Tom and Nick's Music Blog

Strand of Oaks - Pope Killdragon

2011-09-21T00:45:00.003-04:00

So I finally got around to posting this! Sorry it took me a lifetime. Anyway, bottom line is this is a wonderful listen, and one of the most replay friendly albums I've heard. Nothing hear sounds particularly foreign, but the at the same time it is unlike any other 'sad' folk album I've ever heard. The lyrics especially strike me as original for this type of music, despite being perfectly fit.

One thing I've found with this one is that while some tracks jump out right away (my personal favorite, 'Last to Swim', being the main culprit) all of these tracks have something to offer, and this album has a way of revealing itself slowly. Which is great, because I kept on wanting to go back, and I just ended up liking it more and more. Hopefully it has the same effect on you.

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Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today (2010)

2011-05-10T13:31:00.004-04:00

Oh look, I creeped your wishlist too! :P I've only listened to this once so far but from what I remember it sounds like if David Bowie made really catchy porn music. Yep.

Download v0

Bark Psychosis - Hex (1994)

2011-05-10T12:19:00.004-04:00

I've been meaning to post for a while, but I'm convinced Mediafire hates me because it never works. So I'm using Megaupload for now.

I know I've put enough post-rock on here but this is too good not to share. It was actually a review for this that coined the term "post-rock" and is considered very influential to the genre along with Talk Talk's last two albums. This is often compared especially to Talk Talk's Laughing Stock (which is one of my all-time favourites) but to me this is definitely more melancholic and atmospheric. Something tells me you'll really dig this.

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Kate Bush - The Hounds of Love

2011-02-01T18:31:00.003-05:00

So this one took some time to sink in. Its pretty accessible, but the sound wasn't something I'm used to or particularly fond of regularly. This came out in 1985, and believe me, the synths sound like it. Luckily fantastic songwriting saves it, as there are plenty of gems here. Its experimental and emotive all at once, and is carried by Kate's fantastic and unique vocal style.

The diversity here is what makes this several cuts above the 80's pop that springs to mind when you first listen. The first bit is excellent pop songwriting that is fairly easy to wrap your head around. But as the album progresses, you get more and more twisted and things get pretty daring.

While not the greatest track, Waking the Witch is pretty damn metal for a female pop album. That statement alone should tell you this woman wasn't making pop by the book.

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Galaxie 500 - On Fire

2011-02-01T18:17:00.002-05:00

So I saw that you have this wish-listed, so I thought I'd help you out and post it! It is an awesome slowcore/ dreampop album. I can't really pick any standout tracks yet except the first, though they all seem good. The whole album blends together as sort of one cohesive whole, feeling like drifting along on a cool day.

Everything is very simply put together, but this works well and it manages to create a really pleasant atmosphere with it. They call these guys slowcore, but I don't see them as close to Red House Painters or Low. They are slow, but the atmosphere is a little different by my reckoning, closer to something like My Bloody Valentine. Anway, hope you enjoy.

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Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit (2010)

2011-01-27T23:37:00.003-05:00

Each new album Agalloch releases seems to sound completely different than anyone was expecting. So it makes sense that with Marrow of the Spirit they’ve decided to do a lot of things they’ve never done before.

First off, this is definitely their heaviest album to date. Into the Painted Grey starts off with guns blazing, blast beats and tremolo riffs a plenty. It’s black metal Agalloch style, and they do it beautifully. Secondly, they’ve actually taken a step back from their work so far and actually incorporated some familiar sounds from their earlier albums. The acoustic strumming from The Mantle is all over The Watcher’s Monolith, and we have some Pale Folklore-ish electric guitar picking on Ghosts of the Midwinter Fires. For a band that has constantly changed their sound from album to album, I think that’s pretty cool.

I don’t know if this is better than The Mantle or Ashes, but it certainly comes close. The fact that they’re still putting out the best metal music out there and have been doing so for more than ten years is just awesome, and from this it doesn’t look like they plan on stopping. See you in London boys.

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PS I Love You - Meet me at the Muster Station

2010-11-12T15:57:00.004-05:00

Some more homegrown indie talent here, with an interesting sound. They're from Kingston, and have received Pitchfork's approval with this album (so you know its good!). Its amazing how big their sound is for just two guys. Facelove is an epic tune.

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Diamond Rings - Special Affections

2010-11-12T15:45:00.002-05:00

For my blog comeback, I have decided to post this gem of Toronto area indie pop. This guy is getting a lot of attention from the indie press and I think he's only going to get bigger. Not all of these tracks are great, but a few of them are irresistible pop gold. The hooks would make Lady Gaga jealous.

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Asobi Seksu - Citrus (2006)

2010-08-08T11:44:00.003-04:00

Early post since I'll be up north tomorrow. Asobi Seksu are a dream pop band from New York who are definitely influenced by the shoegaze scene. Songs like "Pink Cloud Tracing Paper" and "Red Sea" are just drowning in dreamy guitar fuzz similar to My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. However, what makes them stand out from the many new-gazers is their singer Yuki Chikudate. She is Japanese and sings in both English and Japanese on the album. For some reason I wasn't a fan of her vocals at first but I love them now so I don't know what I was thinking. Anyways I just bumped this album to a 4.5 pretty recently on RYM so I thought I'd share.

Download v2

Mediafire is being a bitch

2010-08-02T23:29:00.003-04:00

So no new album this week. Doesn't really matter since you're in Europe anyways. Instead, I give you this:

Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares - Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares (1975)

2010-07-26T17:05:00.003-04:00

So glad I discovered this. This is traditional Bulgarian folk music, which sounds very different but at the same time is instantly captivating. The choir consists of women from Bulgarian villages who have no professional vocal training, which to me is staggering as these are some of the most beautiful vocals I've ever heard. If you love vocal harmonies as much as I do, I'm sure you'll love this as well.

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Exuma - Exuma (1970)

2010-07-19T17:45:00.002-04:00

Another forgotten gem of the 70s. Exuma along with Comus helped to pioneer what would become known as "freak folk," which combines folk with more avant-garde and psychedelic forms of music. While maybe not as weird as First Utterance, this almost sounds like the Carribean's answer to it. It's tribal, soulful, and definitely freakin' amazing.

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Slint - Spiderland (1991)

2010-07-12T22:51:00.003-04:00

I first listened to this album nearly a year ago, and since then I've only listened to it maybe half a dozen times. It wasn't until listening to it today that it finally hit me how genius this album is. Spiderland was released in 1991, but feels so ahead of its time. It was extremely influential to both the math rock and post-rock genres and is considered by many to be an indie rock classic.

My favourite song here is "Washer" which is the only song that grabbed me upon first listening. As an album associated with the post-rock genre, I expected it to sound more like the genre does today. Sad, reverb-drenched guitars, huge crescendos, the like. Instead, this sounds like nothing I've heard before. The vocals for the most part are spoken-word, with some fragile singing and even some semi-harsh vocals on "Nosferatu Man." The album also has a short running time of 39 minutes, which is also a plus for me. Sometimes the best albums are the ones that don't take an hour or more to make their point, leaving you wanting more.

Wow my reviews are long now.

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Tim Buckley - Starsailor (1970)

2010-07-05T19:37:00.001-04:00

I know an album will become one of my favourites when I'm always in the mood to listen to it soon after discovering it. This is the case with Tim Buckley's Starsailor. From looking at the album cover, you'd expect a pretty laid-back, feel-good folk album from the 70s. Looks, however, can be deceiving.

From the first few seconds of the album you know it's going to be weird. Tim has a very unique voice that can sound haunting or batshit insane, but always beautiful. Songs like "Monterey" and "Jungle Fire" revolve around repeating guitar riffs mixed with frantic, jazz-like drumming. The title track is probably the weirdest thing here, a primarily vocal piece that sounds like something Can would do. The record's most famous song is "Song to the Siren" which you might recognize since it's been covered by many artists including This Mortal Coil and John Frusciante.

While more avant-garde than most singer/songwriter fare, Starsailor is an album that instantly grabbed me despite being much different than I expected. I still haven't heard Jeff Buckley's Grace yet, but when I do it will have this album by his dad to live up to.

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Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness (2008)

2010-07-05T18:38:00.004-04:00

Alright so here I am posting on a Monday like I said I would. Also I'm not going to bother with YouTube previews anymore 'cause I don't like how even the smallest-sized window takes up a ton of space.

So here is my favourite album of 2008: Deathconsciousness by Have a Nice Life. I've been listening to it since it was released, but it didn't become one of my favourite albums until fairly recently. Whether this was because of it's length (it's a double album with a running time approaching an hour and a half) or just the fact that it is so different from anything I had heard at the time I'm not sure.

It really is a unique album. The fact that they have been able to find their sound on their first album is amazing to say the least. Favourite tracks include Hunter, a longer track that slowly builds with its infectious drum rhythm, as well as Deep, Deep, an angry post-punk anthem with washes of dreamy synths during the chorus. But really the entire album is fantastic.

This album is pretty obscure, as the band doesn't even have a Wikipedia page (edit: they actually do have one now but didn't until June 30th of this year) and it's possible that it was made in some dude's basement. But the fact that it is one of my favourite albums really goes to show that good music doesn't always come from signing to a big studio and spending a ton of cash to make a professional recording. It really is the future of music, too bad most of the world isn't ready for it yet.

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Woodhands - Remorsecapade

2010-06-28T23:06:00.002-04:00

I really enjoyed these guys live show, and picked up this CD when I saw them. It's a pretty fun album, and has a couple really solid tracks. Nothing mind blowing, but enjoyable. Funny cover too.

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Current 93 - All the Pretty Little Horses

2010-06-28T22:54:00.004-04:00

I adore this album, although Current 93's neo-folk stuff can be difficult to get into. I know you've heard I Have a Special Plan... but this one is much, much different stylistically. I hope you enjoy it, although I can see it not being you're cup of tea.

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P.S. Love the new layout, looks really sharp. Next we need a more inventive name and a logo on the picture! And eventually our blog will conquer all... in due time...

Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You (2001)

2010-06-28T15:41:00.003-04:00

This wasn't really what I was expecting, but it is slowly growing on me. I discovered it when I saw it was ranked really high on my RYM top albums list as rated by my friends (#11 to be exact). Personally I think the post-hardcore tag is kind of a misnomer, as their isn't much hardcore to be found here at all. I'd say it is more like dark, depressing indie rock while still being quite a bit livelier than slowcore. Don't expect it to hit you right away, but it really is great.

Preview: "Treachery"

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New layout bitches

2010-06-28T15:31:00.002-04:00

Tell me if you likey. Also from now on I'm going to try and post an album every Monday 'cause it sounds like a cool idea. Plus I'm going to start including "previews" by posting a YouTube vid of a song from the album 'cause it comes in handy on other blogs I've been to. If you want to start doing it too just find a song on YouTube, click Embed and then copy-paste the code it gives you into your post. Have fun! :3

Nujabes - Metaphorical Music (2003)

2010-04-21T13:04:00.003-04:00

This is one of my favourite hip hop albums, and I'm not just hyping it 'cause he died. The guest rappers aren't amazing but they do their part; where this album really shines is the beats. No one made beats as soulful and creative as this man did. It's sad that he's gone, he will be missed by many.

R.I.P. Jun Seba aka Nujabes: February 19, 1974 - February 26, 2010

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Guided by Voices - Bee Thousand (1994)

2010-04-21T12:57:00.002-04:00

An indie rock classic that has grown on me immensely since I first heard it. The songs here are quite short but they're so damn catchy that I love most of them now. It's REALLY lo-fi, I've heard black metal albums that sound better than this but in this case it works really well. Probably one of my favourite albums of the 90s.

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Animal Collective - Feels (2005)

2010-04-21T01:21:00.002-04:00

The song the guys were playing at the bar on Monday was Banshee Beat, and it's actually my favourite song on here. This sounds totally different from MPP, I'm pretty sure there's no electronics here at all. It's definitely...weird, but I love it and you seem to like freak folk so let's give it a shot.

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Alcest - Écailles de lune (2010)

2010-04-20T23:49:00.001-04:00

Don't know if you have this yet but here it is, I think I prefer Souvenirs but this is still a fantastic follow-up.

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Low - I Could Live in Hope

2010-04-12T18:43:00.005-04:00

Considered a classic slowcore album. I have their whole discography downloaded, so if you like this and want more let me know.

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Red House Painters - Red House Painters (Rollercoaster)

2010-04-12T18:33:00.003-04:00

A remarkable album with some of my favorite material Mark Kozelek ever created. Katy Song is an absolute classic, and the rest of the tunes all have a lot to offer.

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Sparklehorse - Good Morning Spider

2010-04-12T18:30:00.004-04:00

This is the band of that guy who just died a little while ago. Really good stuff aside from a few forgettable songs.

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Big Black - Songs About Fucking (1987)

2010-03-31T22:12:00.003-04:00

It looks like it belongs on one of those worst album covers lists but it's actually really good.

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Coil - The Ape of Naples (2005)

2010-03-31T22:06:00.004-04:00

This blog isn't dead yet! This is my first and only Coil album so far, and it's pretty awesome.

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Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light

2010-01-21T12:01:00.003-05:00

I really like this album. Some of the songs don't really go anywhere and are a bit of a bore, but the good tracks (Epilepsy is Dancing) are fantastic. Some really beautiful music, with a really unique voice.

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A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (1991) & Midnight Marauders (1993)

2010-01-19T00:19:00.003-05:00

And to continue with the hip hop trend on the blog, a double shot of the Tribe. Both albums are considered classics of 90s hip hop.

The Low End Theory: Download v0

Midnight Marauders: Download v0

Shiina Ringo - Karuki Zamen Kuri no Hana (2003)

2010-01-18T23:50:00.003-05:00

Amazing Japanese art pop with lovely vocals and a unique blending of multiple genres. This album basically made my summer ten times more awesome.

Download v0

P.S.: Tagged in Japanese but the English titles are on Wikipedia if you prefer.

Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star

2010-01-11T21:02:00.002-05:00

More Mos Def and this time with another killer emcee in Talib Kweli. Some very good tunes on this one, Definition being my favorite.

download

Mos Def - Black on Both Sides

2010-01-06T00:19:00.002-05:00

The definitive Mos Def album, and a hip hop classic so I am told.

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Mos Def - The Ecstatic

2010-01-05T23:42:00.002-05:00

Just bought this CD because it was cheap, and it's really good, I'd personally say it's pretty close to Black on Both Sides. Hopefully gonna see his show in Toronto with DOOM.

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Talk Talk - Laughing Stock (1991)

2009-11-12T23:55:00.002-05:00

One of my all-time favourites. The whole album takes me places, but New Grass especially is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.

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William Basinski - The Disintegration Loops II (2003)

2009-11-12T23:38:00.003-05:00

This is really cool, I'm pretty sure I mentioned this guy to you before and I was surprised you had never heard of him. I finally got around to listening to one of the albums in his Disintegration Loops series, and I'd explain the background around these albums but I found an article that does it better than I ever could here. If you like this I'll try and hunt down the other three albums and put them up too.

Download 160

Ocean Beach - Red House Painters

2009-11-12T21:21:00.003-05:00

In my opinion a severely underrated album by them. I easily like it as much as there first two (and most acclaimed) albums, and it has one of my favorite RHP songs, Shadows. Not as dark as the first two, but still has a melancholy edge.

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Lost Verses Live - Mark Kozelek

2009-10-31T23:24:00.003-04:00

This guy is an awe-inspiring songwriter, and this album is proof. I can drift away to this like nothing else.

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The Antlers - Hospice (2009)

2009-10-31T22:16:00.003-04:00

This one's really good, and as you saw it's my favourite album of the year behind MPP. Most of the songs here are quite beautiful, and it has a pretty neat lyrical concept too if you're into that kinda thing.

Download 256

Clark - Totems Flare (2009)

2009-10-31T22:12:00.002-04:00

Had this one on my list of albums from this year to listen to, and now I'm mad that I waited so long to listen to it. Very intense yet catchy IDM, my favourite tracks are Growls Garden, Rainbow Voodoo, and Future Daniel. Plus the production will blow you away.

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Sweet Trip - Velocity : Design : Comfort (2003)

2009-10-18T16:14:00.002-04:00

This criminally underrated album has become a new favourite of mine. It effortlessly switches from glitchy IDM a la Venetian Snares to shoegaze-inspired pop songs while remaining very cohesive as a whole. I can't really explain it better than that, just listen.

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Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it In People (2002)

2009-10-15T18:54:00.005-04:00

One of my favourite indie rock albums. "Anthems for a Seventeen-Year Old Girl" followed by "Cause = Time" are two of the best back-to-back songs I've heard on any album.

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Elliott Smith - Either/Or

2009-10-14T22:57:00.002-04:00

Been listening to this constantly lately. It's amazing.

Download

Francois-Eudes Chanfrault

2009-10-14T22:20:00.003-04:00

A very eerie soundtrack to one of the best horror movies I've ever seen. We'll have to check the movie out sometime as well.

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David Sylvian - Secrets of the Beehive

2009-10-14T22:11:00.002-04:00

Very cool melancholy album that is hard to describe stylistically. The Boy with the Gun is a favourite of mine.

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Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister (1996)

2009-10-11T22:37:00.002-04:00

A fun little album I find myself playing a lot.

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I See A Darkness - Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

2009-10-01T22:53:00.005-04:00

The first Country-ish album I found myself really enjoying. Might be a new thing. Damn this guy can write a dark tune.

Edit: Changed link, hopefully works now.

Download

maudlin of the Well

2009-09-27T21:32:00.003-04:00

Bath and Leaving Your Body Map are "companion albums" that were both released in 2001. I'd recommend listening to Bath first; not only is it a tad more accessible but when you look at the interludes it's clear that Bath should be treated as the first album (Interludes 1 and 2 are on Bath, and Interludes 3 and 4 are on LYBM).

Bath (v0)

Leaving Your Body Map (v0)

Also, you can download their new album Part the Second from their website here. It was a fan-funded project and thus was released on the internet by the band for free. It's available in mp3 v0, FLAC, and WAV formats.

Stendeck - Faces (2007)

2009-09-27T15:15:00.002-04:00

Awesome IDM with industrial influences. The more I listen to it, the more I like it.

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Burial - Untrue

2009-09-22T07:49:00.000-04:00

Back in action! My favorite electronic album. Really minimal, but effective.

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Bohren & der Club of Gore - Black Earth (2002)

2009-08-04T21:12:00.000-04:00

BLOG REVIVAL

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Current 93 - I Have a Special Plan for This World (2000)

2009-07-08T15:54:00.000-04:00

Turn out the lights. Put on your headphones. Shit bricks.

Download 256

Anaal Nathrakh - Eschaton

2009-07-07T21:26:00.001-04:00

I dunno if you've checked these guys out yet, but you definitely should! They combine all the best elements of extreme metal in my opinion. Among the best metal bands out there today.

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Kashiwa Daisuke - Program Music I (2007)

2009-07-07T13:38:00.000-04:00

Electronic meets modern classical. A "glitch orchestra" as I've heard someone describe it. Great night music.

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Infidel?/Castro! - Bioentropic Damage Fractal (2005)

2009-07-07T01:06:00.000-04:00

I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this one yet. I know I like it though. Unlike anything you've ever heard, that's for sure.

Download v0

Max Richter - Memoryhouse

2009-07-06T22:15:00.000-04:00

Amazing classical ambient album. Actually kind of addicting.

Download

Peccatum - Lost in Reverie

2009-07-06T00:27:00.000-04:00

Well, I don't know too much about these guys and have only heard a few tracks off this, but what I heard sounded interesting. Usually Ihsahn makes good stuff, so hopefully that carries through to this.

Peccatum - Lost in Reverie

Boris

2009-06-30T21:12:00.000-04:00

Well, here's a whole whack of Boris for ya. As you probably already know, their discography is pretty big, but I think this covers the essentials. You get the best of their dronier stuff (Amplifier Worship, Flood, and Feedbacker), their stoner rock stuff (Heavy Rocks, Akuma no Uta, and Pink) and their psychedelic stuff (Rainbow and Smile). Hope you enjoy it.

1998 - Amplifier Worship

2000 - Flood

2002 - Heavy Rocks

2003 - Akuma no Uta

2003 - Boris at Last -Feedbacker-

2005 - Pink

2007 - Rainbow (w/ Michio Kurihara)

2008 - Smile (US Version)

Agalloch - The White (EP) (2008)

2009-06-30T11:12:00.000-04:00

Download

Welcome

2009-06-29T15:23:00.000-04:00

Hey Nick, welcome to our music blog! I'll just explain how to upload albums onto here so we can get things rolling.

Firstly, you'll have to compress the album folder into either a .zip or .rar file. I think I remember you saying that you don't have WinRAR so I'll compress mine in .zip for you. With WinRAR you do this by right-clicking on the folder and clicking "add to archive" so it should be something similar.

Now we can upload the file. You can use either Mediafire or Megaupload, but I'll probably be using Mediafire cause I like it better. It's pretty straightforward on both sites how to upload, just browse for the file on your computer and upload it. Once it's done, you can post the link on this blog and we're good to go.