if you get lonely

Brave Timbers is the solo work of Newcastle-upon Tyne’s Sarah Kemp, a hugely talented multi-instrumentalist who has played with the likes of The Declining Winter, Last Harbour and Fieldhead.  The term “solo” is used here in its most literal sense.  Kent is a solo artist, but her work sounds like that of five people: two tenor acoustic guitarists, two violinists and a pianist.  As full-bodied and well-planned as the results may sound, much of her work is improvised.  Upon first listen, the album sounds a lot like the work of Balmorhea, a notion fueled by the absence of percussion.  Such a comparison is intended neither as criticism nor as a suggestion of mimicry, but instead reflects this reviewer’s exhilaration at discovering a brilliant new act in the somewhat niche “acoustic-neoclassical-folk” genre.  The sound of Brave Timbers also hints at that of Rachel’s, an influence the artist is quick to acknowledge.

Brave Timbers - For Every Day You Lost

Genre: Neo-Classical

Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhf3huhrJl4

Sample 2: http://vimeo.com/14856292

http://www.mediafire.com/?n5jsd6859bztahx

Desert Fires is difficult to appreciate on first listen, or even the fifth; it requires multiple listens in different situations in order to fully make sense. By layering guitars, noise loops and drones, Noveller guarantees the listener a certain amount of depth, producing an ongoing expansive soundscape from beginning to end. The album, which can hardly be referred to as minimal, carries a constant surge of sound, an urgency that is lacked by many artists of the same ilk. The changes in each track occur quickly but with a subtlety that would keep the drone fans as well as the aural attention deficient almost equally happy. Each new line or sound seems to creep in from a distance to replace those in the foreground and that continues until almost each track ends at a different point from where it started. Those who have kept track of Noveller’s career will praise the highly evolved songwriting skills that Lipstate shows here. It is definitely her most mature showing to date.

Noveller - Desert Fires

Genre: Ambient

Sample 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0UW9bkopo4

Sample 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_72EAAFtV4

Sample 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj2H-EcgtZI&feature=related

Bonus Live Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAIyXac7rPA&feature=related

http://www.mediafire.com/?xnbgpfbunhx2x9o

They say that the stronger the mainstream, the stronger the underground reaction. This is certainly true in Japan, where for every AKB48 and Arashi there is a Mono, Sgt., or Melt Banana. For years this innovation bypassed the Japanese club scene, with it relying heavily on big name Western DJs and artists. Thankfully, the rise of 80kidz has given the Japanese electro scene a much needed boost, and second album Weekend Warrior should cement the group’s place even further. Compared to debut This Is My Shit, Weekend Warrior seems reserved on first listen, but in reality it is simply more diverse and more ambitious. There is still the trademark riff heavy electro (“Nautilas” and “Voice”), but there is also some dubstep (“I Wish”), downtempo (“Czerny 13” and “Red Star”), techno (“Highlight”), and even a guitar based interlude (“When You See”). Overall, Weekend Warrior is another excellent electro album that offers something fresh, something different, and ultimately, something enjoyable

80kidz - Weekend Warrior

Genre: Electro/House

Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W4oYHU6nmM

Sample 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc1q2Qlc_9M

Sample 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leD8tSMKBrI&feature=related

http://www.mediafire.com/?sakygvz0jjqjm27

Ryuichi Sakamoto creates music with a unique style that combines western classical symphonic composition, Japanese traditional sounds, and experimental electronic music.

Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本 龍一) - Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

Genre: Classical/Film Score

Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mfyCI82lWM

http://www.mediafire.com/?qo01o2vs8vqpz17

The expectations were set extremely high in the wake of Balmorhea’s debut, perhaps impossibly so.  But a band is not meant to be defined purely in terms of its studio output, and experimentalism - even that which falls flat - is always to be encouraged.  Stagnation, at least in this reviewer’s mind, is a greater sin than thoughtful ambition, and Balmorhea has never been short on creativity.  Live at Sint-Elisabethkerk does more than gather songs from the band’s recent discography.  By presenting the evolution of songs over time, it provides a clear snapshot of who the band is now.  The ensemble comes across as playful, confident and refined; its playing is instinctive, innovative and inviting.  The intimate setting of the stone-encased Ghent church probably had a lot to do with it, as did the candlelit atmosphere and the nervous energy of a sleepless drive from Spain.  Suffice it to say that this performance presents the band at its very best, the Balmorhea we’ve always known it could be. - The Silent Ballet

Balmorhea - Live at Sint-Elisabethkerk

Genre: Neo-Classical/Post-Rock

Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRhAdZ4jW4o&feature=related

http://www.mediafire.com/?uu9bqmyhmari8ij

Fjordne processes only acoustic instruments such as piano and guitars into some exciting, experimental minded ambient, resulting in something that comes between the typical Fennesz and Oval sound but still with his own original sign.

Fjordne - Charles Rendition

Genre: Ambient/Down Tempo

Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyK-KH3p5-k&feature=related

http://www.mediafire.com/?1y3v51p7xc35uku

Colin Stetson explores alternative techniques and timbres in his unique bass saxophone playing to create experimental ambient that separates itself from the typical approach to the genre.

Sample - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKcilfL2aFc

Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges

Genre: Ambient/Jazz/Drone

http://mediafire.com/?5179o9x3fzadkrn

New project featuring Dustin O’Halloran from Stars of the Lid and The Dead Texan.

Sample -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dxS35gCbf0

A Winged Victory For The Sullen - Self-titled

Genre: Ambient/Neo-classical 

http://mediafire.com/?pn4420kb0hk8kzb

Sample - 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzyuxIljx1k

Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
Genre: Indie Pop/Rock

http://mediafire.com/?ej88938dvn6849c

So, things have been quite hectic and what not with me turning over to a new computer and starting school along with the holidays and my fiancee coming back from university overseas so I’ve been quite busy. I came on today to notice that when I posted Thelonious Monk’s Straight, No Chaser album that I never posted the link… silly me. So here it is, download it cause it’s amazing!

http://www.mediafire.com/?cdmp3llimfeidhp