3/31/2012
Ryonkt - The World That Was Surrounded By A Deep Forest And Warm Light (2008)
/Space rock, Dream pop, Ambient, Crossover, Minimalism, Space folk/
Comment: Ryo Nakata aka Ryonkt is a Japanese musician who provides a 4-track issue. It involves the aspects of minimal ambient, spacious rock/folk, and bottomless dream pop (at least the lonesome chords or doleful, lingering riffs played on a guitar and amplified with the applications of digital sound processing). And of course, it is minimally structured and played on repetitive elements which in turn will be complemented with new yet almost invisible bits - less is more. In any cases, there is enough room between the margins of chords to unleash your dreams and positive feelings.
Stark Effect - Mic In Track (2003)
/Experimental electronica, Breakbeat, Indietronica, Hip-hop, Conceptual, Weird pop, Cut and paste, Crossover, Breaks, Sampledelic, Experimentalism, Avant-garde/
Comment: Stark Effect`s music ranges across a multitude of aspects of electronic music - from lush and relaxing electronica to more brooding and whimsical endeavours regarding the rhythms and upper layers which are infiltrated with spoken word snippets and humour (for instance, Bunnyrabbits, Satan, Cheese And Milk). Or Stop! I`m Watching TV which crosses the loops of guitar twangs with chopped paces and the entitled assertion thus blending indie, hip-hop, and funny glimpses with each other. There are up 5 notches wrapped up in 18 minutes. In a word, it is a quite weird, unconventional shit. It is not surprising at all because it is allowed to be issued on the legendary Comfort Stand.
I6NOIR - Death Wears Stripes (2011)
/Shoegaze, Dark wave, Neoclassical, Neofolk, EBM, Noir folk, Crossover, Experimental rock/
Comment: the debut album of Remo Randver`s project involves 14 tracks which take on murky themes built predominantly on the scope of hirsute guitars lines or lush string-relied strumming and gloomy synth sequences mixing up lofty dark wave-ish vistas with ethereal shoegaze-ish panoramas and neofolk/apocalyptic folk/noir folk-ish restart points and EBM-alike brooding. At times there is represented somehow calculated and feigned angriness or anxiousness, though mostly it is dominated by organic full of feeling streaming. The Estonian musician`s oeuvre reminds mainly of the doings by Lycia, Trance to the Sun, Wings of an Angel, Art Abscons, Scarlet Leaves. In a word, its is qualitative on its core and its peripheral creases.
3/30/2012
Comptroller - Comptroller (2010)
Bandcamp
9.3
9.3
/8-bit, Breakcore, Noise, Chiptune, Electro pop, Experimental electronica, Avant-electronica, Tracker music, Nintendocore, Chipbreak/
Comment: it is hinted at that Comptroller lives in Edinburgh, Scotland and makes music exploiting old machines (Nintendo Game Boy, Commodore 64). His 10-track, self-titled album is fabulous thanks to permanently variegating rhythmic patterns, intriguing dodges and forays, and glowering, a little dark-sided propulsions. Sometimes it sounds rather like an electro-drenched indie/experimental pop group, however, having similarities with the likes of Suicide, The Silver Apples, or Clinic (for instance, Low Point). On the other side, Red Room is a chiptune-soaked counterpoint to drum and bass artists like Dillinja, and Panacea. Indeed, the progression schemes running on it into an exulting noise cave are highly up to level. Thirdly (or is it already fourthly?) it involves the bows of intense yet elegant gliding electro music. In a word, this is a bully publication by any means.
Emme - Eravamo Come Non Saremo Piu' (2012)
/Alt-folk, Dream folk, Organic electronica, Singer-songwriter, Experimental folk, Indie folk, Art folk/
Comment: there are up a bunch of sophisticated folk songs by Matteo Micheletti from Italy who offers up acoustic, string-based layers which are densely spiced up with the undercurrents of sonic effects (predominantly reverse effects) and the splinters of organic electronics. All the ditties are sung in Italian being produced and accomplished as dreamy and longing and bucolic ones. Micheletti as an artist and singer-songwriter can be compared with the likes of Artwood, Barbagallo, Nick Rivera, Winstonmcnamara, and Menion all the artists originating from the Apennine peninsula.
Dancefloor Outlaws - Ghetto Funk EP (2012)
/R`n`b, Bhangra, Plunderphonics, Hiptronica, Soul, Sound collage, Hip-hop, Urban music, Rap, Breaks, Club dance, Crossover/
Comment: the sonic pranksters Will Streetwise and Robin Parris aka Dancefloor Outlaws from UK provide a set of 4 tracks which used to bounce and shoot, mixing tightly up club vibes with the templates of black urban music (r`n`b, soul, hiptronica).In a word, everyone who is listening to it is inclined to dance and groove. Moreover, the listener can detect lots of familiar moments/artists from within the whole because it chirps like a sort of mixtape.
3/24/2012
Balam Acab - Downloads (2010)
Lastfm
9.5
9.5
/Post-dubstep, Witch house, Dreamwave, Drag house, Trianglecore, Avant-electronica, Experimental electronica/
Comment: Alec Koone aka Balam Acab is a musician who does not to be closely introduced, though. During the last years he has meritedly gained huge popularity due to his issues such as See Birds, and Wander/Wonder through the blogosphere and the year`s top rankings. There are up two ditties (See Birds, Heavy Living Things) which are ethereal and dreamy yet somehow malignant and ghastly on their own. The listener can detect irresistible glacial glow-alike glimpses coming forth from within the thick wall of bewitching smog. Indeed, Alec Koone is a glimmering part of the (post-) dubstep and witch house/drag house movement.
àrbore & apenino - Animals Are Not Things! (2012)
/Free folk, Dream folk, Musique concrète, New Weird Europe, Psych-folk, New Weird Spain, Freak folk/
Comment: Rafael Romero aka àrbore (guitars), and apenino (ukeleles) are the troubadours from Spain who have dedicated this 14-album to animals who are killed, vivisected, served as clothing, trained/tortured for entertainment and so on for every day. The purpose of the artists is to convince us, the listeners become vegan. Sonically it is a quite austere pursuit chiming organically and seamlessly. More profoundly, thoughtful acoustic guitar chord sequences are mixed up with concrete sounds including the voices of domestic animals. Sometimes àrbore whistles in the middle of dominantly instrumental compositions, changing chords and tonalities or playing on minimally shaped patterns and repetitive explorations. Furthermore, at Ngetal, and Tini Mandarini the duo is inclined to enter into a more obscure psych-folk plot. The general result is bucolic and innocent. In a word, an enjoyable one by any means. By the way, there are up a pair of covers originally created by Bill Callahan, and The Silver Jews.
Flying Monkeys - Random Songs From 2005 (2005)
Lastfm
9.0
9.0
/Punk rock, Alternative, DIY, Lo-fi, Hardcore punk, Oi! punk/
Comment: Flying Monkeys was a Chicago-based punk group consisting of Riot Cross, and Calvin Chaos aka Xombie Panic. Their sound is truly lo-fi, rough, and dirty, more concretely, all of that is recorded on a 4-track recorder and sounding like having it done without exploiting any plugs and other "normal" devices. Yet, their DIY-aesthetics is highly charming, suggestive, and even exulting now and then involving the elements of oi!, and hardcore-esque noodling at a high frequency. In a word, these 10 short-running blasts (spreaded out over 13 minutes) are worth to be checked out for.
3/23/2012
Bob Ostertag - Say No More (2011)
/Improvised music, Avant-garde, Noise, Experimentalism, Free jazz, Chamber music/
Comment: originally these two long-running compositions were created approximately 20 years ago with the help of such legends as Joey Baron (percussion), Mark Dresser (bass), Phil Minton (vocal), and Gerry Hemingway (percussion). Initially the layers of the compositions were played in and recorded apart from each other and later elaborated and brushed up by Bob Ostertag and thereafter sent back to the musicians to learn their parts. The collective was born in this way. However, the outlet is very intense, noisy, and abrasive being immersed in various stylistic elements - extending from dizzy drumming snippets and Minton`s mad vowel/lycanthropic improvisations to few more subdued incantations embellished with the elements of chamber music all of that is wrapped up with the electro-acoustic ambiance. In a word, it sounds like a punk record within the plot of jazz world. In fact, it is much worth if to juxtapose it to a point on the average punk record scale.
Huixtralizer - Rasguño EP (2012)
A.M.P-RECS
9.1
9.1
/Dark ambient, Ambient noise, Avant-garde, Illbient, Experimental electronica, Noise/
Comment: Josè Soberanes aka Huixtralizer, an experimental music producer from Tula, Mexico provides 3 tracks which used to run on dirty, unpolished pathways made up of subdued (though, it is maliciously harsh now and then) noise and ambient, or even veering away the tendencies of subtle borealic vibes and scintillations (like Tim Hecker`s albums in the beginning of 00s). It can be assured the whole can be perceived lush and noiseful simultaneously. The issue is released on the legendary A.M.P-RECS.
Power Animal - Exorcism (2012)
Human Kindness Overflowing
Crash Symbols
9.4
Crash Symbols
9.4
/Experimental indie, Post-psychedelic electronica, Leftfield, Glo-fi, Alternative, Electronic pop, Poptronica, Sampledelic/
Comment: there are up 11 tracks which used to occasion lots of damnable vivid moments and miraculous feelings coming out from within me. It is neither pure electronic pop nor clear-cut indie pop - it is laid down somewhere in between. It is not even a chillwave/glo-fi act, it rather resembles of the sample-based/sampledelic works by The Avalanches or something like that which used to build on conspicuous warped pop visions. The project comes out from Philadelphia, USA. It is truly suggestive and enthralling now and then.
3/22/2012
Nick R 61 - X (2009)
/Broken beats, Breakcore, Tracker music, Experimental electronica, Noise, Spoken word, Chiptune, 8-bit, Avant-electronica/
Comment: Nick R 61 is a producer from Shakhty, Russia, who used to explore electronic music from different point of views. More concretely, he explores glitch-filled electronica, tumultuous noise, high frequency broken beats, and even frantic 8-bit pathways. X is a patchwork involving all the aforementioned elements, yet, there is one farcelike development based on a phone call with bad language in Russian, and playing on abrasive, off-beat frequencies, and noise-doused chopped electronica (108). Furthermore, even the string-induced textures getting developed into a border area of folktronica are to appear over there (IP I2-IV-I96I).
Voyageurs - WHITE MOON RECORDINGS SINGLES CLUB (2011)
/Psych-rock, Experimental rock, Trance rock, Krautrock, Psychedelia, Shoegaze/
Comment: every following step by Voyageurs, a Fayetteville, Arkansas-based combo is worth to be listened to. Their psych-fused, repetition-heavy patterns and shapes used to create lots of moods and dilate the space around the listener. This time the abovementioned styles are interspersed with the elements of shoegaze and krautrock, especially at those spots regarding ethereal vocal lines and lopsided, elliptical yet repetitive trajectores, respectively. These two pieces (Big Ritual, The Distance) are thought for those melomans who are got involved in listening to Spacemen 3, Serena Maneesh, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and other such kind of musical groups.
Tembryo - Tremblaya (2012)
/Free jazz, Avant-garde, Noise, Improvised music, Experimentalism, Crossover/
Comment: there are up three parts, however, all of them are tightly subjected to the algorithms of improvisational music. The case is not only about free jazz but also about progressions and appearances taking on gritty noiseful bits and chords and obscure yet freeing electronic explorations. In a word, the intention of the release can be delineated as a pigeonhole due to cross lush noise and optimally dispensed experimentation with each other. Tembryo is a trio from Prague, Czech Republic experimenting with the assistance of tenor saxophone, electric guitar, and cassette player/previously recorded sounds. All of that is performed as a live session. Truly plausible and satisfying. The project`s music can be compared to the likes of Borbetomagus, and some works by Bob Ostertag, Zloty Dawai, Vulcan Sessions.
Myles Coyne - I Love You Mom (2012)
Mine All Mine
Mine All Mine
8.7
/Anti-folk, Lo-fi, DIY, Singer-songwriter, Alt-folk/
Mine All Mine
8.7
/Anti-folk, Lo-fi, DIY, Singer-songwriter, Alt-folk/
Comment: "homesick blues", singer-songwriter/folk songs. Just a guitar, harmonica, recorder, and hotblooded/or even hysterical singing. The set of 7 tracks involves lots of energy around there which at times used to evolve into more synergical moments and frantic outbursts. The ending track Chapter Three used to run on piano drops, however, being more contemplative and profound than the rest of the songs. Very beautiful, being the outstanding glimpse on it for me. In conclusion, not bad at all.
Skanderani - Bastard Jingles (2009)
/Reggae, Dub, Crossover, Psychedelic, World music, Experimentalism/
Comment: just three pieces which take on reggae and some World music-confluenced progressions and outlets. Furthermore, psychedelic influences used to be strong and profound reminding of peripheral dub rock sounds either. You can compare it to the likes of Primal Scream, or Asian Dub Foundation, for instance (Sinai Express). Or on the other side, sultry yet gloomy Mariachi-alike themes are shuffled with tabla rhythms and vinyl crackling (Baraka). The last notch Al Moussaouri meanders on rough, resonating bass chords and dusty reed organ-induced vibes and quacks. In a word, the issue having created by Ahmed Moussa is truly viable and consistent.
Ergo Phizmiz - Music For Your Party (2012)
Ergo Phizmiz
9.4
9.4
/Plunderphonics, Experimental electronica, Electro pop, Sound collage, Cut and paste, Experimentalism, Avant-garde/
Comment: Ergo Phizmiz, one of the most eminent plunderphonics/sound collage artists is back with his brand new one. There are up 6 tracks which used to extend from propulsive, rhythmic electronica and emotionally gushy, bubbling electro gears and ominously sounding samples to spoken word snippets and orchestrated outtakes shuffled around. Catchy and convincing on any scales.
3/21/2012
Joey Ripps - For The Minute (2011)
blocSonic
Free Music Archive
Lastfm
9.2
/Urban music, Hip-hop, Rap/
Free Music Archive
Lastfm
9.2
/Urban music, Hip-hop, Rap/
Comment: there are up 6 notches which are about hip-hop and rap through and through. Intense yet gritty mc-ing is backed up with more or less sultry backdrops, more or less undulating synth floatations- samples and soul and funky-soaked vibes. In a word, Joey Ribbs demonstrates his proficiency to select and manage the samples.
Kyoto - Lo que vuelve para vengarse (2010)
/Shoegaze, Progressive rock, Art rock, Alternative rock, Experimental indie, Space pop, Psychedelia, Post-rock, Avant-rock/
Comment: Kyoto, a Zaragoza, Spain-based collective pushes off with dizzy cosmic and shoegaze fused guitars-drums-keyboards. A truly eargasmic moment by any means. The following pieces used to continue with the controlled dizziness, more concretely, rocking off with acidic keyboards and intriguing female timbres and singing in Spanish reminding a little of Electrelane. The ditties are characterized by lush textures and murky melodies, spatial gliding and suggestive harmonies. Or endlessly longing interludes like Hasta La Eternidad headed by harmonica-induced motives and drifting ambiances around it. A fabulous issue indeed. In a word, it is our progressive rock, a qualitative next step after Pink Floyd.
Kent State - Walk Through Walls (2011)
/Shoegaze, Psych-rock, Noise rock, Avant-rock, Psychedelia, Experimental indie, Alternative rock/
Comment: Nicholas Vance-led project takes on the aesthetics of wall of noise, obsessive glowering guitar mayhem, and sonorous cellophane guitar pop and makes it up in a great way. It is noisy, it is sharp, it is smart simultaneously. Seductive as usual through its powerful psychotic grooves and exulting ridges and riffs. Indeed, though it might seem even simple it punches the listener`s heart and soul. Psychedelic death pop as some of them used to hint at one of the most eminent musical groups at the moment.
3/19/2012
Raindeer - Moonstruck EP (2011)
Bandcamp
9.3
9.3
/Poptronica, Experimental indie, Disco pop, DIY, Electronic pop, Synth wave, Electro pop, Glo-fi/
Comment: firstly, the coverprint is fabulous, incorporating nowadays and vintage tendencies, glamour and old-fashioned signs. Indeed, similarly to the sleeve this 6-piece issue showcases its borderless playfulness - all those highly effusive, at times retrodelic synth riffs and bubbling synth vibes are embellished with fragile yet somehow whimsical vocal lines and gliding, light-hearted electronica. On the other side, Apocalyptic Love runs on massive disco pop propulsions and stroboscope rays. In a word, this Baltimore-based musical collective provides an impressive glam-fi vision. In any cases, I used to believe in that. It is sexy, it is charming, it is compelling.
The Underscore Orkestra - Balancing Act (2012)
Comment: an amusing, one-track appearance reminding of the heydays of vaudevillean, highly swinging pop. Indeed, it used to be a quite authentic representation of it. It involves an array of tempo changes (from very slow to very fast moments) and harmonica-laden chirps which play on a suggestive motif. The notch is sung by female and male voices, thereby creating a lot of pleasant contrasts between the different sides of the piece. The track can be considered an example of a simulacra, yet, it is not because it is very good, i.e being without any deviations.
Phopha - The Bus (2008)
/Electronic pop, Found sound, Trip-hop, Musique concrète, Crossover, Modern classical/
Comment: bubbling synth propulsions or more trip-hop/breakbeat-laden rhythms are either set below the piano drops or found sound/street sound-drenched synth and cathedral organ-driven progressions. At times the outlet is more picturesque, sometimes more restraint in its quite onerous developments. The last track exploits a template of rhythm as if melancholic piano driven and Kraftwerk-esque synth whiffs fused pop were mixed up with bhangra-influenced breakbeat punches. In conclusion, this 7-track issue is well composed and accomplished. The project originates from Czech Republic.
3/17/2012
Brain - The Dogs Side B (2010)
/DIY, Lo-fi, Primitronica, Alt-folk, Psychedelia, Anti-folk, Weird folk, Free folk, Experimentalism, Freeformfreakout/
Comment: these 11 tracks can be considered drunken songs somewhere around the campfire - as we have been having knowledge such kind of action can be appealing at least since Animal Collective`s Campfire Songs. It extends from expanding, in unison produced guitar and vocals in chorus and ferocious guitar strumming to synth-driven instrumental compositions, however, all of that is surrounded with a remarkable amount of gritty, rough hiss. The last track The Dogs is a truly demented one, involving and replacing the elements of electronic cuts and warped folk music and looped rhythm sections and sampledelic bits to each other. In a word, it is a weird shit by Captain Missouri, and C. Russel Lewis. In any cases, the more you listen to it the more beloved it gets for the listener. For instance, 03 (Folding) is an absorbing ditty. In conclusion, The Dogs Side B is a pop and anti pop album at the same time. Is it provoking? Definitely yes.
They Stay Dead - Cursed (2011)
Death To False Hope
Bandcamp
8.0
/Hardcore punk, Pop punk, Hair rock/
Bandcamp
8.0
/Hardcore punk, Pop punk, Hair rock/
Comment: by watching the coverprint and considering the title of this 3-piece issue it may be seem a little bit disorientating because the topics behind it are not so atrocious, though. The tracks used to run on melodic intentions which in turn are shaped by intense rhythmic sections and pop punk guitar hooks and sleazy vocal manner. Furthermore, the singing in chorus and some bombastic guitar riffs remind of the 80`s ridiculous gigs embodied by so-called hair rock/metal/pop metal scene (Europe, Poison, Charizma). In a nutshell - not bad at all because lots of energy used to ooze out of the slots of the issue.
Echthros - lyov (2011)
/Dark ambient, Ambient, Neoclassical, Sludge metal, Ethereal, Spoken word, Avant-metal, Crossover, Post-metal/
Comment: this issue originates by Echthros (Bartosz Frąckowiak) from Poland who provides 6 long-running progressions (over 54 minutes in all) where orthodox church hymns are crossed with more or less ominous spoken word/and moaning snippets and ethereal floatation/or settling on more abrasive, noiseful/sludge/doom guitar blow-ups. It is solemn and a little ghastly simulatenously, i.e masterfully accentuated and channelized. Altogether, it is the intriguing appearance from its very start to the ending point.
3/16/2012
Bankie Phones - Dragon Scarf (2009)
Future:Komp
9.3
9.3
/Robo pop, Industrial techno, Experimental techno, Electroclash, Electronic pop, Electro, Noise/
Comment: Dragon Scarf comprises 9 tracks which used to convey compelling electro/and techno propulsions and visions. More concretely, it chirps like a machine-alike outlook for future days taken out from the middle of a dance floor filled in with fashioned robots and humanoids. More concretely, it veers away from industrial-hued bits, dystopic/paranoid gleaming all of that is backed up with fall-to-pieces or motorik-induced rhythm sequences, though, on the other side, the last track takes on more brassy bounces. Now and then noiseful, intoxicated electro chunks will be surfacing to variegate the ground. Yet, the second track is a great exception sounding truly pop/electro rock/electroclash-appealed in a good sense of this word. Altogether, the soundscape seems to be rigid and lush simultaneously, however, hinting at the quality of the issue. I guess Aldous Huxley would have loved it. Bankie Phones originates from Minneapolis, USA.
Keijo - WHNZ:16:MYTIME (2010)
/Psych-folk, New Weird Finland, Improvised music, New Weird Europe, Forest folk, Free folk, Weird folk, Avant-folk, Experimental folk/
Comment: the Jyväskylä-based musician Keijo (Virtanen) is a godfather for nowadays Finnish experimental folk musicians, also known as the representatives of so-called Finnish forest folk (the equivalent for Finnish psych folk/New Weird Finland). By his contribution to the Finnish and other countries underground scenes Virtanen can be compared to the likes of Erkki Kurenniemi, and Pekka Airaksinen. However, there are represented a handful of long-running tracks (6 notches spreaded out over 37 minutes) which are profound ones due to their running on flickering incantations and exorcized, shamanic appearances-improvisations. In a word, classic.
Former Babies - The Blackout Album (2011)
Bleeding Gold
8.7
/Acoustic punk, Garage rock, Grrl riot, DIY/
8.7
/Acoustic punk, Garage rock, Grrl riot, DIY/
Comment: Former Babies (Moll Ball, and Shawna England) is a duo from the West Coast conveying a set of short-running tracks comprising the twangs of acoustic guitars and sonorous singing all of that is wrapped up by a rebellious feeling. In fact, their template and premiss are quite intriguing because their sound is obviously inspired of punk music, self-conscious grrl riot bands and DIY aesthetics. Though they are not, they could freely be a part of CLLCT, a Bloomington, Indiana-based platform.
Bigcolour - Centuries Of Summer (2010)
Bandcamp
Lastfm
9.1
Lastfm
9.1
/Glo-rock, DIY, Alternative, Experimental indie, New Weird America, Post-psychedelic electronica, Avant-pop/
Comment: behind Bigcolour hides himself Brian Brissart, an DIY musician from Chicago, Illinois, USA who provides a set of truly colourful, sonorous ditties with "lazy" yet very catchy harmonic hooks. His vocal is a formidable instrument running in the vein of the doo wop tradition, furthermore, showing up a close connection between it and nowadays glo-fi music (especially Nostalgic Ataraxy). However, the singing is backed up with billowy guitar treatments and clattery drum punches now and then. On the other side, the issue is comparable to the likes of Animal Collective, and Ganglians, thanks to its restraint, arranged (post-)psychedelic expells - Salte Ciclo is a mesmerizing endeavour coming out of the tradition of this US-based new wave/New Weird America movement.
Alexander Wigger - Sold Out (2012)
Lastfm
9.3
9.3
/Alternative, Krautrock, Psychedelic rock, Acid folk, Motorik, Neofolk, Dark folk, Dark pop, Alternative rock/
Comment: Alexander Wigger is a 27-year-old musician from Luzern, Switzerland who has issued an array of albums during the last years. Sould Out, a 10-track release incorporates the elements of insatiable alternative (rock) fused densely with different styles and dodges. The side effects used to extend from motorik, krautrock-ish propulsions and the 60`s British acid folk-tinged looming (Helping Hand) to Lou Reed/Velvet Underground charged visions and more obscure, even ominous textures and baleful milieus. The ditties used to be mainly instrumental ones, though, at times Wigger used to sing his murky lyrics (for instance, at On Television) which takes on the uncompromisingness of dark folk/neofolk/pagan folk rather than more conventional structures. Undoubtedly it is very good and much more convincing than accidental shit you would able to find out from the top charts. In a word, the outlet is highly impressive and inviting to listen to it again and again. The next step it to listen to the rest of the albums by Alexander Wigger.
Various Artists – An 8bc Tribute to The Smiths (2009)
8Bit Collective
Mediafire
9.3
Mediafire
9.3
/8-bit, Covers, Indie, Experimental electronica, Tracker music, Conceptual, Chiptune/
Comment: indeed, seven songs of an indie juggernaut are covered by different chiptune/8-bit/tracker musicians. More detailly, Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me, How Soon Is Now?, A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours, Bigmouth Strikes Again, The Headmaster Ritual, This Charming Man, and of course, the quintessential indie anthem There Is A Light That Never Goes Out are represented there. It veers away from a rigid, even abstract version of How Soon Is Now? by Joseph and His Talons to Lynit`s aesthetically very lush version of The Headmaster Ritual (the favorite of mine), or betaclubfieldtrip`s blissed-out version of Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me, or Matt Shogi`s chip-electro-dance version of This Charming Man. The versions of the rest of artists are more original-near, though very good, propulsive ones. However, the Mancunian legend will never be forgotten.
The J. Arthur Keenes Band - Computer Savvy (2011)
/Experimental indie, Tracker music, Alternative, Chillwave, Dance rock, Crossover, Glo-fi, 8-bit, Chiptune, Avant-pop, Leftfield, Post-psychedelic electronica, Chip funk/
Comment: there are represented 7 joyful yet extraordinary ditties because the songs are half indie-inflected ones and half 8-bit/bitpop/chiptune appearances by Dan McLay from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Computer Savvy is his sophomore album, a follow-up to Pamplemousse (2009, Pause) His captivating vocal timbre - truly longing vocal manner (reminiscent a little bit of Panda Bear) is a resonating counterpoint to sawtooth-shaped beats and angular ridges and abrasive drones. There are a lot of places either being obviously influenced by the aesthetics of the chillwave/glo-fi movement. On the other side, Expelling Bee is an instance of funk grooves - arrghhh, actually I am lacking words to describe the blissfulness and suggestiveness present at the ending part of it. Cluck takes on electro/breakcore-driven dance rock gears. Once again, the whole is fabulous and idiosyncratic. In a word, McLay is a superman who should throne Billboard or something like that - to turn mediocre into good.
3/14/2012
Bartek Kawula - Glass (2011)
basic_sounds
9.3
/Dub-tech, Club dance, Dub house, Deep techno, Acid house/
9.3
/Dub-tech, Club dance, Dub house, Deep techno, Acid house/
Comment: there are up three dub-inflected appearances which are directed upon the listener`s ear and his/her extremities. It is a little angular by its roughly bouncing beats and acid house-tinged piano chords (of course, resembling of the beginning of 90`s) at Changes, yet, it will make sense at the end of the course. The other two notches are more churning and more relaxing including the samples of female voweling, cinematic bass bits, programmed drum clacks and so on. In a word, it used to be deep in dub somewhere in the middle of a club venue of someone`s brain. Altogether, it is a hypnotic and masterful notch by Bartek Kawula, a Toronto-based producer. The issue has been released on an excellent label, called basic_sounds.
Dimitar Dodovski - Fiction Makes Sense (2010)
Comment: DD originates from Macedonia providing a handful of lush tracks running on gritty dub landscapes and vibes with crackling hiss and undulating hum and lofty synth whiffs all of that is fused with the presence of club dance grooves and turns. Of course, all these elements are seamlessly and organically interlaced with each other thus constituting an organic whole. Ina word, it is a little smarter than an average club-oriented album used to be. It is IDM (intelligent dub music at the moment, though) thought for your soul and body.
fydhws - O (2012)
/Dark ambient, Soundscapes, Avant-garde, Experimentalism, Minimal/
Comment: fydhws is an experimental artist from Macedonia who has been releasing qualitative sounds and exciting visions over time. However, this time he offers up 4 compositions which used to run in a quite rough way embellished with suggestive undulation of murky, even threatening tonality and more organic, found sound-based effects (the sound of water dripping, for instance) along and around it. All of that is based on the works of a treated guitar running on through the effect blocks and pitch plugins.The favorite of mine is the last track which has been managed to get into a more lush progression. In a word, this set showcases fydhws to slosh in his well proved goodness.
Drapeiseasy - Alpha Nunca Mais EP (2012)
Bandcamp
9.0
9.0
/Ambient, Ambient drone, Ambient noise, Epic, Soundscapes, Minimal/
Comment: just 3 tracks outlined over 11 minutes from Curitiba, Brazil. It is a soothing and inspiring whole being simultaneously played on undulating, hiss-laden layers/silentful noise bits and riffles drifting in between more light-hearted or more murky tonality. It chimes as if were an instance of ambient music, though being heavily inspired by DIY aesthetics and on the other side subjected to minimal algorithms. Or not? However, at times the listener can detect the snippets from it being truly mesmerizing and astonishing ones.
3/13/2012
Brothertiger - Ask (The Smiths Cover) (2012)
Bandcamp
Soundcloud
9.3
/Chillwave, Remixes, Glo-fi, Indie pop, Electronic pop/
Soundcloud
9.3
/Chillwave, Remixes, Glo-fi, Indie pop, Electronic pop/
Comment: Brothertiger (John Jagos), an eminent chillwave/glo-fi artist from Toledo, Ohio, USA takes on a song of the world`s best band ever. Indeed, The Smiths had issued Ask in 1986 where Mozza was backed up by Kirsty MacColl, an legendary indie gal (in fact, Ask wasn`t their only collaboration at the existing time of the Manchester legend - do not forget You Just Haven`t Earned it Yet, Baby). However, a decent single by any means.
Laiila - Sabicu (2008)
Amduscias
9.4
9.4
/Avant-garde, Experimentalism, Chamber music, Avant-electronica, Crossover, Experimental electronica/
Comment: Nada Alleen, and Liam Maloney used to create an exciting set of 9 tracks which comprises experimentation-heavy, warped soundscapes and pitched guitar chords, didgeridoo-induced idiosyncratic propulsions, vowel experiments, chamber music-drenched bits and pieces and even slightly post-rock-esque or psych-out compositions, however, all of that is backed up with intense rhythm sequences, though, at times it used to appear more restraint and hushed. The flight of digital bugs and insects used to surface now and then. The outlet is unbelievably tight yet affirming.
Silver Wren - Fall Sky-Winter's Hum (2011)
Bandcamp
9.4
9.4
/Experimental folk, Dream pop, Shoegaze, Dark wave, Dream folk, Leftfield, Crossover, Ethereal pop/
Comment: just a pair of notches where a little murky, dreamy vocal manner is backed up with clear-cut, plucking strings and orchestrated vapour around and below it. There can be drawn parallels upon the likes of Pipher, Vlor, and Lycia. In a word, the result involving the elements of bucolic folk, dark wave, shoegaze, dream pop are bound into an unusual but astonishing whole. This one-man-project (Ross Campbell) comes out from Gainesville, home for many great DIY-infected groups.
3/11/2012
Ivory - IVR01 (2011)
Ivory
Soundcloud
9.2
/Dubstep, 2-step, Electronic pop, Grime, Remixes, Club dance/
Soundcloud
9.2
/Dubstep, 2-step, Electronic pop, Grime, Remixes, Club dance/
Comment: there is the single Slacker Bashing and a cover version of it. More concretely, it is an example of suggestive dubstep/2-step/grime progressions - it is ticklingly abrasive, intense in its vocal layers and apparently growing in its variegating rhythm patterns. The single is a little stronger than the remix version, and the outlet is superb at any rates.
Cobwebbs - Shake and Rattle (2010)
White Moon
9.1
9.1
/Psych-rock, Stoner rock, Avant-rock, Trance rock, Noise rock, Garage rock, Experimental rock, Alternative rock/
Comment: Cobwebbs, a Brisbane, Australia-based quartet provides a set of booming experimental rock progressions involving the seeds of stoner/psych/trance rock music. These three pieces used to swing and roll over the listener. More concretely, it rocks off getting inspiration both from the tradition of early rock and roll and by the likes of Suicide, Spacemen 3 and from the instances of angst-filled desert rock a la Sonic Youth. If to compare the collective with nowadays kindred souls the quartet shares the similar space with Voyageurs, Cults, Kent State, Ermine Coat.
Falcon Lake - Drown EP (2012)
Bad Panda
9.2
9.2
/Art pop, Glo-fi, Chillwave, Post-pop, Avant-pop, Post-psychedelic electronica, Experimental indie, Exotica pop, Crossover/
Comment: there is a set of 4 songs by Leon Piers, a Bristolian musician who used to fuse exotica pop elements with glo-fi/chillwave tendencies. The compositions are mostly instrumental ones just exploiting repetitive phrases-vocal loops. Beauty meets proficiency, the past meets the present. The project can be compared with Monster Rally who also likes to blend 60`s exotica pop with the slabs of contemporary hypnagogic pop.
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