Waxdoll - Never Stop (1996)

Jamendo

Shoegaze Alternative rock Jangle pop Indie rock C86 Psychedelic rock Post-punk Dance rock

Selle neljaloolise üllitise kaaneks on kuulajale otse otsa põrnitsev nägu kui aususe ja usutavuse ilming (eeldaks ju seda). Äkki see nägu valetab, andes edasi valesid impulsse -- mida me plaadil ei taju? Või siis seadistab kuulaja õigesse konditsiooni, saamaks füüsiliselt ja emotsionaalselt tugeva laengu päeva lõpuks. Ühelt poolt on see lühike taies meeleolukas ekskursioon Briti indirokis, pakkudes naiivset 80ndate kidraplõnnimist, jõudes teelahkmele, ent keksides nii kingapõrnitsemise kui tantsuroki psühhedeelsetel radadel. Ent bänd jääb malbeks, laskumata eksperimendi alkeemiasse. Midagi sarnast kui talitas The Sundays omal ajal. Kaunid meloodiad ning lummavad harmoonia-allhoovused. Ühesõnaga, väga kaasahaarav laulukirjutamine kitarri ülistamise saatel.

________________________________________________

The cover of this 4-track issue is a face staring directly at the listener as a manifestation of honesty and believability (one would expect it). Maybe this face is lying, transmitting wrong impulses -- which we don't perceive on the record? Or it sets the listener in the right condition to get a strong physical and emotional charge at the end of the day. On the one hand, it's a short, upbeat excursion into British indie rock, offering naïve 80's C86-influenced indie/jangle pop, reaching the cul-de-sac, but tumbling along the psychedelic paths of both shoegaze and dance rock. However, the band remains humble, without going into the alchemy of the experiment. Something similar to what The Sundays did back in the day. Beautiful melodies and enchanting undercurrents of harmony. In short, very engaging songwriting with guitar glorification

Carnún – Malkuth (Demo1996)

Irish Metal Archive

Archive.org

• Black metal 
• Dungeon synth 
• Death metal 
• Hardcore

Kuidas kellegi, aga siinkirjutajale assotsieerub brutaalne metal-muusika ennekõike ülikiirete ja masinlike trummikäikudega. Niivõrd täpne ja tehnitsistlik ja põrnitsev, et kõlab peaaegu tantsumuusikana. Nali naljaks, aga kunagi nimetati CAN'i Jaki Liebezeit'i inimtrummimasinaks, st tagus breikbiiti. Black metal'i kuldseks perioodiks kahtlemata oli 90ndate algus Norras, mis ammutas jõudu paganlusest; ja ütleme otse – kristluse vastasusest. Kui mõelda natuke lõuna suunas, st keltidele, siis nende paganlik traditsioon ei olnud vähem kuulsusrikas (et mitte öelda kurikuulus). Tohutu võitlusjanu (kasvõi nende pea üleloomulik vastupanu märksa paremini relvis roomlastele), vereohvrid, tuleohvrid, nõidpreestrid. Carnún on Iiri nelik, mis eksisteeris aasta-poolteist, andis ühe laivi ning salvestas posu lugusid. Ei ütleks, et nende muusika on midagi väga erilist, samas midagi kaevata ka ei ole. Kõva nuudeldamine kusagil death metal'i, hardcore'i ning bläki vahel, aga see on enamusel selle valdkonna puntidel. Eks bläkk olegi kahe mainitet žanri sohipoeg. Vahetevahel lisab värvi süntesaatoritel mängitud lood ja avangud (mida tänasel päeval nimetatakse vangikoopasündiks). Selle muusikaga ongi nii, et kas konkreetsel kuulajal klikib konkreetse ansambli-albumiga või mitte. Isegi kui ei kliki, siis mingi kutse jääb hinge pärast kuulamist. Kindlasti tuleks kuulata ka teisi taolisi Iiri punte Iiri metal-muusika arhiivist.

Dave Fuglewicz – Orange Mist Sunrise/Orange Mist Sunset (1996)

The Living Archive of Underground Music

• Synth music 
• Improvised music 
• Electronic music 
• Avant-garde 
• Experimental electronica 
• Psychedelic 
• Experimentalism 
• Minimal synth 
• Drone 
• Minimalism 
• Avant-electronica

Comment: one of the main characters of the blogosphere is to dig out music having been produced many decades ago and having the status of virtually forgotten. Given that many of these blogs used to have a considerable following it will give a refreshing impulse to many projects. One of the most striking categories is music which can be pigeonholed as minimal synth, krautrock tinged experiments most of them following DIY attitude. One of those issues is also Dave Fuglewicz's Orange Mist Sunrise/Orange Mist Sunset consisting of 12 tracks. You can see an impressive analogue synthesiser-based technical park on pictures and your sonic experience probably fits with it. One hears throbbing Moog synths providing the pace and intriguing layered synthesises with different phases on experimentation. You can hear how different layers used to shift against one another, more profoundly, one of the layers is switched off white the other one is switched on for pitch effects, deceleration and acceleration, lots of arpeggio moves. And vice versa. All of that used to happen in a minimal vein and at the same time you obviously figure out it is an example of improvisational music. And at the same time it does not do away with a free flow and psychedelic facets. It might be you start thinking of it as way too lengthy but one should consider the fact it is in concordance with the nature and mind of this kind of music. Remember the works of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, for example. By the way, with regard to contemporary synth wizards like M Geddes Gengras, Steve Hauschildt, Daniel Lopatin you can see the same tendencies to go on. The issue was the tape of a month of The Living Archive of Underground Music curated by Don Campau.

Dave Fuglewicz - Orange Mist Sunrise and Sunset (1996)

The Living Archive of Underground Music

Dave Fuglewicz

/Avant-garde, Minimal synth, Kosmische Musik, Drone, Krautrock, Experimentalism, Electronic music/

Comment: this is Georgia, US-based musician Dave Fuglewicz`s tenth issue which originally has been issued on two tapes in 1996. It consists of 12 compositions, however many of them are being longer than 10 minute thereby reaching a total time of 1 hour and 55 minutes. Musically it harks back to those golden Kosmische Music/krautrock/minimal synth days when the artists like Konrad Schnitzler, Symboter, Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, Cluster, Harmonia, Monoton and many other ones started to experiment on synthesisers and sequencer machines to create slightly psychedelic and dreamy electronic landscapes and acid fringed items to broaden the listener`s (sub)consciousness. More profoundly, it was frequently a fertile shift between calmed harmonic progressions and more intense rhythmic patterns and resonant swelling in chord progressions to conjure up different perceptions at the same time. Because of his dreamy approach the album chimes in a hyper-realistic manner now and then. Fuglewicz`s sound is replete with quite intense droning and tranquil wobbling of such electronic keyboards as ARP 2600, and ARP Odyssey and one Casio keyboard and all that sound has been recorded on Vesta-Fire MR-10B four track recorder. The listener could perceive the tracks with flourishing analogue quality. In a word, the result is an outstanding issue which is worth to be kept alive for future days. Of course, let`s discover other issues by Dave Fuglewicz either. 

Enaune - Cycle Du Petit Prince De Saint-Exupéry (1996/2013)

Trash Can Dance

• House
• Experimental electronica
• Sound poetry
• Spoken word
• Conceptual
• Electro-house
• Dark ambient
• Lo-fi
• EBM
• Abstract
• Psychedelic electronica

Outstanding tracks:

Algro

Opus III

Opus IV

Opus VI Opus VII

Tripping

Jane Siberry - Teenager (1996)

Sheeba

9.2

/Singer-songwriter, Alt-folk/

Comment: this was the first album by the Canadian musician Jane Siberry on her own imprint Sheeba Records. There are presented 14 songs spreaded out a little over a hour. All these pieces were written in her teenager years and recorded later with the assistance of an acoustic guitar and piano (regarding some tracks) devoid of electric keyboards and supplementary electronics ordinarily represented on her other issues. More concretely, all those templates and dodges represented there in an intimate way used to depict dreamy and a little bit nostalgic pictures because Siberry watches her past events at a distance, through her retrospective eyes. It is called the memories of finding out her personality.

Circle Of Lebanon - Circle Of Lebanon (1996)

Embryo

9.5

/Sound-art, Experimental metal, Doom rock, Drone doom, Psycho-acoustic, Dark ambient, Avant-garde, Experimentalism, Experimental electronica/

Comment: Circle of Lebanon is one of those projects being closely related to Skye Klein, the Australian avant-rocker and sound manipulator. There are up 5 pieces which take on mayhem-alike progressions filled in with glowering guitar drones and massive drum breaks which meanwhile are replaced with distorted vocal snippets, whimsical yet strained electronic arrangements. Frequently the soundscape is getting to grow beyond the borders of rock/metal borders, however, ultimately, landing in the realm of ambient/sound art/psycho-acoustic music/acousmatics. Indeed, at these moments this sound chimes like a soundtrack for a theatre performance somewhere in a dusty art house. In a nutshell, it is a tremendous stuff being one of those unsung gems waiting to be discovered sometime in the future.

Bizarre - Cafè De Flor (1996/2008)

Bizarre
Forwards
Rahva Raamat

10.0

/Dream pop, Shoegazetronica, Chamber pop, Electronic pop, Experimental indie, Art pop, Crossover, Alternative pop/

Comment: Tartu indie combo Bizarre`s Cafè de Flor is absolutely favorite album of mine ever made on the ground of Estonia. It was issued in 1996, during the tumultuous period in the midst of 90`s when the Estonian indie/alternative scene reached its peak (Dallas; Metro Luminal; Dreamphish; Chance; Vennaskond; Lobsand Dorje; Una Bomba) but this 8-track album was just an idiosyncratic gem. Furthermore, I have had a loads of bittersweet memories related to this album (initially issued as the cassette format only) from these nostalgic times. How would it be described for? It is very simple actually - you could imagine it as a possible and logical follow-up to MBV`s seminal album Loveless. More profoundly, lots of sultry dance beats, gooey jungle pathways, picturesque dream pop-ish overthrows, formidable yet heartbreaking guitar waves and glides, sensual and seductive vocal lines above it function to glimpse like a Morgan le Fay or a blissed-out flashback. Every piece on it does have potent virtue on its own - the issue is a never-to-be-forgotten legacy conveying the harmony between the realm of idea and shape. One of the biggest albums of 90`s and all times waiting to be appreciated in the future.