Albinobeach

It's my Birthday today, and I'm posting you an album. Yeah? What of it?



Albinobeach are a 3-piece instrumental rock band from Johannesburg, South Africa.They aren't that big, but they've released an EP and right now it's sold out...but they're working on a new album.



Their sound is usually quite heavy but often using hypnotising melodies (See Track 1 - Okavango Delta). The drums are quite simple yet powerful and sometimes have little surprises around the corner. The bass is usually very low to make space for the guitarist to do his thing. For one guitarist the sound is quite contrasting from smooth melodies with, what I have to guess is, layers of looped chords progressions to slow violin-esque background sounds to bursting, in your face, crank it up to 11, distortion.

It’s kinda hard to describe this band as you can tell they’ve taken a lot of influences from bands they’ve listened too, and they’ve applied them to all their songs, which is probably why every song sounds like its heading in a different direction. I could go through each song and have a go at what sound they were heading for, but that’s boring. Instead I’ll write a few names down what bands pops in my head while I’m listening to it, its probably not going to make sense but oh well…

Don Cabbalero
Pelican
Russian Circles
Caspian
Up-C Down-C….
Mogwai
Broken Social Scene
Red Sparows

They're on FORGOTTEN EMPIRE RECORDS and if you click on the Title above, it will re-direct you to their site and I'd click on it if I were you! They've got a deal on "10 CD's for $50" which is like £30! sooo £3 a CD!!

I'm off to blow my imaginary candles!



Albinobeach - Albinobeach (EP) - (40mb)

LINK

password: welcometothequietpage


NOTE: I have moved to sendspace. so its quicker for everyone downloading. It is still password protected and still a zip file. (READ INFO TOP RIGHT)

Are you Scientific? Are you American? No? Neither Am I.

Here is a post from July's issue of Scientific American Mind magazine, explaining how music has the power to make us laugh,cry and how it benefits our mental and physical well-being.

• Some scientists conclude that music’s influence over us may be a chance event, arising from its ability to hijack brain systems built for other purposes such as language, emotion and movement.
• Music seems to offer a novel method of communication rooted in emotions rather than in meaning. Research shows that what we feel when we hear a piece of music is remarkably similar to what everybody else in the room is experiencing.
• Songs facilitate emotional bonding and even physical interactions such as marching or dancing together and thus may help cement ties that underlie the formation of human societies. In addition, tunes may work to our benefit on an individual level, manipulating mood and even human physiology more effectively than words can.

LINK

What do you think?

Bonobo

I'll be going to Big Chill Festival in a few days, and thought that I should share some of what is going to be entering my head. If you live in the UK (or outside) and can afford to get there...and you're not going, you're missing out! Here's a few bands/artists that are playing -

• Alice Russell
• Breakage
• Calexico
• Chris Cunningham (Live AV set)
• David Byrne
• DJ Format
• Fink
• Fourtet
• Gong
• Helios (See below for post)
• Hexstatic
• Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
• Lamb
• Ludovico Eunaidi
• Mr. Scruff
• Orbital

To name a few.... seriously...the line up is MASSIVE.

Oh and Bonobo!

To those who haven't heard of this guy, no I will not be seeing a Pygmy Chimpanzee, although it would be good fun....

Simon Green AKA Bonobo is a British composer, musician and DJ. He creates the perfect music for serious chill-out sessions, great music to wind down too. Simon uses a wide variety of samples and his music, often alongside complex jazzy bass lines. His music progresses throughout his pieces, adding bass lines or instruments to the mix. Following his debut album, Animal Magic he knew his musical career has gone forward, when he got signed to Coldcut's record label 'Ninja Tune' in 2001. By 2004 he felt as if he needed to move even more forward not business wise but as a musician, so he formed a band to play live with, this included a singer, keyboardist, guitarists, saxophonist, string section, electronics and drummer. Bonobo mainly plays the bass guitar and leads the band, playing the role as conductor.

UNCANNY?!

Bonobo - Recurring The Live Session EP (90mb)

LINK

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Alva noto + Ryuichi Sakamato

This album is collaboration between two influential musicians in the electronica scene.


Carsten Nicolai aka Alva Noto - He's a sound artist who uses sound to create microscopic sounds to fabricate an electronic world of glitches and noises. He's known to create music from sounds people usually overlook such as the sounds of a modem, telephone pops and clicks and fax tones.
He also works as a visual artist; by using the principles of Cymatics he visualizes sound. He works without sequencers but mathematically edits his work to give his compositions precise rhythmic structures.

Ryuichi Sakamoto - He's an Academy award, Grammy and Golden Globe winning musician, composer, record producer and actor. He resides in Tokyo, Japan and New York, USA. He's more known as the keyboard player in the electropop band 'Yellow Magic Orchestra’. He’s also a film composer and has written scores and recorded music for films like, The Last Emperor, Little Buddha, Babel, Tony Takitani, Forbidden Colours, Snake Eyes, Wild Palms and many more. His main instrument is the keyboard and piano.



Together these musicians create an album that anyone's ears will like. Mixing the soft chords and delicate melodies of Ryuichi Sakamoto with the deep, minimal, glitchy sounds of Alva Noto.

Alva noto + Ryuichi Sakamato - Insen (90mb)

LINK

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