Live Savings – Endings (2014)

Narrominded

/Power pop, Post-grunge, Alternative rock, Angst rock, Screamo, Math rock/

Comment: by reading the quite surreal, almost incompatible snippet by Live Savings` guitarist/vocalist Gabry de Waaij at Bandcamp its point was to accentuate that music could be very essential and tenuous depending on how someone used to value music. By my opinion, however, the Dutch-based quartet`s 4-track issue is not something of a null and void one. More profoundly, it is an amalgamation of power pop energy, grungy guitar hooks to depict anxiety and desperate feels which used to grow over your heads at times. On the other side, it could be considered an example of screamo with some hints at mathematically designed riffs and more sophisticated drum patterns than an average 70s influenced rock band. In a word, within those strident rock templates you can perceive a certain artsy endeavour and touch. In a word, it is a worth listening. The issue is a part of the intriguing discography of Narrominded, the Dutch imprint.

Blind Man Walking - 36 Howden Road (2014)

Year Zero

/Improvised music, Ambient, Glitch, Freeformfreakout, Cool jazz, Kosmische Musik, Art music, Free jazz, Avant-garde, Experimentalism/

Comment: it might sound like muzak at times though it is not it by the artist`s intention though. Indeed, there are represented some smooth jazz progressions, however, those whiffs are generally put in such a pop music estranged context giving no possibility to understand it as an example of pop music. More concretely, there are up tightly foggy, glitched-out noises like a black hole sucking in the most sonic artefacts surrounding it. Concrete Lamppost Sure Tastes Good is another, more pop-oriented and Kosmische Music mixed composition with dreamy vibe and drowsy meandering. Made A Fag From Cabbage Leaves And A Newspaper sounds like a ghoul telling a story outside while being accompanied by an early, more post-punk-ish sound of Cocteau Twins chiming somewhere at a remote distance. It is a weird collage indeed. The Green River Joins Two Identical Worlds is an inventive turn through a cool jazz /post-bebop pad. However, the whole might be a sort of muzak though it is an uncanny sort of muzak in this case. Thereby it can be said it is provocative and challenging for those who do not like music while listening to AOR as a sonic tapestry because of feeling her/himself not being alone. In a word, let`s trying to hover with it.

Psychic Frequencies – Projecting Disorder (2014)

Test Tube

Bandcamp

/Experimental electronica, Glitch ambient, Post-industrial, Electro-acoustic, Musique concrète, Avant-garde, Drone, Experimentalism, Ambient dub, Experimental techno/

Comment: it is obviously one of the best most thought-provoking techno and dub albums I have ever heard. In fact, if we think of techno or dub music I used to think of quite sterile and hermetic beats which are extracted from certain synthesised pads and embellished with synthesised overdrives. Indeed, Projecting Disorder is something of the so-called techno and dub music. Psychic Frequencies aka the collaboration act between Alistair Stray and David Clarkson used to draw on electro-acoustic ambience and raw sonic fabrics wherein the listener could perceive lots of open air around it. Of course, those are only some elements provided over the mix. For instance, Projecting Fractures is a terrain to take on rough improvisation due to flute sounds by Southeast Asia and thoroughgoing electronic experiments which in turn used to hint at the aesthetics of industrial music. Those many ambient music snippets represented throughout the course are loaded with many ghosts and other supernatural creatures. Actually it is not surprising with regard to the artists` immensely foregoing musical involvement (Alistair Stray has been involved in such acts as Raya Collective, Irritants, Radical Elsewhere, Noosign, and Inference; David Clarkson has been involved in such acts as Central Processing Unit, Illuminati, Triclops, and Whitecube). In a word, the result is mind-blowingly interesting.

Hico – Modus (2014)

Totokoko

/Folktronica, Conceptual, Experimental folk, Baroque folk, Cowbell indie, World music, Epic, Chamber folk, Art folk/

Comment: sort of a folk music within this handful of tracks presented by Hico is certainly my cup of tea. It is artsy, it is dreamy, it is crafty, it seems to be concise and bountiful at the same time. Stylistically the issue is a place for different styles to encounter on the same line and plateau. For instance, the world music motives start off to permeate from some tracks into modern electronic rhythms and panoramic orchestrations resulting in cinematic looming and build-up of full-fledged emotions. The album is partly conceptual due to deliberately crossing some instruments with one another to reach the goal (for instance, organ and ensemble, and banjo and upright bass). The result is coherent and having no scattered seeds within the course. Organ & Ensemble reminds of one of the favourites of mine, Penguin Café Orchestra with regard to light-hearted harmony blossoming and cloudless visions in sound. Furthermore, the same could be admitted about the subsequent piece Fushigi either. Of course, Hico is able of translating those enterprises into a nowadays sonic form. In a word, this excellent make-out is obviously one of the best issues I have heard in the discography of Totokoko Records (it does not mean at all that other outings of the imprint I have listened so far were somehow inferior or lame ones on its own).

MC Melodee - DiscoDip (prod. Cookin Soul)

MC Melodee - Crunch Time EP (2014)

Soundcloud

/Hip-hop, Urban music, Rap, Soul-hop, Nu jazz, Gangsta rap/

Comment: my first impression about this handful of tracks was not very enthusiastic because all of that seemed to be way too straightforward and simplified regarding the production and configuration. Actually it was a quite unusual experience to listen to gangsta-inflected music dominated by a female musician from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. However, this bunch needs more listening times to open up its nature and surface its merits. The listener can discern sublime soul and jazz music debris below the rhymes and chants fattening up your soul and mind. MC Melodee is helped by the likes of Cookin`Soul, Robbie Anthem, Feliciana and D-Luzion, BuddahSPK, Brady James, and Like of Pac Div). 

Benjamin Dauer & Specta Ciera - Traced in Sand (2014)

Distance Recordings

Distance Recordings

/Ambient, Soundscape, Abstract, Modern classical, Experimental electronica, Crossover/

Comment: Traced in Sand is a collaborative issue between Benjamin Dauer, and Devin Underwood aka Specta Ciera. The most general adjective which could be ascribed to the issue is deep. More profoundly, these six tracks used to converge at a crossroad of ambient, classical, experimental electronica, glitched-out minimal rhythms and more tectonic, dub music-alike overthrows, however, being tightly interwoven with one another frequently. On the other side, which is deep it might also be picturesque and arousing – Dauer, and Underwood did it. The finishing track Over the Coastline chimes like a borderline between more abstract, hyper-realistic and recognized sounds, however, presenting barely audible sonic effects throughout the course. The launching track Ice Train depicts a post-apocalyptic world saturated with radioactive vapour and bleak terrains. Indeed, these are good examples about minimally tonal yet highly emotive electronic music. In overall, it is like your own life where exciting moments used to happen to force back general ennui and drabness. The issue is a part of the discography of Glaswgow-based imprint Distance Recordings.

Mononomoooto - 架空の洞 (2014)

Ceramic

/Electronic, Mood music, Abstract, Experimentalism/

Comment: I am a little confused by listening to this handful of tracks. In fact, I feel I am not able to describe it, to envelope it, to catch it, to pin it. Of course, I hear lots of sounds pouring out of there but what is the genuine intention of these sounds for me is quite puzzling to explain. However, I perceive quite simplistic, amateurish rhythms which are either adorned with subtle drones or softened chords or half spaced-out synth progressions above thereby providing powerful and poignant contrast for me. At tmes The point of mine is this is a quite mysterious issue for me maybe it would be better not to deconstruct it. Just listen to the sequence and combinations of the sounds represented over there. The result of it does not dependent on the subjective opinion of a critic it does live its own life.

Faerùn – The Night (2014)

Test Tube

Bandcamp

/Indietronica, Space rock, Experimental electronica, Hauntology, Crossover, Avant-pop, Dark ambient, Dark wave, Sampledelic, Experimental pop, Musique concrète, Spoken word, Leftfield, Art pop/

Comment: it is great honour to arrive at the album list of Test Tube. Indeed, there is no reason to feel yourself disappointed at all by listening to Barcelona, Catalonia residing Marius Miron aka Faerùn`s bunch of handful of pieces. The issue starts off with Dusk, the poem of Robin Rimbaud where a presumably experimental sound package is masterfully subordinated to an independent music algorithm. The track chimes like a less pop appeal drenched version of the Cranberries now and then in the second part. The same could be said about the finishing track Ndasi where slightly undulating synth-induced drones are accompanied by a dynamic rhythm and mind affecting vocal samples. Emotionally the most crushing and orgasmic piece is Hanako which involves the raping sounds, sighs of a man and weeping of a woman hinting at the crimes of Japanese soldiers during the WW II. Room 3327 is a haunting hybrid of space rock and minimally pulsating electronica adorned with radio waves and spoken word snippets dedicated to Nikola Tesla, the true genius within the physics field. If you are searching for some analogue examples within the experimental pop scene then the oeuvre of Broadcast might resemble of that span of 28 minutes. In a word, it is obviously one of the best (leftfield) pop albums issued in 2014.                    

Donquièstar – Cellphone Somewhere (2014)

Teque-Nique

/Electronic music, Minimal synth, Alternative dance, EBM, Industrial, Synthwave, Dark pop, Coldwave/

Comment: Donuiéstar is an artist from Brussels, Belgium whose 3-bar issue is hinged on his compatriots` glorious coldwave, EBM and minimal synth tradition harking back to the end of the 70s/beginning of the 80s, though the musician presents it in a more contemporary and diversified form. It is filled with brisk yet chill synth hooks being in turn boosted up with murky industrial music and hollow dark wave/goth fuelled reverberations thereby giving possibility for more detailed elements and minutiae to be surfaced. For instance, the opener Dark Wonder is about to bristle with a ring reminiscent of mechanical sound of the movie camera. It could say these solid compositions are composed to arouse your sensations in your soul and set up your body to take on nervous dance-alike movements. Of course, the listener should take care of to discern subtle relation between the main lines and their subsidiary ones. Additionally, let`s discover the music on the Teque-Nique imprint. 

Natural Snow Buildings - The Night Country (2014)

Vulpiano

Vulpiano

Mediafire

/Drone folk, Avant-folk, Chamber folk, New Weird France, Ambient folk, Space folk, Free folk, Dream folk, Post-folk, Experimental folk, Baroque folk, Leftfield, Epic/

Comment: depending on my mood I would call the French duo Natural Snow Buildings the best recent group worldwide in several times. No joke. Indeed, Mehdi Ameziane and Solange Gularte have been solidifying their inner and outer space experience on approximately 20 issues since the beginning of the 00s. Their music is actually much bigger than a sum of its components, however, creating the fabulous vamp over the listener`s ears on The Night Country. Although there are up 80 minutes to go it does not sound worn and boring at all throughout the course. In fact, the issue is craftily balanced due to representing spaced-out glimpses juxtaposed next to woolgathering and idyllic explorations (for instance, Eli`s Song, Season of the Slasher). Furthermore, it is quite pointless to categorize the moments of pure beauty and transcendental bridging from one galaxy to another. If you are feeling yourself a little bit lonely and depressed in the apartment in a town then this 11-track gives wings to you to fly outwards and farther until the spot of you is going to fade away. By denoting the duo`s sound by tags above I shall have to admit it is quite ill-suited to call this sound “weird folk” because such sort of soundscape seems to be thoroughly immanent, natural and full-fledged. However, by doing it nevertheless I assume you do know why I did it and what I meant. Given that a drawn-out talk is a shitty case and to end it I just say grab this divine issue and let`s immerse in a fragment of music of the spheres.

TFSL - Tales From The Sleeping Land (2014)

Mahorka

Bandcamp

/Post-rock, Stoner rock, Space rock, Krautrock, Musique concrète, Psych-rock, Drone rock, Avant-rock, Doom rock, Experimental rock, Improvised music/

Comment: this alignment of heavy punching guitar spawned sounds used to create different emotions and sensations in my head. It is more joyous than most of the combos brought forth from the section of doom rock/spaced-out rock. Relatively I did mean. It might be TFSL`s 7-track issue is a less obsessive and more gliding one dedicated not only to survey the listener`s fucked-up state of mind but also providing a placebo to rise up your mind and soul. Let`s call it “the doom or stoner fusion” if you wish. However, the soundscape is powerful and overwhelming by giving only few moments for breathing and extending your muscles throughout a time span of approximately one hour. It is saturated with spacey guitar overdrives and mighty gong sounds to the extreme extent which used to move across the spectrum and penetrate all the layers being discernible on the scale. By now and then additionally to some more tranquil compositions the sonic brew is accentuated with some concrete sounds and signs reflecting upon the de-escalation at some extent. However, all these sounds are seamlessly related to each other or growing out of one another. All of that creates an immensely pleasurable context for your ears generating and unleashing new connections and associations. I am very glad that for a while after the elimination of the Iron Curtain there appeared solid experimental rock scenes in the Eastern Bloc countries. The recent project comes out of Bulgaria. The issue is a part of the discography of Mahorka imprint.

Iris Garrelfs - Breathing Through Wires (2014)

Pan y rosas

/Experimental electronica, Avant-garde, Micronoise, Electro-acoustic, Spoken word, Live recording, Abstract, Sound-art/

Comment: Iris Garrelfs is an experienced musician/artist who has been active for almost three decades. This compilation involves 5 lengthy live improvisations recorded in the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2014. Her music consists of two elements predominantly – her vowel effects and voice bending is accentuated with minimal electronic components either being separated from her voice or coming out of it. At times she mimics the sounds of animals (duck`s quacks, swine`s belches, evil dog`s snarling), at times the music of her is layered and looped with multiple voices (some of them are slowed down into moaning, some of them are slightly speeded up), at times the listener can perceive more nervous and orgastic syllables juxtaposed against more tranquil, angelic voice appearances as if depicting the life course of someone. Her sound proves that a very minimal, stepwise approach on only one word (as the final track builds up in this way) with some sonic manipulations could essentially be enthralling and convincing. Iris Garrelfs´ music could be examined side by side with the likes of Meredith Monk, Laurie Anderson, Roomet Jakapi, Maja Ratkje, Jaap Blonk, Diamanda Galas, Michael Schiefel. In a nutshell, it is a thought-provoking legacy from the potent voice and sound artist. 

The Stepkids – Wanderers (2014)

Soundcloud

Stones Throw

/Soft rock, Digital funk, Funk rock, Synth fusion, Doo wop, Alternative pop, Electronic pop/

Comment: the shortened Soundcloud version of Wanderers comprises three compositions veering a crossover attitude of soft rock, synthesised fusion and digitalized funk rhythms and robot pop. Although getting partly inspiration from the musical groups of bygone decades the issue`s general impression is very modern – all these production tricks with appearance of stereo effects and overdriven acid keyboard chords, layers of exuberant sonic minutiae atop used to gravitate toward catchy rhythmic structures and subtle singing. At times the singing chimes in the vein of the best doo wop tradition. You can even hear Miles Davis` funk-inclined shuffles through predominant jazz narratives. By listening to The Slap you can discern how it bridges the US-based r`n`b, funk and soul tradition to Italo disco and Kraftwerk-ian electro pop influences par excellence. In a word, it is a fine example of contemporary pop music. It is infinitely better than Lady Gaga, and Miley Cyrus, for instance (in fact, they are more products rather than musical output).

LuckEnHouse – Panaji (2014)

The Tinopener`s Music

/Psytrance, Ambient trance, Psychill, Mood music, Psybient, Alternative dance, World music, Ethnic electronica/

Comment: exactly one year ago, on the 19^th of July in 2014 LuckEnHouse posted at his Facebook site the announcement about the release of an album, Panaji which used to weave psychedelic hazes, electronic rhythms of trance and chill out music and world music/ethnic music oriented motives to create a set of 57 minute to embed the needle deep into the listener`s hedonistic cerebral centre. Yeah! Indeed, it is a sophisticated outing with regard to have got to set out the plan to balance smoothly between the aforementioned styles. Since the 60s the Indian music has been having a substantial influence on the Western pop culture. Regarding the issue the listener can perceive ethnic motives coming out of the northern regions of India and influences of Goa trance stranded in the midst of bouncy rhythms and breezy synthesised orchestrations atop. This album could readily be a part of the discography of Ektoplazm, the trance oriented label. The issue is dedicated to Richard H Kirk who founded Cabaret Voltaire with Stephen Mallinder and Chris Watson thereby being one of the pioneers of industrial music, noise music, post-punk music and later electronic dance music either. In a nutshell, this 8-notch issue is an elysian meal for your body and mood.  

Sound Awakener - Five Chapters (2014)

Petroplyph

Bandcamp

Soundcloud

/Avant-garde, Experimentalism, Piano music, Field recording, Improvised music/

Comment: Vietnam-based artist Nguyễn Hồng Nhung aka Sound Awakener takes on an upright acoustic piano to create something inspired and beautiful. The issue starts off with Vibrate which differentiates due to a more buried timbre and sonic vamp. Later on, the artist creates tracks by amplifying them to the edge of distortion and dissonance, or using the sounds of field recording, or adding reverb-heavy spaces, some hissy wisps and stereo tricks to the blend. Nguyễn Hồng Nhung is an endued musician because of being classically educated he has not lost his explorative nature to educational formalism. In fact, these two characteristic vectors do have the same direction thereby resulting in the hitting stomp emotively. More concretely, hilarious moments are variegated with more shadowy glimpses into the soul of piano improvisation. Some tracks might sound in a lo-fi way at times yet it is not something of a lo-fi album because all the layers added to the mix are produced in an adept way. You could call it the knavish lo-fi outing if you wish. On this example the Vietnamese musician`s outing resembles the Swede Oskar Hallbert`s slightly introvertive and hazy compositions. Solid issue indeed.

CementO - No Man’s Land (2014)

Wavelike

Lastfm

/Techno, Acid techno, Free tekno, Rave music, Club music/

Comment: CementO`s 4-track issue is based on rave music modifications though providing a more organic, slightly darker approach. On the other side, the listener can discern some hypnotic, even somewhat buried upheavals coming out of the tradition of Detroit techno and electro scene. Moreover, I assume the tension between some cheesy sonic bits and more glowering and gloomy rhythmic structures used to create the welcoming output. In a word, it is a worthy listening.        

Lessons In Time - Lady Wisdom At The Gate (Proverbs) (2014)

4-4-2

/New Weird Australia, Dream folk, Noir folk, Anti-folk, Freak folk, Weird folk, Indie folk, Electronic, Psych-folk, Experimental folk, Folk indie, Avant-folk/

Comment: I can`t stand for those persons` opinion who hyped Animal Collective throughout the 00s but nowadays speaking silly things by accusing the Avey Tare & Panda Bear led combo by introducing naïve and simplistic elements into the pop music. All what has been created by the group throughout the 00s was innovative and spellbinding. Another essential element related to them (basically with them and Devendra Banhart) was to introduce the movement of the so-called New Weird America which had a huge influence on other countries folk musicians either. Eventually we did have a chance to see how much potential could have folk music if to cross it with other genres. Australia is one of those countries wherefrom have come off a loads of groups with tremendous aesthetical ability. For instance, I recommend listen to the compilations of New Weird Australia at Bandcamp to comprehend the phenomenon. The Sydney-based collective Lessons In Time is being active since the second half of 00s and having issued four albums so far (at least more issues I was not personally able to figure out). The combo`s 6-track issue is a relatively short-running one though involving a multitude of twists and undercurrents to undermine a trivial folk music body. From sublime dreamy female vocal led meditations to more noir drenched vocal timbres and guitar experiments to voice machine/vocoder drenched vocal experiments to distorted guitar hook based elevations into noise rock embodiment to compositions let to evolve within open space/nearby the campfire somewhere. All of that described recently it is not a simplistic show-off but an organic shift from one element to another.

StaueOfDiveo - Spaceman (2014)

Jamendo

/Space pop, Breakcore, Alternative pop, Electro-house, Doo wop, Electronic pop, Mood music, Shibuya-kei, J-pop/

Comment: by exploring the history of popular music you could find out two types of artists related to the space. The first category embraces such artists whose music is being deemed ahead of their time, i.e creating something truly innovative and cutting-edge something as if coming out of the outer space. Another type includes artists who are conceptually being related to the space themes (Sun Ra, Space age pop, Spacemen 3). Usually the artists of the latter type used to relate to the first category either. The Massachusetts, US-based combo StatueOfDiveo`s music is spaced-out as well – as much thematically as sonically. It might be the artist`s sound is more related to different places on Earth rather than with the room outside it. For instance, you could discern the artist`s love for cinematic Japanese pop music which in turn is strongly being influenced by the Western popular music (harmonic shuffles of the 60`s doo wop, easiness of the 80´s indie pop and attention-getting melody and harmony progressions by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai). For instance, the world knows well such artists as Pizzicato Five, Flipper`s Guitar, and Fantastic Plastic Machine. On the other side, there are up other cues as well – for instance, Nobody Wants a Broken Window resembles Soldier Girl, the track by Polyphonic Spree. Brahms` Lullaby resembles some compositions by Nick Currie aka Momus, the expatriate from Scotland who has been living in Japan for many years. In any cases, it is an intriguing and arousing issue thanks to multifaceted dodges and inner dynamics.

My Own Cubic Stone – Pagan Forest – Part 2 (2014)

Dhatura

/Industrial, Avant-garde, Industrial electro, Musique concrète, Martial industrial, Illbient, Dark electronica, New Age, Experimentalism, Leftfield, Neoclassical/

Comment: first of all I shall have to apologize I have not listened to the first part of Pagan Forest double album yet. It will have done later I promise to you. However, the second part of it consists of 7 long-running compositions drawing on industrial electro and electronic layers. It is saturated with low-slung rhythms which in turn are up to set up the background to ill-omened echoes, crawling synthesizer progressions and green and grey drenched shades as if coming straight out from hell. Gravelly scratchy yet somewhat buried guitars add new colours and patterns to the mix. Additionally you can feel a slight lo-fi/DIY vamp being immersed in the whole in a way. Actually the term “pagan forest” should refer to a place of being quite contrary to the civilization and involves acts being mysterious, sinister and inapprehensible. On the other side, we can perceive such places in our civilization either. Furthermore, any human being`s existence as an example of a small universe embraces also such corners and pigeonholes. However, there are represented examples which used to deviate from the rest – Nantosuelta chimes like a hyper realistic thread being influenced by the New Age music rather than sustained by the tradition of industrial music. Arawn depicts a world where incisive digital droning and infrequent bass drum chords are amplified with concrete music whiffs and even kind of radiophonic experiments (at the end). The issue is a part of the discography of dhatūrā Records, the French label whose 68-notch one seems to be profound and hidden with gems. Actually it is a tremendous source for any music lover who is addicted to neoclassical/martial industrial/neofolk sounds. Let`s explore these slits!