Declan de Barra - Song of a Thousand Birds

http://www.mediafire.com/?zzzhiwwgjj2

Debut album of the solo career of Declan de Barra, formerly of the inimitable Clann Zu.

This departs from the epic-ness and prog influences that were characteristic of Clann Zu (especially their second album), and instead is an almost entirely acoustic album. The driving force of both remains Declan de Barra's incredible voice.

Born in Waterford, Ireland, de Barra emigrated to Australia where he would form Clann Zu in 1999. Clann Zu recorded two (AMAZING) albums and then broke up in 2004. He returned to Ireland and began his solo career. This album was recorded in a series of flats and abandoned rooms over a year and a half.

He recently released his sophomore album, A Fire to Scare the Sun. Song of a Thousand Birds is now available for free download (optional purchase) on his website.

http://www.declandebarra.com/

His Name Shall Breathe - There is an Earthquake Inside of Me

http://www.mediafire.com/?kvv2j4zldyy

His Name Shall Breathe is Tim Martin (formerly of Portland-area hardcore band Brutal Fight), making plaintive acoustic music. This is pretty much a flawless album; beautiful yet technically proficient guitar playing, honest and introspective lyrics delivered by a soft voice. "55th and Halsey" in particular is excellent.

Similar in style to Right Away, Great Captain!, or perhaps Kind of Like Spitting's slower stuff.

HNSB offers this album for free apparently, but here it is anyway.

http://hnsb.weebly.com/index.html

Defeater - Travels (2008)

http://www.mediafire.com/?ne0y5vfwwmw

Defeater is a great hardcore band from Massachusetts. Energetic and unpretentious; recommended for fans of Ruiner and The Carrier. Great lyrics and overall very well-written and interesting songs. Great drumming.

Disaster - Demo

http://www.mediafire.com/?qjwubimzzqm

Disaster is a band featuring Geoff of Defiance, Ohio. All that seems to exist of Disaster is this 8-song demo from 2005. I guess it wasn't a very long-lived side project. Regardless, while a very cheap and rough recording, i think it is a pretty cool album. The speech recordings interspersed between the songs add a lot to the album, and it fits with the large multimedia component they have (had?) in their shows. The slideshows are available on their website and tie in with the songs closely. Anything relating to the band is available for free on said website.

http://www.terrorware.com/?q=node/189

Maths - MMVII

http://www.mediafire.com/?zynmtdn3044

British independent screamo band. Similar to Loma Prieta and Battle of Wolf 359. This is a compilation CD of songs from their demo, previous EP and some live stuff.

They released a new full length in 2009 called Descent.

http://www.myspace.com/mathsband

Ennio Morricone

http://www.mediafire.com/?me5yyiibfb3

Ennio Morricone created the spaghetti western sound for his work on Sergio Leone movies. Even if you're not a fan of old westerns, you have to admit the sound he created for those movies is incredible. The choice of using trumpets, voices, sound effects, and the relatively new electric guitar for a movie score was unheard of at the time and was used because the budget was too low to afford an orchestra.

I made my own little mixtape here because i found Morricone albums either run way too long (31 tracks!?) to actually be able to digest it or miss out on some key songs. So here is a selection. First track here, "The Ecstasy of Gold", is one of the best things i've ever heard.

Cotton Jones - Paranoid Cocoon

http://www.mediafire.com/?my4lgg5imm5

Cotton Jones is Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw (both formerly of indie-pop darlings Page France). Here, they make a sound evocative of '60s folk and soul albums. It's a very cool sound, complete with Hammond organ and spring-reverbed guitars. Not one second of it seems derivative or contrived in the least, it's just a very special type of homage.

Madeline - The Slow Bang

http://www.mediafire.com/?kk5z2jrnnjz

Madeline Adams (also of Nana Grizol) makes acoustic folk music as Madeline. This is her second album, and while not as quirky as her first album (Kissing and Dancing) it is a very good album. "Sleeping Dogs" is good enough to download the album just for that

The Riot Before - Fists Buried in Pockets

http://www.mediafire.com/?ztgmdtegzzm

The Riot Before is a band that plays folk-tinged brand of punk rock/orgcore that could be compared to Fake Problems or other children of the Gainesville sound.

Direct Hit - #4

http://www.mediafire.com/?gjjmnrwk5ny

This is my very first request! Thanks to Sarah V.

Direct Hit! is a pop-punk band from Milwaukee, WI. This is a 4-song EP available for purchase/donation-based-download here: http://directhit.bandcamp.com/

It's melodic and catchy, and it took me a few days to figure out what it reminds me of. Then i figured out that it reminds me of Harvey Danger kind of, except pop-punk.