Peter Nester & Brian Ruskin – The Abscraps EP (2008)

Believe in Billy

• Art rock 
• Post-punk 
• Experimental rock 
• Avant-rock 
• Ambient rock 
• Electronic  
• Dance rock

Comment: I have to admit that before listening to this set of 6 tracks I have heard nothing of these artists. The first impression of mine was visual and it was very funny – by watching this blurred cover print it was something like collaborating men behind the mixing desk, one of them looking like Chuck Norris, and another like Johnny Marr (a young Johnny Marr, in fact). Why not – both of them are outstanding persons. Just the most intriguing question is – who will knock down and win? However, the collaborative act does not remind of the doing of The Smiths (the best combo having ever been existed under God’s sight) but is related to a style of which The Smiths is being associated. Indeed, it is post-punk, one of the most seminal styles for all times, which in turn was a godchild of Krautrock. At Ten Four, and Eight Two Oh Eight the influences of atmospheric guitar by Vini Reilly (Durutti Column) can be discerned. The latter one is more rhythm-oriented either, though. And the result rhythmically is very catchy. Ring Finger is another astonishing glimpse into enchanting world of flickering guitars and mechanical rhythms. Be Home At Dark might be the most expressive track due to its thudding programmed beats but on the other way it reconstructs a pathway of post-punk music because of embracing elements which did have evolve from the embodiment of post-punk. The mother meets her derivatives. In a word, this is grreeeaaaat! Being a part of a platform with a funny (again!) name, Believe in Billy Records.  

The Shy Trafficker – Hard Fought, Found Thought (2008)

Lost Children

• Post-rock 
• Math rock 
• Experimental rock 
• Indie rock 
• Art rock 
• Avant-rock 
• Fusion 
• Yacht rock 
• Mood music 
• Field recording

Comment: by listening to this 11-track issue one can concentrate on different aspects within the soundscape, which is conjured up by a guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer. Given that this sparse collective must be expert at conjuring up interesting sonic combinations and extracting picturesque colours from within their instruments. Indeed, they did it perfectly because one could discern all these sublime nuances to run throughout in a moody vein. It might sound oddly enough but this set of 51 minutes could be considered an easy listening session additionally. It is mostly due to a bet of jazz rock/fusion and yacht rock-inflected colourful keys. The Shy Trafficker`s album reminds by its tones and approach of Sea And The Cake, of which music is also easy (superficial?) and complicated at the same time. Indeed, music is a platform for talented people to surmount contradictions. The only stylistic exception is Santa Margarita, which is an arousing interlude of the recording of choral singing. In a word, it is the trio’s field recording case. In a nutshell, you can readily listen to this outstanding issue at work and while you are reading or eating or just having a pinpointed focus on it. There are no contraindications at all. This music is highly logic maybe even beyond logic at times. The issue is a part of the discography of Lost Children.

Mega – Scanner (2008)

Proc-records

• Alternative dance 
• Dub 
• Electronic music 
• Deep tekno

Comment: I am pleased to be back at the discography of Proc-records (proc041), and the recent issue is a two-track issue by Mega, called Scanner. There are represented lots of rhythms, spaced-out synthesizers and shades of dub-inflected and electronic origin. These rhythms are set up at a mid-tempo range. The dub influences are prominently put forth at Autumnscanner though later it will be intermingled with catchy tekno rhythms. The second track Abstinent Freakno is more about deep tekno shuffling with microscopic noises as if a track coming silently through the hours between the night and early morning. Because of that the outing can be considered as the sort of music, which used to be played late at a party. In a word, the result is a solid drift between arousing rhythms and laid-back milieus. Get it to insert it into your home system. 

Basnie – Les Pays-Bas (2008)

2419 Record Label

• Sampledelic 
• Modern classical 
• Avant-garde 
• Tango 
• Drone pop 
• Film noir
• Experimentalism 
• Electronic music
• Musique concrète 
• Art music 
• Spoken word 
• Sound collage 
• Post-classical 
• Organcore 
• Mood music 
• Easy listening

Comment: first of all, it is very sweet to see such an irresistibly created retrodelic cover quite intentionally depicting those futuristic ideas related to electronic music and krautrock and progressive rock. The aesthetic of Kraftwerk, for instance. On the other side, by watching this marvellous one it predicts something special for the listener. This bunch of 17 compositions starts off with Tango Para No Balair, which is a cinematic, even ghastly insight while representing different music styles in an one piece as well (nu jazz, plunderphonics, tango noir, easy listening). Given that cinematic aspect with the mechanic sound of a film camera in the background it is not surprising at all because behind the project is the Dutchman Bas Niemans, who is being expert at doing videos. Because of that, it is not wondrous at all how he succeeded in establishing an album of having so many colours, edges, penumbras and full shadows. But I am wondering how he is being musically so talented to create something like this. This sonic scope of him is truly wide ranging from ghastly tango and plangent harmonium-led drone pop/organcore vignettes and Parisian street music to overwhelming electronic progressions and spoken word-infused situations somewhere in the midst of carnival or on noisy street or in crowd. In spite of offering up the undulating fold of images with poignant knots the issue is seamlessly wholesome. By kindred souls there can be drawn parallels upon the likes of Oskar Hallbert, Yann Tiersen, Bark Cat Bark, Penguin Café Orchestra. In a word, it is a mind-boggling juggernaut from the past. The outing is a part of the discogrpahy of an Utrecht, the Netherlands-based imprint 2419 Record Label.                           

Modek – Acid Before Lunch (2008)

Proc-Records

• Techno 
• Tekno 
• Alternative 
• Acid techno 
• Acid house

Comment: Recent Music Heroes is back again at the discography of Proc-Records, this time listening to Modek`s 4-notch issue (proc054) where the most pre-eminent word is “acid”. Indeed, taking acid before lunch and after lunch in the way it happened to be in the United Kingdom in the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s. The current issue could be considered a tribute to it or a solid follow-up to it. There were such styles as acid techno, and acid house, which strongly influenced the club/dance music scene and alternative rock/indie scene locally and a little bit later worldwide. I like Modek`s way to set up the path and then unleash all his energy and anxiety into it to foster it in a quite maniac way. However, more elaborated and hypnotized rhythms one can enjoy in the final part of the issue (Acid004). Get slammed and stoned by these tectonic vibes.        

Sam Golden Sings – Watch Out For The Quiet Ones (2008)

Rack And Ruin

• Lo-fi 
• Acoustic pop 
• Singer-songwriter 
• DIY

Comment: this is a simplistic yet catchy album of 6 pieces just based on the twangs of acoustic guitar, a few storytelling lines, some melodica whiffs and subtle stereo effects. And the singing with a catchy impetus is placed in the front page. For sure, it fits properly in to the lo-fi aesthetic of Rack And Ruin Records because it is played with great enthusiasm believing in a better future where one could perceive the thrill within it. The issue was produced in a time when all seemed to be possible. More profoundly, the DIY scene had appeared through blogs and independent music sites to get thousands of followers in the end of the 00s. That`s all. The simple things make highly sense on it.  

Rob Bridgett – Vorticist (2008)

Rack And Ruin

• Rnb 
• Alternative dance
• Alternative pop 
• Hip-hop 
• Illbient
• Avant-pop 
• Dark ambient 
• Leftfield pop
• Electronic music 
• Lo-fi 
• DIY 
• Experimental pop

Comment: Rob Bridgett`s music on this 8-track issue chimes extraordinarily without being superficial and thin at its centre and its extremes. For sure, this is an avant-garde issue providing different mental corners and alternative visions due to creating idiosyncratic soundscapes. For example, Boneless Chicken is screwed and chopped rnb madness yet this madness is expertly channelized not prevailing over the course and not hurting the backbone of the track but instead amplifying strengths of the composition. Indonesian Donuts has been managed to continue the pathway, however, Rob doing it tongue-in-cheek with some hip-hop flavour. More deeply, Indonesian Donuts/yum-yum donuts/so fruity. What else more reasonable could you add to this advertise-alike statement? Later on, one could perceive twisted ambient progressions where hyper-realistic revelations are spiced up with strange word puzzles, uncanny samples and some blissful overdrives. At Black City Interlude ominous illbient swathes are tightly yet embracing enough air interwoven with a glitched-out undulation. Charcoal is a composition of mechanical folktronic guitar arrangements and baggy hip-hop cadences. Vogg is an ill-omened breakbeat strike with lots of changes in upstairs and downstairs therefore conveying enough dynamics throughout the track. It could be said sometime 8 years ago Rob Bridgett made up hugely as an artist to contribute with the recent one (RRR056) and Pacific (2008), and Arkhives (2008), and Londra (2008) to the legacy and image of Rack And Ruin Records.  In a nutshell, it is one of the most pre-eminent issues under the excellent lo-fi/DIY imprint.                      

B-Complex – Acid Trip/Squelch (2008)

Zardonic

• Drum and bass 
• Jungle 
• Drill and bass 
• Breakcore 

Comment: B-Complex is a producer from Venezuela whose two-track issue is thought to be a non-dance music example though exploiting thoroughly dance music elements with gusto. Given that one of the criteria of dance music could be high intensity of beats, however, B-Complex`s endeavours in this field used to exceed these numbers. Moreover, the logic of the issue is quite different from an average drum and bass/jungle album because its nature is more disrupted and fragmental due to female voice-led samples and relentless changes in the rhythmic patterns. Therefore it could be said it is a breakcore issue, which outfit is remarkably more experimental and staggering than an average dance music issue. Ultimately it makes highly difference. The issue is a part of the catalogue of Zardonic Recordings.            

Abortionist – Abortionist. (2008)

Proc-records

• Noise 
• Digicore 
• Rhythmic noise 
• Freeformfreakout 
• Digital hardcore 
• Gabber 
• Non-music 
• Avant-garde 
• Experimentalism

Comment: I can remember for some guys who tried to boast their knowledge about dance music by talking of gabber as the most intense and fast-paced one. Ok, it happened approximately 18 years ago it does mean 10 years before the current issue was created. Indeed, Abortionist’s experiments are about gabber music but with an obviously different angle than a common exemplar of it – this is the devastating deconstruction of the style. More profoundly, it might remind of it but it is studded with noisy, rhythmical piercing drones. Because of that the main point of the issue is diffused and divided. It does not use sequencers to create the rhythms but used to extract certain harsh frequencies from the periphery of sonic scale. In any cases, the result is staggering, poignant and overwhelming. This very short-running issue is a part of the discography of proc-records (proc062).            

Morpheus – Alkemiisto (2003/2008/2009)

Aventuèl

Lomeanor

• Dark Wave 
• Dark ambient 
• Art music 
• Interpreted music 
• Neoclassical 
• Avant-garde 
• Post-classical

Comment: Morpheus` 14-track issue Alkemiisto is an intriguing issue because the artist’s original music is variegated with his own versions of such classical composers/musicians as Bach, Corelli, Vangelis, Abeni, Vildsvin, Chopin and additionally some video game numbers. It sounds interesting, isn’t? In stylistic and temporal terms it does mean Stanislav Rubyteno has opened possibilities to either unite or juxtapose old, baroque music with blackened ambient and neoclassical tunes. The general mood is resolutely murky and damp thereby allowing few chances to shed light upon in the middle of shadowplay. More concretely, hammering piano chords and solemn organ droning are unwound with yarning orchestrated passages and ominous, expressive ambient glimpses. Undoubtedly Rubyteno`s melancholy is beautiful and dignifying therefore bolstering the issue with quality. Get it.          

Kria Brekkan – 2008-09-16 Lutheran Church (2008)

Nyctaper

• New Weird Iceland 
• Avant-pop 
• Abstract, 
• Dream pop 
• Live session 
• Post-pop
• Singer-songwriter 
• Experimental pop
• Art pop
• Folktronica

Comment: Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir aka Kria Brekkan was previously known as a member of Icelandic combo Mùm of which first albums Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today Is OK (2000, Morr Music) and Finally We Are No One (2002, FatCat) are pure gold to listen for sure - it is a hypnotic blend of folk, electronic/glitch music and post-rock. These two ones are the issues showing no sign of aging even today. So get these albums for yourselves immediately if you do not have it yet. Roughly one year before this gig Kria Brekkan and her then-husband Dave Portner aka Avey Tare (Animal Collective) released an issue called Pullhair Rubeye on Paw Tracks for which they composed music to turn it upside down therefore. This time Kria does not get involved in such sort of capers. The result is a fairy-alike one in which one could hear her to chirp as if it were channelized through the mist being conjured up either by glass celesta or watery harmonium. At times one could track down more dynamic and cinematic bridges on the austere chords to create something astonishing and staggering. In a word, this session of a half hour is a truly interesting listening span.

Esmectatons – Bene Gesserit Science (2008)

Year Zero

Mediafire

• Lo-fi
• Noise
• Experimentalism
• Avant-garde
• Psychedelic
• Non-music
• Dada music
• Freeformfreakout
• Electronic
• Krautrock
• Space rock
• Avant-rock
• Experimental rock
• Psycho-acoustic

Comment: this outing consists of a couple of notches which in turn are divided into a numerous batch of subunits reflecting upon diverse themes most of them are titled funnily and surrealistically. Behind the project is Brazilian musician L. Borgia Rossetti with a little help by other musicians. Rossetti`s concept and therefore sonic endeavours trudge across diverse pathways, from uncanny post-classical music and electro-acoustic whirlpools to lo-fi inflected brown noise and warped psychedelic noise and stark outright sonic experiments to spaced-out rock and improvised krautrock madness which in the end chime mesmerizingly and formidably. Honestly, at times it sounds like the tape were streaked and hurt mechanically. By kindred souls it could be compared with the likes of Hawkwind, Isotope 217, CAN, Faust, Led Zeppelin, Borbetomagus. The issue is a part of an off-kilter imprint, Year Zero Records (business as usual it does not disappoint you).

Pilot Cloud – In Transition (2008)

Bandcamp

• Post-rock
• Alternative rock
• Epic
• Post-metal
• Shoegaze

Comment: Pilot Cloud is a project from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA which was embarked on in 2008 by Nick Biscardi, and Justin Lerner. Their 10-track debut issue straddles the border between post-rock, post-metal, alternative rock, between silent chord shuffling and highly pummelling instrumental developments and raved-up refrains, ecstatic singing and overwhelming crescendos. At Map, and Sounds of an Era shoegaze takes place to spread out and govern throughout five minutes. All these elements used to melt together seamlessly or being superimposed or followed logically by each other. Because of that the structure of the album is quite predictable, on the other side the duo is all about to act upon the rock music must have been – emotional and loud. Although it is an example of traditional post-rock sound it makes sense, especially in particular tracks like Star Redoubt, Map, Ex Astris Scientia, and Dead Satellite. These are the examples where the emotions and electricity are put into one another in the way to establish more staggering synergistic outputs due to more chord changes and dreaminess of a greater amount. Get it. 

Tropical Australian Stinger Research Unit – Ex Stinger EP (2008)

Rack And Ruin

• DIY
• Lo-fi
• Alternative pop
• Indie pop
• Electro-indie
• Psychedelic pop
• Bedroom pop
• Acid pop

Comment: this 6-track EP reflects upon naivety and playfulness which was partly prevalent within the lo-fi and DIY compartment in the end of the 00s and the beginning of the 10s. Cheap synths, clumsy rhythmic setups, volatile singing and spacey guitar twangs constitute something magnificent which might not to have born due to the rough predispositions. Those synths atop the rhythms chime almost like the outcomes from an 8-bit/tracker outing. It is both hirsute and unagitated simultaneously thereby reminding a bit the C-86 movement in the mid-80s. I guess it was ironic faith in their doings with regard to the both movements. Of course, at the time the issue was released a few indie, psychedelic and free folk artists were able to surpass the influence and traces of untamed energy of Animal Collective. However, those traces could be harked back even more further to The Russian Futurists (Matthew Adam Hart), and even the Magnetic Fields (Stephin Merritt), and His Name Is Alive (Warren Defever), for instance. Traces of the aforementioned influences are especially up at Simple Things to Live By. The more you listen to the whole the more poppy and catchy it gets and more immersed one gets in it. I guess one of the secrets of it might be related to the fact of being freed from hi-fi hermetic, and quite predictable production. Let`s enjoy this lo-fi greatness having a notch in the discography of Rack And Ruin Records (rrr009). 

Sigur Ros - June 16, 2008 Grand Ballroom (2008)

Nyctaper

• Post-rock
• Ambient rock
• Art rock
• Epic
• Alternative rock
• Indie rock
• Dream pop
• Live recording

Comment: I switched on my magnetophone and USB device to play this previously highly acclaimed gig and to convey a presumably magnificient ambiance for the evening of today. In fact, the Icelandic juggernaut within indie and post-rock realm who were joined by their friends and compatriots Amiina and a section of horn from Iceland for this time would have made something absolutely otherwise - they occupied the room around me, altered my consciousness to enchanting one to feel myself more relaxed and calmed down. At their heydays I was not the biggest fan of the combo`s music by feeling they were a little bit overrated because of their (faux-)mystical yet quite boring aesthetic. I then rather preferred to listen to such combos as Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Stereolab, and Tortoise, for instance. By listening to their gig at Grand Ballroom by now all seems to be changing deeply inside me. It starts off with the combo`s classic Svefn-g-Englar which makes out very well  for me. The issue goes on with some other classic tracks thereafter. It might be their music rings out even greater while being performed live. Jònsi`s singing is enchanting in the middle of melting organ drones and pummeling drums cascades and guitar chords over the place. Somthing of this kind needs no words to impose upon you. Get it and enjoy it!

Beeches of Madame Ess - While We're Away (2007/2008)

Rack And Ruin

Bandcamp

• New Weird America
• Experimental folk
• Electronic music
• Indie folk
• Musique concrète
• Free folk
• Avant-folk
• DIY
• Improvised music
• Weird folk
• Americana
• Lo-fi
• Found sounds
• Freak folk
• Folk indie
• Primitivism

Comment: Beeches of Madame Ess`s 12-track issue is a thought-provoking issue both by its sounds and concept. It was recorded while the Pennsylvania, US-based quintet was travelling to arrive at Nova Scotia, Canada. They recorded while staying at various campsites in Bangor Maine, Cheticamp, and Blomidon. All the soundscape which consists of freaked-out yet heartfelt lo-fi folk and indie compositions, warped electronic appearances (especially The Gather of Sticks) and some field recordings were created by using acoustic and electric instruments and battery powered synthesizers. The issue was created even as there had been the highlight of the so-called New Weird America movement since the first half of the 00s. These ditties are expertly conceived surfacing the pristine nature of a natural world where is left no place for the temporal categories but pure beauty of nature seems to overwhelm all what used to be inside it and around it. However, at Flora And Fauna slowed-down, slightly murky electric guitar progressions do tingle one`s pure sensations to have emerged previously from elemental sounds. Evening of Bliss might remind of early experiments by Animal Collective though the Beeches of Madame Ess`s experiment is more incisive in its obvious primitivism which reminds of an old-fashioned computer game or something. It cannot be wrong to say the amalgamation of natural sounds and artificial sounds provide invigorated impulses to the whole. The outing was initially released in 2007 and a year later on Rack And Ruin (it is catalogued as rrr096 in the discography of the label) which had been a definitive imprint within the webaudio world from 2008 to 2011.

Of Montreal 2008-10-10 Roseland NYC (2008)

Nyctaper

• Indie pop
• Alternative dance
• Psychedelic rock
• Live session
• Alternative pop
• Funk
• Folk indie
• Soul
• Indie folk

Comment: Of Montreal is one of the most well-known artists coming out from the so-called The Elephant 6 Recording Company. The Denver, Colorado, US-established company involves such artists as Neutral Milk Hotel, Beulah, Olivia Tremor Control, The Ladybug Transistor, and M Coast, Apples In Stereo among many others. Musically these combos make difference against each other though sharing exquisite playfulness, aesthetical curiosity, artistic freedom and fondness for music of going beyond genres and styles. Furthermore, it was not unusual that the projects altogether used to share one and the same members (for instance, Jeff Mangum was or has been a member of such combos as Neutral Milk Hotel, Elf Power, Major Organ and The Adding Machine, Circulatory System, The Apples In Stereo, Synthetic Flying Machine). Of Montreal is the project of one of the collective`s founders, Jeff Mangum and this gargantuan set of 26 songs with a total length of 107 minutes is an example of the quintessence of the Elephant 6. There are up fine examples of energetic indie pop songs with strong hints at psychedelic and acid pop undertaking which might even remind of the New Weird America movement at the time, funk and dance-appealed frequencies, and more programmed synthetic and design pop. There was presented a cover version of Nirvana`s Smells Like Teen Spirit in the set. Moreover, one could perceive more or less humorous moments seeping out from those numerous sonic layers. By the way, one of the ditties was performed while Jeff Mangum was riding almost naked atop of a white horse. You could see the magnificent horse and a contemporary Dionysios riding on the picture above. In a nutshell, it could be said all the people who attended the gig got satisfied. 

Bone Conductors – Twitches (2008)

Luv Sound

Bandcamp

• Singer-songwriter
• Indie folk
• Chamber pop
• Indietronica
• Drone pop
• Epic
• New Weird America
• Toytronica
• Baroque pop
• Post-pop
• Folk indie
• Alternative pop
• Americana

Comment: by reading the description about Nick Yulman at archive.org one could admit the resident from Brooklyn, NY, USA is a busy, versatile and requested musician. He has been involved in many projects with purpose to cover different events with soundscapes. Surely, by listening to this 11-track issue one there have been mapped out different hotspots in indie/alternative/art pop/music. Musically it does mean electronic instruments are tightly mixed up with acoustic ones though the whole rings in an airy and subtle way giving no heck to any of these vignettes and fragments represented over there. More profoundly, you can see paths coming out of art houses and bedrooms to climb up to small independent studios and venues where primitive toy-alike instruments are given the same aesthetical extent in comparison to more accomplished guitar rock driven and Americana laden progressions. Even more could be pulled out of it – at times Yulman`s music chimes in a truly farcical way where funny music hall/vaudeville/burlesque elements are seamlessly added to the mix. In truth, Twitches is heavily loaded with stylistic turns and innovative explorations, however, resulting craftily in an emotive way. Although the music lovers could discern certain similarities with other musicians (for instance, Dan Deacon, Stereolab, Sufjan Stevens, Beirut, Grizzly Bear, Mount Eerie, Dirty Projectors) it is an idiosyncratic outing because having no spot on certain elements for longer time. These snippets are just transient instruments to conjure up his extravagant world. The issue involves some songs which should have reached the top of Billboard (Bermuda, I Don`t Design). The album should be considered as one of the classic albums regarding the New Weird America scene. All the relevant aspects are represented over there - it is musically poignant, emotionally overwhelming, conceptually innovative. Top notch.

[t]ghost – Terminal Damage EP (2008)

BPM Front

/Industrial techno, Big beat, Leftfield, Illbient, Neoclassical, EBM/

Comment: [t]ghost is an artist from Russia whose 2-track issue is an amalgamation of tectonic-alike crushing rhythms which seem to break up thereafter they are fallen down to the soil and malignant synth progressions with some hints at neoclassical orchestrated music, martial music and electronic body music. By using speech samples to bring forth the very core of this it is thoroughly viable and reasonable. More profoundly, there are up such tracks as March of The GPA Mechanics, and Terminal Damage. These ones say quite much about the whole. I guess by speaking about such kind of genres it is very important to figure out adequate milieu of them – indeed, all of that is represented over that – it is aggressive, it is powerful, it is rhythmical, it is obscure, it is mystical. In a word, all is properly balanced, all is properly (re)presented. The issue is a part of the roster of the Argentinian label BPM Front.

If The People Were Paper – Rotten Sugar (2008)

Rack And Ruin

/Lo-fi, DIY, Anti-folk, Electro-acoustic, Psych-folk, Space folk, Freeformfreakout, Singer-songwriter, Ambient, New Weird America, Experimentalism/

Comment: I don`t know how should this handful of pieces be tagged for? Is it electro-acoustic music with plenty of folk music influences or vice versa? Or is it an ambient music album with remarkable inclination toward primitivism? Or is it a spoken word album with hints at spaced-out folk/rock music? Maybe even something else? However, the result is impressive in its madness loaded with desperate chants and freaky shrieks. At times the way is paved by the dada tradition fuelled brown noise produced bits. Indeed, it is the kind of songwriting coming out of a remote corner. For instance, Mountains is a solid folk song with some indirect grunge influences in the blend. The soundscape is rough due to primitive noises and echoes thereby giving it verve to change into an idiosyncratic punch. It can be said the album is almost being undiscovered so far (you can trace for only few listening times at Lastfm for instance). Furthermore, I was not able to figure out who is the person behind the project. There is no information about it. However, let`s find out the issue in the discography of Rack And Ruin Records.