...The new(ish) album from Nu-nrg, the trance legends. If you like trance you've probably got this already... but if not, go get it now! Superb stuff all round. 

You probably know the demoscene?
There was this quite famous finnish
group way back called the future crew.
They made some quite nice pc demos.
Many of the guys then formed the game
company Remedy.

This is the original soundtrack for their
epic megademo "Unreal".

http://scene.org/file.php?file=%2Fdemos%2Fcompilations%2Fdemodulate%2Funreal.zip&fileinfo

You need a plugin for winamp/whatever you use,
BASS module is good.

From 1993 or something... It's good, a bit uneven maybe for working background music.
If you're interested, you can check http://scene.org for all kinds of things from the demoscene. An example could be a 64kb minutes long 3d intro with scenery and everything... 

at first i thought it sucked. but then i just gave it a few more spins and well, it's a good pop/rock album, nothing wrong here, as nin always were sorta electronic rock band. or whatever. only bad thing about with teeth is the vocals. and some lyrics. and reznor is at it again - creating several version of it, like, vinyl version having additional track. not that it's very good but still. anyways, the people in japan get the release with some neat bonuses, one of which is the alternate version of one of the best songs on with teeth - right where it belongs.

for the last couple of months i've been listening to various stuff from ministry, revolting cocks, and for some reason, zz top. 

panic dhh is what kicks my ass most at the moment. noise and pure energy. seeing them live was a unique experience. :)
unfortunately i missed the ambassador 21 gig (comparable to atari teenage riot, but better) last year, which could have been a similar one. the live recordings do not deliver their power very well, because the bass drums are hardly audible sometimes (like so often with 'non-professional' live recordings), but you might want to check it out nevertheless, along with the rest of the dtrash caralogue: http://www.dtrashrecords.com
another trashy nice band from this label is schizoid, kind of grindcore influenced. my favortite is "covered in metal"... 

Really liked their early breakcore stuff - Harder Than The Rest compilation, Sonic Subjunkies, Christoph De Babalon, early Alec Empire. C de B's "My Confession" ranks highly as one of the darkest and most atmospheric jungle tracks ever. But as they tended more into punky stuff, I lost interest... 

From here until eternity, there should be no one who ever uses the word "herein" in the context of a rock band due to the similar spelling of the word "heroin." 

Been listening a lot to some anime stuff - Wind from Naruto and the closing theme from Samurai Champloo are my absolute favorites so far. Absolutely fantastic shit, also groovin to various Bebop tracks, lookin for more, but those are the best I've found so far. 

Lately I've been really into "The The - Soul Mining"

It's just a great, overlooked alt/indie pop album from the 80s. The title as you might imagine, deals with soul searching and digging up the things you like and dislike about yourself. This is just about one of the most thoughtful and intricate pop albums ever made, and if you want to see where Trent Reznor picked up a few tricks, check this out.

(Reznor signed The The to his label, so the influence is even more obvious)

Sonically, it's really something. There's a lot of great synth work, but almost every song is peppered with some kind of chromatic percussion and energetic drum beat, so the complex lyrical content becomes more easily digestible.

Check out this album if you have an open mind for something odd but ultimately extremely rewarding. 

I found The Cure's Wishes in an old case last weekend. I haven't listened to them in years, and I have to say, it stands the test of time very well, accept for 'Let's Get Happy.' 

Good stuff. But Robert isn't 25 anymore, he needs to lose his look. 

Trentem�ller - Polar Shift (Poker Flat Records)

Propa. 

Stuff like Camelback Cinema, Bob's Party Time Lounge, Shake Hands With Beef...

Ahh good stuff. 

there are lots of it. and most of them are good, but also not really outstanding mostly.
i found the mixes by cativo, dunkelbunt and mookee to be quite unique and fresh in a way. plus they're suited for mapping AND playing alike.
you'll probably see what i mean if you check them out. 

Blame - 720 Revolutions (720 Records)

YOU NEED THIS IN YOUR LIFE. I got it for the shocking bargain price of �1 / E1.5 / $2 and it's the best DnB album I've got for quite a while, just top quality high energy no bullshit DnB tunage. W3rd. 

I know there's at least a couple of heterosexual real music listening mappers so here goes:

Gardenian - Soulburner (2000)

Yeah it's gothenburg-metal but it's a bit on the aggressive side and the melodies are full and the rhythms just right in many songs. A few pieces have cheesy clean vocals. Although they are really well sung (on one take!), they could have made the lyrics with a bit more style in those songs. The third track, Deserted, just moves your guts.

Gardenian is really good working music since the words are mumbled/growled so they don't disturb but you get a really good rhythm and furious feeling.
;) 

i meant to say the third track is good, not that it makes you want to vomit. :) 

The Upbeats - Werewolf

HEAVY LIKE HELEPHANT.

So who was insinuating dance music was fassyhole music again?? 

P.S.: NOT DANCEABLE. 

Pandora - http://www.pandora.com/

Can you help me discover more music that I'll like?
Those questions often evolved into great conversations. Each friend told us their favorite artists and songs, explored the music we suggested, gave us feedback, and we in turn made new suggestions. Everybody started joking that we were now their personal DJs.

We created Pandora so that we can have that same kind of conversation with you.

...

To start things off, we'll play a song that exemplifies Local H's hard rock roots, mild rhythmic syncopation, minor key tonality, repetitive melodic phrasing and extensive vamping.

LOL. But a cool site. I might subscribe after the free 10 hours expire. 

Or noise, if you prefer.

Thanks to the increasing bleak and wintery season, I've been getting back into dark amb and related noises.

Recent purchases have included:

Beneath The Lake - Silent Uprising (Glass Throat Recordings)
Biosphere - Autour De La Lune (Touch Records)
Ex.Order - War Within Breath (Malignant Records)
Herbst9 - Buried Under Time And Sand (Loki Foundation)
Kriegsfall-U - Kriefsfall-U (ColdSpring)
PH2 - Resource (Dark Vinyl)
Profane Grace - Cast In The Mold Of The Ancients (Memento Mori)

Out of that lot, my favourites are the throbbing noise of Ex.Order, and the ambient drones of PHD2. Most of them are good though.

Also, in a rare outing from the pit, I travelled down to the big city to go to Coldspring's 15th Anniversary party. Quite entertaining seeing some of this stuff live, and an amusing atmosphere ;). Bands were: Kriegsfall-U (good performance of tribal industrial drumming with nihilistic vocals and approach), H.E.R.R. (entertaining and varied performance of stirring military and industrial music), and Von Thronstahl (a bit disappointing, frontman has good stage presence, but too heavy metal compared to their CDs, and sound problems too).

Got some more stuff on order as well. The dark amb / noise scene is brain-achingly bewildering at times. But there's some gems to be found I think ;). 

Check out Biosphere & Dethprod - Nordheim Transformed -- very wintery dark ambient album 

First, some nearly beatless ambient - I go for the drifting, psychedelic end of the genre more than the creepy dark stuff - though I can agree that Biosphere's an absolute master.

Ishq - Orchid
Ishvara - Magik Square of the Sun
Brian Eno and Robert Fripp - The Equatorial Stars
Delerium - Spheres
Pete Namlook and Mixmaster Morris - Dreamfish (on the FAX label, home of more ambient, synth, and dub than l'll ever fully explore)
Robert Rich - Below Zero / Calling Down the Sky
Maitreya - Telluric Waves
Global Communication - 76:14
Ornament - Bleu
H.U.V.A. Network - Distances
Aphex Twin - Select Ambient Works Vol. II


Then, some not-quite-pure-ambient. Trance, dub, and downtempo with heavy ambient stylings:

Carbon Based Lifeforms - Hydroponic Garden / The Path (download here: http://carbonbasedlifeforms.net/transfer/CBL_the_path.rar )
Solar Fields - Blue Moon Station / Leaving Home
Amorphous Androgynous - Tales of Ephidrina
Electric Skychurch - Sonic Diary
Future Sound of London - Lifeforms
Hesius Dome - Farewell Waltz
Mystery of the Yeti compilation
Infinity Project - Mystical Experiences
Shulman - In Search of a Meaningful Moment
Shpongle - Are You Shpongled?
Nodens Ictus - Spacelines
Saafi Brothers - Mystic Cigarettes / Midnight's Children
Spacetime Continuum - Sea Biscuit
Gus Till - Electric Oceans
Dub Trees - Nature Never Did Betray The Heart That Loved Her

That was fun to compile. 

don't forget "hallucinogen - in dub" then! 

Propagandhi - Potemkin City Limits
http://www.propagandhi.com
Political thrash-punk at it's most anti-American.
http://www.g7welcomingcommittee.net/mp3/motorleague.mp3
http://www.g7welcomingcommittee.net/mp3/history.mp3

Jesse Dangerously - Inter Alia
http://www.dangerously.ca
Fresh and creative hip-hop exists, Halifax's best MC proves it.
http://www.dangerously.ca/tracks/jessedangerously-damagedsenses.mp3
http://www.dangerously.ca/tracks/outfoxd.mp3 

Nice Grahf, seems like we have almost the same music taste :)
I'll try to add some more great albums to this list later. Meanwhile I can already say that I own and love almost everything from the Ultimae label!
http://www.ultimae.com