6/22/2012
John 3:16 - Sinner's Prayer (2011)
9.8
/Shoegaze, Psychedelia, Experimental rock, Doom rock, Avant-rock, Krautrock, Motorik, Space rock/
Comment: this issue consists of two lengthy compositions. Both notches are made up of acute, knee-deep psychedelia. The opening track is biased more toward repetition-heavy, krautrock-esque propulsions thus reminiscent of Gong, or Faust`s more jamming space trips. The second track is to be functioned as an example of more brooding, doom-hued fist. In a nutshell, this release can be considered a bridge between reality and subconsciousness, this is an eargasmic experience which might be one of the best outlets ever heard.
Elvis Bordello - All Of Them Witches (2011)
7.6
/Lo-fi, DIY, Alternative, Film noir, Noise, Dark Wave/
Comment: this set of 9 tracks does base on obscure lo-fi electronica, film noir-esque sensitivity and abrasive electro-acoustic contemplations. Undoubtedly the listener gets convinced the album used to be out of pop regarding any of its forms. However, all these aforementioned elements are mixed up with each other in loose way thus providing the meloman with a quite uncomfortable listening experience.
Van Syla - Juliet (2012)
8.8
/Baroque music, Chamber music, New Age, Mood music/
Comment: there are represented a handful of tracks which are made up of instrumental folk music as if were jumped out from a period of Middle Ages, subtle baroque/chamber reverberations which are slightly influenced by New Age music, and discrete, a little bit melancholic piano shades and tones. Indeed, throughout the course Van Syla seems to be aspiring for the balance between exulting orchestrated progressions and soothing, laidback tendencies. However, the result gets accomplished ultimately.
6/21/2012
Maston - Opal (2010)
9.5
/Experimental indie, Glo-fi, Art pop, Avant-pop, Poptronica, Post-pop, Chillwave, Alternative, Post-psychedelic electronica/
Comment: no doubt, the LA-based Frank Maston is one of the brightest stars regarding the nowadays indie scene all around the world. His music is composed of light-hearted chillwave-ish glides, James Bond-esque shimmering panoramas and some exotica pop forays. More profoundly, Maston used to arrange otherworldly beautiful melodies and huge harmonic dizziness all of that seems to be inspired by bottomless dreams. Opal was his debut album issued in 2010.
David KBD - Plastik 2 (2011)
Jamendo
8.9
/Technical metal, Math metal, Progressive metal, Psychedelic metal, Fusion/
Comment: undoubtedly it is an exciting set of metal compositions. These instrumental endeavours involve the aspects of technical, math and progressive metal full of flourishing keyboards, repetition-heavy drumming sequences, blistering guitar riffs and progressions and psychedelic, fusin-alike jamming. The result is a joyous, exalting one. The collective comes out of Pamplona, Basque, Spain.
Zreen Toyz - Grimoire Of Eternity (2012)
8.8
/Industrial illbient, Avant-industrial, Experimental electronica, Sound-art, Musique concrète, Avant-garde, Experimentalism, Non-music/
Comment: Zreen Toyz is a French music group (the collective has issued releases since 2007) whose 6-notch album is filled with sharp electronic overthrows and synthetic bubbles and chips turning into austere industrial flickers and gleam. All these elements are mixed up with the laths of concrete sonic bits. Indeed, it is abrasive and irritating, which lacks in emotions and lushness. Not exactly...actually there are represented lush undulation and emotional shift as well though all of that just used to be outside the pop realm by its nature.
6/20/2012
Tallinn Daggers - FM Transmission (2012)
9.4
/Post-punk, Alternative, Gothic, Dance rock, Alternative rock, Indie dance, Psychedelic rock, Art rock/
Comment: Tallinn Daggers is a duo (Ardo Kivi, Joosep Volk) from the Estonian capital whose 4-piece EP used to run in the vein of the best post-punk and gothic dance traditions. So the listener can hear lots of brooding bass guitar lines, gritty guitar chords, stomping drum lines, and ethereal synth whiffs rolling above it thus reminiscent of such bands as The Cure, Joy Division/New Order, The Comsat Angels, Durutti Column, and even Happy Mondays and Primal Scream. There can be implied that it is another great rock band who used to fuse the 70/80`s mesmerizing post-punk template with highly catchy dance-appealed grooves in addition to Stones & Holes. By the way, if you have chance then I recommend to visit them at stages because of being enough spectacular and suggestive.
Migalha - Ice Cream in the Waterfall Gibberish (2012)
9.0
/Musique concrète, Ambient, Ambient noise, Acousmatics, Avant-garde, Noise, Microtonal, Acousmatics/
Comment: these two long-running compositions have been managed to get a lush drift between organic electronica and ambient music which is filled with noiseful glitch-tinged undulation and microtonal haziness made up of the washes of concrete sounds and accidental voice/babbling snippets. Indeed, the picture is blurred, though, it is very effectively bedimmed. The projects originates from Brazil which is home for many great post-rock, shoegaze and ambient bands.
Gareth Clarke – Atheist In Foxhole EP (2012)
8.8
/Synth pop, Electro pop, Mood music/
Comment: there are represented 5 tracks which used to make headway into a maze composed of the elements of robot-influenced electro pop and even austere industrial-tinged aesthetics. However, on the other side, the upper layers of comprise the suggestive hooks of 80`s synth pop and blissed-out progressions thus allowing more access to mainstream-appealed territories.
6/19/2012
Electricwest - MOTH3R (2009)
8.8
/Downtempo, IDM, Experimental electronica, Breaks, Glitch ambient/
Comment: behind Electricwest hides himself Patrick Benolkin, the artist from Boise, Idaho, USA who is also being known due to his side project Eluder (epic ambient/drone). Anyway, this 11-track issue is covered with intimate paces and moderately propulsive synths thus making up some microscopic whirlpools and pleasant milieus which in turn are varied with more sharp oscillations and blissed-out thudding. The last quarter turns rather into glitch-filled slow burning.
AA.VV. - 11 of the 19 Worst Problems of the US (2004)
8.7
/Psych-folk, New Weird Italy, Weird folk, Avant-folk, Experimental folk/
Comment: this compilation involves 11 tracks all of them are made up of Carlo Barbagallo-related projects and his friends who are natives from Sicily. However, these notches reveal its bias toward off-kilter singer-songwriter-ism, which is filled in with psyched-out folk music, despair-tinged singing, some turns into noiseful progressions, and even nervous folk-hop. Intriguing.
Klein Blue - Sono Note Immaginate (2012)
9.0
/Leftfield, Experimental indie, Art pop, Alternative, Avant-pop/
Comment: just one, 197 seconds long track produced by an Italian band called Klein Blue consisting of arty bubblegum pop-esque propulsions and light-hearted vowel whiffs providing hints toward the easiness of estrada pop by the 60s, and leftfield pop wizards-lizards like Stereolab, and Broadcast.
John Praw - Four Twenty Twenty Twelve (2012)
8.8
/Organic electronica, Musique concrète, Experimental electronica, Modern classical, IDM/
Comment: these handful of tracks are infiltrated with "accidental" concrete sounds and crackling IDM-alike minimal throbbing and subtle touch of modern classical feeling.
6/18/2012
Janitors Of Lunacy - 1984-'87 (2008)
9.1
/Psych-rock, Blues, Avant-rock, Noise, Psychedelia, Noise rock, Experimentalism, Motorik, Krautrock/
Comment: The Worms, Germany-based combo Janitors Of Lunacy deserve undoubtedly its name. These 14 tracks involve frantically rolling noise washes which at times will evolve into the territory of acute, ingurgitating noise. From there on fastly played psyched-out guitar chords and subtly pulsating electronica and psychedelic synths make impact on the subconsciousness of the listener making you believe in the innovativeness of rock music. No doubt, the collective seems highly to be influenced by their krautrockers` precedessors from the 70s apparently by CAN`s Tago Mago (1971). JOL`s more mellow moments remind of The Doors. More detailedly, psychedelia gets mixed up with a kind of blues drive (Back To The 50ies, for instance). On the other side, Velvet Underground`s swirling guitar feedbacks are represented on the album and some clear, high-register female voice-induced songs used to have hint at Nico. In a nutshell, discover for yourself this unsung psych-rock gem.
Emmoti ON - Apple EP (2009)
8.5
/Sound collage, Sampledelic, Eurobeat, club dance/
Comment: there are 4 tracks which represent the aesthetics of sampledelic/cut and paste/sound collage experiments. More concretely, it is made up of tumultuous eurobeat cadences and cheesy, a little lo-fi bubblegum disco propulsions. Because of this the album could freely be played as a mixtape at the parties.
A Short Term Effect - Furs and Masks EP (2012)
8.5
/Experimental electronica, Industrial, Avant-garde/
Comment: this 4-track issue takes on murky milieus which in turn are filled with punching rhythms and electronic bits and whirlpools and synthetic chirps. This set can be considered an instance of electronica adorned with more harsh industrial influences. Throughout the course the issue is highly rigid and austere.
Saelynh - Orion In Motion II - Reversing the distortion of life from roots of heartbeats to neural tones (2012)
8.6
/Trance/
Comment: this 8-track album used to exist on mostly intense, high-tempered trance bounces full of heavily bubbling oscillations and brooding synth whiffs. Of course, now and then these more exulting rhythms are mixed up with relieving spoken word snippets or variegated with more mid-tempo paces and gears thus showing more laidback intentions and moods.
6/13/2012
Tracky Birthday - Animal Audition (2008)
9.2
/Hip-hop, Sampledelic, Crossover, Funk, Sound collage, Tracker music, Conceptual, Chiptune, Indie, Alternative, Bubblegum pop, Electronic pop/
Comment: undoubtedly this 11-track album is rich in information and fun, more detailedly, veering away from ironical half chanting word game and mimicking bubblegum funk-esque (and P-Funk) maze and bent Latin vibes and tango cadences (a la Senor Coconut) to great Lee Hazlewood-inspired psychedelic indie pop and glitchy chiptune-ish beat sequences and blending beats with advertising. These pieces have been managed to provide lots of references regarding the symbols and idols of popular culture. Witty and intriguing by any means.
Knolios - Toile (2012)
9.0
/Club dance, Rave music, Acid techno, Trance/
Comment: if to trying to tag this 2-piece issue from Ukraine it would be categorized as "acid techno" or "acid trance" and harking back to the heydays of rave music nights. This pair of tracks are filled in with dynamical rhythm propulsions and shimmering synth pads thereby being uplifting and mesmerizing at the same time.
Glory Bound - This Too Will Fade (2011)
8.4
/Pop rock, Hard rock/
Comment: this set of 4 tracks sets up an issue of pop rock which used to run on clear-cut song structures based on quasi angry, shouting vocal lines and secure heavy guitar propulsions. Though the tradition of such kind of music is being widely practised and quite predictable the result is well accomplished. It can be compared with the likes who have had huge commercial success over the years (Bon Jovi, for instance).
6/12/2012
Dictaphonia Microcassette Compilation Volume 1 (2009)
9.2
/Avant-garde, DIY, Abstract electronica, Compilation, Experimentalism, Noise, Experimental electronica, Psycho-acoustic, Electro-acoustic, Acousmatics, Non music/
Comment: this compilation consists of 25 tracks each of them is produced by different artists (the most of them originate from USA, and a pair of artists come from Canada). The most well-known representatives presented over there are probably Big City Orchestra, and Hal McGee. All these relatively short-running pieces are genuinely experimental ones, setting up a blend of concrete sounds, frantic acousmatic visions, homemade low-end frequencies, noise-infiltrated endeavours and so on. However, the listener can perceive different accents, sometimes being more spotted upon analogue synth-relied effects, at times being more noiseful incantations or glass bead games-centered electro/psycho-acoustic outlets. Frequently you can catch yourself from thinking it is like a way of how early electronic music would chime once upon a time. In a word, this is mandatory for every meloman who likes to discover the boundaries of the sound.
*** - Soul Tide (2008)
9.3
/Alt-folk, Indie folk, New Weird America, Experimental folk, Folk indie, Psychedelic folk/
Comment: *** was a combo from Michigan, USA who had composed subtle alt-folk music in the end of the 00s. This issue was their sole effort under this name including 11 tracks full of chiming, soulful harmonies, fanciful vocal endeavours and intriguing, electronically shaped instrument-based voyages. Thereby the album searches for the balanced, organic shift between the old tradition of Americana and more contemporary moulds regading the New Weird America movement. At first the trio (Chad Golda, Dylan Rogers, Mike McConeghy) was being known as Ringo Star, though, ultimately they changed their name to starstarstar, however, issuing an album called Electric Goose and The Nylon Moose, one of the hidden gems of the 00s. In addition to it, I recommend to listen to Chad Golda`s solo efforts. These ones are really worth to give them a try.
The Peach Tree - Children of Cain, Night-Loving Creatures, Prepare Thyselves for 2012 (2011)
8.8
/Neofolk, Neoclassical, Crossover, Dark folk, Singer-songwriter, Electronic pop, Goth synth/
Comment: the Melbourne-based prolific singer-songwriter Angus Maiden takes mainly on dark folk-inspired guitar chords and electronic manipulations or occasionally mixes up both of them with each other. More profoundly, his soundscapes used to base on essentially heavy punching adorned with synthetic undercurrents, commonly feelingless singing and saturnine goth rhythms and abrasive guitar arrangements.
6/11/2012
No Monster Club - Sleigh Decibels Volume One (2011)
8.9
/Alternative rock, Fuzz pop, Indie pop/
Comment: this set of 4 tracks seems to be closely related to the Christmas, though, being offered in a quite unusual format. Bobby Aherne (who was previously known as Dublin Duck Dispensary) rocks off with the washes of cellophanic guitar dust and tumultuous twangs. Elegant and catchy by any means.
Abstract Nostalgic Fractals Systems - The Inner Peace (2012)
9.3
/Dub-tech, Ambient dub, Crossover, Experimental electronica, Tech-dub, Deep house/
Comment: this 8-track album is an lofty amalgamation of trippy space disco/house/techno rhythms, panoramic ambient-esque organicness, and highly suggestive dub vibes, more concretely, resorting freely a huge array of frequencies and fractals. In a word, feel how the bounce comes down.
Coro Anthèa & Renzo Vigagni - Cum novo cantico (2011)
/Conceptual, Gregorian, Ethereal pop/
Comment: these 11 tracks function here to be a sort of holy, blissed-out songs made up of the high-register female vocals and the whiffs of a cathedral organ which in turn used to veer away silentful, almost inaudible and quite powerful outbursts on the other side. While the Gregorian chants are mainly associated with the singing of men this album can be considered an example of the counterpoint of it. Fragile and intact indeed.
6/03/2012
Beats of Rage - Beats of Rage (2010)
9.0
/Digital hardcore, 8-bit, Tracker music, Crossover, Electro punk, Electroclash, Riot Grrrl, Alternative/
Comment: firstly, you can be sure this 3-piece collective from UK deserve its name. It is built upon different compulsions which used to extend from harsh electro appearances and sharp 8-bit/tracker music-infiltrated dodges to more punk-exorcized and even noiseful, more abstract, warped glimpses. Moreover, over all these abrasive constituents are laid the layers of angry, screaming female voice. I guess Malcolm McLaren would have loved it.
Marissa Nadler - Epitonic saki Session (2011)
9.6
/Dream folk, Alt-folk, Singer-songwriter, Indie folk, Folk indie, Live session, New Weird America/
Comment: this set of 7 tracks is an amazing live session by Marissa Nadler whose profoundly dreamy yet somehow powerful reverberations backed up by lone, clear-cut string chords do immerse the listener in fill. Her aesthetics reminds a little bit of Vashti Bunyan if to hint at her precursors.
Makunouchi Bento - Rinbo (2012)
9.3
/Abstract, Film noir, Soundtrack, Avant-garde, Electro-acoustic, Chamber music, Experimentalism/
Comment: Makunouchi Bento is a Romanian duo who used to exploit film noir-esque seeds to fuse them into austere, barely discernible chamber music and electro-acoustic soundscapes. Inspite of these "suspicious" presuppositions the listener can perceive some weird kind of easiness at it. Although the album generally is very good on its own, the highly epic Jubokko jumps out as the outstanding track on it. By the way, the friends of MB had covered these pieces being available as the issue at Bandcamp. However, the original track seem to be better, though. And that`s ok.
6/01/2012
Richard There - Future Come Back To Me (2008)
8.0
/Primitive pop, Non-music, Dada music, Conceptual, Avant-garde, Experimentalism/
Comment: this is the debut album by Richard There, Cologne-based artist whose musical ambition tends to outrun the borders of usual understanding of pop music. It is infiltrated with peculiar dodges and whimsical forays coming out of the middle of...an undeciphered centre. It is filled in with provoking, primitivistic vocal tricks, austere dadaism, zaly repetitions, vague hints at the tradition of pop culture (Kraftwerk). More concretely, it is made up of using vocal-based yet intimate, schizoid freakishness as if the music were translated into the format of some sort of (sonic) comics (RT is also being known due to the writing of it). Is it a kind of singer-songwriter-ism? However, it is weird shit indeed.
White Floor Circus - White Floor Circus (2011)
8.6
/Lo-fi, DIY, Improvised music, Cut and paste, Psychedelic rock, Progressive rock, Sound collage, Krautrock, Alternative/
Comment: this album involves 3 lengthy compositions which is made up of loose jamming of furry, psychedelic (more more glowering) guitar riffs, flowing subconscious vocal hovering, angular drum parts and distending synth orchestrations (thus reminding of CAN sometimes), mixed up with some droll samples now and then. The duo originates from Siracusa, Italy.
Giant Claw - Tunnel Mind (2011)
9.0
/Electronic pop, Glo-fi, Electro pop, Alternative, Electro-funk, Electro techno, Synth fusion, Kosmische Musik/
Comment: this 6-track issue is a frantic mix of glo-fi electro which is embellished with some techno vibes, uplifting funk grooves and gleaming cosmic progressions thereby Keith Rankin mixes up some old traditions with new, glo-fi and DIY aesthetics.
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