The Monks "Black Monk Time"

Formed in mid 60s, in Germany, this garage rock phenomenon is usually acclaimed as one of the best garage rock bands and a good proto-punk example too. They're considered by many music critics and musicians as a great 60's obligatory garage rock reference. I think they sure deserve to be in Rock & Roll's Hall of Fame. They're still active, since they reunited in 1999.
This album, "Black Monk Time" was their first and only album released. Their label by that time was Polydor Records.
The track list is the following:
1. "Monk Time" – 2:42
2. "Shut Up" – 3:11
3. "Boys Are Boys and Girls Are Choice" – 1:23
4. "Higgle-Dy-Piggle-Dy" – 2:28
5. "I Hate You" – 3:32
6. "Oh, How to Do Now" – 3:14
7. "Complication" – 2:21
8. "We Do Wie Du" – 2:09
9. "Drunken Maria" – 1:44
10. "Love Came Tumblin' Down" – 2:28
11. "Blast Off!" – 2:12
12. "That's My Girl" – 2:24

The album's lenght is 28 minutes and 28 seconds. My favourite songs are: "Shut Up", "I Hate You" and "Higgle-Dy-Piggle-Dy"(although I also admit the whole album itself is a "must" for any rock fan).
You can get the album right here.

The Monks getting their first signature haircuts in the 60's.

Also, listen to the following song "I Hate You":

Burzum "Hlidskjalf"

This album was composed by Varg Vikernes, Burzum's frontman, while he was in prison due to: the murder of Euronymous, former guitarist of Mayhem; and the arson of several churches in Norway. It was released in 1999. He made this entire album only by using synths. It's marvelous, seriously...
The track list is the following:

1.	"Tuistos Herz" (Tuisto's Heart)	6:13
2.	"Der Tod Wuotans" (The Death of Wotan)	6:43
3.	"Ansuzgardaraiwô" (Warriors of Asgard)	4:28
4.	"Die Liebe Nerþus'" (Nerthus' Love)	2:14
5.	"Frijôs einsames Trauern" (The Lonesome Mourning of Frigg)	6:15
6.	"Einfühlungsvermögen" (The Power of Empathy)	3:55
7.	"Frijôs goldene Tränen" (Frigg's Golden Tears)	2:38
8.	"Der weinende Hadnur" (The Crying Höðr)	1:16

My favourite tracks are: "Ansuzgardaraiwô", "Der Tod Wuotans" and also "Frijôs goldene Tränen". The album's lenght is 33 minutes and 42 seconds. It was released on the label entitled Misanthropy.
The album can be downloaded here. This is a great album, one of the best dark ambient albums I've heard lately.

Below, as a preview, you can hear "Ansuzgardaraiwô":

Designer Drugs "Datamix 05"

Designer Drugs are a duo from New York. Their genre is electro. Recognized as one of the best upcoming electro groups, these guys make awesome remixes and fine tunes, teaching people a lesson about nightclubbing.
They recently produced a free compilation for all you electro fans and it's available for free on their myspace. It's called "Datamix 05".
You can download it here.

The duo, as you can see.

You can hear one of their best tracks "Zombies" right below this text:

[upcoming bands] Crisis

CRISIS are from Porto (in Portugal). Their music is somewhere in between hardcore and electro. Pure electro nihilism, it makes you want to rave until you're dead meat. Their members are: the Nihilist (vocals), Jack Diamond (vocals + noise instructor) and last, but not least, Anacobra (audiovisual machines). If you're into bands/musicians/artists like: Crystal Castles, The Prodigy, Kap Bambino, Ratatat, Gallows and Hot Cross, you'll seriously enjoy these people.
Their songs feature some stuff like: samples from a video of 12-year-old pre-teens talking about acid trips (a classic 60s video on youtube, Black Lips also sampled this stuff, haha), Nirvana samples, 8bit mixed tunes, hardcore vocals, kap bambino-ish vocals sometimes. Well, you guess that this seems to be a cool combo, that struggles and shows us that anger is also a different form of energy.
They'll release pretty soon their debut EP (so you better get focused on this band).
Check them out on their myspace here.

Cass McCombs "A"

Cass McCombs deserves more attention: he's a great musician. Inovating in the folk and alt country fields, this album has received critical acclaim (the album he released in 2007, "Dropping the Writ" was nominated by Amazon as one of 2007's best albums too). Oh, you should also check his official website for some more info, perhaps.
The track list is the following:

1. "I Went to the Hospital" - 5:14
2. "Bobby, King of Boys Town" - 3:47
3. "What Isn't Nature" - 4:48
4. "Aids in Africa" - 5:42
5. "A Comedian Is Someone Who Tells Jokes" - 3:30
6. "Gee, It's Good to Be Back Home" - 2:59
7. "Meet Me Here at Dawn" - 3:39
8. "When the Bible Was Wrote" - 4:06
9. "My Pilgrim Dear" - 4:50
10. "Bedding Down Post Xmas Time" - 3:54
11. "My Master" - 4:20

My favourite tracks are: "What Isn't Nature", "My Master" and "Aids in Africa". The album's lenght is around 47 minutes, I think. It was released on Monitor Records (now he's signed to Domino Records, by the way).
I got to know this artist's music thanks to a pro skateboarder's part in a video of the DVS Shoe Company. The song that played on the pro's [Jason Dill] part was "What Isn't Nature" and it imediatly got stuck in my head. It's original, authentic and seems to be lost in many musical genres, being a misfit among folk music. It's melodic and melancholic and somewhat nostalgic too.
Just listen to the album by downloading it right here.

You can hear the song "What Isn't Nature" next, as a preview do Cass' music (in case you didn't know it):