Shinsplints - Set Sail
Melodic Hardcore/Folk Punk

1. Gateway City Serenade
2. Times Infinity
3. Egotistical Drowning
4. Set Sail





CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN! OH, CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN! 

Shinsplints know how to keep their voice gruff, their guitars fuzzy, and their songs crisp. Great for sing-a-longs, drinking, and sinking ships. So, I guess, if you're drinking when your boat hits an embankment and a pound of explosives you were keeping strapped to the front ignites and sends you flying back out to sea and you couldn't think of any better way to go than singing - make sure this is in your collection.

Hell, keep this in your collection even if there's only a minute possibility of that happening.

Click here to download Shinsplints - Set Sail from Bandcamp

(Short) Best of 2010 list.

Unfortunately, a lot of the best records this year have been commercial releases that you can(not) download for free. But that doesn't mean there hasn't been a shit tonne of sweet free albums that we can get. Let's have a look at some.

The Marriage - Vultures Be Their Kings
Metalcore/Post Hardcore

1. We Own the Hatred 
2. Bear Witness
3. Fall & Ressurection 
4. This Gladiator Knows of No Choir of Desperation
5. Cursed Thy Feathers, Blessed Thy Swords
6. Euryale 
7. They Fly In Circles/The End is Nigh




We're already used to the Marriage. Don't get me wrong when I say these guys aren't doing anything new, I mean they're everything that's already been done in metallic post-hardcore, but, really, don't get me wrong, because they do it fucking well. For fans of that whole heavy sound, from Norma Jean and Converge to the heavier moments of UnderOATH and Amity Affliction. This is a hell solid release that'll have you moshing, punching, kicking, jumping, and generally acting like all good little girls should.

Click here to download The Marriage - Vultures Be Their Kings from Bandcamp
Click here to download Introducing the Marriage from Bandcamp

Sledding With Tigers - No Randy No! 
Folk Punk

1. The 405 (Is For Lovers?) 
2.  Not Trying to Be Awkward
3. In Response To All The Songs Erich Beckmann Writes
4. Love Songs Are Dumb Songs, But I Like 'Em Anyway
5. Smile! Why Not?!? 
6. Hey Vanessa! 




Sledding With Tigers got it right from the get go for me - simply by naming their band after a reference to Calvin & Hobbes. This is a short album (clocking in at about ten minutes), and by that I mean I've taken shits that have lasted longer than this. But none of my shits have made me feel quite so warm inside. Sledding With Tigers come in my favourite form of folk punk. Group sing-a-longs and acoustic guitars in vein of an early Against Me! without so much political angst, and a little bit of Bright Eyes after taking Prozac. Every time I listen to it, I listen to it for at least half an hour.

Click here to download Sledding With Tigers - No Randy No! from Bandcamp

Comadre - Mix Tape Vol. 4 
 Post Hardcore

1. Intro 
2. Good Night Sweet Prince (feat. Dead To Me) 
3. Hamlets Remix (feat. P.O.S. and Atlas) 
4. Sleep is the Cousin of Death (feat. Ghostlimb) 
5. 18 Wheels (feat. Glasses and Trainwreck) 
6. King Jeremy (feat. Broadway Calls)  



Easily one of the best things to happen this year. A Comadre Mix Tape is always something to wait for and celebrate, but when these chaotic screamo beasts collaborate with the likes of punks Dead to Me, hip-hop kings P.O.S. and Atlas, and dirty rockers Trainwreck, well, that's an entitlement to one of the best free releases ever. Get this because you're not entirely human without it.

Click here to download Comadre - Mix Tape Vol 4 from mediafire
Click here to visit Comadre's blog

DJ Slippery Eeel - The Tapes

DJ Slippery Eeel
Rap/Hip Hop

Track list: 
1. Liver Quiver             9. Rawkbells     
2. Ruckus                    10. Teenbeet
3. Thin Line                 11. Boomboxatron
4. Did I Stutter?          12. The Quantize Kid
5. Breakdown              13. Which is Brew?
                                                  6. Gutter Drum            14. Stabs
                                                 7. Clack                        15. Tintabulate
                                                 8. Dazedream              16. 3k
                                                                                      17. Dedication


Essentially this is a 'beats album'. Those unfamiliar with the terminology of the get-hoe, that means focus here is on the creation of the beats more than the meaning or structure of the song. It's a good thing then that DJ Slippery Eeel has made for us some fantastic hip hop beats, as well as some decent songs (song songs). 


The beats found on The Tapes are super chill, and make you feel nothing like a jive turkey. Some where between gangsta rap, trip hop and garage you'll find that spot that makes you feel like a you're wearing sunglasses at night, surrounded by women, in a bombed out den on the side of town your mother doesn't want you to be on - and that's what this album makes me feel like. 

You'll hear some create mash ups that'll leave you in familiar territory, as well as some more obscure raps coming in and out, and have a massive party all the while. Sippin' on champagne, here's to Slippery Eeel.  

Click here to download DJ Slippery Eeel - The Tapes from Bandcamp 
http://djeeel.bandcamp.com/

Man At Home - Expect a Fire

Man At Home
Math Rock

Expect a Fire (Track) 





New Orleans' Man At Home is enchanting. There's not a lot to say about the soft, progressive trio apart from that. Like a lot of math rock you can expect entangling, angular guitar licks and rhythms, and just an overwhelmingly polite yet rocking performance. 

As their myspace says: They sound like Drew Bees meets Bach.  

Click here to download Man At Home "Expect a Fire" from Bandcamp
http://www.myspace.com/manathomeband

Various Artists - Throatruiner Records - Hate/Life

Throatruiner Records
Various artists
Metalcore

Track list: 
1. Huata - Alchemist Reborn 
2. Pigeon - Anchorite
3. Elitist - Back to the Funeral 
4. Bone Dance - Birds Singing (Wolves Licking Blood) 
                                                 5. Danishmendt - Chutes
                                                 6. Quartier Rouge - Douche Dorèe  
                                                 7. Stuntman - Draw the Portrait
                                                 8. Celeste - Il y a bien des porcs que ça ferait bander de t'étouffer
                                                 9. Reno - Is This a Turning Point or Just the End? 

If anyone dares even question why these artists are signed to a label called Throatruiner I'm going to slap a bitch. If anyone further dares question why this album is simply tagged "violence" I'm going to huff and puff and slap a bitch down. If anyone then dares question whether or not this sampler is awesome, I'm going to be mildly upset. Maybe love tap a bitch on the shoulder. Not because this sampler isn't awesome (trust me, it is), but simply because it's not for everyone. 

Variably through out the album you're going to be pummeled with deafening bass, harsh screams, and a good selection of slash-hardcore genres. From doom-metal crossovers like Huata, to no-bullshit-taken rhythmic hardcore like Bone Dance, to the gut-defying vengeance of black metal tinged screamo like Celeste (who, FYI, were the reason I looked into this sampler in the first place), and even a bit of noise in Quartier Rouge.

So if you like your music feeling like your being hit with hammers (awesome Thor hammers of awesome) get this. 

Click here to download Throatruiner Records - Hate/Life Sampler from Bandcamp 
(requires email)
http://throatruinerrecords.bandcamp.com     

 UPDATE: 
The Hate/Life sampler has just been extended to include tracks from sister label Swarm of Nails! New tracks include: 

Anorak - Some Skirts
Arms of Ra - Pyramids 
Art of Burning Water - Only Choking
As We Draw - Way Down 
Birds in Row - Orange Disease 
Bloodkitt - Void Woods, Skin Roads 
Chère Catastrophe - Party Time 
Dreams of the Drowned - Liquids of Apathy
Exilym - Back to the Funeral 
HKY - Monument Inversion 
Mygirlfriendisawatermelon - You Should Try
Nesseria - Par Pertes Et Profits 
Plebeian Grandstand - Ordo Ab Chao 
Pretty Mary Dies - To the Bomb
RQTN - N3
Sickbag - Scar Manifesto 
Totorro - My Bob's Blue Eyes 
Xnoybis - Picardian Fight Song  

Tras la Sangre - Mas Alla

Tras la Sangre

Hardcore

Track list: 
1. Sin Mirar Atras 
2. Mas Alla
3. Nuestro Llamado 
4. Mis Principios 


 I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I love foreign hardcore - or, hardcore sung in other languages. While girls will forever look at French as the language of love, I'll look at it as the language of epic screamo, hardcore and harsh, cut up vocals. It's not just French, though, as Colombia's Tras la Sangre have just proven to me.

I can't say I know many Colombian bands (in fact, none come to mind), but if there's a scene that's anything like this over there, then I might have to don my camo shorts and take a trip just to get my mosh on. Mas Alla is fast, furious, melodic, and strained beyond belief. Fill your head with thoughts of early Comeback Kid, make them flirt with Have Heart and add a dash of Pro-Team, and then listen to this...

Click here to download Tras la Sangre - Mas Alla at Bandcamp
http://traslasangre.bandcamp.com

Friendship Moves - Eli Sunday

Friendship Moves
Post hardcore

Track list: 
1. Plainview
2. Living With Brucie
3. I Like It, I Do. But I'm Really Concerned About Dying in the Fire
4. Banging in Little Rock
5. Flannel Shirt Blues

Friendship Moves are not cool metal dudes (thank God), although I don't think anyone would be fooled into thinking they are. This debut release by Colchester, Essex's loose post hardcore band starts with a slow clean section that wouldn't sound out of place in a post rock setting (as most their songs start, with the exception of Banging in Little Rock, which starts with feedback. I love feedback), before going into a shouting frenzy amongst smooth tempos and shoegazingly thunderous guitars. So, really, it's hard to imagine that they could be cool metal dudes at all.

It's hard to find words, and I'm not sure why, but I enjoy this. A lot.

Click here to download Friendship Moves - Eli Sunday at Bandcamp
http://friendshipmoves.bandcamp.com/

All Torn Up! - Songs from Split w/ (A) Truth

All Torn Up! 

Hardcore punk

Track list: 
1. Subversive
2. Incite Violence
3. Nine

There's not much to say about NYC hardcore act All Torn Up! that you probably couldn't already tell about any band whose logo would look at home patched to the back of an all torn up, piss stained denim jacket (excuse the pun). 

This is hardcore punk as hardcore punk should be: nasty, a little bit fun, politically aware, and like it's straight from the early eighties. Their myspace tells us that their hard, fast tunes are liberating ears from the oppressors, and has subtle hints of neckbeards and piss-spasms without being hip at all.

This album fits nicely into any hardcore collection - so download it, put your boots on and stomp! 

Click here to download All Torn Up! - Songs from Split w/ (A) Truth at Bandcamp

http://alltornup.bandcamp.com