Lunar Aurora - Of Stargates and Bloodstained Celestial Spheres (1999)

Third full-length from German black metal innovators Lunar Aurora. Raging symphonic black metal with pseudo-futuristic keyboards.

Track listing:
1. Kampfork (Intro)
2. Schwarzer Engel
3. Die Quelle Im Wald
4. Blutbaum
5. Moorleiche
6. Drachenfeuer
7. Gebirgsmystizismus
8. Verwesung
9. Weltengänger
10. Child of the Apocalypse
11. Der Leidensweg
12. Sternenblut
13. Something Has Died Forever (Outro)

Breathe the spheres of eversleep

Monstrosity - Millennium (1996)

Killer generic 90s death metal from Fort Lauderdale, FL. Can't really say what makes Monstrosity so much better than most of their peers. I guess that, like so many things in life, it all boils down to sweet, sweet riffage. Also, I can't tell if that album cover is amazing or reprehensible.

Track listing:
1. Fatal Millennium
2. Devious Instinct
3. Manic
4. Dream Messiah
5. Fragments of Resolution
6. Manipulation Strain
7. Slaves and Masters
8. Mirrors of Reason
9. Stormwinds
10. Seize of Change

R u worried abowt Y2K???

Rainer Brüninghaus - Freigeweht (1981)

Icy ECM style jazz quartet led by German pianist Rainer Brüninghaus. Interwoven pianos, synths, flugelhorn, and oboes, backed by a reliably tasteful performance by Jon Christensen. Mesmerizing.

Track listing:
1. Stufen
2. Spielraum
3. Radspuren
4. Die Flüsse Hinauf
5. Täuschung der Luft
6. Freigeweht

One goes there alone

Andrew Hill - Lift Every Voice (1969)

In which jazz pianist Andrew Hill incorporates a full choir into his ensemble. Like much of Hill's work, Lift Every Voice deftly straddles the line between avant-garde and accessible.

Track listing (6-10 are CD bonus tracks):
1. Hey Hey
2. Lift Every Voice
3. Two Lullabies
4. Love Chant
5. Ghetto Lights
6. Blues Spark
7. A Tender Tale
8. Drew's Tune
9. Mother Mercy
10. Natural Spirit
11. Such It Is

We will not go back

Michael Stearns - Floating Whispers (1987)

Weightless synthscapes from composer Michael Stearns. I'm coming down from a trying couple of weeks, and this is helping.

Track listing:
1. Spanish Twilight
2. Portraits (From Chronos)
3. Almost Daybreak
4. At the Bath
5. A Moment Before
6. The Reflecting Heart
7. Night Currents
8. Floating Whispers

Peace eternal

Niteflyte - Niteflyte (1979)

Excellent disco/funk/soul/pop/rock/etc. Strong, versatile songwriting bolstered by immaculate, pillowy production. I can't tell whether I'm supposed to do a bunch of blow and cut a rug, or smoke a bunch of weed and lounge around on a red velvet couch.

Track listing:
1. All About Love
2. If You Want It
3. Sunshine
4. Make It Right
5. Get on the Fun
6. Tryin' to Find
7. I Wonder
8. Easy Come
9. No Two Alike

Any way you want

Abnormality - Contaminating the Hive Mind (2012)

Brutal tech death from Marlborough, Massachusetts. Machine-like precision. Some will bemoan the 'clicky,' 'overproduced' sound. Others will notice that this record kicks fucking ass.

Track listing:
1. Monarch Omega
2. A Chaos Reserved
3. Fabrication of the Enemy
4. Taste of Despair
5. Schismatic
6. Hatred Relentless
7. Shooting the Messenger
8. Contaminating the Hive Mind

The nature of being scrubbed from the program
Replaced with misconceptions that grow like tumors

dot(.) - dot(.) (2004)

Japanese sludge. I think they like smoking weed.

Tracklist:
1. Life's a Bitch
2. Born Result
3. Persecution Mania
4. Piss of Worms

Stay smoke, stay stone

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - The Pacific Age (1986)

Yes, there are synthetic horns and other indicators that this album was recorded in the 80s. But if you're into the grand, swooning synth pop sound that they perfected with "If You Leave", what's not to love? Aside from "Southern," a cheesy instrumental featuring an MLK speech sample, of course.

Tracklist:
1. Stay (The Black Rose and the Universal Wheel)
2. (Forever) Live and Die
3. The Pacific Age
4. The Dead Girls
5. Shame
6. Southern
7. Flame of Hope
8. Goddess of Love
9. We Love You
10. Watch Us Fall

Those girls are laughing now
They take my breath away

Harvester - Hemåt (1970)

Stoned to the bone Swedish psych/prog rituals.

Tracklist:
1. När Lingonen Mognar
2. Kristallen Den Fina
3. Kuk-Polska
4. Nepal Boogie
5. Everybody (Need Somebody to Love)
6. Bacon Tomorrow
7. Och Solen Går Upp
8. Hemåt

Yah

Eberhard Weber - The Colours of Chloë (1974)

Debut album from German bassist Eberhard Weber. Gorgeous, dynamic compositions embellished by a lush, ornate, at times cinematic sound. Essential ECM listening.

Track listing:
1. More Colours
2. The Colours of Chloë
3. An Evening with Vincent Van Rieberhard Weber
4. No Motion Picture

Everyone's leaving

Dornenreich - In Luft Geritzt (2008)

Austrian symphonic black metal band makes one-off neofolk album. Creepier and louder than most neofolk. Pretty much just sounds like acoustic black metal.

Track listing:
1. Drang
2. Unruhe
3. Jagd
4. Freitanz
5. Sehnlauf
6. Flügel In Fels
7. Meer
8. Aufbruch
9. Dem Wind Geboren
10. Zauberzeichen

Psst

Meat Puppets - Forbidden Places (1991)

A seamless, sparkling fusion of country, punk, butt rock, and hippie jams that only could have been made by Meat Puppets. Easily one of their best albums, Forbidden Places has nonetheless somehow slipped out of print.

Track listing:
1. Sam
2. Nail It Down
3. This Day
4. Open Wide
5. Another Moon
6. That's How It Goes
7. Whirlpool
8. Popskull
9. No Longer Gone
10. Forbidden Places
11. Six Gallon Pie

There was a swirling mass of water
That lived in a quiet pond
It asked permission from its master
To visit the lands beyond

Worship - Terranean Wake (2012)

German funeral doom. Worship perseveres, depresses.

Tracklist:
1. Terranean Wake I - Tide of Terminus
2. Terranean Wake II - The Second Coming Apart
3. Terranean Wake III - Fear Is My Temple
4. Terranean Wake IV - End of an Aeviturne

I am the end

Michael Shrieve & Steve Roach - The Leaving Time (1988)

Out of print collaborative effort between Michael Shrieve (best known as the drummer for Santana) and ambient/new age/space music pioneer Steve Roach. Tribal rhythms, chiming synths, jagged guitars. Dramatic, soothing, and gloriously dated.

Track listing:
1. The Leaving Time
2. March of Honor
3. San Diego
4. Theme for the Far Away
5. Tribes
6. Big Sky
7. Edge Runner
8. The Leaving Time (Reprise)

Falling, flying, dreaming

De Magia Veterum - The Blood of Prophet and Saints (2006)

Netherlands solo black metal. Cacophonous, complexly layered, and disturbing.

Track listing:
1. The Blood of Prophet and Saints
2. A Prison of Every Unclean Spirit
3. The Whore of Babylon
4. Thrown to the Lions
5. Defying Mortality

Rapture

Herbie Hancock - Sextant (1973)

One of Hancock's most challenging sets. Heavy on synthesizers. Atmospheric, dissonant, heady, and a lil' funky.

Track listing:
1. Rain Dance
2. Hidden Shadows
3. Hornets

Palm grease

Terje Rypdal, Miroslav Vitous & Jack DeJohnette - Terje Rypdal, Miroslav Vitous & Jack DeJohnette (1979)

SUP. Rypdal = Norwegian guitarist. Vitous = Czech bassist. DeJohnette = American drummer. Chilly, haunting jazz fusion, ECM style.

Track listing:
1. Sunrise
2. Den Forste Sne
3. Will
4. Believer
5. Flight
6. Seasons

To be continued