Rayon De Lune- Aromates/ Michele Claude

http://www.mediafire.com/?3wr2jo88k45mpk8

This is a hard cd to sum up, but it's one that is really amazing. It's apparnetly a French group, but they definitely are drawing from a variety of musics in the region.

I'm not doing it justice. But if you have any interest in jazz, Arabic/Andalusian, gypsy, and eastern classical music, give it a listen.

Here is Amazon's description:
"Michèle Claude and his Ensemble Aromates had a French hit album in 2005, Jardin de Myrtes, which appeared on both classical and pop charts for several weeks. Now this exciting artist and his group offer what is possibly an even better album, combining the musical idiom of Al Andalous in Spain with the timbres of the organetto, psaltery, harpsichord, and a rich selection of percussion instruments. Ensemble Aromates consists of classically trained musicians evolving into different musical horizons--medieval, baroque, contemporary, jazz, gypsy, and salsa. They love improvising, and pay tribute to musicians from all traditions, oral and written."

Rachel's- Systems/Layers

http://www.mediafire.com/?hzjyj3zvlkm

Rachel's has to be one of my favorite bands ever, and Systems/Layers is probably their finest record. Most of their albums could be classified as concept albums, but this one works the best. Start to finish, it has an uncanny cohesion, and it bounces between classical, ambient, trip-hop, spoken word, indie rock, found recordings, and low budget movie soundtrack.

It works well as active and passive listening, and as a result, Rachel's proudly boasted of being as popular with grandparents as they were to young hipsters. If that sounds at all weird, please listen to this and see what I mean.

This cd has a tenuous beauty and sadness to it-- both frail and rough. Probably one of my top 10 records of all time. I played the hell out of this the year it came out.

Also great by Rachel's: Selenography, Music for Egon Schiele, and The Sea and the Bells.

Clogs- The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walden (2009)

http://www.mediafire.com/?7q0am23d6v78wdd

Clogs is a "new classical" group that takes a very weird approach to making music. They are a little like Rachel's, where you feel that you could show the cd to the sweet metalhead who lives down the lane, your traffic cop, or your grandma, and all would be equally enthused.

I just realized that this is actually members of The National (Bryce Dressner, at least), who tend to dip in a lot of chamber music. Also featuring Sharon Worden of My Brightest Diamond, who sounds much better here than on her own music. Sorry, Sharon.

This cd has really grown on me-- haunting, minimal, strange, quiet, and beautiful.

Especially recommended if you've ever been interested in acoustic instruments, vocal harmonies, choral music, jazz, weird pop stuff (like St. Vincent or Deerhoof), and feeling as if you're very cultured.

Definitely recommended for fans of Colleen, Bjork, your local Byzantine choir, and renaissance music.