TED LEO & THE PHARMACISTS shake the sheets

awesome, super-catchy indie rock/power pop from ted leo and his crew. very fun stuff. if the opening track "me & mia" doesn't make you feel alive, then you suck and you should not read this blog or listen to music. 2004.

THE COUP genocide & juice

politally conscious hip-hop from oakland. one of my favorite hip-hop albums of the early 90s! great lyrics and lots of cool, funky beats. intelligent, clever stuff. if you like your hip-hop that way, you gotta get this. sort of a lost classic of the 90s west coast scene. 1994.

LYE BY MISTAKE fea jur

probably the best metal album released last year. aynone familiar with their first album, 2006's arrangements for fulminating vective, knows the penchant this band has for technical, progressive, experimental metalcore. with fea jur, they toss aside quite a bit of their -core tendencies and focus a lot on their ridiculous chops and instrumental interplay, sounding almost like some amazingtechnical jazz-fusion/-rock group, like arcana (only heavier, intense, and even more technical!). i'd even go so far as to say that this album sounds like some amazing mixture of gordian knot (the atmosphere and songwriting, while having a top-notch prog/fusion aesthetic) and yowie (super-tight, super-technical muscianship). this album is a trip, and one of the best i've heard in this style of music. 2009.

DISILLUSION back to times of splendor

progressive metal from germany. lots of relatively unique elements to the genre. they have a sound all their own. epic and essential to any fan of this style of music, especially opeth (whom they do not really sound like, but frequently draw comparisons to). their follow-up, gloria, is vastly different (but equally as awesome), going into experimental electro-rock territory (a la ulver, kind of). awesome shit regardless. 2004.

AGALLOCH the mantle

one of the finest metal albums around. if you're into metal, you probably already have this, but i thought i'd post it just in case. atmospheric folk/black metal with post-rock leanings from the orgeon group. perfect from beginning to end. less gybe-influenced than their (almost as good) follow-up, ashes within the grain. 8 years later one can see how influential this album is on certain bands and sub-gengres. an epic masterpiece. 2002.

OSTROVA ostrova

really awesome, epic post-metal/screamo from spain. kinda like envy mixed with buried inside. riyl those bands, circle takes the square, any european screamo, or any post-metal. nice ep. 2009.