Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness

Truly falling in love with an album usually happens once a year for me. My most recent heart-melting came at the hands of the shoegaze/post-rock/dark ambient/industrial band Have a Nice Life, who released their double-disc concept album last week. It came in a slim DVD case and had a 70+ page booklet explaining the life and writing of a near-mythical 13th century Italian writer and zealot, Antiochus. The music is absolutely stunning. Considering how DIY and heartfelt this release is, I hope everybody actually purchases it. It's only $11 for a very generous and complete package. Go to the label's website to put in an order.

Deathconsciousness [2008] - Review - Review
Disc One: The Plow That Broke the Plains - Download
Disc Two: The Future - Download

Burton Wagner - 21

November 25th has come and gone again, which means another album from Burton Wagner, the DIY post-rock artist who releases an album every year on his birthday, November 25. While his previous releases, In the Realms of the Unreal and A Sentinel's Eyes, have been concept-based, his new album 21, is much more song based. Each song is named after and composed for a day that occured over the past year. As a result there is a pretty wide variety of sounds and emotions that change from song to song. The album sounds like a mix of the post-rock of his previous releases but with more pop, alternative, and shoegaze thrown in. This album doesn't push any envelopes after a titanic release lke ASE but each song is beautiful and memorable. Review to come shortly.

21 (2007) - Download - Review