Chokebore - It's A Miracle

despite the name and this band being referred to as noise rock, this is surprisingly calm. true, a couple of songs have an edge to them (the last two in particular) but for the most part this is a more relaxed version of Unwound.

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Why? - Elephant Eyelash

indie rock / folk with a hip-hop twist (though it is a pretty far cry from 'traditional' hip-hop) and a nasally vocalist. pretty much every song on this is good and the album is varied enough that it never gets repetitive, which is why i don't like a lot of regular hip-hop.

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Efterklang - Parades

Efterklang are probably most well known for their album Tripper, which was a mix of depressing post-rock and glitchy electronics, i personally love it. Parades, however, gives off more of a symphonic feel (they released a live recording of it being played by the Danish National Orchestra, in fact) and as such the album is a bit more upbeat and the electronic elements are toned down quite a bit. however, while it's a change, it's certainly not bad (unlike their terrible 2010 album Magic Chairs which is basically indie pop), just different. personally i prefer Tripper over this, though.

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Drive Like Jehu - Drive Like Jehu

...and here's the other one. doesn't quite stack up to Yank Crime but it's pretty damn good as a standalone album. guitarwork is very impressive here as to be expected, vocals are a little weaker though.

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Drive Like Jehu - Yank Crime (with 2002 bonus tracks)

the most pissed off album i've ever heard. this album is pure aggression in music form. frantic screaming and yelling coupled with dual guitars and fast-paced drumming make up an hour of hard-hitting post-hardcore. song lengths range from less than 3 minutes to the nine minute epics of 'Luau' (best song on the album) and the closing 'Sinews', yet this album never drags on, it's constantly changing.

will upload their self-titled tomorrow as well.

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Low - Things We Lost In The Fire

this album is Low's fifth effort, and it's every bit as beautiful as their previous albums. for the most part it sticks close to their 'slowcore' roots which have helped them make great albums time and time again, but they increase the tempo on a couple of their songs here. as such this album sometimes sounds a bit dream poppy to me. nevertheless it still remains melancholy and depressing, especially lyrically.

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Microfilm - The Bay of Future Passed

instrumental post-rock band. what sets this apart from other bands, though, is the heavy use of film samples, which add a lot to the atmosphere. great stuff.

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These Arms Are Snakes - Easter

this band is... experimental post-hardcore, i guess? along with heavy, catchy riffs, shouted vocals and some of the best basslines i've heard, this album also offers up some quality experimentation with electronic and psychedelic elements that don't feel out of place and add to the music, rather than simply being a gimmick.

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Les Discrets - Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées

shoegaze / post-rock / black metal hybrid, though aside from the riffs there is very little black metal in this album. good thing too, i can't stand the genre personally. similar to alcest, ameseours etc., it's surprisingly relaxing music, despite being on the heavier side of shoegaze. the vocalist for this band is better than neige as well, in my opinion.

this is probably one of my favorite 2010 album... 2010 sucks, but still.

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Dead China Doll - s/t

dunno what to call this. all i know is that it's bad music to sleep to. sometimes noisy, sometimes calm. it's hard to know what comes next when listening to this for the first time as the songs differ quite a bit. the second track is a complete mindfuck 5 minutes in. the vocalist isn't very good at screaming but the clean vocals are alright. also, they're from australia (there's only about 10 good australian bands and these guys are probably up there) and i almost got the chance to see them live with cult of luna. i'm just kind of rambling because this band is difficult to describe.

but hey, with song titles such as "Face Fuckers Unite For AIDS", you can't go wrong, right?

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Hṛṣṭa - Ghosts Will Come And Kiss Our Eyes

another GY!BE spinoff band, Hṛṣṭa mostly focus on short songs rather than 20 minute epics like GY!BE used to do. vocals play a big part on this album as well, delivered by mike moya. a lot of this is more folky than anything, but it still carries post-rock tendencies, shown on tracks like Hechicero Del Bosque.

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Kiss Kiss - The Meek Shall Inherit What's Left

only had this album for about 3 days and i already love it. fast-paced, hard-hitting progressive rock with a kind of circus-y feel to it. the vocalist is for the most part indescribable, he's all over the place. also, there's an electric violinist. so yeah, this band is pretty awesome.

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Set Fire To Flames - Telegraphs In Negative / Mouths Trapped In Static

ambient, extremely experimental post-rock. the first song sounds like 'typical' post-rock but most of the other songs are extremely varied in both structure and instrumentation. this was recorded in a barn so creaking doors and whatnot are often heard throughout the album, giving it a legitimately creepy feeling. due to this album being very long and often minimal it is certainly not for everyone.

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Stendeck - Faces

this is unlike any IDM album i've heard. rather than making an album comprised solely of IDM or powernoise, Stendeck fused the two together, creating an album of ambient soundscapes with noisy, fuzzed-out beats. however, despite the latter being present, the album feels beautiful rather than aggressive. while a couple of songs do have an edge to them (track 9 in particular being mostly static), this manages to be incredibly relaxing and constantly interesting. highly recommended.

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The Paper Chase / Xiu Xiu - The Paper Chase and Xiu Xiu Cover Nick Cave

title says it all; a couple of lo-fi noise rock covers of nick cave songs. (the cover art of the one i uploaded is shit quality so replace it with the one in this post)

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