Mercury Rev - Snowflake Midnight (2008)

Oy!

From Fries Of Freedom to you: Mercury Rev's latest outcome! They release 2 albums the 29th of September, this one and an album called Strange Attractor which can be downloaded free from their website. Expect light electropop a la the Scissor Sisters cover of Comfortably Numb. This may sound pretty boring, but actually, this album contains great tunes like Senses On Fire and People Are So Unpredictable which create brilliant electro-soundscapes. These guys have been in the business for a long time, but they still know how to hit it. And the lead singer is so obviously gay, it's crazy to watch him live!

Download - Rapidshare

Cheers,
Joachim

The Baseball Project - Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes And Dying Quails (2008)

Oy!

Introducing you guys to The Baseball Project! Well, you might not know this band very well, but maybe you know R.E.M. Their guitarist is named Peter Buck and he plays bass in The Baseball Project, which is a quartet of old people that rock. All the songs are funnily about baseball which doesn't make this album a long-lasting timeless divine experience, it's just great fun to listen to and it's perfect for driving long trips in your car a couple of times. They played Letterman, great live performance, be sure to check it out on YouTube!

Download - Rapidshare

Cheers,

Joachim

A Brand - Judas (2008)

Gutentag!

Belgian glam-rock! This may sound as interesting as wiping your butt, but actually it's FAR more interesting. These guys play some kind of glampop with added guitars. 3 guys are singing, and this record just sounds like great fun! Being more than just a perfect feel-good album like their two previous ones, Judas actually delivers really well-written songs combined with cool over-the-top harmonies. This album seems more serious and less party-minded, though. Their two previous albums are also strongly recommended. Fans of Black Kids, Muse and MGMT would probably appreciate this.

Download - Rapidshare

More beer please,
Joachim

Cuchillo - Cuchillo (2008)

Hola!

Today's treat is Spanish psych-folk. Cuchillo have already shared the stage with such acts as Black Rebel Motocycle Club and The Brian Jonestown Massacre and they are really heading forwards these days. Cuchillo consists of Israel Marco (Guitar and vocals) and Daniel Dominguez (Drums and percussion) and it's really impressing how only 2 people can make such a complicated folk album. The melody always comes first on this album but there are many influences such as Postcore, African Rhytms and Psychodelia. Nice stuff from Spain has landed!

Download - Rapidshare

Cheers,
Joachim

Bloc Party - Intimacy (2008)

Mjallo!

So, here's the new one by Bloc Party. To be honest, their first single was total shit electro, but frontman Kele Okoreke has said that some of this album is "very experimental, some of it is classic Bloc Party". Well, I hope that "very experimental" doesn't mean "bad vocoder over shit electro beats". Well, I just saw Bloc Party described as Artrock, but I really don't think it is. Still, much of their stuff is enjoyable, let's hope we can say so about this one too!

Download - Rapidshare

Peace,

Joachim

Mutiny At The Bounty - Split-EP

I was just surfing MySpace and found this fucked up math-post-hardcore-rock group from Luxembourg (!!!) called Mutiny At The Bounty. They're working on a new album, the only other thing they've put out is this split-EP from 2005 with an emo-band from Luxembourg (!?!). Mutiny At The Bounty have the last part of this Spilt-EP, and they totally steal the spotlight. For fans of something between Battles, At The Drive-In and Dillinger Escape Plan.

Download - Mediafire

Enjoy,
Joachim

By the way, Hjörtur and I are travelling next week, that means we can't check your requests and stuff - but don't worry, there will almost be one post a day next week!

Late of the Pier - Fantasy Black Channel (2008)

Late of the Pier is a four-piece electro-punk straight outta' the clubs of England. It's an ugly cover but it's a great record. LOTP sounds a lot like a very hyperactive version of Klaxons or Justice with a little hint of some Pink Floyd. Groovy synth melodies accompanied by fast drums and riffy guitar. 

Download - Filesurf

Servus

Hjörtur

These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid (2008)

Art rock at its artiest. These New Puritans can be described as indie-synth-rock covered by crazy drum beats. Great tunes, weird lyrics. As crazy as this sounds, this is in fact a splendid record.

Download - Megaupload

Cheers

Hjörtur

Oasis - Shock Of The Lightning (2008)

Oy!

Those bloody Oasis-bastards will release this on on October 6th, but guess who found it: Me! The new Oasis album will be named Dig Out Your Soul and will be released October 5th and of course posted on the blog as fast as possible. Until then, I recommend you to enjoy the first single. This file also contains the Chemical Brothers remix of Falling Down, Oasis' iTunes-available track. By the way, we're posting a lot right now (2 days, 4 posts), so do yourself a favor and scroll down to see if you've missed something.

Download - Rapidshare

Cheers,
Joachim

The Great Northwest - The Widespread Reign Of The Great Northwest (2008)

Hey, you!

Just bought this through iTunes - and like 2 minutes after, I found this Rapidshare-file. Well, that is spelled G-O-D (space) D-A-M-M-I-T. But, right now I don't really care. Cause this psych-indie has totally stoned me out. I'm, like, in trance. Which means, THIS IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! I haven't heard something as weirdly stoned since (blasphemy!) early Queens Of The Stone Age. This has blown me away, it's by far one of the most interesting records of 2008 yet. Associated acts are The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, but this kicks the hell out of what I've heard from them. Check out Know What I Mean.

Download - Rapidshare

Cheers,
Joachim

Happy Olympics!

Ding-Dong-Day!

Well, you probably sit in your living room watching the Olympics and thinking "Why on Earth is my country doing so unbelievably bad??". Also, you might be thinking "But, those Chinese bastards can't make any music". WRONG! Let me introduce you to Carsick Cars, a Chinese postpunk-noise-indie band. Being favorites of Sonic Youth, they even had to open for Sonic Youth in Beijing, but the Chinese government kicked in and said "Hell no, not as long as Sonic Youth supports the Free Tibet Campaign", so their warm-up gig was canceled just an hour before they had to play it. Damn Chinese folks. But this is actually really cool indie music (and it's against the law to play their songs in Chinese radio. Don't ask me why), so check it out!

Download - Megaupload

Shit Metal Update!

Hi!

I hate metal, but a lot of new stuff is coming on the metal scene. We have two bands that really draw lots of attention right now.

First off is Slipknot. These guys enjoy wearing masks (don't we all..?) and faking that they play metal. They have this new thing coming out, it's their forth outcome and it's called All Hope Is Gone. With song titles as "Execute", "This Cold Black" and "Psychosocial", the scene is set. There's even 3 bonus tracks on this one! Enjoy the metal soup!

Download - Rapidshare




Also, Metallica are boiling a nice bowl of metal soup, check the first spoonful called Cyanide out here:

Download - Rapidshare

See ya 'round tha corner,
Joachim

The William Blakes - Wayne Coyne

Yes, this cover is a portrait of the English poet William Blake, with the Flaming Lips singer Wayne Coyne on it. You are probably already shitting your pants of an overload of pure awesomeness.

The William Blakes is a Danish indie-rock band, who clearly are very impressed of Flaming Lips and English poetry. The tunes are great, some really catchy rock stuff. 

Download - Megaupload

Peace

Hjörtur

Lily Electric - You're In The Painting You Saw (2008)

Oy!

More glorious Danish music. This time, the genre is Artrock, and this Danish debut has blown me away! This is, so far, the best Danish release of 2008. Amazing (sometimes Beatle-esque) melodies combined with extreme catchyness, musical joy and intelligence, plus a fragile male indie voice. This is so fuckin amazing. And it's just a debut. This makes things look even more promising for the future. This is both the beginning and the future of Danish Artrock (which must be one of my favorite genres). Check out No Art Worth The Look Of You, and you won't question me.

Download - Rapidshare

Checkin out,
Joachim

Mugison - Mugiboogie

Given a zero out of ten stars in NME, this only proves how sloppy the journalism at this magazine has become. Who on earth could be able to resist a hard-rocking icelandic man with a full beard?

You'll find some great tunes on this album which is covering a lot of genres, from acoustic folk to growling metal-pastiche, to blues. Even if you listen to this record a 1078 times you will still find new undiscovered things in it. Despite what NME says.

If you ever get the chance, trust me, watch them live.

Download - Megaupload

See ya later, dawgs

Hjörtur und Joachim

The Verve - Forth (2008)

Hello!

Okay, this slightly-highly-anticipated thing has just leaked and Fries Of Freedom have found it for ya! Haven't heard it yet (yeah, we're THAT fast!), but expect melancholic rock with lots of strings. Well, as the cover tells us, the sky is the limit on this one (well, the sky is always the limit for frontman Richard Ashcroft), and I think that almost everyone is excited to hear if The Verve have nailed it with this one. There you go, 2008's maybe most anticipated album is right here!

Download - Rapidshare
(new link)

Put Bittersweet Symphony back on,
Joachim

The Vines - Melodia (2008)

Oy!

Despite this extremely ugly album cover, Austrialian band The Vines do almost everything right. Their lead singer suffers from Aspergers Syndrome and has freaked out on The Late Show with David Letterman while performing their classic anthem, Get Free, but he doesn't really seem to give a shit. The first single off this album is called He's A Rocker, and it's a damn fine, catchy rock-out-with-your-cock-out tune. Together with The White Stripes, The Vines must be the kings of the garage rock revival. Yayr!

Download - Megaupload

Cheers,
Joachim

The Very Sexuals - Post-Apocalyptic Love (2008)

Hello.

The Netherlands. Pancakes, hash, orange dressed soccer players and tulips. And awful techno music. Well, here's something Dutch that doesn't try to sound like DJ Tiesto. The Very Sexuals play some nice indiepop-rock, and although they're not going to kill all technofreaks, they'll at least make indies happy. They've decided to give this album away which means it's free for everyone. Goed idee, as they say down there.

Download - Their Own Website

Cheers,

Joachim and Hjörtur

EDIT:
We do NOT, and we repeat, NOT, want to cast a bad spotlight on Dutch music. And we (as the dummies we are) have apparently done that by almost putting the words "Dutch" and "music" together in one sentence without mentioning Vader Abraham. We're truly sorry.

Trolle//Siebenhaar - Couple Therapy (2008)

Woo-hoo.

Here's the Danish stuff I talked about. This album is made by Pato Siebenhaar and Ane Trolle (vocals on "Moan" by Trentemøller. Anyone?), two of the big indie ones on the Danish music scene. The album is a laid back and poppy one, combining Trolle's smooth vocals with the cool beats of Pato. Actually, if you're into Amy Winehouse or Duffy because of their motown-sound and smooth, crunchy vocals, you'll like this. This album hasn't got that jazz-feel, but that just makes it even more smooth. Probably one of the best Danish releases this year!

Download - Rapidshare
(I've put a counter of this so I can check how many downloads there is on this one)

Cheers,
Joachim

The Dandy Warhols - Earth To The Dandy Warhols (2008)

Hiya!

The Dandy Warhols are back! They released their second album which totally screwed thing up and didn't sell 3 copies. They starred in the AMAZING documentary DiG! and started their own label on which Earth To The Dandy Warhols is released. Just look at the cover and you've got yourself a good picture of what this sounds like. They're still sleazy. They're still sloppy. They're still silly. And they're still sexy. Song titles as Sheriff Shorty and Musee D'Nougat say pretty much. This is so damn easy to enjoy!

Download - Rapidshare (Part One)
Download - Rapidshare (Part Two)
(This is a high bitrate upload, therefor the 2 parts)

Occasionally Rock Out With Your Cock Out,
Joachim

First Aid Kit - Plaits (2008)

Hola!

Today's treat is Spanish electronica with a sort of "northern" vibe onto it. Soft female vocals mixed with minor-chorded melancholy. It has been heard before, but First Aid Kit really have figured out how to do it more than properly. If you're into Sigur Rós, Múm, The Knife or if you could imagine Depeche Mode being really depressed and having kicked out Dave Gahan in advantage of a fairy sounding cool, try First Aid Kit.

Download - Megaupload

Where's that bowl of sangria,
Joachim

Evil Superstars - Boogie Children R-Us (1998)

Oy!

First of all, thanks a million to Detectief Van Zwam over at openyourarmsandwelcome for giving me this link. He is probably the greatest blogger right now, check the blog, you'll get a lot of inspiration over there! Now to the music:

Bad quality cover, high quality music. Evil Superstars was one of the best Belgian indie bands ever. Consisting of Mauro Pawlowski (dEUS and everything that can beat a rhytm in Belgium) and Tim Vanhamel (Eagles Of Death Metal and his solo project), among others, it's no wonder this album is incredibly good. Check out B.A.B.Y - what an acid blast!

Download - Rapidshare

Be human and enjoy this,
Joachim

A Classic Education - First EP (2008)

Oy!

A Classic Education could just be the next hot indie thing. This part-Italian part-Canadian threepiece has already played warmup gigs for such acts as Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse and Lightspeed Champion. It's orchestral indie-poprock with string-stroked grandiosity and epic, multi-layered twee drenched indie expanse. Think Arcade Fire listening a bit too much to U2 without having the resources to recreate their sound, so why not just play it super-indie.

Download - Rapidshare

Ciao,
Joachim

Royale With Cheese

Here's a masterpiece soundtrack to a masterpiece movie. It's filled with terrific old rock'n'roll(old, i tell you.), country, mexican rock'n'roll(if it has to be classified) and 80's funk. Trust me, its way better than it sounds. The tunes are great and couldn't have been chosen better for the scenes in Pulp Fiction. No wonder that the movie made a cult status.

Download - Rapidshare

Cheers

Hjörtur and Joachim

Primal Scream - Beautiful Future (2008)

Gidday.

Damn, I'm busy posting all time! This is Primal Scream's 9th and latest album. The album title indicates that Gillespie and co. doesn't exactly want to kick us in the nuts and that says pretty much about Beautiful Future. With two happy albums in a row, Primal Scream sure has lost some of its edge but, luckily, they're still capable of writing good songs (One of the songs is with added Josh Homme, by the way). Let's hope that Primal Scream will give us that kick in the nuts with their 10th album. Or at least just a punch somewhere.

Download - Megaupload

Cheerio,
Joachim

Magnetic Morning - Magnetic Morning (2008)

Wazzup, Nizzles.

I shall introduce you to: Magnetic Morning. Formerly known as The Setting Suns, Magnetic Morning are a hand-in-glove pairing of Swervedriver singer/guitarist Adam Franklin and Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino. This is their 5-track debut EP and it's a great shot of alternative post-punk indie-shoegazing. The melodies are damn fine and together with the tight drumming of Fogarino and the cool vocals of Franklin it makes a more than promising debut EP. I'm looking forwards to hearing more stuff from these guys and I hope you'll do too.

Download - Megaupload

Cheers,
Joachim