Melt Banana - Bambi's Dilemma

Download: mediafire
Label/Date: A-Zap, 2007
Genre: noise-rock/punk
From: Tokyo, Japan
LIYL: Boredoms, Guitar Wolf, Polysics, Zeni Geva, Discordance Axis
Website: www1.parkcity.ne.jp/mltbanan
Purchase: cduniverse

Sörskogen - Mordet i Grottan

Wikipedia Entry
Sörskogen (meaning the southern woods in Swedish) is a Swedish progressive rock project Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth and Dan Swanö started for fun. Heavily influenced by 1970s prog rock bands. Not much is known about the project, save a few references made by Mikael in interviews. Only one track entitled Mordet i Grottan (Murder in the Cave) has appeared on the net (with Mikael's permission), though a few more are rumoured to have been recorded.
Download Mordet I Grottan: mediafire 128k mp3
LIYL: Camel, King Crimson, Yes, Pink Floyd, Opeth, Swano

Erik Truffaz - Arkhangelsk

Eric Trufffaz and quartet are already well established stars of the European jazz circuit. The left-field French trumpeter has built is reputation on a series of albums that explore the post-Miles landscape of ambient-funk jazz that is at the same time darkly brooding and yet has a melancholic, melodic beauty. As avid fans of the great Chet Baker, they have now recorded their most complete work to date - an album that explores the meeting point between instrumentals and voices and which features the incomparable Ed Harcourt - another Chet Baker devotee - alongside French singer Christophe and their regular rapper, Nya. Together they have created a uniquely cool blend of jazz, electronica, ambient grooves and great songs.
Download part 1: mediafire
Download part 2: mediafire
Label/Date: EMI, 2007
Standout tracks: 1, 2, 3, 9
Website: www.eriktruffaz.com
Purchase: cduniverse
Thanks to ddlog.nl.tt

Mono - The Phoenix Tree EP

Travel In Constants Vol. 22
Download: mediafire
Label/Date: Temporary Residence, 2007
Website: www.mono-jpn.com

Don't Look Back - Brighter

"For the most part France is missing from the instrumental world. Every now and then a French band appears with an interesting sound, only to disappear again into obscurity without making a mark on the world. Don't Look Back might be the first French instrumental band you really need to pay attention to. Taking a multifaceted approach to the post-rock genere, Don't Look Back combines audio samples with gut-wrenching screams and slams it on top of a post-rock instrumentation that quickly drops from angelic, quiet sounds to blistering metallic riffs. Brighter is one of those albums that many will sit through with jaw wide-open, shocked and amazed by the sounds washing over their body. Much like Rosetta's The Galilean Satellites, Brighter leaves the listener with the punched-in-the-stomach feeling that begs for more. This may or may not be the beginning of a movement for French instrumental bands, but in any case Don't Look Back has shown that they are a band to be taken seriously." - Jordan Volz, silent ballet
Download: mediafire(link fixed)
Label/Date: Noise Digger Records, 2005
Standout tracks: 7, 9
Genre: post-rock/metal
From: France
LIYL: 65daysofstatic, Isis, Rosetta, Mogwai, Red Sparowes, Tool
Website: www.dontlookbackmusic.com
Purchase: noisedigger

Faust - The Land Of Ukko & Rauni

"This double-disc set documents a Faust live concert from 2000 that features the line-up of founding members Werner Diermaier and Hans Joachim Irmler alongside Steven Lobdell, Lars Paukstat and Michael Stoll. The eighty-four-minute concert gets off to a start that might be described as ambient by Faust’s standards only for a tangle of howling synths, metallic clanking and eerie woodwinds to swirl around tempestuously. The prog-ish rhythms start to flow after an initial phase of beatless moodscaping on ‘The Calling’ and certainly by the time you reach the second disc there’s some full-on industrial-strength krautrock experimentation going on."
Download CD1: mediafire(128k)
Download CD2: mediafire(128k)
Label/Date: Ektro Records, 2000
Standout track: #4 - one of my favorite songs.
Genre: krautrock, experimental
Website: www.faust-pages.com
Purchase: boomkat
Anybody have this cd in higher bitrate than 128k?

Migala - La Increíble Aventura

"For a band with five albums under its belt, Migala has remained a very low-key player on the instrumental scene, especially considering that this band has been at it as long (or longer) than Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky and some of its guitar work is just incredible. La Increíble Aventura finds the band continuing the path from experimental rock into post-rock that it started travelling down in Restos de un Incendio. Tracks are certainly more incendiary, which is apparent from the very start of the album with its crashing drums and volatile guitars. "El Gran Miercoles" caps off the album in a beautiful display of the band's ability to write heart-wrenching songs that unfolds like a blooming flower. With a history as long and rich as Migala, it’s great to see that the band continually pushes themselves in new directions and isn’t afraid of embracing risk" - Jordan Volz, silent ballet
Download: mediafire
Label/Date: Acuarela Discos, 2004
Standout track: 7, absolutely gorgeous song and that "AAAAHOO!" at 4:26 gets me every time.
Genre: Post-rock
From: Madrid, Spain
LIYL: Clogs, Magyar Posse, Calexico, Grails, ASMZ
Website: www.migala.net
Purchase: amazon
Review: pitchfork
Unfortunatly they broke up after this album.

We Vs. Death

We Too Are Concerned: We Are Too Concerned

Download: mediafire
Label/Date: Zabel Music, 2006
Standout track: 6, great upbeat track.
Genre: Post-rock, with trumpet
From: Netherlands
LIYL: Do Make Say Think, El Ten Eleven, These Monsters, Precious Fathers
Website: wevsdeath.nl
Purchase: youmakemusic.com
Review: silent ballet

Ostinato - Chasing the Form

Download: mediafire
Label/Date: Exile on Mainstream Record, 2006
Standout tracks: 1, 2, 5, 7
Genre: Post-rock
From: Virginia
LIYL: Kinski, Aereogramme, Russian Circles, Maserati, Giardini Di Miro
Website: www.ostinatoproject.com
Purchase: cduniverse.com
Review: hardcoresounds.net

Rosetta & Balboa - Project Mercury

Balboa is pretty good, Rosetta fuckin rules.
Download: rapidshare
Download: sendspace
Download: axfile
Label/Date: Level plane records, 2007
Genre: Post-metal
From: Philadelphia
LIYL: Isis, Neurosis, Mouth of the Architect
Website: Rosetta
Website: Balboa
Purchase: 29north records

Mammatus - Mammatus

Download: megaupload
Label/Date: Holy Mountain, 2006
Genre: psychedelic stoner rock
From: Santa Cruz, California
LIYL: YOB, Sleep, Comets on Fire, Monster Magnet, Acid Mothers Temple
Website: www.myspace.com/mammatus
Purchase: stonerrock.com
Review: stonerrock.com

The Psychic Paramount

Gamelan Into The Mink Supernatural

Download: megaupload
Standout tracks: 2,3
Genre: Psychedelic noise rock
LIYL: Acid Mothers Temple, Lightning Bolt, Boredoms, High Rise, Laddio Bolocko
Website: www.thepsychicparamount.com
Purchase: noquarter.net

These Monsters...

To Swing Back and Forth With A Steady Uninterrupted Rhythm

2 track release, both kick ass. Great sax.
Download: mediafire
Genre: post-rock
From: UK
LIYL: Mogwai, We Vs Death, This Will Destroy You, Timeout Drawer
Website: www.myspace.com/thesemonsters
Purchase: Children No More Records
Review: silent ballet

Also available: #44 from my top 50 of 2006 (first post on this blog)
These Monsters - st

Download: megaupload

The Spheres - Audible Lines

Download: mediafire
Label/Date: Self-released, 2006
Standout tracks: 2, 4
Genre: cinematic post-rock
From: Melbourne Australia
LIYL: GYBE!, The Pirate Ship Quintet, Belle Orchestre, Loss of a Child
Website: www.thespheres.net
Purchase: CD Baby
CD comes with a DVD as a visual accompaniment to the music with animation and collage.
Review: Silent Ballet

The Gentlemen Losers - The Gentlemen Losers

"...music from a past that hasn't happened yet..."
One of my favorite bedtime records.
Download: mediafire
Label/Date: 2006 Buro/City Centre Offices
Genre: ambient acoustic
From: Helsinki/Turku, Finland
LIYL: Friends of Dean Martinez, Earth, William Basinski, Neil Young
Website: myspace.com/thegentlemanlosers
Purchase: boomkat
Review: indieworkshop

Miasma And The Carousel Of Headless Horses - Perils

Download: mediafire
Download: megaupload
Miasma & the Carousel of Headless Horses are a British instrumental quintet that plays dark, antiquated sounding music encompassing elements of Eastern European folk, avant-rock, broken-down calliope music, and neo-classical film composition. In keeping with Mimicry tradition, their music can only be compared to many artists at once: in this case Angelo Badalamenti, Astor Piazzolla, Goblin, Art Bears, Burzum, Tom Waits, Antioch Arrow, King Crimson, Bach and Univers Zero. More a trip to an anachronistic world of neo-baroque psychedelia than a simple study in diced-up ecclecticism, the music on Perils sways between lush chamber orientated melancholia, apocalyptic bombast, and epic ghost train high-drama. - Web of Mimicry (label)
Website: www.headlesshorses.co.uk
Purchase: cduniverse.com
Review: decoy music

Devin Townsend - Ziltoid the Omniscient

"These past months, Devin worked on his puppet show but this project evolved into a full-length concept CD in the vein of Strapping Young Lad meets Punky Brüster. Ziltoid the Omniscient will beam episodes on the web and the record will be ready for an early summer release via Inside Out and HDR. Devin played all the instruments on this record with the assistance of the Drumkit from hell. He also mixed and produced the record. The CD artwork was designed by Travis Smith. For now, you silly humans can get in touch with Ziltoid via his Myspace page." - Hevy Devy website
Download: mediafire
Website: www.hevydevy.com
Ziltoid's Myspace
This cd is a blast!

Tuna Laguna - Ripples and Swells

Another one of the best of 2007, so far.
Download: megaupload
Label/Date: Guano Recordings, 2007
Standout tracks: 1, 3, 7, 9
Genre: upbeat post-rock
From: Norway
LIYL: Jaga Jazzist, Samuel Jackson 5, Rosolina Mar
Website: tunalaguna.com
Purchase: cdon.com
Review: Silent Ballet

Blandbladen - I Grevens Tid

Awesome psychedelic music, very upbeat. Included is their 4 track self-released album, plus an outtake track and 2 live tracks.
Download: megaupload
Label/Date: Self-released, 2002
Standout track: #2, one of my favorite songs ever. I could listen to it all day long.
Genre: psychedelic/space rock, instrumental prog
From: Malmö/Tiveden, Sweden
LIYL: Ozric Tentacles, Gong, Hawkwind, Hidria Spacefolk
Website: www.blandbladen.tk
Myspace: www.myspace.com/blandbladen
Purchase: Re-release planned later this spring through Transubstans label. New album to be recorded soon!

Hidria Spacefolk - Balansia

Download: megaupload
Label/Date: Silence, 2004
Standout tracks: 1, 2(especially), 5
Genre: psychedelic/space rock, instrumental prog (they call their style Astrobeat)
From: Finland
LIYL: Ozric Tentacles, Gong, Hawkwind, Blandbladen
Website: www.hidriaspacefolk.st
Myspace: myspace.com/hidriaspacefolk
Purchase: synphonic

Windham Hell - Reflective Depth Imbibe

Windham Hell was an underground band in practically every sense of the word, a band who did things on its own terms with no regard to mass appeal. Theirs was one of those have-to-hear-it-for-yourself styles, blending classically influence guitars, extensive ambient/atmospheric effects, intense riffing, and sparse death vocals (really, the band was mostly instrumental), an original and intriguing style (though at times uneven) that lent itself to much experimentalism.
RIP: Eric Friesen (guitarist), June 30, 2006.
Download: megaupload
Label/Date: Moribund Records, 1999
Standout tracks: Cold Grantic Bliss + Alpinia
Genre: industrial death metal with wanktastic guitar shredding(?)
From: Washington
Myspace: myspace.com/windhamhell
Website: Unofficial Windham Hell Page
Purchase: moribund

World's End Girlfriend - Hurtbreak Wonderland

"Katsuhiko Maeda returns after the highly successful collaboration with Mono to deliver his fifth album, Hurtbreak Wonderland. World's End Girlfriend continues to blur genre boundaries as digital post-rock is met with experimental modes of modern rock. Countless schools of thought are drawn upon, including everything from neo-classical to avant-garde, and they are balanced perfectly in a heroic juggling act. It is exactly this magnificent display of excellence and sophistication that has made Maeda such a captivating artist in the past, and Hurtbreak Wonderland doesn't disappoint." - Silent Ballet
Download: divShare
Download: megaupload
Label/Date: Human Highway Records, 2007
Genre: classical, electronica, glitch, post-rock
Website: @noble-label.net
Purchase: Human Highway Records (japan)

Exploding Star Orchestra - We Are All From Somewhere Else

"Led by composer/cornet player Rob Mazruker (Chicago Underground Duo/Trio/Quartet, Isotope 217) this 14-piece free-jazz ensemble has produced a genre-bending gem of an album, walking the fine line between being recognizably in the tradition of free-jazz orchestration and full blown experimentalism." - Silent ballet
Download: megaupload
Label/Date: Thrill Jockey, 2007
From: Chicago
LIYL: Coltrane, Natsumen, Triosk, Steve Reich
Website: robmazurek.com or myspace
Purchase: thrilljockey.com
Review: Silent Ballet

Esbjörn Svensson Trio - Strange Place for Snow

Toeing a surprisingly fine line between acoustic-jazz accessibility and electronic-music ingenuity, E.S.T. (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) is a forward-thinking Swedish trio that adds subtle, dark ambient texture (and then some) to the traditional piano-trio format. As with the group's first Columbia release, Somewhere Else Before, there is a nice mix of well-constructed tunes with catchy, often-lilting melodies. The band is at its best when playing slow, contemplative ballads ("Serenade for the Renegade" is a highlight) that have the same kind of romantic leanings as pianist Bill Evans, yet the three occasionally pick up momentum on tunes like "Behind the Yashmak," without ever abandoning the song's lyricism. The trio also does other things to keep it fresh: they bring in some simple folk music balladry, add some classical music complexity, and even touch on the creeping influence of electro rock à la Radiohead. Strange Place for Snow should add a lot of new American voices to the deafening roar that surrounds this band in Europe. --Tad Hendrickson (amazon)
Download: megaupload
Label/Date: Sony, 2002
From: Sweden
LIYL: Thelonious Monk, Triosk, Charles Mingus, Bill Evans
Website: www.est-music.com
Purchase: amazon

Koop - Waltz for Koop

Download: mediafire (128k)
Label/Date: Superstudio, 2002
Genre: electronic jazz, acid jazz, swing, trip-hop, lounge
From: Sweden
Website: dieselmusic.se/koop or myspace
Purchase: amazon