Külföldi torrent oldalak What.cd | WCD News

CF dealer · 2011. május 13.

Re: What.CD

We would like to announce the creation of a new userclass. The Delta Team, as they will be known, will help us with a lot of the internal work and organisation that goes into improving the site. Some will be engaged with vetting and creating rules and wiki articles, others with maintaining editing standards and guidelines or helping to coordinate site projects as well as working in line with our First Line Support. Over the next few days we will be contacting and promoting various users who have demonstrated significant ability or knowledge, and so with that we'd like to welcome them all, and thank them in advance for the help they will provide.

As with any celebration, that makes this a great opportunity for more staff picks.

irredentia's VIP/"Outstanding Got Music? Entry" Pick

Adorable - I'll Be Your Saint

Genre: Alternative, Indie

Torrents: torrents.php?id=473303

Review -

From the US, it's almost impossible to understand the culture of insular, flavour-of-the-minute rock stars which are hailed as the Saviours of Pop in one issue of NME or Melody Maker in the 1990's, and completely irrelevant within a year, or not infrequently, by the next issue. The London music press lived to build bands up and take them down.

Adorable were one of these Very Important Bands for about a year. The buzz surrounding these bands often got in the way of appreciating the music itself, and that's a genuine shame. The good news for Adorable was that they were swiftly targeted by the influential Creation label. This was also the bad news. Bankrupted from funding the recording of My Bloody Valentine's profoundly critically successful but commercially disastrous album "Loveless", the label was forced to accept an alliance with Sony, and Adorable was one of the many acts that fell by the wayside.

Adorable's sound most likely would have been categorized as "Britpop" had their debut single been released about a year later. As such, they're often categorized as "shoegaze", which does them a disservice. While the guitar lines in "I'll Be Your Saint" can be noisy and lush, nobody will mistake this for the swooning glide guitar of label-mates My Bloody Valentine. Furthermore, the single and album have a rock approach, with vocals front and center - and perhaps more importantly, intelligible.

I recommend the single rather than the album "Against Perfection" because I believe that "I'll Be Your Saint" is probably one of the best pop songs you've never heard, and the single offers up this gem in a less distracting package. A song about self-effacing martyrdom in the name of love, it's well-covered territory in the annals of teenage angst, but no less effective for it. Perhaps appropriately for a narrative about young love, the second track, "Self-Imperfectionist" is an apology of the sort you can only give when what you've lost is more important and poignant than the dignity you'll sacrifice by expressing it. A third-person epilogue of sorts, "Summerside" wraps up the story in a slow, melancholic afterthought, devoid of any rock bluster or wall of noise affectations.

These three songs are all you need to know if this short-lived band's two full-length albums will have anything to say to you.

Jaames' VIP Pick

Daboa - From The Gekko

Genre: World, Latin, Folk

Torrents: torrents.php?id=71970529

Review - Doug Blackburn wrote:

On completing my first listen, I was in awe of this CD. The sound is, well, what I got into this annoying hobby for in the first place. Its wonderful, its fun, its ethereal, its huge, its subtle, its overblown, its completely manufactured, but its so well done you dont care that its studio trickery. I can only wish for a collection of CDs with as much attention paid to the soundfield as this one has.

OK, so the sound is wonderful. What about the music? It probably sucks, right? Well, it may or may not suck -- depends on your definition of what sucks is. If you only listen to Metallica from 1975 to 1985 or to music written by dead people, this recording isnt going to change your life. But if you are an exploratory listener with interests in a variety of music, From the Gekko could be a great addition to your library. Take some Mexican and Venezuelan traditions; mix in Marias modern Latin touch and Spanish lyrics; combine with Franks synthesizer, production, pop/rock sensibilities and English lyrics; add some acoustic instruments, some samples of the Dali Lamas laughter, samples of rain-forest Indians some gamelan samples, a few hints of Indian (the country India) music and instruments. You end up with inventive cant-be-categorized music.

Deep bass lovers will find some in From the Gekko. Systems will be tortured by the steadily rising sound level on the first track. Set the volume high enough for the opening ping-ponging bass to shake the room and youll be screaming for mercy before the end of the track. There are places where the synthesizer puts energy behind some sounds that no acoustic instrument can duplicate. Some of those sounds uncover problems in loudspeakers or electronic components that you may not notice with typical recordings. There are loads of detail to sift though on repeat listenings. But for me the most fun in this recording is the veritable wall of sound it throws up in the room. No, thats not right. Its not a wall, its huge space filled with stationary and moving sounds -- all transported right into your listening room. It reminds me of how the Star Trek holodeck can make convincingly large spaces within a smaller space.

Besides the detail, dynamics, and space, From the Gekko is full of subtleties too. At the opening of one song you hear not wind, but gently moving air. You hear a mass of moving sonic sparkles. You hear the forest. You hear the world. CDs like this are one of the reasons you bought all that expensive gear, unless you are one of those purists who can only deal with live acoustic instruments in real space. From the Gekko is something different, something unique to make your system sound like you may never have heard before. It isnt an audiophile recording on an audiophile label. The technical sound quality isnt perfect, but for a commercial studio recording it is very impressive. There is absolutely nothing obtrusive in the sound to distract you from the listening experience. Great clarity and dynamics, wonderful detail, very well balanced and mixed, the whole presentation comes off as having been done by people who knew what they wanted and how to get it.

appleade280's AT Pick

Korsakoff - The Sound Of

Genre: hardcore.dance, gabber, electronic

Torrents:torrents.php?id=121508

Review - http://djkorsakoff.com/

There is no true hardcore fanatic that doesn't know the beautiful dj revelation Korsakoff! Famous for her typical Korsakoff productions such as Time to be Loud, My empty bottle and Still wasted, infamous for her dazzling deejay sets, she showed the male dominated scene that girls can do it better!

NeverWorker's AT Pick

Gustav Mahler with The Minnesota Orchestra and Eiji Oue - Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth)

Genre: Classical

Torrents: torrents.php?id=353957

Review

Das Lied von Der Erde (The Song of the Earth) is Gustav Mahlers penultimate completed composition and was never performed during his lifetime and is in many ways his farewell to a truly bittersweet life. A song cycle for tenor, alto, and orchestra, Das Lied consists of six "ancient" Chinese poems adapted into German by Hans Bethge (albeit through a rather circuitous route), and then modified by Mahler himself. Subtitled "A symphony for tenor, alto and orchestra," Maher sought to create a grand scale piece that would conform to his dictum about symphonies (expressed to Jean Sibelius)"A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything."

Given the length of the piece and the two different soloists, Mahler had to take special care to insure that it remained one piece and not just six songs that happen to go together. This he manages by a series of thematic links, using the same or related melodies in the various songs, and a variety of literary techniques. Of particular note is the way he sets up the last section of the altos final song (which is actually taken from a different poem than the first part of the song) to mirror the tenors opening, thereby ending the work with a sort of hybrid song: a tenor song sung by the alto. For example, wine or drinking is one of the central symbols in the tenors songs, appearing in every single one of them. The alto, however, makes no reference to wine until the very last section of the very last song, Der Abschied (The Farewell). In this section the singer takes a cup of parting and explains "My friend, in this world fortune has not been kind to meI seek peace for my lonely heart," echoing back to the refrain of the first movement "Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod!" ("Dark is life, is death!"). Similarly, the last few lines (written entirely by Mahler) which constitute the true core of the piece reflect back on the first movement. After expressing her desire to part this world, the occurs an orchestral interlude, after which the alto declares "The beloved earth allover / Blooms in spring and becomes green / anew! Allover and eternally / foreign lands have blue skies." A similar sentiment was raised once before: in the first movement. There, the tenor declares "The heaven is blue eternally, and the earth / will long stand firm and bloom in spring." The difference being that the tenor then reflects, "But you, oh man, how long will you live? Not one hundred years can you enjoy the rotting trash of this earth!" The alto, on the other hand, closes on that sudden epiphany, declaring "Ewigewig" (eternally, eternally) as piece fades to its conclusion. In these ways and in many others Mahler sets up the last section of the last alto song to parallel the tenors first, unifying the work. This is just one of the many ways Mahler's genius shows through in every aspect of this work.

In this performance, Oue and Co. combine first rate artistry with superb sound and balance. For example, in the first song, the tenor is forced to sing at the very top of his range against a full orchestra. As a result, in many performances (including some otherwise great ones) the orchestra tends to overwhelm the singer. Not so here. Without sacrificing any of the orchestras power, the Jon Villarss tenor voice stands out clearly even as he sings high-As, and the orchestra swells to a fortissimo climax. DeYoung is also no slouch, conveying finely shaded meaning throughout. Of special note is the sheer hopelessness she conveys at the end of the second song, and of course her otherworldly "EwigEwig" (ForeverForever) that closes the piece. It is likely this ending that inspired Benjamin Britten to write, "Perhaps if I could understand some of the Indian Philosophies I might approach it a little. At the moment I can do no more than bask in its heavenly light & [sic.] it is worth having lived to do that."

This is a piece that rewards careful and repeated listening, and with a performance as fine as this doing so has never been more enjoyable.

Translations into English (and other languages) can be found at http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/assemble ... ycleId=235.
Leonard Bernstein's very worthwhile (if debatable) discussion of the final song can found at .

EDB's AT Pick

Machinae Supremacy - A View From The End Of The World

Genre: Sid Metal, Power Metal, Electronic

Torrents: torrents.php?id=71836744

Review -

It will always be difficult to properly describe how Machinaes Supremacy's music sounds. Many will see the genre tag "sid metal" and not know what on earth this is. Machinae Supremacy combines the standard sounds of power metal with something unique, 8-bit sounds created using a SID chip from a Commodore 64.

This unique blend of effects creates some amazing music. "A View from the End of the World" moves through a range of speeds and styles within this category. Each song is something fresh and new, rather than having a monotonous feeling across the entire album. For those who pine for that unique 8-bit touch: this 14 track LP is a wet dream. From the very first riff, a mid-range fretboard assault snaking its way through the initial verse of the titular track, Machinae Supremacy set our their SID-metal stall. The crackly military-style chatter which bookends the album opener is a knowing nod to material on previous (and independent) albums; were in familiar territory and were going flat out from the off.

For a more complete review, see Onemetal

undies' TM Pick

The Feelers - Supersystem

Genre: pop, rock, new.zealand

Torrents: torrents.php?id=276831

Review:

Supersystem, released in 1998, is the first album by the Feelers. Since it's release is has sold over four times platinum and is the winner of five NZ music awards in 1998.Singles include "Pressure Man", "Venus", "Friend" and "Supersystem".

punkdaft's TM pick

The Mars Volta - Octahedron

Genre: Experimental, progressive rock, pop, rock

Torrents: torrents.php?id=507861

Review by John Bush from allmusic

For punk, metal, or hard rock bands, the unplugged album is the one that shows whether they've been succeeding simply on energy and volume or because of real talent. (Anyone who remained a skeptic of Kurt Cobain's songwriting skills must have been converted by Nirvana's MTV Unplugged masterpiece.) And Octahedron, a quieter and more subdued Mars Volta album, proves that same fact (if not at the same level as Nirvana) for a band that's perpetually lived on a knife's edge of tension. Recorded in less than a month, Octahedron is by no means an unplugged album -- it's not acoustic, it's not confined to ballads, and it includes consecutive hard rockers in "Cotopaxi" and "Desperate Graves" -- but it charts a different direction for the Mars Volta, and proves they don't need to shuttle between dynamic extremes in order to succeed on an artistic level. The format allows a greater role and more space for John Frusciante, who accompanies Cedric Bixler-Zavala's vocals well, and also provides his own highlights, channeling the Edge on the emotional "Teflon" and, later, echoing Pink Floyd on "With Twilight as My Guide." With a few exceptions, Zavala's lyrics are as arcane as ever; the glossary for "Halo of Nembutals" alone would include the words "vermin," "sloth," "ringworms," "necrophiliacs," "carcinogen," "asp," "communion-shaped," and "palindromes." Still, they achieve scrutability far more often than in the past, and reveal more of the tenderness that was occasionally visible in Mars Volta material. ("Since We've Been Wrong," the single and first track, is especially affecting.) Calling this an unplugged album is useful only in relation to what the group has produced in the past, but what the Mars Volta created on Octahedron will provide them with more range and opportunities in the future.

mattr22278's TM Pick

Gene Clark & Carla Olson - So Rebellious a Lover

Genre: country, folk

Torrents: torrents.php?id=519612

Review -

An exquisite pairing of talent, the duo of Carla Olson and Gene Clark apparently came out of casual living room sessions while Clark was preparing for another project. The feeling of spontaneity and closeness of spirit engulfs all of the cuts here. Olson's strident and powerful vocals mesh beautifully with Clark's slightly world-weary, soulful performances. As for the material, both songwriters obviously put their best foot forward here. Olson's "The Drifter" and "Are We Still Making Love" are excellent country-folk outings. Clark contributes one of his finest later compositions, "Gypsy Rider," a multi-leveled song that can easily be viewed as autobiographical. Excellent support is provided by an array of backing musicians, especially Stephen McCarthy (lap steel and dobro) and guest Chris Hillman (mandolin). Chemistry is the operative word here. The only sad thing is that So Rebellious a Lover was to be the only studio effort by the duo before Clark passed away in 1991. This record is important not only for what it is, but for what it could have become.

NeoQDR's TM Pick

Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist

Genre: Progressive Metal, Sludge, Experimental, Post-Metal

Torrents: torrents.php?id=377031

Review - Wow.

Although they're probably best described as progressive rock/metal, Giant Squid is another one of those bands that's hard to lump into any particular genre. The Sacramento based unit whose first two releases were nothing if not diverse has pulled out all the stops on their latest offering 'The Ichthyologist.' This time out the band uses a slew of guest musicians and vocalists to create a meaningful, very interesting and sometimes depressing concept album.

'The Ichthyologist' is based on a graphic novel of the same name, by the band's own Aaron Gregory. The story is best explained by Gregory himself: "Through the thoughts of the album's protagonist, a man stripped of his humanity and left with nothing but the sea in front of him, comes a story about adapting in inhuman ways to survive the shock of human loss and total emotional tragedy, becoming something else entirely in the process." Deep stuff indeed.

Female vocals, violins, an oboe and more are all in there and Giant Squid has done a masterful job of putting it all together to achieve their unique sound. It should also be noted that with everything they have going on here; they don't let all of the added instrumentation water down their music or take away from its edginess. While they don't really sound like any other band in particular, they most remind of fellow Californians Hammers Of Misfortune, who coincidentally released one of my personal favorite CD's of 2008. Bits and pieces of several songs remind me of some of my past favorites; for example, the nicely done violins in 'Throwing A Donner Party At Sea' had me craving some vintage Skyclad.

'The Ichthyologist' commands your attention from the very first listen, and like most good prog albums it gets even better with each listen. There's so much going on here that you're bound to find something new and refreshing each time you hear it. Giant Squid is one of those bands: either you get it or you don't. If you don't need to lie on a therapist's couch after listening to 'The Ichthyologist' you're in for an instant classic you won't soon forget.

By Tim Carroll

Also read the fantastic review from Doug Moore @metal Review

thecodasounds' TM pick

The Field - From Here We Go Sublime

Genre: ambient, glitch, swedish, kompakt, minimal, techno, pop, house, electronic, microhouse

Torrents: torrents.php?id=19360

Review:
Chris Power of BBC Collective wrote:

"Techno heaven.

Eschewing the standard electronic music approach of gradually layering beats and samples for maximum impact, in his Fields guise Swedish producer Axel Willner tends to dump the listener in the deep end from the get go. As the tight yet airy looping of the title track suggests, its a technique learnt as much from Steve Reich as Jeff Mills. Cavernous in depth and hypnotic in effect, the only downside to tracks like The Deal and Good Things End, as the latter possibly alludes to, is that they ever stop at all. This is one of those rare albums that makes you wonder how you ever got by without it."

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