Külföldi torrent oldalak What.cd | WCD Financial Update: Part Two

Financial Update: Part Two

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What.CD is facing serious financial challenges. This site is entirely funded by voluntary user donations, all of which are used to pay What.CD's costs. At the end of this announcement, we'll go over the current donation methods available to all users of the site. If you're interested in learning how you can help out, skip to the "How to Donate" section of this announcement or visit our Donate Page right away.

We cannot support direct PayPal donations at this time, but you can use PayPal or most major credit cards to purchase The What.CD Online Store products. Downloadable Products like the new Bonespin Wallpaper Pack have no shipping costs, and allow you to set your own price. Please read the Store Donor Points Guide to learn how to find and use your What.CD User ID Number to receive credit when shopping at the store.

If you have the resources, please consider supporting What.CD. Your assistance keeps us alive. Thank you.​

We apologize for the delay. Certain portions of this update took longer to finalize than anticipated, and other ambitious pieces have been pushed back to a later date. Your patience and understanding is appreciated.

The donations we've received since the last update have kept us out of the red until now, and we're very thankful for the community's support. That said, the site's funds have begun to dwindle once more. Your help is still needed, so consider this update a call to action. It's also a herald of change.

As mentioned in our recent updates and associated discussion threads, What.CD's perpetual need for regular donations isn't an easily satisfied demand. Since the loss of PayPal as a convenient source of direct donations, we've struggled to find reliable methods of keeping the site afloat. The introduction of The What.CD Online Store has proven valuable, but due to international shipping costs, the number of parties involved in bringing a given design idea from inception to completion, and the fact that not everyone is interested in What.CD gear, there's only so much that can be expected from it. It's an essential component of our financial support system, but it cannot meet the site's needs alone.

This financial need has continued to grow over time. The first reason for this growth is obvious: bills. As our population and traffic increase, so do our monthly costs. The second reason for this growth is intermittent and less obvious: hardware. Because we own our servers, we must contend with server upgrades and replacements, all of which can prove very expensive. A number of server components currently require upgrades.

The problem must be solved in stages, and we must approach the answer creatively. Our ultimate goal is to establish a reliable, multifaceted system by which users can donate conveniently and easily using their preferred methods. If we reach this ideal, fundraiser updates like the one you're reading now should become things of the past. In this future we can not only sustain the site through reliable funding, but also grow our infrastructure by purchasing the necessary hardware upgrades we've been delaying.

To solve the problem, we've been listening to the comments and suggestions you've offered. Many of you have asked us to entertain the idea of allowing the purchase of upload credit directly or in the form of FL tokens. This is an idea we won't consider. In practical terms, implementing this proposal would invite unwanted legal pressure. More philosophically, implementing this change would contradict the spirit of our project. If you'd like to purchase upload, we strongly encourage you to spend your money filling Requests instead. Filling requests helps fellow users directly, helps the site grow, and helps you with your ratio.

Other suggestions have proven more viable and less antithetical to our cause. There are some we're still considering and thus won't mention here, but implementations of others are being enacted today. We've combined some of your suggestions with the results of a number of internal brainstorming sessions, and we hope that you appreciate the results which follow.

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The cornerstone of this update is a new, flexible donation system. Understanding the system in full will require some reading, so please visit the Donor Rank System FAQ Document for detailed answers to questions you might have.

The spirit motivating this change was our desire to offer more concrete perks for site donors (like invites or additional personal collages), while also offering a host of interesting cosmetic benefits (like additional profile info boxes or custom donor icons). Most importantly, we've introduced a systematized framework for introducing additional donor perks we approve in the future. This flexibility will help us develop the system over time, ideally making donating a more engaging, rewarding, and enjoyable experience. Along with this, the new system allows us to give more recognition to our top donors.

• Donor Ranks: The system is structured around Donor Ranks. At this time there are five Donor Ranks, with no plans to add more. Each Donor Rank offers certain perks, and we may add additional perks in the future. Every user who had Donor Status prior to this update will begin at Donor Rank #1. Donor Rank #1 is permanent. Donor Ranks #2 to #5 are temporary, each lasting a month unless you make additional donations to jump to a higher rank, or maintain the maximum rank. If you allow your rank to decay, you drop to the previous rank. Whenever you change a rank (up or down) or receive another Donor Point, the month-long timer resets.
• Donor Perks: Some of these benefits are one-time perks (like additional invites), and others are bestowed only when you maintain the appropriate rank (like access to a special Donor Forum).
• Donor Points: Ranks are unlocked through the acquisition of Donor Points. A Donor Point represents €5, which is the amount we previously required before handing out the red heart. You can acquire Donor Points donating via Flattr, donating Bitcoins, purchasing store items, or through any donation method we might introduce in the future.
• Leaderboard: We're introducing a Donor Leaderboard for tracking top contributors to the site. You can opt-out of this (and other Donor-specific display options) in your Paranoia Settings.
• Special Ranks: Special Ranks are permanent rewards which are unlocked when a user reaches a certain Donor Point total. As with Donor Perks, we add more of these over time. As an example of a Special Rank, a user who accumulates 10 Donor Points will unlock the privilege of creating a User Pick that will be featured on the front page.

It's important to note that no traditional perks have been removed from the donation process, but many have been added. If you were a credited donor prior to this update, you'll begin at Donor Rank #1, which is the only permanent Donor Rank. Your red heart is still there, and new donors will receive the benefits you did. Users who made store purchases linked to their What.CD User Identification Number on or after May 20th, 2013 may receive the full benefits of the new system in the next few days, but we're not making any promises. All new purchases (and donations) from this point forward will be credited in the new system, however.

We reserve the right to modify the list of Donor Perks at any time. To facilitate conversation about future perks, we're establishing the Donor Perk Suggestions thread. Please follow the directions in the first post before making a suggestion.

Also be aware that the amount of code required to produce this system is quite lengthy. You may notice bugs in the implementation, especially in the early days following this announcement. Please help the Development Team out by creating threads in the Bugs Forum as is necessary.

To help you understand the various perks for each Donor Rank, you can look at the FAQ linked above, or check out the infographic linked below. Please note that the perks granted by Special Ranks are not listed in the following infographic. For more information on Special Rank perks, view the Special Ranks section of the FAQ document.

[Click to View]




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We're also making some significant changes to The What.CD Online Store. All changes described in this announcement can be read about in fuller detail in The What.CD Online Store FAQ Document.

First, we're introducing an on-site Store Gallery which presents important information about all TWOS products. Donor Point values for each item are included among this information. These values are also reflected on each product page within the official store site. Clicking the images in the on-site gallery will redirect you to the appropriate product pages. You can take a look at the new gallery by clicking the image below, or clicking the "Store" link in the site navigation menu.

[Click to View]​

Key changes have been made to the store's functionality. One of these changes addresses a longstanding problem with applying donor benefits, so please read the following carefully:

• We've abolished specific "donor items": Specific "donor items" have been phased out. Now, every item in The What.CD Online Store has a Donor Point value associated with it. This means that any normal purchase in the store can increase your Donor Point total on What.CD. The only exception to this rule are "add-on" discount stickers. Remember: To receive credit for your purchase, you must enter your What.CD User ID Number in the profile of your TWOS account. This number can be found at the end of your profile page URL on What.CD. For information on how to find and use your User ID Number when making purchases on our official store, view the Store Donor Points Guide.
• Donor benefits are now applied automatically: Traditionally, we've been given lists of User IDs by Port Merchandise. We received these lists intermittently, meaning that some users would have their donor benefits applied quickly after their purchase, whereas other users would have to wait a month or more. We've resolved this by devising a system which allows us to collect non-personally identifying sales information routinely. Under normal circumstances, you should have your Donor Points applied within three to seven days, weekends excluded. Remember: Outside of your What.CD User ID Number, no personally identifying information is sent to us.
• There is no longer a distinction between "regular stock" and "limited edition stock": We formerly made a distinction between "regular stock" and "limited edition stock". From this point forward, the majority of items introduced to the store will be limited edition items which are either printed in a fixed quantity, or printed for a limited time only. Limited edition items have proven more popular with our users, and this change simplifies how we manage the store. Some items like stickers may remain in stock for longer periods of time, but are still subject to retirement at our discretion.
• We're introducing Downloadable Products: In this update, we're offering four new items to the store, one of which represents an entirely new product category: Downloadable Products. One major issue faced by foreign customers is the prohibitive cost of shipping overseas. Furthermore, because the cost of physical items incorporates overhead costs, the donation value of a normal store product is less than that of a direct donation. With the introduction of downloadable products, almost all of the money spent on these items goes directly to What.CD.
• We're introducing Pay What You Want (PWYW) products: All Downloadable Products allow you to set your own price, thus fulfilling the promise of a "Pay What You Want" (PWYW) system. In the case of PWYW products, Donor Points must be assigned somewhat differently. To explain by way of example, let's look at the Downloadable Product being introduced today: the Bonespin Wallpaper Pack (featuring a design by the talented P1um).

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As indicated above, P1um's Bonespin Wallpaper Pack will be available as a downloadable product for a price of your choosing. The product is being offered in .zip format. For every $6.50 you pay, you'll receive one (1) Donor Point (with your total rounded down to the nearest point). Remember that you can use PayPal when making purchases at TWOS! To be credited for your purchase, be sure to include your What.CD User ID Number when checking out. While we hope that you will buy the product, we recognize that some of you won't be able to. To facilitate file sharing, we're also offering a Free Bonespin Wallpaper Pack Download (hosted on GE.TT). Please use this link instead of the official store page if you plan on paying nothing, as it'll save in bandwidth costs.

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In addition, we're introducing two new shirts. The Death In Victory shirt is designed by our very own irredentia, and the Ishihara Citrus shirt is designed by HalfInEarnest, a strong contestant in our first TWOS Design Contest. Both shirts are printed on American Apparel Unisex Fine Jersey Short Sleeve T-Shirts. Each shirt is worth two (2) Donor Points.

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Lastly, we're introducing a third sticker pack, this time featuring P1um's design: the Bonespin Sticker Pack. The five-pack is worth one (1) Donor Point, and the ten-pack is worth two (2) Donor Points.

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Because we're introducing Downloadable Products to The What.CD Online Store, we feel that it's time for a contest specifically tailored to the category. We're very pleased to announce the very first TWOS Music Contest!

[Click to View]​

Specifically, we're asking users to submit songs which will be used in the creation of the first official What.CD compilation! Note that this compilation is intended to be distinct from the longstanding, officially supported "The What CD" Vanity House series. It is our hope that this will begin a new on-site musical tradition, and we invite you to take part in the process.

This contest is being launched in the spirit of the fundraiser announcement, and as such it behooves us to emphasize that all profits earned through the sale of this album will be applied to the site's costs (aside from a small percentage paid to Port Merchandise for use of their services). All artists submitting songs should do so while fully acknowledging that proceeds earned with their submission's help will not be returned to them, but will instead contribute to What.CD's continued longevity.

Details on how to submit, the contest rules, and important legal information are included in the contest thread. The submission period will end on October 23rd, 2013.

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Our Developers have been hard at work on a number of additional site updates:

1. Updated User Settings: The user settings page has been reorganized and revamped. Take a second to check it out! The changes are as follows:
   • Tooltips: The titles of most options will now trigger tooltips when you run your mouse over them. These tooltips are designed to provide pertinent information about the options in question.
   • Tabs: Due to the growing nature of our settings list, we've implemented tabs which allow you to isolate particular areas you're interested in. We've also included an "All Settings" tab for those who prefer to have their settings listed on one page.
   • Live Search: User settings now have live search functionality. Just begin typing the name of what you're looking for, and your choices will begin to narrow.
   • Reorganization: We've gone through the list renaming and reorganizing options when and where applicable. The new categories are more coherent and consistent.
2. Revamped Notifications: In the "Notification Settings" section of your User Settings page, you'll notice that you now have a choice between "Traditional" and "Pop-up" notifications for certain alert types.
   • Pop-up Notifications: The introduction of an optional pop-up system introduces greater flexibility to the notification system. These pop-ups can be color-coded based on importance, and the user can dismiss these notifications with a single click.
   • "Read Once" Notification Types: In the near future, we'll be unveiling a number of "read once" notifications. These will reside entirely in the cache, and are meant to deliver interesting but non-vital information to the user. In other words, these notifications will not be permanently saved in the database like PM or Quote Notifications. We'll be able to hook these notifications into any on-site event. For example: "User has added 500 MB of bounty to your request" or "A torrent has been added to a collage you've contributed to", and so on. Users will be able to fine-tune the notifications they receive based upon their interests. The basic functionality is in place; expect more additions soon.
3. Comment Thread Updates: We've added a number of features to the comment threads found on artist, torrent, collage, and request pages.
   • Comment Subscriptions: Users can now subscribe to comment threads. These subscriptions work similarly to forum subscriptions. Please note that the [Subscribe] link found at the top of a collage page will result in you being notified when a torrent is added to the collage, whereas the [Subscribe] link on a collage's comment page (accessible by clicking [View All Comments]) is the link you use to subscribe to that collage's comments.
   • Comment Quote Notifications: Users with quote notifications enabled will now be notified when they're quoted within a comment threads.
   • Comment Quote Linking: Quotes made within comment threads will now link to the appropriate post.
4. Tooltips Upgrade: Various places in Gazelle have had standard, browser default-styled tooltips for a while. These tooltips have received a visual update and added functionality via our adoption of the Tooltipster jQuery Plugin. Note that some of the newly added tooltips (notably for user settings) contain links to related articles.

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We'll now review the current donation and contribution methods available to all users of the site. Whether you've read this far or skipped straight to this section, thanks for considering a donation. In this time of need, anyone contributing is effectively a champion of the site. Your contributions are immensely appreciated.​

A great deal of information can be found on our Donation Page. What follows is a brief explanation of the currently available donation methods, along with a description of how each works.

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• The Method: Flattr
• Donor Points: One (1) Donor Point per €5
• Description: Launched in March 2010, Flattr is a Swedish-based microdonation provider founded by Peter Sunde and Linus Olsson. Adding money to a Flattr account or withdrawing revenue from a Flattr account can be done via PayPal, Moneybookers, Bitcoin, credit card, or various country-specific options. View Flattr's Official FAQ Document for more information.
• Donating: Our Flattr Donation Guide contains full information about the donation process. There are four basic steps to any successful Flattr donation. First, you make an account. Second, you indicate that you "want to support" when asked. Third, you add funds to your account. Fourth, you allocate your funds to What.CD. (Please note that you can donate all of your funds by setting your "Monthly Budget" to match your funds balance. Alternately, you can set a monthly donation amount which will be recurrently sent each month until your funds are depleted. Whichever selection you make, be aware that funds are only transferred at the end of each month).
• Getting Credit: To receive credit for your donation, you must send a Staff PM titled "Flattr Donation" at the end of the month when your funds have been sent. In this PM, please let us know you made a donation. It will take us approximately 48 to 72 hours to process your request. You will receive a PM once the process is complete.

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• The Method: Bitcoin
• Donor Points: One (1) Donor Point per €5 of BTC (BTC <-> EUR Exchange Rate)
• Description: Bitcoin is an experimental, decentralized digital currency (BTC) that enables instant payments. It was originally developed by Satoshi Nakamoto, and was released under the MIT license. Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority: managing transactions and issuing money are carried out collectively by the network.
• Donating: You can buy Bitcoins online at many exchanges. After buying Bitcoins, you can send them to What.CD by clicking the button located on the Donate Page. Clicking this button will generate a unique address you can send Bitcoins to. This address will remain visible to your account alone, allowing us to credit you for your donation.
• Getting Credit: BTC donations will result in the automatic application of Donor Points within 48 to 72 hours of the transfer appearing in What.CD's BTC wallet. If you've donated and haven't received credit within 96 hours of your transfer, please send a Staff PM titled "Bitcoin Donation" and let us know that you donated. You will receive a PM once the process is complete.

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• The Method: The What.CD Online Store (What.CD TWOS Gallery)
• Donor Points: Varies
• Description: The What.CD Online Store (TWOS) is What.CD's official online storefront designed in conjunction with Port Merchandise, a full-service merchandise company which provides distribution solutions for bands, artists, record labels, and What.CD. TWOS stocks a variety of What.CD-themed products. The store accepts a variety of credit card options, and PayPal. Please see our TWOS FAQ Document for more information.
• Contributing: Contributing is as simple as purchasing products from the store. The store's checkout system works like that of any other online retailer. Each product has a unique Donor Point value.
• Getting Credit: For a specific guide on how to find and use your User ID Number, see our Store Donor Points Guide. In order to receive credit for your TWOS purchases, you must include your What.CD User ID Number in your account information on The What.CD Online Store website. Your User ID Number can be found in the URL of your profile page. If you've entered your What.CD User ID Number on the store website, your What.CD account should be credited within three to seven days after your purchase is processed. If you don't receive your Donor Points within seven days, you may send a Staff PM titled "Store Purchase Credit Request" which must include verifiable information about your purchase. This information should include the items purchased, the quantities purchased, the price paid, and the date you made your purchase. A screenshot of your receipt is perfectly acceptable when providing this information. You may cross out personally identifying information when providing a screenshot.

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• The Method: PayPal
• Donor Points: One (1) Donor Point per $6.50
• Description: PayPal is a global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. It is no longer possible to directly donate to What.CD through PayPal. However, you can easily and conveniently purchase items on The What.CD Online Store using PayPal.
• Contributing: You can purchase any item in the store using PayPal, but if you aren't interested in having a physical product shipped to you, Downloadable Products are an effective option. The vast majority of profit derived from downloadable products will help support What.CD directly. Regular Products have fixed prices, while Downloadable Products are "Pay What You Want" (PWYW).
• Getting Credit: For a specific guide on how to find and use your User ID Number, see our Store Donor Points Guide. In order to receive credit for your TWOS purchases, you must include your What.CD User ID Number in your account information on The What.CD Online Store website. Your User ID Number can be found in the URL of your profile page. If you've entered your What.CD User ID Number on the store website, your What.CD account should be credited within three to seven days after your purchase is processed. If you don't receive your Donor Points within seven days, you may send a Staff PM titled "Store Purchase Credit Request" which must include verifiable information about your purchase. This information should include the items purchased, the quantities purchased, the price paid, and the date you made your purchase. A screenshot of your receipt is perfectly acceptable when providing this information. You may cross out personally identifying information when providing a screenshot.

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We've offered "Eternal Love" to all donors for a long while. Once upon a time, donating meant using PayPal. When that became impossible, Flattr showed up. Bitcoins entered the scene, and then The What.CD Online Store was born.

No matter the era or the method, donating has always resulted in a small heart sitting next to your name. Eternal love. Eternal love might sound a little tongue-in-cheek, but it isn't. Love fuels the effort, and someday when this site has vanished or become something else entirely, those of us who have had a direct hand in guiding this project to its unknown future will remember the community first and foremost. Consider the words we offered shortly after our fourth birthday, in 2011:

What.CD is a collective endeavor, and the quality of this endeavor is dependent upon all of us, and not any one of us. When we made our donation plea, we were admittedly hesitant to ask the community directly for help. While drafting our sitewide request, we were reminded that the primary source of our pride--and the reason we volunteer for this job--is our userbase. From the community staff down to our newest members, so many take it upon themselves to contribute to the site by offering up rare uploads, creating perfect rips, scribing thoughtful forum posts, brainstorming new projects, drafting useful reports, sustaining seeds and more. In the wake of this fundraiser, we've also seen how this community is willing to rush to What.CD's aid with great heart and ample generosity in the site's darkest hour. The best way to express our gratitude and appreciation is perhaps the simplest: thank you.​

Our thanks remain. If you cannot afford to donate, you've still earned our love. Hats off for giving this site its character and purpose. With your help, the road ahead of us will stretch long and far.

--The Staff​

(Discuss this post here)

Financial Update: Part One 2 months, 4 weeks ago Hide

FINANCIAL UPDATE: PART ONE​

Certain parts of the larger update are taking longer than we had expected. We apologise for the delay, & will post the update once everything is ready

It's time for a brief update about our financial situation. We intend to release a larger update within a month, so keep an eye on the news section for further developments regarding the site's financial future, and your role in shaping it.

We'd like to thank everyone who has contributed in the form of a direct donation or store purchase since the time of the last announcement. This fundraiser has proven successful enough to keep the site running in the short term. The final two weeks of April were especially strong, and if this is indicative of a continuing trend, it would suggest that we're momentarily in the black as of the time of this post.

However, it is clear that funding What.CD is a challenge with more systemic problems (as is indicated by previous fundraisers). Without stimulating the user base with an occasional call for help, we eventually fall behind. As the site grows, our bills grow. With this comes the cost of server upgrades. Keep in mind that we own our servers, so fixed costs are a luxury we do not enjoy. As stated previously, the cost of one server breakdown can easily exceed many months of average operating costs.

For these reasons, it is difficult to fund the site primarily through the What.CD Online Store, although it helps. But the reality is that not everyone wants to purchase merchandise, nor is everyone willing (or able) to pay for costly international shipping. While the store will remain an effective way for users to show their support for the site, we understand that it isn't an absolute solution.

We also acknowledge that everyone would prefer additional options which allow closer to 100% of contributions to directly fund the site—something impossible to achieve when selling tangible products. Toward this end, we have been discussing the implementation of new donation incentives, as well as a more profitable utilization of the store. Changes beyond these are being discussed, but are nowhere ready for public hinting, much less public introduction.

Beyond keeping the site afloat, additional short-term goals include replenishing a safety net of emergency funds, and funding an overdue hardware upgrade. The longest-term and most important goal remains ensuring that each month's donations haul is at least large enough to cover monthly costs.

At this time, we encourage our users to be patient. Proper execution of our plans requires frequent discussion as a staff team, coordination with external partners, many developer hours, and time spent ensuring the security of everyone involved.

But, hey—thanks to you, we're still here. Turn it to eleven and kick it.

STAFF PICKS​

Irimias's Staff Pick

Basic Channel – BCD

Genre: Dub techno, Minimal

Torrents: torrents.php?id=67120

Review:

Techno reimagined as the logical conclusion of Jamaican dub. This is music that almost instantly changed the way that people make music, changed the way people that hear music and even the way that people feel music – Hell, in sonic terms, it represented a revolution in consciousness, one that we’re still trying to catch up with and still struggling to find the language to describe.

Pinch: “I’m a long-standing fan of Basic Channel and the lineage of music that followed from both Moritz [von Oswald] and Mark [Ernestus] – particularly their Rhythm & Sound project. Even though the BC records are 20 years old now, I still find them fresh and often more relevant than the majority of contemporary dub techno records.

“The textures in their music are not only deep and involving, sonically speaking, but the way the sounds actually move and develop throughout a given track create these endless, journey-like polyrhythms that can induce jaw-dropping, meditative states. I’ve often found myself drifting off into a headspace that sits somewhere just in front of the dream state – and not really coming out of it until the needle hits the centre run-out groove! Makes me sound like I’ve been partially lobotomised – but it’s true! BCD is music you have to interact with to fully experience; it’s music that tells a story but leaves you to paint your own picture to it. You can keep finding new and interesting sub-plots with every listen!”​

DixieFlatline's Staff Pick

Coil - Musick to Play in the Dark (Vol. 1)

Genre: Experimental, Electronic, Ambient

Torrents: torrents.php?id=24261

Review:

Run through with water, they bled slow waves beneath the stars.​

KitchenStaff's Staff Pick

Zulu Winter - Language

Genre: Pop/Rock

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72210414

Review:

One of my favorite things about smartphones is the ability to identify songs that you hear just about anywhere. I discovered this album after hearing 'People That You Must Remember' on one of the final episodes of Hemlock Grove; what I didn't expect was that the rest of the album was going to be as spectacular as it is. No, it's not complicated music, not challenging to listen to or deeply insightful with respect to the lyrics - but it's catchy, and atmospheric, and it's occupied my daily playlist for long enough that I want other people to hear it. Try the two-song combo of 'We Should Be Swimming' to 'Bitter Moon'.​

Lylac's Staff Pick

1200 Micrograms - The Time Machine

Genre: Psytrance

Torrents: torrents.php?id=51428

Review:

Absolutely amazing collaboration between Riktam and Bansi (GMS, which also happens to be one of my favourite psytrance acts), Raja Ram, and Chicago. This album delivers an enthralling experience that transcends space and time by incorporating region-specific instruments and sounds within the tracks. It is a must-listen for any psytrance enthusiast.​

Zettel's Staff Pick

Multiple Man - Multiple Man

Genre: Noise rock

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72459549

Review:

A friend from Australia put me on to this duo, who seem to be benefitting from something crazy going on down there. Their work—with this exception—is unavailable except on cassette, but it's all noxious new-wave revival goodness. I'd be very pleased to see a full-length in a non-ridiculous format.​

irredentia's Staff Pick

Random Inc. - Jerusalem: Tales Outside the Framework of Orthodoxy

Genre: glitch, field recording, ambient, experimental

Torrents: torrents.php?id=487096

Review:

Sebastian Meissner, here as Random Inc., offers up an album of contradictions: rich yet spare, complicated but understated, disturbing and beautiful, about a subject which is always contemporary but layered with contextual meaning and always re-interpreting the past. Jerusalem: Tales Outside the Framework of Orthodoxy filters the past through a modern sound, and never quite resolves to be document, artistic statement, commentary, or philosophy. Heavily influenced by glitch, it references older forms of sound collage and musique concrète to the point where it never sounds antiseptic and cold like much of Alva Noto's fantastic work, but rather takes on an element of the electromechanical. Tradition and modernity juxtapose and intertwine effortlessly on this brilliant, contemplative album—an appropriate examination of the role Jerusalem has had in Western culture as the tableau of history.

Notes: There are several long intentional silences on this album. This is a release which benefits from its presentation; although I do not currently have access to a scanner, I photographed the artwork to present this work in a fuller context in conjunction with making it my pick.​

Ajax's Staff Pick

Janine Jansen - Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto Op. 64 / Bruch: Romance for Viola, Violin Concerto Op. 26

Genre: classical, violin

Torrents: torrents.php?id=106584

Review:

Fantastic performance of Mendelssohn's violin concerto by the beautiful and talented Janine Jansen. One of my all time favorite pieces and a great way to start the summer. ​

draculesti's Staff Pick

The Meligrove Band - Shimmering Lights

Genre: Indie rock

Torrents: torrents.php?id=71834153

Review:

Despite being recorded over a four-year period, Shimmering Lights doesn’t have the dragged-out feel of a belabored album. Like a poppier version of Tokyo Police Club, Meligrove Band specialize in the sort of zippy, quirky indie rock that rarely slows down, and the band’s fourth album manages to squeeze ten songs into the space of a half hour. The songs themselves are pleasant enough, with all the familiar trimmings of 21st century indie rock: half-sung/half-shouted vocals, frenetic single-line guitar riffs, keyboards, and a balance between melody and good-natured noise. But if Meligrove Band lack something in the originality department, the group makes up for it with solid execution, and Shimmering Lights winds up being a tuneful example of by-the-book indie songwriting.​

Hyperion's Staff Pick

Kollektiv Turmstrasse - Rebellion der Träumer

Genre: Electronic, IDM, Downtempo, Ambient

Torrents: torrents.php?id=71848718

Review:

Rebellion der Träumer (Rebellion Of The Dreamers) is more than an album. It reflects the development of the Kollektiv over the past years, assimilating experienced impressions and presenting another side of them. It reveals their true nature and what we really are: Träumer - dreamers. A great deal of love, time and passion was invested into this album, aiming to touch both heart and mind, and to entrain you on a musical journey.​

WithTiredEyes's Staff Pick

Ambulance LTD - LP

Genre: alternative, rock, lo-fi

Torrents: torrents.php?id=18201

Review:

I don't have a review for this. Download it if you like shoegaze, Elliott Smith, the Velvet Underground, Eels, britpop, or any of the rest of my staff picks. ​

iapetus's Staff Pick

Darkstar - Dead 2 Me / Break

Genre: garage, bass, dubstep

Torrents: torrents.php?id=246828

Patience's Staff Pick

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy and the Poor Boys

Genre: rock

Torrents: torrents.php?id=28355

Review:

Listen to it. You wont regret it.​

brancusi's Staff Pick

Giacinto Scelsi - The Orchestral Works (2)

Genre: 20th Century Classical

Torrents: torrents.php?id=71930011

Review:

Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi (1905 – 1988) remained largely unknown for most of his career, the impact caused by the late discovery of Scelsi's works was described by Belgian musicologist Harry Halbreich:

A whole chapter of recent musical history must be rewritten: the second half of this century is now unthinkable without Scelsi. He has inaugurated a completely new way of making music, hitherto unknown in the West. In the early fifties, there were few alternatives to serialism's strait jacket that did not lead back to the past. Then, toward 1960–61, came the shock of the discovery of Ligeti's Apparitions and Atmosphères. There were few people at the time who knew that Friedrich Cerha, in his orchestral cycle Spiegel, had already reached rather similar results, and nobody knew that there was a composer who had followed the same path even years before, and in a far more radical way: Giacinto Scelsi himself.​

eXistenZ's Staff Pick

Letting Up Despite Great Faults - Untogether

Genre: dream.pop

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72311599

Review:

I don't believe in swaying opinions with music reviews; just check it out if you like infectious melodies and the dream.pop genre.​

Torus's Staff Pick

Duke Ellington and John Coltrane - Duke Ellington & John Coltrane

Genre: Jazz

Torrents: torrents.php?id=10860

Review:

For this classic encounter, Duke Ellington "sat in" with the John Coltrane Quartet for a set dominated by Ellington's songs; some performances have his usual sidemen (bassist Aaron Bell and drummer Sam Woodyard) replacing Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones in the group. Although it would have been preferable to hear Coltrane play in the Duke Ellington orchestra instead of the other way around, the results are quite rewarding. Their version of "In a Sentimental Mood" is a high point, and such numbers as "Take the Coltrane," "Big Nick," and "My Little Brown Book" are quite memorable. Ellington always recognized talent, and Coltrane seemed quite happy to be recording with a fellow genius.

By Scott Yanow (http://www.allmusic.com/album/duke-ellington-john-coltrane-mw0000416142)​

Lisbeth's Staff Pick

Zack Hemsey - The Way

Genre: Electronic, Instrumental

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72043929

Review: cduniverse.com wrote:

A hybrid sound of orchestral score, world instrumentation, and driving percussion.​

Dumont's Staff Pick

Team Me - To the Treetops!

Genre: soft rock, pop, indie

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72067890

Review:

I found this little gem through a flash game of all things. The game itself is of little importance, but the song used in the game was Weathervanes and Chemicals and it stuck with me. I looked it up and grabbed the rest of the album.

I'm glad to say that it was a pleasant surprise when I listened to it. I'll happily admit that I have an unfortunate tendency to disregard generic pop/rock indie releases when I see them, but that is a habit I know I should shake, this album being just one of the numerous reasons why. Give it a listen, you won't regret it.​

alderaan's Staff Pick

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

Genre: Rock, Blues, Hard Rock

Torrents: torrents.php?id=491770

Review: Amazon.com Editorial Review by Mark Walker wrote:

Given that they were the biggest band in the world, Zeppelin were notoriously camera-shy in their heyday. Their official filmic legacy until now has been just the fascinating but flawed The Song Remains the Same. While this new set presents some previously unseen footage from the same 1973 Madison Square Garden gigs, its real wonders lie in the earlier (1970) Royal Albert Hall footage and the later Earls Court (1975) and Knebworth (1979) concerts. Everything here looks and sounds new-minted, thanks to painstaking restoration and remastering of both audio and visual sources, a Herculean labor of love on the part of co-producer Dick Carruthers working hand-in-glove with Jimmy Page. Trawling through thousands of yards of previously unseen film and unheard tape recordings--some with missing visuals, some with missing audio--Page and Carruthers have chosen only the best possible footage available. They were also at pains to make the segments segue seamlessly so that the viewer is treated to what feels like a continuous concert--just sample the transition from a grainy Super 8 "Immigrant Song" (Sydney, 1972) to "Black Dog" at MSG.

Highlights? It's not hyperbole to say that every powerhouse minute of this collection (some 230 minutes of concert footage plus another hour and a half of extra DVD material) is a rare musical and visual treat. But hearing Page's violin bow work on "Dazed and Confused" in DTS or Dolby 5.1 is an experience not soon forgotten.​

Athena's Staff Pick

chipzel - Super Hexagon EP

Genre: Electronic

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72289284

Review:

This is for those of you who spend more time hearing "Game Over... Again" than the actual game music. ​

Entrapment's Staff Pick

Jan Hammer - The First Seven Days

Genre: fusion, abstract, progressive.rock, jazz, electronic

Torrents: torrents.php?id=412590

Review: Synthtopia wrote:

The First Seven Days is one of the great early works of popular electronic music.

Released nearly 30 years ago, the music is a set of seven rock-fusion tone poems inspired by the idea of the seven days of creation. It was a head-trip when it was released, and the remastered CD re-release makes it sound better than ever.

Jan Hammer is a talented keyboardist and composer. He’s best known for his soundtrack work for Miami Vice and his jazz-fusion playing with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. His talent with the Minimoog is legendary, ranking him up with other MoogerFoogers of the seventies, Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman.

This gem of an album, while little known, is probably his best work. The First Seven Days is a set of tone poems, loosely inspired by the story of creation. Part progressive rock, part jazz-fusion, and part genius, The First Seven Days is great music, and Jan Hammer’s keyboard work is some of his best.

Though the album is almost three decades old, both the music and playing hold up well. The Mellotron sounds date the music, but it’s used so effectively that Hammer transcends the limitations of the instrument. You may want to look for a used Mellotron after listening to this. The music was innovative for its time, and the remastering brings out the best in the music.

The highlight, though, has to be Hammer’s Minimoog playing within the context of the trippy music. The music is evocative, almost psychedelic, and his synthesizer solos explode out of it. The First Seven Days has some of the best lead synth work that you’ll hear.

Bring on the Hammer!​

brd's Staff Pick

Locomotora - Locomotora

Genre: post.rock

Torrents: torrents.php?id=753612

Y's Staff Pick

Gustav Mahler performed by Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Mariss Jansons - Symphony No.1

Genre: classical

Torrents: torrents.php?id=71874054

Snowflake's Staff Pick

Jeffrey Lewis - The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane

Genre: anti.folk

Torrents: torrents.php?id=91269

Review:

Makes me happy. ​

Kryptos's Staff Pick

Van Morrison - Moondance

Genre: rock, folk, soul

Torrents: torrents.php?id=12433

Review:

Van Morrison's 1970 classic, Moondance, is the rarest of beasts, a wholly substantial and completely consistent rock album. Never on this spell-binding LP is there a clichéd or superficial lyric, a lazily-sung word, an unnecessary instrument in the accompaniment, an instance of fabricated artistic posturing and nowhere on Moondance is there a song that is not completely outstanding. Casual classic rock listeners are probably familiar with the dreamy "And It Stoned Me" and the jazzy title track, but none of these ten songs would sound out of place on a best-of collection. Even lesser known songs such as the bopping "These Dreams of You," the emotion-rendering "Brand New Day" and the simply breathtaking "Into the Mystic" are compositions strong enough to rival Lennon/McCartney. On Moondance, Mr. Morrison obviously reached a zenith of artistic maturity and focus. The album is a perfect ten. (Amazon.com)​

Ananke's Staff Pick

Mastodon - Crack the Skye

Genre: progressive metal, sludge metal

Torrents: torrents.php?id=426516

Review:

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quartz's Staff Pick

Benton - Reflections

Genre: dubstep

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72488864

Review:

Benton is unquestionably one of the top up and coming Dubstep producers hailing from Epsom (UK). He has been producing since 2007 and is tipped for great things in the coming years. ​

Peppermint's Staff Pick

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

Genre: jazz, post.bop, avant.garde

Torrents: torrents.php?id=97408

Review:

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is one of the greatest achievements in orchestration by any composer in jazz history. Charles Mingus consciously designed the six-part ballet as his magnum opus, and -- implied in his famous inclusion of liner notes by his psychologist -- it's as much an examination of his own tortured psyche as it is a conceptual piece about love and struggle. It veers between so many emotions that it defies easy encapsulation; for that matter, it can be difficult just to assimilate in the first place. Yet the work soon reveals itself as a masterpiece of rich, multi-layered texture and swirling tonal colors, manipulated with a painter's attention to detail. There are a few stylistic reference points -- Ellington, the contemporary avant-garde, several flamenco guitar breaks -- but the totality is quite unlike what came before it. Mingus relies heavily on the timbral contrasts between expressively vocal-like muted brass, a rumbling mass of low voices (including tuba and baritone sax), and achingly lyrical upper woodwinds, highlighted by altoist Charlie Mariano. Within that framework, Mingus plays shifting rhythms, moaning dissonances, and multiple lines off one another in the most complex, interlaced fashion he'd ever attempted. Mingus was sometimes pigeonholed as a firebrand, but the personal exorcism of Black Saint deserves the reputation -- one needn't be able to follow the story line to hear the suffering, mourning, frustration, and caged fury pouring out of the music. The 11-piece group rehearsed the original score during a Village Vanguard engagement, where Mingus allowed the players to mold the music further; in the studio, however, his exacting perfectionism made The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady the first jazz album to rely on overdubbing technology. The result is one of the high-water marks for avant-garde jazz in the '60s and arguably Mingus' most brilliant moment. ​

bashmore's Staff Pick

Octo Octa - Between Two Selves

Genre: electronic, house, techno, leftfield

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72498074

Review:

After delivering two of 100% Silk's dopest 12"s and a collaboration with LA Vampires, Brooklyn's Octo Octa delivers the label's most anticipated long player. Like his earlier anthem, 'I'm Trying', his 'Between Two Selves' perfectly characterises 100% Silk's shift from super lo-fi towards much cleaner, sleeker deep house tropes whilst retaining something of a raw, unusual, almost psychedelic fuzziness that you're unlikely to find in the latest Hot Creations spawn. Over its eight trax Mr Octa succinctly references classic Chicago, New York/Jersey, Detroit and moodier European flavours with efficient flair, instinctively reducing their essence into lean and refreshed new forms. Pushed to pick highlights, we'd first point to awesome closing cut, 'Fear' for pure and lusting dancefloor potential, and then to 'Come Closer', which somehow manages to make those hackneyed down-pitched vocals sound quite pleasing in balance with the cut's glum house atmosphere and depressed beat, but nuff of the moody stuff, 'cause the rest manages that fine task of being perky without the earnestness, as with the breakbeat-spiked swerver 'His Kiss' and the lucidly sensual bliss space of opener, 'Who I Will Become'. ​

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