Eternal Elysium - Spiritualized D [2000]

This is a masterpiece. Being both a Japanophile and huge doom nut, I'm fucking surprised I didn't know about this band's greatness until just recently. They are my new favorite band because of this record. I have their whole recorded output but nothing really comes close to what this album does. It blends psychedelic melodies with fuzzed out, doom-laden riffs and emotive, strong vox. "Floating Downer", "Splended Selfish Woman" and "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" are instant classics if any contemporary doom is. The album's absolute best moment is on the short "Trick or Steal" where, at the one minute mark, the smoke lifts for a moment and takes a backseat to a lovely psyched-out melody with a huge, beefy bassline, reminiscent of the more well known Japanese psych masters. This is great! You must have this.

Genre: Doom/Psych
Label: Meteor City
Country: Japan
Bitrate: 320k
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Damon & Naomi with Ghost [2000]

I've never really given two shits enough about Galaxie 500 to get past anything immediate in their catalog, and I like to think Ghost is only about half as good as some of their fans think they are, but putting these two together has done something. Highlights include "Judah and the Macabees" and "The Mirror Phase", the former really showcasing Ghost guitarist Kurihara's exemplary use of the ebow and the latter being something that would have to make it into the psych/folk jukebox of eternity, should something that awesome ever exist.

Genre: Psych/Folk
Label: Sub Pop
Country: Japan
Bitrate: 256k
Length: 48:14
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