Oh, Yoko ‎- 2012 - Seashore

Oh, Yoko is an interesting duo. They claim (at least on Will Long's site) to be a pop band but they're really far from it. I mean you could consider this pop if all you listen is free improvisation and avant garde records from the 70s then yeah; it's pop. For a pleb like me this is more of an experimental or occidental folk with ambient layers for good measure. Seashore is a single but they also did an album a year later for which I don't really care much.

This single contains >the single<, an instrumental version of >the single< and a remix of >the single<. Three tracks, nothing too big or pompous. Looking at the cover you might get a feeling of melancholy mixed with nostalgia and regret. If you did then you already guessed how the single and its instrumental companion might sound but it's not a very cozy affair. Yes it contains all of these emotions and the vocals are distant, sad and at times a bit directionless but so is the music, it feels chopped at parts and disjointed. Perhaps akin to fuzzy memories. Yeah, I kinda like that idea of it. It's definitely not an easy listen but it does reward a careful listen.

Honestly the main attraction for me here is the remix done by the dude/gal who is behind the pseudonym of DJ Sprinkles. He keeps the feeling and ambiance of the original but brings out so much more personal meaning into it. The base beat is a bit bare but I grew to like it and the whole arrangement of the mix makes this a very enjoyable ride that rewards repeated listening as you discover something new with each new ride through its melancholy. A ride I would recommend dearly.

Get it.

Herbie Hancock - Sextant

This is something that's widely known (at least when it comes to jazz) so I decided to offer this release in flac for those who are either into archiving or are fans of lossless formats.

When it comes to modern jazz (bebop and further on) you could say that Herbie Hancock was one of those guys who had seen it all and tried it all. He played with a lot of greats, he made some marvelous albums of his own and he made some nice commercial hits. He started, like most of his generation, with bebop and hard bop releasing a dozen of interesting albums. Later on after he met Miles Davis and dabbled into electric things thus he moved on to fusion. During his fusion years he released a lot of hit albums like Headhunters and what not.

Sextant is important and interesting because it fits somewhere in the middle. It fits in what we call the Mwandishi period. This period came after he discovered fusion but it was still not all that friendly yet. This was because he was just getting into more complex and more demanding jazz (The Prisoner, Maiden Voyage). So naturally when he moved to a more fusion sounding music it was chaotic, experimental and complex

Freshly singed to a new label after being on Warner Brothers for a few years Herbie went completely batshit insane and made this album. It's very far ahead of its time so it wasn't liked very much at the time. I guess the nearest comparison to this album would be the interstellar works of Sun Ra (maybe that's why I like this so much) but there is so much more to this album. It's strange, it's cosmic and it demands a lot of attention.

If you are willing to give it the attention it deserves you will get in return a beautifully composed chaos of electronic sounds mixed with acoustic instruments. It will take you somewhere far away to a distant planet.

Part one, two and three.

Blade Runner Soundtracks (most of them)

Blade Runner is one of those movies that everybody either saw of heard of it. It was a peculiar little film that I find very dear to my heart. It's perhaps my favorite movie of all times. I won't talk about the movie in great detail mostly because it would just go on and on. What I want to talk about it is its soundtrack. There are a lot of versions and interpretations of it so I'll just share every version I have.

If you're not familiar with the soundtrack I would suggest that you start with the initial 1994 release of the soundtrack as it contains most of the compositions that were in the movie and is performed by Vangelis. 

I'll start chronologically.

Okay, so back when Blade Runner got out and made a name for itself the soundtrack never really was released by itself. Or more exactly it wasn't released in its original format. Vangelis was the guy who made it but in fact the first official soundtrack was done by an orchestra adapting scores that Vangelis made for the film.

I'm not sure why they did it but this is the end result:

New American Orchestra

Orchestral adaptation of music composed for the motion picture by Vangelis

1982

Despite the lengthy title it really is what it says. Vangelis songs adapted by an orchestra and it feels actually quite natural. I thought this would be terrible but it's enjoyable. The tracks are made with orchestral instrumentation which makes it a thrill to listen if you already know the Vangelis soundtrack because of the apparent lack of keyboards. The only non full orchestral song is the End Titles which seem really out of place here since it combines keyboards and funky guitar riffs. To further annoy the listener they included another version of the same track. But yeah, for the most part it gives a new insight at the songs. The best part of this release, in my opinion, is that it features One More Kiss that's sung by a female vocalist (that sounds better than the original version). Its runtime is barely past 30 minutes so to no surprise this pissed off a lot fans who expected a Vangelis full hour album which in turn caused numerous bootleg releases (a theme I'll address at the end of the post.

Tracklist for this would be:

1. Love Theme (4:12)
2. Main Title (5:01)
3. One More Kiss, Dear (4:00)
4. Memories of Green (4:50)
5. End Title (4:17)
6. Blade Runner Blues (4:38)
7. Farewell (3:10)
8. End Title Reprise (3:08)

Download.

After the initial "official" soundtrack more than 10 years passed before the actual soundtrack was released. This was in 1994 and it is probably the most widespread version of this soundtrack.

Vangelis

Blade Runner

 1994

The soundtrack itself is really Vangelis at its heart. Heavy keyboard music that just screams of 80s music. Thankfully it's not that kitsch as his other soundtracks due to the nature of the movie. Because the movie was so melancholic and dark there really is no room for any happy jittery music. Most of the tracks are very atmospheric and slow to fit the theme and he got it just right.

Along with the songs that were used in the film Vangelis also added a bunch of songs that were made for the movie but never ended up in it. Even with all these tracks there were still a lot of unpublished tracks. Despite that this is probably the best release if you want the standard version of the movie soundtrack and the length is at reasonable 57 minutes. Did I ever mention that this is the perfect music while going to bed aside from Stars of the Lid?

The tracks are:

1. Main Titles (3:42)

2. Blush Response (5:47)
3. Wait for Me (5:27)
4. Rachel's Song (4:46)
5. Love Theme (4:56)
6. One More Kiss, Dear (3:58)
7. Blade Runner Blues (8:53)
8. Memories of Green (5:05)
9. Tales of the Future (4:46)
10. Damask Rose (2:32)
11. Blade Runner (End Titles) (4:40)
12. Tears in Rain (3:00)

This is the first cd of the Blade Runner Trilogy so just download that instead.

Vangelis

Blade Runner Trilogy

2007

As far as the original releases go this is the definitive collection of the soundtrack released along with the collectors edition of the movie. Accompanied by the exact same 1994 soundtrack on the first CD there are two extra CDs included. 

The second CD includes a lot of previously unreleased material that were and were not used in the movie. Probably the most notable from this bunch is "Tears In The Rain" which is now called "Fading Away" and is the same but without the voice. So it's more ambient bliss by Vangelis. A lot of these songs were not meant to be "songs" but ambient passages in the movie which makes this pretty much ambient music devoid of long synth solos and crap like that.

The third CD is music that was inspired by the movie. This whole CD feels like a filler to ramp up the price tag of the Movies Collector Edition. There are some good tracks but for the most part I didn't really enjoy it. Maybe you will.

Download:

 Mp3: Part 1, 2 and 3.

Flac: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Booklet scans.

Bootlegs

Esper Edition

As I have mentioned earlier there are a lot of bootlegs that were released ever since the movie got out. Roger posted the Esper edition in the comments a while back when I originally posted the 1994 version of the soundtack. It contains two CDs with a fair share of the music that can't be found on the originals. I'd say that this is the most complete bootleg version. Although there are a lot of rereleases of the Esper version so I'm not really sure which version is this one.

Wikipedia notes that there's an updated Esper edition called The Retirement Edition with improved sound and better versions of various songs. It also has more material that spans over 5 cds. If someone has it please share it!

Download it 1 and 2.

Deck Art Limited Edition

This is the second bootleg version that I have and it's probably the strangest. It's just one big track that goes on for about an hour with tracks seamlessly joined and chronologically sorted with the scenes of the movie. So it's like an audio journey of the movie, for the most part. It does not contain much new stuff (aside from maybe the longest versions of the Japanese traditional themes and some weird Arabian music) but it's very enjoyable if you know the movie and the soundtrack well. A cool little novelty. Apparently it's from Japan.

Part 1, 2 and 3. It's in flac.

Again, if someone has (of if you can find it) the previously mentioned The Retirement Edition of the Esper bootleg please share it because I would love to hear it. 

I don't know why I love this soundtrack so much, don't give me that worried strange look. :D

Starseed Transmission - Metamorphic Illumination

Starseed Transmissions released this back in 1994 (for some reason I labeled it as 2003 (so correct that please if you'll download it) and then drifted off into obscurity. Why? I have no idea because this is pretty good. Maybe because he was from Australia? Australians are more into deserts I guess.

As the cover suggests this is space oriented ambient music. It's somewhere between the Blade Runner soundtrack and Aliens soundtrack. Electronic keyboards, weird effects and long, long tracks that immerse you in the feeling that you're on some mining ship in the middle of the universe (preferably alive and not implanted with a chest-buster). It's nothing revolutionary or something like that, it's just good ambient space music.

Great stuff for listening while going to sleep.

Download.

Kashiwa Daisuke - 5 Dec

To cool off from all the jazz here's a polar opposite; IDM.

From the title we already know this is from Japan so naturally it's bound to be fucked up. Fucked up in a way that's listenable but all over the place. Perhaps Igorrr would be a good comparison to this album albeit Kashiwa takes on a more elegant approach to his music. By elegant I mean that it's not attacking you all the time like Igorrr does with 10 different sounds. It has a continuity and structure of carefully knitted classical music with rapid IDM beats and twitchy sounds.

The opening 7 minute song is perhaps a bit out of place? It sets a really calm mood which this album certainly does not have. The moment Requiem begins shit starts hitting the fan. Drum melodies with apocalyptic choruses and the usual twee, drrr, skree, electronic sounds. Yes, admire my reviewing vocabulary because I am the next messiah (of false promises). Although based on sampling instrumental classical instruments there are few tracks that go into some other directions and even genres. Some are hip hop instrumentals and some are mash ups of all kinds of things but they all form this pleasing sound that is present throughout the whole thing. Very enjoyable electronic music.

Download.

Mondialito

Mondialito is a Japanese folk band and they sing in French for some reason. I don't know why, probably because it sounds more romantic or something unmanly like that. :[

Anyways, I posted some of their albums before and I have no idea if the links died or not. I'll be posting all of their stuff because they are that good (and I didn't post anything in ages, sorry about that!). Musically this is relaxing as fvck. Reminds me a lot of Morita Douji but they are far more happy than she was. In fact they like her so much they even covered Our Mistake. The albums don't change a lot in sound and composition so any of these four is a good start. Although some albums tend to be more folkish while other bend over more to the electronic direction so there's something for everyone.


Link no longer available.

Gridlock - Formless

I always like album covers that partially tell you how the album sounds.

Formless is a fine example of well crafted and organized sounds that form this formless mass. ;D

Don't really know what to type. It's great, get it  if you like electronic music. Perfect for late night rides in the bus.

Download.

Preview on youtube.

Huoratron - Prevenge

I don't hang around the techno and hc techno scene a lot (actually, I never go to such places) so I'm not very sure how popular this guy is. Apparently he's been in the scene for quite a while but never did something on his own until now. He knows his trade and that's actually all that matters anyway.

I can't really say a lot of things since this is electronic music so it's all about the sound and I don't like explaining sounds with words. Roughly put it sounds something similar to gameboy music mixed with hardcore techno with extremely noisy "heavy" beats. You get bombarded by dozens of sounds at once with exquisite rawness that really made me like this little EP. It's short and its ferocious. All the things I like with electronic music.

Download.

Check out the video if you're in doubt.

Vitalic - V Live

While I do enjoy a lot of different electronic music I never really enjoyed very much techno music. I don't really know why, it just didn't appeal to me. It was either too long and simplistic or over the top melodic and repetitive. Recently though through some interesting videos I found out about this guy. I was pretty much impressed so I decided to check his music a little bit further and I came across this album. I'm usually not a big fan of live recordings since they most of the time lack the production quality and overall atmosphere which the usual studio album provides (but that's just me). Despite that it's recorded live this is actually really good in terms of sound quality which made me like this guy even more. As to how the actual music sounds I can't really describe it since I'm not very knowledgeable about it. All I can say it has a lot variety and it hits you in the head with a hammer.

Bitrate: 320
Download.

Fort Wayne - Resignation

Oooh tiny cover(!) and so is I guess the popularity or common awareness of this album. Both the band name and the album name is a bitch to search anywhere. But oh well, it found a way to me because of some nice people. You might not guess from the title but Fort Wayne is from Japan, as is most stuff here. It's kinda like Bluedawn I guess but the vocals are much more uh under some effects to make it sound more dreamy. There's also much more experimentation with sounds and different approaches to song composition from your usual folk singer (or at least the ones I looked >:|) so there are some trippy and more electronic songs in there. I'm not really sure what to think of this album, I guess it's up to you to decide if you like it or not. D:
Tracklist:
1 Worship
2 About Today
3 I Know
4 Dirty Hands
5 Surely
6 The Last Summer,The Last Night
7 Give My Car Back
8 Useless Decoration
9 Resignation
10 From Far
11 Home


Download.

Cokiyu - Mirror Flake

Cokiyu is Yukiko Ito. She was born in Ehime, Japan in 1978. She finished her master degree of musicology study in a music design course of Kunitachi College of Music in 2002. From her student time till now, she creates the tape works using Max/MSP, the works for voice and woodwind instruments, and percussion instruments. In 2002, she started to do live performances in Tokyo.
Relaxing electronic music. I don't know what else to say except that it's quite good. D:
Tracklist:
01. More 4:14
02. Hedgehog's Wedding 4:51
03. Mirror Flake 6:18
04. Storm 2:21
05. Gdb 2:38
06. In The Air 4:57
07. Org 2:04
08. Piano And Frog 4:23
09. Roadz 4:22
10. Star Takes A Rest 5:17


Download.

Sun Ra - Lanquidity

Sun Ra has a huge discography and while this is great it is also very bad at the same time for those who wish to start listening to Sun Ra. Lanquidity is one of those albums I would certainly recommend to a casual jazz listener to check out if he never heard of Sun Ra and I would also recommend it to those who heard his other works as well. So why is this album exceptional? I love Sun Ra and all that but there are some albums that just drift too much in the noise sphere or sometimes are just plain swinging jazz we heard in the 40s and 50s. Sometimes on albums there are few calm songs and a 20 minute experimentation which can ruin the mood. Lanquidity on the other hand has that perfect balance. It's not exactly straight forward jazz experimentation yet it's not total random bollocks he sometimes did. It has that special things of his I can't really explain exactly.

Tracklist:

Lanquidity	8:19
Where Pathways Meet	6:30
That's How I Feel	8:09
Twin Stars Of Thence	9:30
There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of)	10:58

Download.

My Little Airport - because i was too nervous at that time

A recent band that's hip among the in (indie) crowd.

The music is very simple, not much instruments. Some broken down synths, guitar and drum machine (me thinks) followed by a gentle female voice. It actually sounds very nice in that little simple form. Surprisingly they come from China. I never thought the Peoples party allows such capitalist western music to influence their people. :P But oh well, capitalist or not it sounds good. They also sing mostly in English, which is kinda cool.

Tracklist:

01. Gi Gi Leung is dead
02. I don't know how to download good av like Iris does
03. I was too nervous at that time
04. Song of depression
05. Take me as Rucheng Zhang
06. Bai Tian shopping center
07. Leo, are you still jumping out of windows in expensive clothes?
08. Your smile is like a flower
09. Spring is in carriage
10. My little fish
On monday, I don't want to go to schooooooolllll.

You can get their other album here.

Max Richter - 24 Postcards In Full Colour

Composer Max Richter was born in Germany in 1966 and grew up in the UK. He studied composition and piano at Edinburgh University, the Royal Academy of Music and in Florence with Luciano Berio.

Though he has a strong background in the canons of classical music, his influences were more modern composers and in particular, Iannis Xenakis whose musical compositions applied mathematical and physical laws and Philip Glass whose sound was a major influence on Richter. His influences also include rock bands The Beatles, Pink Floyd and The Clash, as well as electronic music groups Kraftwerk and Autechre.

This particular album holds (as you might have guessed) 24 songs. Each has an different approach and mood change. They really are like postcards. His piano parts remind me of Yann Tiersen for some reason. Quite interesting album.

Tracklist:

1		The Road Is A Grey Tape (1:01)
2		H In New England (1:50)
3		This Picture Of Us. P. (1:36)
4		Lullaby From The Westcoast Sleepers (2:02)
5		When The Northern Lights / Jasper And Louise (1:00)
6		Circles From The Rue Simon – Crubellier (1:04)
7		Cascade NW By W (1:12)
8		A Sudden Manhattan Of The Mind (2:51)
9		In Louisville At 7 (1:03)
10		Cathodes (1:01)
11		I Was Just Thinking (0:59)
12		A Song For H / Far Away (2:08)
13		Return To Prague (1:02)
14		Broken Symmetries For Y (1:00)
15		Berlin By Overnight (1:27)
16		Cradle Song For A (Interstate B3) (2:11)
17		Kierling / Doubt (0:50)
18		From 553 W Elm Street, Logan Illinois (Snow) (0:57)
19		Tokyo Riddle Song (1:00)
20		The Tartu Piano (2:05)
21		Cold Fusion For G (0:35)
22		32 Via San Nicolo (1:23)
23		Found Song For P. (2:24)
24		H Thinks A Journey (0:57)

Download.

Miaou - Make These Things Alright

I always have a weak spot for post rock; that and cheeky cliche films from the 30s.

Miaou is a three piece post rock band from Japan. They formed around 1999 and have several albums under their belt. Make These Things Alright is most likely my favorite. It has that special atmosphere that I enjoy in post rock and that is the feeling of joy. It makes you feel good and happy. There's some electronic influences (mostly keyboards and such) as well on this album which don't seem to be present (if I remember right) on other albums so this one is a bit unique. Definetly check it out if you are a post-rock fan!

Tracklist:

01. Intro (5:14)
02. Future Pavilion (7:49)
03. A Bird In The Hand (8:33)
04. Silent Picture (7:20)
05. Tiger Note (6:21)
06. Dante (5:30)
07. On A Sunday (6:18)
08. When Will You Come Home? (4:27)
09. Lasa (9:32)
Download.

Vangelis - Blade Runner

I'm listening to this a lot these days. I didn't really enjoy this movie the first time I watched it; but that's mostly because I watched it with my dad and he usually ruins the mood of watching movies. The second time I watched I really enjoyed it. The setting and the music, it's all great noir/sci fi stuff with an heavy dose of melancholy and a bit of religion. Great movie and equally great soundtrack. Definitely get this one.

Tracklist:

01. Main Titles (3:42)
02. Blush Response (5:46)
03. Wait For Me (5:27)
04. Rachel's Song (4:46)
05. Love Theme (4:57)
06. One More Kiss, Dear (3:57)
07. Blade Runner Blues (8:54)
08. Memories Of Green (5:05)
09. Tales Of The Future (4:46)
10. Damask Rose (2:32)
11. Blade Runner (End Titles) (4:39)
12. Tears In Rain (3:00)

Check out the big Blade Runner OST post for download links.

Ólafur Arnalds - Variations Of Static

Fragile and emotional neo-classical music would maybe be the best term to describe Ólafur Arnalds’ music. Combining classical instrumentation with an ambient aesthetic there are obvious comparisons to fellow Icelanders Sigur Rós and composer Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, but Arnalds is sculpting his own epic, string-laden compositions. While his debut album is fully neo-classic and post rock-ish music this EP takes an more experimental twist and it sounds really amazing. Small soft glitch electronics combined with orchestral music and the lovely piano played by Olafur sounds and blends really great in creating this soft melancholic atmosphere. Also an interesting thing is that though this is an instrumental record there are vocals but he used Microsoft voice software or something like that and surprisingly it does not ruin the mood it kinda lifts it up in a weird way. Anyway, really good stuff check it out.

Tracklist:

01. Fok (4:29)
02. Við vorum smá... (2:22)
03. Haust (5:28)
04. Lokaðu augunum (3:45)
05. Himininn er að hrynja en stjörnurnar fara þér vel (5:37)

Download.

Piana - Ephemeral

Really great relaxing music great for this frosty time of the year. Discogs labels this as synth pop which is more or less exact but there's a big mixture of all kinds of genres spanning from ambient to neoclassical music but they are all tied in this awesomely calm and beautiful music. Recommended.

01. Something Is Lost (6:47)
02. Early In Summer (5:55)
03. Beside Me (5:16)
04. Color Of Breeze (1:08)
05. Little Girl Poems (6:17)
06. Muse (2:29)
07. Mother's Love (5:12)
08. Moon And Cello (4:53)
09. Beginning (2:24)

Download.

Morita Doji - Wolf Boy

This was her last album I think, Discogs is very blurry about this artist but I think I saw somewhere that this one was released in 1983. In terms of sound it's quite different from others and faster more lively. Not really my favorite nor her best in my opinion but still worth a listen.

Tracklist:

01. Practice of love 'Russian roulette' (4:30)
02. Can't you find me (4:02)
03. I become a shooting star (2:17)
04. The dream of 151680 hours (4:34)
05. Song Of Bulb Cultivation (recorded on Tokiwa Sou) (3:41)
06. Is It My Cause (3:36)
07. I Am Melancholy (3:59)
08. Wolf Boy (6:26)

See the discography post for all of her albums.

Piana - Eternal Castle

Lovely and relaxing mixture of electronic music. Nothing wild and energetic just smooth sound of glitch electronics and guitar. Very good music for relaxing. Also, her voice is very unique (I guess), high pitched a lot kinda sounds like a baby.

Tracklist:


01. With The Sea (1:32)
02. Norway (4:23)
03. Two Of Us (5:56)
04. Snowflakes (6:54)
05. Ancient Note (4:41)
06. Hydrangea (3:29)
07. Beyond The Season (6:30)
08. Prayer (3:29)

Download.