Stackridge - A Victory for Common Sense (2009)

http://www.mediafire.com/?mtgzznkx1ym
Stackridge had a string of classic albums in the early 70s and they broke up right when they seemed to have run out of steam, leaving no illusions of lost opportunities or missing masterpieces. Since then there have been a handful of partial reunions, but not until 2009 did the original line-up all get back together again. Stackridge are pretty obscure nowadays, and even in their heyday they were never too successful. They never had a hit single or any connections to a major band for them to ride the coattails of popularity on. So why should anyone care about this reunion? Well because it’s really good that’s why. Their age occasionally shows through in their voices, and the nostalgic lyrics, but the songs are consistently great so why should it matter? Musically they go through several different styles, from rock and pop to music hall and prog, updating their classic sound for the new millennium without giving in to any negative modern trappings. This is an extremely solid album from a band that by all rights shouldn’t have any business putting out music of this quality this late in their career. A Victory for Common Sense stands up against any of Stackridge’s previous albums. It’s really English too. - Ken
http://www.mediafire.com/?mtgzznkx1ym

Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions (2009)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=K2S62B2U

I have something to confess. I'm not familiar with these guys' (only two of them) back catalogue. This is my first album from them but it sure blows smoke up my ass.

Rather than attempting to recapture the same sludgy stoner metal riffs that Black Sabbath are known for, as like a dozen other stoner metal bands, they up the ante with the sludgy riffs slowed and expanded to brontosaurus levels, eschewing any percussion whatsoever, and adding choral vocals and layering the riffs.

But it's not all noise, harmonically, the stoner riffs are pleasant to the ears, and they throw in bits of melody that may seem incongruent to them being the heaviest and loudest band at the moment.

My favourite album of the past year, not the 00s. But you needn't apply if you are not into deciphering metal harmonics and frequencies. - Il Duce

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=K2S62B2U

The Exploding Hearts - Guitar Romantic (2003)

http://rapidshare.com/files/124220121/Guitar_Romantic.rar.html
AMG REVIEW: "At first glance, the Exploding Hearts seem like mere revivalists. From the pink and yellow cover to their 1977 looks to their influences, it would be easy to dismiss them. But you need to hold the phone a minute and listen, because the Exploding Hearts are the best punk band to come along in a long time, maybe since the original wave. About those influences, here is a partial list: the early Clash if Mick Jones wrote all the songs and the Only Ones or Buzzcocks at their emotional best, but also classic power pop sounds like a (much) tougher Rubinoos, rock & roll like a tighter and sober New York Dolls, and the lo-fi approach of Billy Childish. Guitar Romantic is an amazingly raw and melodic debut, fully realized and original despite the obvious debt to the punk past. It is difficult to pinpoint just what it is about the band that helps overcome their idol worship. Maybe it is the love and authenticity that they pour into the worship, the raw production that smashes the guitars and bass into a whirling mess of tuneful noise, or the wonderfully tough but tender vocals. Most likely it is the songwriting. Too many bands that seek to re-create a sound or an era don't have the tunes to back it up. Not the Hearts. Every song on Guitar Romantic makes a bid to be the best on the album: "I'm a Pretender" is a jaunty kick in the head, "Sleeping Aides & Razorblades" is an ultra-catchy doo wop-inspired ballad with a brilliant guitar line, "Thorns in Roses" is a rollicking '50s-influenced ballad, "Throwaway Style" melds a lovelorn lyric to a Motown beat (the same one the Strokes heisted for "Last Nite") to great effect. There isn't a weak song here, not a single one that isn't on par with the best punk-pop. If you don't have this album and have even the slightest affinity for poppy punk rock or punky pop/rock, you are missing out on something special."
Submitted by Mike Pap Rocki
http://rapidshare.com/files/124220121/Guitar_Romantic.rar.html

Moose - High Ball Me! (2000)

http://www.mediafire.com/?1hwu2zmcw5g
To this day, I consider one of the defining moments of 2005 to be that time in September I was sitting alone in my apartment randomly browsing Audiogalaxy Rhapsody clicking on albums and I uncovered this massive gem released by a band called Moose. I ate up every millisecond of it: it was bright, tuneful, strange, and satisfying. Within the week, I ordered the album from on amazon.com. I had to own a physical copy of it. I mean, I was drooling.

HOLY FREAKING COW, THIS IS AN EXCELLENT ALBUM!!!! Sorry for yelling there, but I exclaim only what I believe. This is one of the most happy and delightful albums that was ever produced. Naturally, I haven't listened to every album ever made, but I believe in this statement just as strongly as I believe that there is a Paris, France even though I've never been there.

I really adore this band's use of arrangements. They prefer thick and heavy pop orchestration like good old Coldplay, but instead of sounding cold and depressing, they sound warm and dreamy, often peppering their songs with such things as spaghetti western guitar, zippy pizzicato strings, dreamy synthesizers, and happy bongos. The result is a brew that sounds almost too good to be true. Really, I don't know why more people don't know about this band. They ought to have been superstars. - Don Ignacio
http://www.mediafire.com/?1hwu2zmcw5g

DJ Drank - Greatest Malt Liquor Hits (2002)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XOOLFJZT
Oh, this! 30 tracks from US hip hop's classic era, averaging at just under a minute long each, each one advertising -- yup, you got it -- St. Ide's. Check out that line-up: Wu, Rakim, Ice Cube, EPMD, Snoop Dogg, King Tee, Kool G Rap...I could go on. Yup, Wu's "Shaolin Brew" is that tune lying beneath Raekwon's "Spot Rusherz" skit, and the Nate and Snoop tracks practically justify G-Funk's existence in themselves.

But it's almost all awesome; perhaps it does damage the credibility of Wu and Cube's anti-commercial somewhat, but the amount of effort in the lyrics steers this away from the typical soulessness of most celebrity advertising. And there's a sweet East-meets-West vibe about it all that confirms this as one of the most unexpected rap classics I'll ever encounter. - Liam
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XOOLFJZT

Disclaimer - The Airbag's Lipstick Kiss (2003)

http://www.mediafire.com/?43ulfmyjnzr
Well Blah Blah early 00s Babble nostalgia/bias, but this is a really good album, an it'd be cool if it were disseminated slightly more amongst the remnants of a community it's creator meant something to. Thought it might provoke slightly more interest/discussion on here due to it's parochial pedigree anyhow.

This is Chris Willie Williams tortured, melodic, electropopangst, witty, multireferential concept album "The Airbag's Lipstick Kiss", an album that evokes musically the wide array of stages of reaction, rationalisations and emotions mandelbrotting throughout one soul in the aftermath of a traumatic break-up. From the first track on, music and lyrics seem to evoke the twists and turns of one troubled minds thought processes after a split. Virtual vistas of self pity alternate with darkly funny bitter twists on pop-culture aphorisms, often within 2 passages of the same song.

Not to get too pretentious about this (well I have already, so might as well go the whole way) it can't help but have added weight for Babblers of a certain age detailing so intensely the loss of innocence (in the "ideals of romance" sense) of a young man at the dawn of the decade. When I hear this album it evokes my expereince of hanging out on Babble in the first 3rd of the 00s, virtual electronic protean luminous blue messageboard with virtual friends reflecting into dark suburban streets outside. Things get really classic Babble-tastic when Joe H joins for a duet on the penultimate song "Please Pardon Our Progress!"'s brainstorm miasma. Closing track "I Couldn't end it there" reminds me of Pink Floyd's "Outside the Wall" or Zappa's "A Little Green Rosetta" (but better) or the last page of 1984 with it's "calm after the storm" purgatorial mood.

Oh, and the line "Should I Be Sticking Chick Tracts into Trick-Or Treaters Snacks?" (from God Said Plastics) is surely one of the greatest tounge-twisters ever placed into the rock context. - A Smith
http://www.mediafire.com/?43ulfmyjnzr

Circulatory System - Circulatory System (2001)

http://www.mediafire.com/?d42y2gmm3go
Hello, I am Pugeye and I did not make a write up.
http://www.mediafire.com/?d42y2gmm3go