debut of Noah and the Whale, wins the Award for Most Upbeat Album About Heartbreak. Great summer album, even if every song is filled with strife and heartache.

Some more Why?

Because I have it up already, and cause it's good.


Why? - Elephant Eyelash


Why? - Oaklandazulasylum

Kool Keith

Kool Keith is regarded as one of the most influential MCs of all time, from when he busted onto the scene in 84 with his crew Ultramagnetic MCs.

Critical Beatdown is widely regarded as one of the best hip-hip albums of all time, released in 1988 during the "golden age" of hip hop. However UMC seems to get lost in the shuffle amongst other golden age artists like Public Enemy, KRS-One, Tribe Called Quest, Run DMC and others.

He recorded under a number of aliases, each with their own back story and personalities.
I'll be posting his first albums recorded under the aliases Dr. Octagon and Dr. Dooom. As well as the album Critical Beatdown

Dr. Octagon is an extraterrestrial, time-traveling, gynecologist and surgeon from the planet Jupiter.
Dr. Dooom is a serial killer who has a fondness for "cannibalism, pet rats, and Flintstones vitamins" who poses as a patient to gain access to Dr. Octagon and then kills him.


Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown



Dr. Octagon - Dr. Octagonecologyst


Dr Dooom - First Come, First Served

I'm just going to dump the shit I've already uploaded for other people.
Save a few that I just don't want on here.
I use both MegaUpload and Mediafire, although I'm trying to use just MediaFire. If you don't know how to extract the rar files or can't figure out how, well I feel bad for you and you probably shouldn't be using the internet.
I'll try and link to each artists' Myspace(or similar) page, but honestly I can't be arsed to do it right now, so I'll leave you with these two albums and do the rest later.



Why? - Alopecia



Sayvinyl - God Forbid

First post...

I decided to start this blog because I love music and I love introducing people to new music they otherwise never would have heard of.
I won't post "the new hotness" or anything, none of my uploads will be based on the music world's reaction to an album. These are solely albums I enjoy. Some may not be loved(or even respected) by critics. And many will be new independent artists that I've discovered through the help of other blogs like this one, and file sharing sites used by artists to spread their music.
If you like what I like, cool, you should stick around.
If you don't, you should stick around and you might find something you will.
I've found it increasingly difficult to label my musical tastes by genre. Every day I'm finding new music that I like that only a year ago I would have said I "hated"