Akira Yamaoka - Silent Hill 1-4 OST (1999-2004)

The first few games of the Silent Hill series are considered some of the best horror games around, and the soundtracks are considered some of the best in gaming, period. To match the hellish world of the games, sound designer for the first seven Silent Hill games Akira Yamaoka created a mostly ambient industrial soundtrack, broken up with some extremely emotional rock songs. These four official soundtracks (for Silent Hill 1 through 4) focus mainly on the more melodic side of the games' music, which can usually be found in cutscenes and the like.

However, Silent Hill mega-fan Fungo has created complete soundtracks for the first three games which focus more on the in-game tracks, and as such are much more ambient (and in the case of Silent Hill 3, much better than the official soundtrack). I've uploaded the first four official soundtracks here, but I haven't uploaded the complete soundtracks as you can download them for free from Fungo's website: Silent Hill Media (because he's put a ton of work into them and you should totally check it out).

Silent Hill 1 OST:

42 tracks, 1:06:49, 68.34 MB

Mediafire (Mp3, 128 kbps)

Silent Hill 2 OST:

30 tracks, 1:13:05, 106.02 MB

Mediafire (Mp3, 192 kbps)

Silent Hill 3 OST:

26 tracks, 1:16:19, 75.21 MB

Mediafire (Mp3, 128 kbps)

Silent Hill 4 OST:

20 tracks, 1:13:40, 137.16 MB

Mediafire (Mp3, 320 kbps)

Primus - Frizzle Fry [1990]

Right, first post after Megaupload's execution.

"To Defy the Laws of Tradition" the name of the first track is oddly fitting to the band and while this album's eccentricities do not extend much beyond excellent bass work (Les Claypool is my favorite bass player by a mile) this album is a sign of things to come from Primus.

The drum and guitar work on this album is also worthy of note as Tim's drumming style gels very well with Les's quirky bass lines while Larry LaLonde (former Possessed guitarist) provides some riff-age and some noisy textural sounds (akin to a later Primus sound)

The music itself is very much Primus in its infancy and contains a larger grunge infulence then later Primus records but still is a bass oriented alternative rock album.

This is not my preferred Primus album for a good reason as sadly the writing still needs working on and has a distictive smell of "first album" which means it's unrefined and raw. (Persona 101: Surely this is a good thing?)

Best songs: Frizzle Fry, To Defy the Laws of Tradition

Worst songs: The Toys Go Winding Down, Too Many Puppies

Primus' sound is hard to describe without using the word "weird" which hopefully will explain the lack of sound description for those who have never heard them before.
320kbps
Mediafire

Persona 101:  Edited due to cancerous grammar. Sorry if I've missed any.

REVIEW: Paul Cusick - P'Dice [2012]

I was first introduced to Paul Cusick around two years ago when a helpful Facebook advert informed me about his 2009 debut, "Focal Point". After giving it a few digital spins I decided I liked it enough to invest in the CD, which came with a very nice personalised postcard from the man himself. Thing is, I first got into "Focal Point" when I was just starting to properly discover prog, and it was soon after this that I discovered Porcupine Tree. Let it be said that the similarities between "Focal Point" and tracks from Porcupine Tree's "Deadwing" and "Fear of a Blank Planet" albums are more than just coincidences. Don't get me wrong, "Focal Point" was a good album. It just could have featured more in the way of creativity from Paul.

But that was the past. We're now living in the distant future of 2012, and 'Q6' (as he's credited on the cover) has released a second album, and here it sits in my grubby mitts. Right from the off (and as evidenced from the lengthy, ever-so-slightly pretentious description on his website), the tinge of sadness and pessimism which was present on "Focal Point" returns, stronger than ever. Songs this time round deal with various aspects of prejudice, such as religious bigotry, patriotism & war, poverty, among others. However these songs are less personal than they were on "Focal Point", and as a result some of the songs can sound a little detached on the emotional front.

Anyway, this is a prog album. What about the music? The lineup of Paul playing everything but drums, someone else playing drums has remained, but this time Q6 has managed to enlist the help of some more famous drummers than on "Focal Point", namely Marco Minneman and Gavin Harrison. That's right. Gavin. God-damn. Harrison. Of Porcupine Tree. Somehow, and for some reason, Cusick has managed to recruit the drummer of the band he so shamelessly ripped off back in 2009. I can't exactly claim to understand exactly how that deal went down (unless "Paul Cusick" is actually just a pseudonym for another of Steven Wilson's many many side projects), so let's just ignore the technicalities of that and move on. As far as the drum tracks on the album are concerned, Gavin and Marco do a terrific job at giving some of the tracks atmosphere, specifically on "Tears". Coupled with Paul's watery, Gilmour-esque guitar playing, the album as a whole has a great sound and some very good production & mixing work has gone on here. However, the 50-foot giant fly in the ointment here is the singing. Don't get me wrong Paul, I both admire and respect you for aspiring to do absolutely everything on this album yourself (sans drumming), but there are some aspects where you just have to step back and consider whether you're actually doing a good job. Most of the time, Q6's singing on this album sounds rather breathless and flat, which in some cases is the decider between whether a song is good or not (listen to "God, Paper, Scissors", and you'll see what I mean).

Aside from what the rather irritating problems I've mentioned, "P'dice" is still a very solid second effort from Cusick, and is definitely worth a couple of spins. If you liked "Focal Point", you'll like this. If you're unsure or haven't heard "Focal Point", go and listen to that first before deciding whether to buy this or not.

7/10

Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids - Family Jams [1992]

What is this? Marilyn Manson before he was known and hadn't the need to try to change the world or create things for the "music market"? Hell yes! At this time Manson had a almost democratic relation with his band and was satirizing America in a more humorous way that's clearly superior to his "serious" side, at least for me.

Mp3, 128Kbps

Mediafire (there's a "n" missing in the file name, but I noticed it after uploading it and I'm not uploading everything again)

The Cure - Bloodflowers [2000]

The final album in The Cure's "trilogy", Bloodflowers, to put it bluntly, wasn't all that well received when it came out for a reason I can't quite fathom as I think this album stands tall with the other two albums in the trilogy.

This album combines some of the cynicism from Pornography, the intense emotion of Disintegration and adds its own elements. The primary differences on this album in terms of sound come down to two things:

#1: The amazing production allows for intense balance between all the instruments allowing all the subtleties of each one to be picked out (as apposed to the "wave of sound" of Disintegration).

#2: The guitar work on this album is extremely dense with the electric guitars and very light on the acoustic guitars (which haven't been used to this extent before on a Cure album).

This album also has the most variety then any other of the trilogy albums, having "happy" songs ('Maybe Some Day', '39'... 'happy' being a relative term of course). Depressing sounds ('Where The Bird Always Sings, 'Last Day Of Summer') and, my personal favorite, an "epic" approach to the music ('Watching Me Fall', 'Bloodflowers').

Highlights of the album are the aforementioned "epic" sounds as The Cure has done long songs before but none have felt so large or had such a powerful end like those two.

This concludes the "trilogy" which for me was where I started loving The Cure as much as I love them today. :)

256 kbps

Link taken down. Comment to see a reupload!

Tom Waits - Mule Variations [1999]

Tom Waits.You may not know this old american singer, you'll never forget his voice, described as sounding like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car. Singing since the seventies, he composes all his songs himself, or sometimes with his wife, and he is not afraid to explore some experimental sounds, usually evolving in a sort of gloomy blues, sometimes rock influenced or jazzy. What about this album? It marks the return of Tom Waits after seven years of silence. Apparently, these long years have saddened the old man... As shown in the cover, the mood is not conducive to smiles. This album sweats sadness, darkness, and melancholy. However, even if it sounds sometimes disturbing, uncomfortable, you'll always find a kind of beauty trough the songs...A masterpiece.

MP3, 320kb/s

Mediafire

Travis - The Boy With No Name [2007]

This is more of a nostalgia album really, as it was the first CD I ever bought. As a result this post may be a little rose-tinted, so I apologise in advance for that.

'Special place in my heart' nonsense aside, the fifth album from the Scottish 4-piece is probably their best. From the foggy and mysterious "3 Times And You Lose" to the romantic ballad "Under The Moonlight", every track simply has a wonderful atmosphere and the album doesn't get boring throughout. The only song which I feel doesn't quite live up to the standards of the rest of the album is "Colder", but that is just a minor dent in what is otherwise a very sturdy piece of work.

Mp3, 320 kbps

Megaupload

(n.b. This version of the album comes with two of the Japanese bonus tracks, because I'm nice like that.)