Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

The king of jazz produced in 1959 an album that will go down throughout history as one of the best jazz albums and indeed one of the best albums ever made. This is a great introduction to jazz. Kind of Blue is in fact like it’s name suggests, music for a blue mood. It is also an album for when you are feeling reflective, a great album to wind down to or just think about whatever is going on in your head. Technically the album is impressive. It was recorded over two days with Miles only giving mild instruction on what the band should play, the rest was left up to improvisation. Traditionally, composition of records was achieved through giving each musician instructions of exactly what needed to be played, so this was quite a departure from the norm. Miles’ style of improv is often referred to as a modal approach of music writing. Listen to this album if you have ever been curious about Jazz...

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Seekae - The Sound Of Trees Falling On People

Listened to a lot of electronica and want something a bit different? Seekae are pumping out some of the best experimental glitch electronica around. Their sound is bordering on post rock in the way they layer and sound stage their music. Think slow simple samples laced with down low bass beat and 8 bit inspired glitches. 8 bit is the sound that used to come out of your Sega Megadrive or Nintendo. Think Mario collecting his coins.
You won’t find many vocals on here, it is mostly different samples all layered on top of each other. Imagine a computer woke up one morning with a soul. This is the type of music it would make. It is imaginative, soulful, technical and at times nearly industrial in it’s beat.
These guys ARE the late night album choice...

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Sigur Rós - ( )

This is a very unique album. Sigur Ros’s(pronounced see-rur rowss) third album is a beautiful mix of ambient post rock. When creating the album they chose to not give it a name. Because that didn’t work with record companies computers they gave it the name ( ). This is an album that is enjoyed to its’ fullest when listened to in it’s entirety. It has ghostly undertones, haunting piano and the ability to make you lose yourself in your own thoughts. This is an introverts album. Each song seems to ebb and flow into each other creating one dynamic changing sound scape. This album has the ability to bring one to tears. The lyrics on this album are all sung in “Hopelandic” or “vonisenska” which is vocalisations that have no direct meaning, only resemble words of the Icelandic language. The idea was that the listener would come up with their own interpretation of what is being said. In the album’s booklet it has blank lines so that the listener can write their own words in...

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Tool - Ænima

Tool have been described by Maynard Keenan their vocalist as a band that is just like a tool in a shed, to be used by the bearer in whatever fashion they see fit. The listener should ascertain and apply their own experiences to the music and each will individually get something unique out of the music.
Now this sounds like a load of crap but it plays well into the type of atmospheric music they create. When Maynard goes from a plodding melody into an uncontrolled rage you are never quite sure of the message. The charm is in the deciphering...

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The xx - xx

Simple melodies with a stripped back sound make for a fantastic relaxing record. The xx on their debut album have nailed what they set out to achieve, an elegant transportive collection of unique thoughts. Romy the lead singer’s hushed wistful vocals form a great duet with the slow tones of Oliver’s composed soothing voice. A beautiful, composed and relaxing album.
It’s the simpleness of the tunes that make the music so emotive. There's an innocence to the songs, like flying a kite or running around a playground.
This album is great to absently sing to and let yourself daydream as you get carried away inside your own head. Pop music that’s worth listening to...

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