ersatz.echo

Jeremiah Cymerman - Under A Blue Grey Sky

2011-11-27T22:11:00.001-05:00

Jeremiah Cymerman is a composer of the jazz persuasion. I was turned on to his music through Toby Driver, one of my favorite experimental musicians, with whom he has recently collaborated with. This release is rather minimal and ambient; one gets the feeling of an aggressive Arvo Pärt. It is experimental in flavor and at times gets a bit dronish. Although Cymerman has two albums from the much-esteemed Tzadik record label, this release from last year is from the jazz label Porter Records.

Download (71MB, MP3 V0)

Restoring Poetry In Music - Pyramids in Moscow

2011-11-23T23:41:00.000-05:00

Abstract hip-hop duo Jason Moore and Marlon Vann are the perhaps loftily-titled project Restoring Poetry in Music. Out of three albums, this 'un is my favorite. The band draws lots of comparisons to similarly-awesome project Panacea. Can't find much about the label or release information, so I'm marking it here as self released until I find out otherwise.

Download (52MB, MP3 CBR 192)

Hospise - Hospise

2011-11-22T19:29:00.001-05:00

Hospise is a Moscow-based post metal band, with a range from crust punk to black metal and a bit of post rock. This is their first EP released through Chunky the Rat Records early last year. A very primal sound that eschews some of the experimentalism of post metal for some very rough sounding black metal.

Download (35MB, MP3 V0)

Bliss - Quiet Letters

2011-11-20T02:57:00.001-05:00

Bliss is Marc-George Andersen & Steffen Aaskoven. They make ambient, downtempo music. This is their second record, off of Music for Dreams, a self-described "Danish chill-out label." Zero 7's Sophie Barker is the guest singer on this album, which I guess explains why it's my favorite downtempo album since Simple Things. Anyways, give it a listen on a winter evening.

Download (95MB, MP3 CBR 192)

Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise

2011-11-17T14:26:00.000-05:00

Nicolass Jaar creates some sort of minimal ambient electronic music that is full of surprises. Is it the subdued dream-like voices or the fact that he pulls from influences like Jean-Luc Godard and Erik Satie? This is his debut LP off of Circus Company, a Parisian house label.

Download (108MB, MP3 CBR 320)

Notes

2011-11-17T14:08:00.000-05:00

Some quick notes:

* A few have written saying that the download links are not working, and indeed some files were taken down last month by the IFPI. They'll be back momentarily.

* Absent for the past few months due to some personal matters, I intend to begin posting more music very soon.

Guy Klucevsek - Dancing on the Volcano

2011-07-23T22:36:00.000-04:00

Guy Klucevsek is an accordionist who has collaborated with such artists as John Zorn, Bill Frisell, and Laurie Anderson. This is his latest release, off the Tzadik record label, from their Key Series collection. Surprisingly melodic compositions, considering the source, and the use of woodwinds with the accordion creates a nice effect.

Download (112MB, MP3 V2)

Sei Miguel and Pedro Gomes - Turbina Anthem

2011-07-01T14:22:00.010-04:00

Unlikely duets from Pedro Gomes, guitar, and Sei Miguel, trumpet on this release from NoBusiness Records. Noisy guitar and jazzy trumpet improvisation give it an interesting sound, even for people who might not find themselves listening to such jazz.

Download (68.7MB, MP3 CBR 192)

Ludovico Einaudi & Ballaké Sissoko - Diario Mali

2011-06-27T15:29:00.000-04:00

Ludovico Einaudi, master composer and pianist, and Ballaké Sissoko, notable kora player from Mali, team up to ~~fight crime~~ produce Diario Mali. It is a brilliant mix of Einaudi's repetitive and minimalistic piano and Sissoko's kora, resulting in an interesting blend of European and African styles. From Ponderosa Music & Art label.

Download (107MB, MP3 V0)

Maurizio Bianchi - Symphony For A Genocide

2011-06-26T23:23:00.000-04:00

Maurizio Bianchi (M.B. on this release) is appropriately considered the forerunner to industrial music. Symphony For A Genocide is a startlingly coherent album even after the total metamorphosis of noise in the time since its release. Incredibly dark with early sounds that would later grace many power electronics bands. This is the Hospital Productions remaster from 2007.

Download (99MB, MP3 V0)

Gastr Del Sol - Camoufleur

2011-06-26T23:17:00.000-04:00

Gastr Del Sol is the proto-post-rock band that started the whole mess. Camoufleur is an experimental album in essence, flavored with folk and some eccentricity that would befit mathrock. This is the original release from Drag City records.

Download (66MB, MP3 V0)

Nicole 12 - Playground / Lolita Love

2011-06-25T23:02:00.001-04:00

Nicole 12 is a moniker of Mikko Aspa, perhaps best known for his work with Deathspell Omega. This project is another power electronics outfit reminiscent of past work with Grunt, but a bit more disturbing and unsettling. Dark and disturbing noise with an emphasis on children. Released off of Aspa's label, Freak Animal Records.

Download (78MB, MP3 V2)

Devin Townsend Project - Ghost

2011-06-25T22:58:00.001-04:00

I'm honestly not a big fan of Devin Townsend, but this latest project of his is really interesting. Breaking away from passé metal, Ghost is an odd ambient album quite different from his most recent work. Off of HevyDevy Records. Give it a listen.

Download (167MB, MP3 CBR 320)

Susanna And The Magical Orchestra - Melody Mountain

2011-06-24T00:30:00.000-04:00

Susanna And The Magical Orchestra is vocalist Susanna Karolina Wallumrød and keyboard player Morten Qvenild. The duo play a brand of pop covers styled as experimental jazz, often slow and deliberate and brooding. Startling vocals and oddly provocative sounds earn this a high recommendation.

Download (65MB, MP3 V0)

Big Blood - Dead Songs

2011-06-22T00:20:00.000-04:00

Big Blood is an eclectic four piece folk band. This is their latest off of Time-Lag Records. An interesting mix of experimental folk (freak folk, if you will) and droning psychedelia.

Download (66MB, MP3 V0)

Holger Czukay - Movies

2011-06-21T00:16:00.000-04:00

Holger Czukay, co-founder of Can, released Movies in 1979, one of his first solo efforts. It remains a testament to his odd brand of musical genius, and a staple of the krautrock diet. Off of EMI, Harvest.

Download (70MB, MP3 V0)

Pulse Emitter - Planetary Torture

2011-06-17T00:11:00.001-04:00

Pulse Emitter, aka Daryl Groetsch, is a noise musician from the Portland scene. Off of Housepig label, Planetary Torture is a brief, harsh, noisy fanfare to that scene. Not for the faint of heart.

Download (44MB, MP3 CBR 192)

Trouble Books & Mark McGuire - Trouble Books & Mark McGuire

2011-06-15T00:03:00.015-04:00

Mark McGuire, guitarist of Emeralds, and Ohio duo Trouble Books combine to release a new ambient delight. Issued out of the Wagon label, the album continues McGuire's recent trend of guitar-driven psychedelia with added neofolk influences from Troubled Books.

Download (83MB, MP3 CBR 320)

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & Damo Suzuki - Please Heat This Eventually

2011-06-12T22:57:00.019-04:00

Crazy collaboration between Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (At the Drive-In, The Mars Volta, and so on) and Damo Suzuki (part of Can). A terrific album, equal parts ambient drone and experimental rock. Two tracks unsplit, ripped from vinyl, released from Gold Standard Laboratories. I could listen to this all day, it's a shame it tops out at 25 minutes.

Download (46MB, MP3 V0)

Astrud Gilberto - Beach Samba

2011-06-08T22:47:00.001-04:00

Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba musician. She has quite a range of work, and this is my favorite of her early releases. The novelty of this album I guess depends on your geographic location; for me, this was the first bossa nova album I was exposed to, and it remains one of my favorites. Re-issued on Verve.

Download (75MB, MP3 V0)

Il Balletto di Bronzo - Ys

2011-06-07T22:39:00.000-04:00

Il Balletto di Bronzo (or, "Bronze Ballet") was an Italian progressive rock band from Naples. Ys is one of two albums they produced, the name coming from the mythical Atlantis-like city off the cost of France. It's quite the effort, with some critics citing it as the Italian answer to In the Court of the Crimson King. The structure is pretty daring, alternating psychedelia and experimental jazz. This is the 1994 re-issue off of Polydor. Enjoy.

Download (74MB, MP3 V0)

Rose Kemp - Unholy Majesty

2011-06-03T20:27:00.000-04:00

Rose Kemp is a singer from England. Although her earlier stuff resembled the traditional trappings of guitar driven folk, the last few years have seen a radical shift to a more doom-influenced style. Unholy Majesty, released via One Little Indian Records, features some heavy doom influenced riffs alongside Kemp's droning vocals.

Download (82MB, MP3 V0)

Rolo Tomassi - Cosmology

2011-06-01T16:15:00.000-04:00

Rolo Tomassi is a self-describe "progressive hardcore" band from England, taking their name from LA Confidential. Their latest album, Cosmology, is an ear pleasing mix of mathcore guitar with some eclectic mix of electronica and hardcore.

Download (71MB, MP3 V0)

Grey Ghost - Broad Oration

2011-05-30T15:53:00.003-04:00

Grey Ghost is Aram Shelton and Jonathan Crawford playing a delightful combination of minimal soundscapes coupled with some crazy sax solos befitting a free jazz album. This self released album, Broad Oration, has had already had comparisons to Can and Faust being made. Check it out!

Download (102MB, MP3 VBR)

Asheru & Blue Black Of The Unspoken Heard - Soon Come

2011-05-29T15:46:00.016-04:00

The D.C. duo's first release, off of 7 Heads. Asheru has gotten a lot of exposure with his collaborations on certain Adult Swim productions, but his work on the Boondocks pales in comparison to the work of this album. Loaded with complex lyrics with an oddly distinct rock/jazz feel, Soon Come is a worthy release from an amazing rapper and producer combo.

Download (105MB, MP3 V0)

David Sylvian - Sleepwalkers

2011-05-28T15:33:00.002-04:00

David Sylvian is a singer/songwriter turned experimental artist turned something entirely different. His latest work is eclectic and ambient and somehow accessible. For fans of old and new alike. Sleepwalkers, released off Samadhi Sound, is a compilation of a decade of collaboration with a variety of odd talent. Enjoy.

Download (94MB, MP3 V1)

Ken Nordine - Colors

2011-05-25T16:11:00.000-04:00

Ken Nordine is a voice that anyone acquainted with the little metal box in the living room should be familiar with--the man has done thousands of voiceovers in commercials for every product you can think of. Yet our creative ambitions often make us depart from the usual, which brings us to his spoken word jazz album, Colors, released off Asphodel Records in '67. Nordine sought to personify colors, give them life through poetry. The result is witty beat poetry to the tune of quirky jazz and synth.

Download (90MB, MP3 V0)

Children - Hard Times Hanging at the End of the World

2011-05-24T16:06:00.012-04:00

Children describes themselves as a riff appreciation society, and it will only take one listen to figure out why. The New York City based progressive thrash metal band is quite good at figuring out an ear-pleasing guitar solo whilst experimenting with what previous acts before them have done. Mastodon fans will enjoy this.

Download (78MB, MP3 V0)

Ocoai - Breatherman

2011-05-21T15:49:00.001-04:00

Ocoai is a post-metal sludge outfit from Tennessee. Their debut, Breatherman, released on Missing Words Records, resembles a traditional sludge act but quickly sheds that skin in lieu of some ambient, some screaming, and decidedly progressively-spirited tracks.

Download (87MB, MP3 V0)

Peste Noire - La Sanie des Siécles: Panégyrique de la Dégénérescence

2011-05-19T15:41:00.001-04:00

Thrilling album from Peste Noire, their debut release on De Profundis Éditions. A nice combination of raw, depressive black metal with a technical flair that gives rise to the much-loved solos that the band is known for. Interesting stuff.

Download (102MB, MP3 V0)

Absurd - Der Fünfzehnjährige Krieg

2011-05-18T15:31:00.000-04:00

Absurd is apparently a hugely popular black metal act from Germany that I just got into recently. Der Fünfzehnjährige Krieg is their latest album, released on Darker Than Black. It is two parts angry right-wing punk and three parts black metal.

Download (121MB, MP3 CBR 320)

Kult - Kult

2011-05-17T17:20:00.000-04:00

Kult is a little-known (domestically, at least) rock band from Poland, formed in 1982. They've maintained a consistent output, since then, of albums containing a unique blend of Polish rock, punk, and accents of new wave and electronica. Kult was their debut, and I like it because it contains an unpolished, raw, experimental sound from some then-fresh faces.

Download (75MB, MP3 V0)

Dave Bixby - Ode to Quetzalcoatl

2011-05-15T17:11:00.000-04:00

Hauntingly open and moving in a way few folk singers could ever manage, Dave Bixby only ever released one album. Though the album, lyrically, reflects on his Christian views, the sound is that of a loner, an outsider, of someone damaged through addiction. Trading in the psychedelia of the sixties for an acoustic guitar and a life of strife, Ode to Quetzalcoatl remains a remarkably coherent gem from a time long past.

Download (78MB, MP3 V0)

Kowloon Walled City - Turk Street

2011-05-12T17:05:00.000-04:00

Sludgy and noisy, Kowloon Walled City owns their sound to an extent few others can claim. The San Francisco quartet released this debut in 2008, out of Wordclock Records. While their sound has matured in the last few years, Turk Street remains a testament to the thrilling experimentation they offer with each new release, and remains a highly recommended album for any sludge fan.

Download (51MB, MP3 V0)

The Ruins of Beverast - Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite

2011-05-11T17:04:00.000-04:00

The Ruins of Beverast is a German black metal band. This is the third album release, off the Ván record label. The sound varies from exceedingly dense and experimental to a more ambient or atmospheric feel, and is a markedly ambitious follow up to the prior two albums, Unlock the Shrine and Upon the Impure.

Download (162MB, MP3 V0)

Aranos - Surrounded By Hermits

2011-05-07T01:15:00.000-04:00

Aranos is Petr Vastl, a multi-instrumentalist from Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) who has put out a diverse collection of work since the late 90s, including various collaborations with Nurse With Wound. This is a solo release on the Pieros label, with tracks varying from the sparse and ambient to a blend of string instruments amid electronic beats. And Vastl's odd singing/shouting throughout.

Download (80MB, MP3 V0)

Gravitar - Gravitaativaravitar

2011-05-05T22:57:00.000-04:00

Gravitar is free-rock band founded in 1992, from Michigan. This is their third release, through Charnel Music, a noisy and improvised album that falls in the grey area between fuzz rock and free jazz.

Download (102MB, MP3 V0)

Liturgy - Aesthethica

2011-05-04T19:48:00.000-04:00

Liturgy is a black metal band from Brooklyn, New York. They describe themselves as transcendental black metal, a term in part taken from the nihilist philosophies (for a write up on this, see this excellent Viceland article). These themes are evident in the lyrical content of both their newest record and their debut Renihilation. Released on Thrill Jockey records, the album is sonically brash and lyrically cohesive, a worthy follow up.

Download (139MB, MP3 V0)

Neon Blud - Whipps

2011-05-03T17:19:00.000-04:00

Neon Blud is a noise punk band from Tampa, FL. I had the pleasure seeing these fine folks live, opening for Fucked Up. Their recordings are as wickedly chaotic as the performances they give. Noisy feedback and guitar distortion with erratic female vocals at the forefront. This is their cassette off the Cult Maternal label (which, by the way, has other great eclectic bands as well), and is old news... but there is some great new stuff coming soon.

Download (17.05MB, MP3 CBR 192)

Takeshi Terauchi and the Bunnys - This is Terauchi Bushi

2011-05-01T17:07:00.000-04:00

Takeshi Terauchi is a Japanese guitarist known for his surf rock releases. This is his third release from his short-lived band The Bunnys. Noise surf rock with elements of Japanese folk.

Download (41.25MB, MP3 CBR 192)

Keiji Haino with Boris - Black: Implication Flooding

2011-04-29T00:35:00.002-04:00

Arguably the better collaborator with Boris, even though Merzbow is most notable. Not much to say: if you like Boris or noise in general, this is essential. Experimental and doom fans will also find something to like.

Download (129MB, MP3 V0)

Brian Eno - Small Craft on a Milk Sea

2011-04-29T00:01:00.004-04:00

This is the latest release from Brian Eno, a collaboration with Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams. It is his debut release on Warp.

Download (87.6MB, MP3 V0)

SPUNK - En Aldeles Forferdelig Sykdom

2011-04-28T23:57:00.005-04:00

SPUNK is an all-female free jazz and noise quartet from Norway. They are: Maja Ratkje, Hild Sofie Tafjord, Kristin Andersen and Lene Grenager. Their third album on Rune Grammofon, En Aldeles Forferdelig Sykdom--"An Absolutely Terrible Diseas"--sees some of the moodiest and darkest tracks from the group. The album was produced by Jørgen Træen.

Download (61.7MB, MP3 V0)