Külföldi torrent oldalak What.cd | WCD The What.cd Sixth Birthday Celebration: At & Dt Picks

The What.CD Sixth Birthday Celebration: AT & DT Picks

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Turning six and a day is no less significant than turning six, so we've decided to keep the celebration going with yet another round of picks. For inspiration, we've asked our Alpha and Delta Team members to create this list comprised of their favorite albums. Please enjoy, and be sure to let them know what you think in the torrent comments or discussion thread.

A brief note before turning to the picks: While many of you have undoubtedly heard the sad news regarding Lou Reed's passing, it is in celebration of Reed's life that the wonderful ooioo has chosen The Velvet Underground's "The Velvet Underground & Nico" as his staff pick. This pick was added late, so we draw your attention to it now in the hope that you'll join us in observing this musical pioneer's accomplishments. To Lou: thanks for the music, and may you rest in peace.

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dewey's Alpha Team Pick

Michaela Melián - Los Angeles

Genre: Electronic, Experimental, Ambient

Torrents: torrents.php?id=543586

Review:

It’s incredibly confident music; the opening two tracks take seventeen minutes to play out, putting your notions of what is and isn’t allowed by a recording artist firmly in their place.​

GH0's Alpha Team Pick

Big-O & DJ Watarai - Straight To Next Door

Genre: japanese, hip-hop

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72365145

Review:

I think the rating explains it all. This album is hip-hop greatness. The production is top quality and Big-O is one of the best emcees in the game. Most of the featured artists are great too. I was extremely surprised (and excited) to see Lupe Fiasco on the album. The only track I can't say I really love (even though I do listen to it sometimes) is We Run Tokyo. Besides Jon-E, I wasn't really feelin the featured MCs on the track. What more can I say? A great album for any Hip-Hop fan. [Source]​

Agathon's Alpha Team Pick

Oingo Boingo - Farewell: Live from the Universal Amphitheatre

Genre: Alternative and New Wave

Torrents: torrents.php?id=215218

Review:

The final performance of Oingo Boingo was captured on Farewell: Live from the Universal Ampitheatre on Halloween 1995.​

rhubarb's Alpha Team Pick

ActRazer - Classics

Genre: Electronic, New Retro Wave

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72138164

Review:

Are you capable of watching Scarface on repeat, vicariously reliving Tony Montana's coke-frenzy or reciting lines in a thick accent over dinner with your aging parents? Have you clocked over a thousand hours in GTA: Vice City? Do you find yourself cranking up the volume when Paul Engemann's 'Push It to the Limit' arrives like a gift from the radio gods? Do you launch into a real life montage sequence in response?

If any of these questions apply to you, then you know something about craving the 80s. ActRazer's Classics will satisfy your needs. An entry in the ever-expanding 'Retro New Wave' genre, Classics is built for long drives at night. Welcome to Miami circa 1984, baby. Just don't forget your Wayfarers, ju unnerstand, cockroach?!​

NeverWorker's Alpha Team Pick

Nikos Skalkottas performed by New Hellenic Quartet - String Quartets Nos. 3 and 4

Genre: Classical, 20th Century, Atonal

Torrents: torrents.php?id=71975808

Review:
MusicWeb International wrote:

In Nikos Skalkottas' massive fourth string quartet (1940), this CD has some of the most dense and eventful music you are ever likely to encounter. It is a tough nut to crack, having a quality of superabundant energy and inventiveness which is, by turns, invigorating, exhilarating and finally exhausting...​

refreshingapathy's Alpha Team Pick

Ayurveda - Being

Genre: post rock, grunge, alternative

Torrents: torrents.php?id=71896149

Review:

Saw these guys live once. Was too drunk to appreciate it. Stumbled across the album last year, and absolutely fell in love with them. Gritty raw rock that pulses your brain.​

tishamunroe's Alpha Team Pick

NO - Don't Worry, You'll Be Here Forever

Genre: indie, rock, alternative

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72116293

Review:

The opening track, “Another Life,” lead vocalist Hanan Carter’s low, expressive tenor bears is grounded in a gentle rhythmic current. Highlights include “Big Waves,” one of my favorites on the album, briefly starts with a field recording of shouting children at play, and is saturated in faded brightness. “Stay with Me,” the last track, is a man recounting his faults amiss in deep pool of reflection and regret, trying to hold on to what remains precious to him. "Coming Down" is awash in a swirl of dream-inspired lyrics and is tethered by a recurring pipe-organ melody.
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NousWanderer's Alpha Team Pick

Espers - II

Genre: Psychedelic Folk

Torrents: torrents.php?id=12361

Review:

The tale of the dead queen, her dying king, and how their bones came to cradle the blighted earth.​

Vanillos's Alpha Team Pick

My Rockets Up - Humanaut

Genre: indie, rock, alternative

Torrents: torrents.php?id=709112

Review:

Every so often, when we ponder contenders for an international crossover, certain bands remain at the forefront of our attention. One of them is Moscow's Moi Rakety Vverkh, which they translate as "My Rockets Up." That makes little sense in either language, since there's a verb missing. To complicate matters, the group insists their name might one day change yet again. Just wait a while; the next version might be less arcane.

"MRV", who sing now almost exclusively in English, have been in existence for ten years. The svelte threesome we see above grew out of long-term school friendships in the capital. Their first band was called Dogz, but soon fell apart (probably because they sounded really "ruff"). It was only after a regrouping and renaming - as Moi rakety vverkh - that low-level recordings and public interest began.

Check this out, you will not be disappointed.​

kenixsis's Alpha Team Pick

Anaïs Mitchell - Hadestown

Genre: folk, folk.opera, concept, indie

Torrents: torrents.php?id=720587

Review:

It’s difficult to greet the terms ‘folk opera’ and ‘concept album’ with anything but the skin-crawling revulsion usually reserved for headlines about ‘Broken Britain’. Particularly so when they concern a rather portentous sounding retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice transported to Depression-era New Orleans. But Anaïs Mitchell’s ‘Hadestown’ allays any potential awfulness with an easy grace that defies any accusations of pretension. Anaïs plays Eurydice, her naïve hiccupy tones contrasting gorgeously with Ani DiFranco’s sagacious turn as her mother, Persephone. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon was surely born to play Orpheus, whose lovelorn song broke Hades’ malignant soul. It’s nothing short of incredible, whether you extract individual tracks like ‘Wedding Song’ – where Eurydice worries about money while Orpheus looks to the trees for solutions – or listen to the endearing tale as an artfully rollicking whole. Mitchell has always been good, but ‘Hadestown’ is her Odyssey.​

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alvareo's Delta Team Pick

Talk Talk - Laughing Stock

Genre: Post-Rock, Experimental Rock, Jazz

Torrents: torrents.php?id=5124

AllMusic's Jason Ankeny 5/5 review wrote:

Virtually ignored upon its initial release, Laughing Stock continues to grow in stature and influence by leaps and bounds. Picking up where Spirit of Eden left off, the album operates outside of the accepted sphere of rock to create music which is both delicate and intense; recorded with a large classical ensemble, it defies easy categorization, conforming to very few structural precedents -- while the gently hypnotic "Myrrhman" flirts with ambient textures, the percussive "Ascension Day" drifts toward jazz before the two sensibilities converge to create something entirely new and different on "New Grass." The epic "After the Flood," on the other hand, is an atmospheric whirlpool laced with jackhammer guitar feedback and Mark Hollis' remarkably plaintive vocals; it flows into "Taphead," perhaps the most evocative, spacious, and understated piece on the record. A work of staggering complexity and immense beauty, Laughing Stock remains an under-recognized masterpiece, and its echoes can be heard throughout much of the finest experimental music issued in its wake.​

mlapaglia's Delta Team Pick

Florrie - Introduction

Genre: Pop, Dance, Electronic

Torrents: torrents.php?id=71843099

Review: PopCultureMonster wrote:

So we’ve talked about Florrie before on here, but she’s now just released her first EP for free download here. We’re pretty much massive fans of Florrie and believe she can do no wrong. She literally hasn’t put a foot wrong since her explosion onto the blogosphere. She’s been a remixer’s star pupil, she’s been ridiculously generous to her fans by letting all of her music be downloaded for free, and she’s been absolutely and completely prolific. We actually wonder if this young woman ever sleeps, or indeed if she sleeps on her drum kit tapping out a rocking beat and harmonising over herself all night. [...]​

Bezvezenator's Delta Team Pick

The Horrible Crowes - Elsie

Genre: Alternative, Rock

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72037725

Review:

From punk to soul, and from funk to folk, one thing is for certain: The Horrible Crowes are willing to take chances. Fallon and collaborator Ian Perkins work masterfully together on Elsie, telling beautiful and heartbreaking stories all along the way. ​

caaok's Delta Team Pick

Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick

Genre: Progressive Rock

Torrents: torrents.php?id=106547

Review:

This is one of my favourite prog albums of all time. When Ian Anderson conceived the album, he was aiming to make a parody of the "concept album" or "prog rock suite" that was prevalent in the early 1970s. Ironically, while trying to parody the genre, he ended up creating one of the best prog albums ever made. Critically acclaimed and incredibly well recorded, if you haven't heard this record before, give it a shot now.​

winslow100's Delta Team Pick

The Blackeyed Susans - All Souls Alive

Genre: Indie, Alternative

Torrents: torrents.php?id=344456

Review:

By the time of this album's release, the group's second lineup had gelled sufficiently so it felt less like an Australian alt-rock/roots supergroup and more like a joint effort. Snarski's rich vocals, which pay homage to great country crooners of the past while at the same time showing up some American "new country" singers as weak-voiced wannabes, lead the sextet in a series of heartfelt songs. His combination of rock forcefulness and just-twangy-enough brooding also suit the lyrics, courtesy mostly of Kakulas and McComb, quite well. Images of emptiness, forlorn hope, romantic bitterness, and religious iconography litter the songs, but rather than amping things up á la countryman Nick Cave, the Susans coat everything with just enough honey in the arrangements.​

Threemosphere's Delta Team Pick

D.Q.E. - But Me, I Fell Down

Genre: Folk, Alternative, Grunge, Outsider

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72049363

Review:

D.Q.E.'s But Me, I Fell Down is the real deal. Cowpunk aesthetic mixed with Daniel Johnston from Atlanta Georgia with a very sincere sound. Grace Braun's voice is strong and unique to say the least. She seems to scream and belt out perfect tones all in one song. Her range on Shakey Sugar really showcases it. Then tracks like Beestung Me give the band a more abstract outsider sound. The album flows wonderfully reaching all over the place, a one of a kind album that seems to have fallen through the cracks of time.​

digbycaeser's Delta Team Pick

The Fall - Extricate

Genre: Alternative, Indie, Rock, Electronic

Torrents: torrents.php?id=80468

Review:

Review from John Dougan@allmusic.com
The Smiths had divorced around the time of Extricate, but Brix's presence could still be felt on Fall records. Some thought the mid-'80s signaled an end to the ragged, jagged Fall of old; the '90s must have made them apoplectic. Working with producers Rex Sergeant, Craig Leon, and Adrian Sherwood, the post-apocalyptic sound of the '70s had been smoothed to a sheen. There were still moments of anarchy and dissonance, but generally they were swaddled in synth-driven beats and high-tech production that smoothed out any remaining rough edges. Again, this was not a bad thing; after all, Mark E. Smith was still upfront and still ranting, but even he was singing more, and shocking as that was, it made for even better music. For this period, the place to start is Extricate, which proved beyond a doubt that the Fall were not too old to still be a part of this punk rock thang. Since this record follows on the heels of the Smiths' divorce, it's tempting to assume that Mark E. Smith's ranting has a more conspicuous target, but enigmatic as he tends to be, this is mere speculation. Still, "Sing! Harpy" and the title track will give you pause as to the source of Smith's considerable consternation. The band sounds great, especially longtime members Steve Hanley and Craig Scanlon. Extra kudos to the solid backbeat provided by Simon Wolstencroft.
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onionjack's Delta Team Pick

Steve Reich performed by Chris Hughes - Shift

Genre: minimalism, electronic

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72167404

Review:

Briefly described, Shift is executed with Synclavier utilizing digital drum programs but not always drum sounds. Part of the music is drawn from works of Steve Reich and part of it is not, and the part deriving from Reich does not represent a literal performance of his music as scored so much as an impression gained from his examples.​

sayswho's Delta Team Pick

Rachel's - Systems/Layers

Genre: Electronic, Rock, Modern Classical, Post Rock

Torrents: torrents.php?id=58841

Review:

[...] Systems/Layers is a record that fans of previous Rachel's releases will love, but it will also appeal to anyone who enjoys meaningful, moving music. It's one of those great records that can enhance whatever it is you happen to be doing while listening, or it can transport you to another place entirely, if you let it. It's one of those records that can create such emotions inside of you that you never want it to end, but when it does, the best thing you can do is start it over again.

Review by Dave Mount​

Coruscating's Delta Team Pick

Springtime Carnivore - Springtime Carnivore EP

Genre: Indie pop

Torrents: torrents.php?id=72302246

Review:

Springtime Carnivore is a (relatively) anonymous solo project making 60s-inspired tunes. Taking inspiration from the sunny United States desert where she resides, "Collectors" is a bright indie pop gem. Fuzzy vocal melodies are laid down over a bed of strong drums, guitars, and pianos. Other tracks, like "Low Clouds", the closing track of Springtime Carnivore, her debut EP released last fall, take an instrumental approach and veer more on the side of calm psychedelia. This is the project of someone who clearly knows what she's doing, and we can't get enough of it.​

Guardian's Delta Team Pick

Paul Weller - Wild Wood

Genre: rock, alternative.rock, pop

Torrents: torrents.php?id=57264

Review:

Paul Weller deservedly regained his status as the Modfather with his second solo album, Wild Wood. Actually, the album is only tangentially related to mod, since Weller picks up on the classicism of his debut, adding heavy elements of pastoral British folk and Traffic-styled trippiness. Add to that a yearning introspection and a clean production that nevertheless feels a little rustic, even homemade, and the result is his first true masterwork since ending the Jam. The great irony of the record is that many of the songs -- "Has My Fire Really Gone Out?," "Can You Heal Us (Holy Man)" -- question his motivation and, as is apparent in his spirited performances, he reawakened his music by writing these searching songs. Though this isn't as adventurous as the Style Council, it succeeds on its own terms, and winds up being a great testament from an artist entering middle age. And, it helped kick off the trad rock that dominated British music during the '90s.​

shardz's Delta Team Pick

Porcupine Tree - Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991-1997

Genre: Progressive Rock, Psychedelic, Space Rock

Torrents: torrents.php?id=83794

Review:

Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991-1997 showcases Porcupine Tree's earlier psychedelia-heavy period of aural experimentation and mastery over two stunning discs of sonic power. The first disc focuses on their ultra-early period up from On the Sunday of Life to Up the Downstair, including guitar-master space rock segments like Up the Downstair alongside less "conventional" krautrock-infused tracks like Radioactive Toy, Nine Cats, and Nostalgia Factory. Notably it includes an extended version (nearly twice the length of the original) of Synaesthesia, which lets the song grow into the trancelike powerhouse of groove it was meant to be. The second disc covers Moonloop to Signify, finishing with the end of Signify itself, the flowing and glorious Dark Matter. This anthology samples Porcupine Tree's finest period with a healthy smattering of most of their song archetypes while still leaving each represented album with plenty of tracks for the embarking listener to explore, making it a worthy starting point for the impatient and curious.​

crackas's Delta Team Pick

Zoë Keating - Into the Trees

Genre: Experimental, Classical, Cello

Torrents: torrents.php?id=802771

Review:

[...]Her secret lies in the way she constructs her songs. Keating uses computer software to record sounds and musical phrases as she plays them. When she plays something she wants to keep, she taps on pedals at her feet, which tell the computer program to save and loop what she just played. That frees her up to play a new musical phrase along with what she just recorded. The process repeats until she's created layers upon layers of sounds, all from her one cello.

"I'll spend eight hours, you know, I'm just recording parts, and I'm in the groove, and I'm just adding layers and layers and layers," Keating says. "It gets bigger and bigger, and then it goes in new directions, and then I clean it up later. So it's almost like there's two parts to it: There's the kind of getting it all down, and then the cleanup and the refining."​

theremin's Delta Team Pick

The Damnwells - Air Stereo

Genre: Americana

Torrents: torrents.php?id=294702

Review:

[...] Air Stereo is a fantastic addition to any listener’s music collection. It is neither too eclectic for mainstream music nor too radio-ready for indie to disavow The Damnwells. Instead, both sides can claim this quartet as their own. Will you?​

Millepiedi's Delta Team Pick

Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto - utp

Genre: Experimental, Glitch

Torrents: torrents.php?id=503322

Review:

One of the most intriguing creative partnerships in contemporary experimental music, UTP_ reunites Carsten Nicolai with Ryuichi Sakamoto for a special audio-visual performance in conjunction with Ensemble Modern, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the city of Mannheim. ​

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