Dispirit - Rehearsal / Demo 2010

I'd like to think that I'm not jaded, but the fact is that at this point there's only one or two occasions a year where I hear something new that puts my head on a swivel, makes me stop what I'm doing and just marvel. This is one. Dispirit is the new John Gossard (Weakling, Asunder) band. I'm no fanboy when it comes to those other bands and it doesn't bother me at all to say that this is better than either. The music falls somewhere between Mr. Gossard's above-mentioned bands. It combines the slow meandering menace of Asunder and the majestic fury (and a couple of Emperor riffs) of Weakling under a gauzy, near-psychedelic production. The sound quality is more than acceptable for a demo recording. Strongly, STRONGLY recommended.
http://www.mediafire.com/?wcnmmiwknzq

The Jayhawks - Sound of Lies

My favorite Jayhawks record. Great songs, great arrangements, great everything. Except for the cover art, which rivals Leatherface's "Dog Disco" for the Worst Ever Album Cover By A Respectable Band. Also, I feel like the chorus in "The Man Who Loved Life" should have been in a James Bond theme of some sort.

I'm way off topic. Just jam this.
http://www.mediafire.com/?0dnmzy1mwyk

Offonoff - Clash

I saw Paal Nilssen-Love play with the Scorch Trio a few years back and I still haven't figured out what I witnessed. Offonoff finds him forming a power-free-jazz-improv group with Massimo Zuma on bass and Terrie Ex on guitar. It's a wild one! Songs explode, shudder, creak, and resurrect themselves time and time again. More dynamic than Flying Luttenbachers, more fun than Peter Brötzmann, just a crazy ride from start to finish.
http://www.mediafire.com/?wd4gzjuqtjn

Angel Eyes - ...And For a Roof a Sky Full of Stars

One of a very few good things to come out of the whole "post-metal" craze of a couple years ago. If you've listened to even a couple of Cult of Luna clones, this will be familiar territory for you. Just seems like a little more care and effort was invested in these songs. The label still has copies of this for a whopping $4. Looks like the also have the last Capital LP which was a pretty sweet record, but I digress.
http://www.mediafire.com/?nj12jhdytzh

Hellwitch - Syzygial Miscreancy

Ignore what you see above. The rejected Helloween album cover is the only blemish on what I consider to be a perfect album. On their 1990(!) debut, Hellwitch were in a remarkable creative groove, effortlessly blending furious thrash with technical and progressive death metal. It's like a maddened Slayer-Cynic-Nocturnus combo. Every member gives a bravura performance on this LP - you can't help but get caught up in the sheer energy of it all. And they gracefully balance on the oh-so-narrow line between technicality and accessibility. The songwriting is engaging and they had the good sense to keep the record at a lean 25 minutes. I wouldn't change a single second of that runtime; every one of them is exhilarating.
http://www.mediafire.com/?myttmymjnjy

Paul Dolden - Seuil de Silences

I have some reservations about posting this, but here it is. My first reservation is that this music is impossible to describe verbally. There is nothing like it. I don't care how much weird stuff you've heard or what you're into, I PROMISE you that you've never heard anything like this. From Wikipedia: "His approach to audio technology is to use it as a platform from which to launch otherwise impossible musical performances". This gets you in the ballpark, but you'll just have to hear it to understand.
My second reservation is that people involved with this sort of music are often very sensitive about the reduction of their music to mp3s, and about the free dissemination of those files. So I would encourage you to purchase the CDs if this music is of interest to you. (Although I would note in my defense that this would be a more reasonable request if they caught up with the times charged something other than 1999 retail prices)
http://www.mediafire.com/?oaazmwiyioe

Deathchurch - Unsilent Hate Anthem 7"

Black Metal from Japan. This has that ultra blown-out, barely coherent sound that seems to be popular with the kiddies these days. I usually view that aesthetic as being kinda gimmicky, but Deathchurch makes it work for me. Maybe it's because Japan has a rich history of hyper-distorted barely coherent music. Maybe it's because Deathchurch actually seems to have some chops to back up the noise. Either way, this is some serious hatred being spewed.
http://www.mediafire.com/?zwdojivtd2j

No Parade - s/t 7"

Angry, no-frills hardcore punk from these Tennessee boys. Features half of the From Ashes Rise lineup, and could reasonably be described as a far less melodic FAR. Objectively this is a pretty average record, but it just has that je-ne-sais-quoi that makes me rock it hard.
http://www.mediafire.com/?zc4jlyz32mi

To Dream of Autumn - Kill Your Cul De Sac

I decided to revisit this recently after a number of years, expecting it to sound terrible. Much to my surprise it's aged pretty well. This band wanted to be One Eye God Prophecy sooooo badly, which is a sentiment that I condone and encourage. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Magic Bullet still had copies left. If they do, scoop one and help support Brent Eyestone's expensive football card habit.
http://www.mediafire.com/?znmythvuzaj

Cendres - Ungeziefer

Dense, mildly unsettling Black Metal from France, the official home of unsettling Black Metal. Cendres operate at a slow-to-middling pace and create a sound thick and mysterious, like seeing forms through the mist in a swamp. They do a brilliant job of using low fidelity to their advantage in creating something that's a little uncomfortable to listen to, as opposed to just doing it because Darkthrone and 100,000 Darkthrone clones did it. I don't know who's in this band, but they sure as fuck know exactly what they're doing.
http://www.mediafire.com/?nznett52e4u

Lasse Marhaug / Nils Henrik Asheim - Grand Mutation

Yet another entry in Lasse Marhaug's infinite discography. This release finds the Norwegian noise maven collaborating with organist Nils Henrik Asheim in Oslo Cathedral. It could have been a nearly nonsensical pairing but we find Marhaug in a gentler-than-usual mood here, generally avoiding the harshness that he is usually associated with. I really like the interweaving of the analog and digital domains, two eras finding ways to complement and augment the other's world as they move through soft drones to shattering crescendos, searching, searching, searching...

http://www.mediafire.com/?mjlnzzc4fyn