Tracing Arcs – Waste Not, Want Not – Wasteland Remixes (2016)

23 Seconds

Jamendo

Archive.org

• Electronic music 
• Remixes 
• Alternative dance 
• Breaks 
• Art pop 
• Ambient pop 
• Space pop 
• Chilltronica 
• Easy listening

Comment: Tracing Arcs is a British duo consisting of Fran Kapelle (vocal/lyrics), and Paul H. Addie (synths/guitar/programming) who have been active since the 90s and released music on such imprints as iD.EOLOGY, Mixedmode, Dusted Wax Kingdom, 23 Seconds. It is interesting that their albums would be accompanied by remix outings and their excellent Wasteland (2014, 23 Seconds) is not the exception in the case. Wasteland is a sublime mix of Fran Kapelle's seductive singing and love theme-ridden incantations and differing styles ranging from velvety downtempo, slowly flickering nu jazz and cinematic trip-hop beats to more propulsive big beat and synth-rock impulses. Let's call it a decent example of art pop. However, Waste Not, Want Not provides a difference due to stylistically more stable format. It may musically be less immersive and more volatile thereby there can be drawn parallels upon the like of Saint Etienne, another British charming combo. It is more straightforward due to be more cadence oriented. On the other side, some modes and paces are slowed down and magnified to provide some monumental seconds and profound minutes for a music lover's sake. Sultry rhythms, spaced-out flanges and ennobling progressions as motives are there inseparably around. In a nutshell, the result of nine tracks is thoroughly enchanting.

Japanese Large – Superpositioned (2015)

23 Seconds

Archive.org

Bandcamp

• Synth-pop
• Indietronica
• Alternative pop
• Hypnagogic pop
• Poptronica
• Mood music
• Electro-indie
• Glo-fi
• Chill out
• Psychedelic pop
• Dance pop

Comment: Japanese Large is a Phoenix, US-based project which is headed by Jon Partelow, the group`s initial singer who chooses mates to get collaborated for. Superpositioned is produced in liaison with Matt Rickard. There are up seven compositions with a total length of almost 50 minutes. Musically it seems to be influenced by M83 because of drifting instrumentally across tumultuous synthesizer moulded seas and on the other side putting itself into a corner of soothing, down-tempo and smooth synth pop/chill out alike compartments. Furthermore, the latter element is frequently adorned with emotive vignettes and motif progressions being ever characteristic to some examples of the French electronic pop (for instance, Air). On the other side, by enjoying those tiny, wondrous hypnagogic progressions in some tracks (for instance, Bbl Thumps) the result comes quite close to an early period Ducktails being then closely related to such terms as “glo-fi”, “hypnagogic pop”, “dreamwave”. Thirdly, partelow and Rickard`s work does have much similarity with Tame Impala`s brand new album Currents though Superositioned is more exuberant and accomplished and actually was issued earlier. It could be said the concept is rounded and well-circled because the premises already foreseeable after listening to some tracks only and the outputs used to provide cohesive connection between one another. On the whole, it is a superb work.     

Simon Waldram – Inside Out EP (2015)

23 Seconds

Bandcamp

• Noise pop
• Psych-rock
• Art rock
• Alternative pop
• Garage rock
• Experimental rock

Comment: Simon Waldram is a musician from Notthinghamshire, UK who has issued at least a dozen of outings since the mid-00`s. His 5-track issue embarks on with a fabulous psyched-out blast of conveying overwhelming energy and galvanized burning inside its numerous circles and layers. It may resemble slightly the aesthetic of Jesus And The Mary Chain. Fortunately nothing will change in the next track Revolution Summer which is an intriguing mongrel of jangle pop induced easiness and arrogance of feedback loaded noise pop. Later on, acoustic guitars, and arrangements on cellos and saxophones will be added to the blend, however, the artist upholds partly the aforementioned sharpened sonic compartment to make up viable contrast within the mix. However, acoustic guitar led compositions are more restrained and contemplative and even eerie in an artsy way. Indeed, some space is conjured up around lone string chords with slight yet poignant effects. For instance, Colliding Circles rides on such an effective gimmick. At these time Simon Waldram`s approach reminds slightly of Michael Gira. Eventually it could be admitted Simon Waldram is not an ordinary singer-songwriter whose album under the Gothenburg-based imprint 23 Seconds makes fairly difference. Indeed, simple approach could be ingenious. However, to find it out it is quite hard work to do. 

He Is Watching Over Us - In Defence Of Disgusting Animals (2007)

23 Seconds

Lastfm

/Indie folk, Folktronica, Lo-fi, Post-rock, Epic, Art folk, New Weird Sweden/

Comment: He Is Watching Over Us is the Swedish duo of Erik Gröndahl, and Johan Mattson whose 8-track instrumental issue is a calmed down, even picturesque moving with the assistance of predominantly restrained arpeggios and organically successive chords enchanted from acoustic and electric guitars which are varicoloured with droning organs and diffuse electronic explorations, and some anthemic orchestrated panoramas on the top. Stylistically the whole has been managed in a way to meander between post-rock-ish ambition, folktronic crispiness, and lo-fi-esque cosiness. The collective`s melancholic nature is very appropriate for listening to it recently, as the summer has passed by and the autumn just began. Least but not last - there is no disgusting animals, though, animals need to be protected more with strenuous activity.                

Tracing Arcs – Wasteland (2014)

23 Seconds

Lastfm

• Trip-hop
• Jungle
• Downtempo
• Mood music
• Alternative pop
• Remixes
• Nu jazz
• Soul
• Alternative dance
• Cinematic

Comment: Fran Kapelle, and Paul H Addie provide a subtle trip-hop album, of 10 tracks presented there are 7 original ones and 3 are remixes. The favourite (and fortunately overwhelming) element within the duo`s soundscape is a sustaining synergy between Fran`s soothing (sometimes sinister, though) vocal submission and Paul`s haunting yet somehow blissful instrumentation – which is a blend of either relatively rough or caressingly hovering guitar chords, cinematic synths and bold yet suggestive rhythm sequencing. In other words, it can be compared with the situation when you drift along in your dream and all what you can see there seems to be so hyper-realistic and bewitching. The listener`s feels will be overshadowed by such a kind of magic. At times you might feel it is not an exemplar of trip-hop at all but an example coming out of the witch house genre. One of the best music issues in 2014.         

Emerald Park - Black Box CC (2014)

23 Seconds

Jamendo

• Alt-folk
• Americana
• Electro-indie
• Soft rock
• Alternative pop/rock
• Drone pop

Comment: the Swedish combo Emerald Park`s 7-track issue is emotional and intense full of generally soft pop/rock inspired ditties. Furthermore, there are presented sultry droning, panoramic refrains, intimate piano chords and artsy folk/Americana progressions. One of the songs is obviously inspired by the James Bond legend (Never Again). Despite all the aforementioned aspects the album does sound in a modest way. I am very sure you can add some of these songs to the list of your favourite tracks.

 

Maciej Ramisz - towards A. (2010)

23 Seconds

Lastfm

• Indietronica
• Psychedelic
• Alternative pop
• Post-rock
• Art rock
• Poptronica

Outstanding tracks:

Texas Hold`em

Galaxy 2012

Azoora - Instrumentals Volume II (2013)

23 Seconds

Lastfm

• Art rock
• Modern classical
• Crossover
• Piano music
• Alternative rock
• Mood music

Outstanding tracks:

La Deuxième Ètape

La Troisième Ètape

Sixième Ètape

Septième Ètape

Snowfall - Sunrise & Sunset (2008)

23 Seconds

Lastfm

• Singer-songwriter
• Indie folk
• Folk indie
• Americana
• Alt-folk
• Baroque folk
• Chamber folk
• Brass folk
• Alt-country

Outstanding tracks:

Something new, Something real, Something Good
A few minutes song but with love forever
A good movie is all there is

Emerald Park - Things EP (2013)

23 Seconds

Jamendo

Bandcamp

Lastfm

9.4

/Alternative pop, Indie pop, Art pop, Baroque pop, Indie folk, Chamber pop/ 

Comment: there`s up a handful of new ditties by a Swedish combo, Emerald Park. As joyous and glossy as before, yet, there are some new grits and shades to be added to their sound. Indeed, these compositions used to sprout and blossom filled in with shimmering guitar circles, varied vocal appearances and emphasized synth-y lining more than ever before. For instance, The Night I Proclaimed Your Love is a gorgeous art pop/baroque pop instance as if Scott Walker produced music if he had launched his career just yesterday. At the Circus is an uncanny introspection of folk/country-tinged music exploiting rustical string instruments which are counterbalanced by blissful vowel orchestrations. Inspite of mentioning the pure pleasures of the EP the issue is equably fascinating (i.e without any weak moments for sure).

Hästoperan - Imrit Exec (2012)

23 Seconds

Lastfm

9.2

/Big beat, Acid techno, Ambient techno, Psytrance, Experimental techno, Industrial techno/

Comment: this set of handful of tracks consists of psychedelic big beat and trance-tinged frequencies, growling synth and (industrial) techno vibes and more soothing ambient/acid techno panoramas. Indeed, it reminds of such acts as Orbital, The Orb, LFO. However, despite a diverse palette of sounds the outlet is integrated and convincing.

Azoora - A Thousand Ways EP (2012)

23Seconds
Lastfm

9.3

/Psychedelic, Alternative, Cosmic fusion, Alternative dance, Krautrock, Indie, Space rock/

Comment: Azoora can be considered a domestic group within the list of 23 Seconds, Gothenburg, the Sweden-based records being in action since 2006. These 6 tracks used to emerge out from a sublime blend of hirsute psychedelia, bucolic guitar strumming, exulting motorik rock propulsions, gloomy synth bubbling and suggestive spacey reverberations. Inspite of the balanced quality and related links between the tracks the favourite notch of mine is Keep On Running, which includes hidden captivating layers to go in the subconsciousness of the listener. Therefore the quartet`s aesthetical approach can be compared with the ones of other British groups such as Clinker, and The Womb, for instance. In a word, keep on listening to it. You will get drowned in it at a certain moment.

Reverend big O - When There Is Only Light To Believe In/Hope For (2012)

23 Seconds
Lastfm 

9.2

/Post-rock, Epic, Experimental rock, Dream pop, Alternative rock, Electronic pop, Kosmische Musik/ 

Comment: the collective comprises Nicklas Nilsson, Jörgen Dahlqvist, Marcus Råberg, Henrik Palmberg, and Lukas Råberg. Before issuing on 23 Seconds they had been releasing music for A West Fabrication. However, the particular set is made up of both bombastic and dreamy pathos oozing out and thereafter ascending higher from the compositions based on the monumental moments of gleaming guitar works and epic drum sequences and lofty keyboard washes. The notches where the power of guitars is abandoned gradually and instead of it synthesizers and treated snippets began to prevail the collective`s music approaches a little to the aesthetics of some representatives of the 1970`s German Kosmische Musik. By contemporary artists there can be drawn parallels upon the likes of God Is An Astronaut, for instance. Moreover, such kind of music can be tagged as an instance of today`s progressive rock.

Glenn Liljestrand - Sandslott / Luftslott EP (2012)

23 Seconds
Lastfm

8.6

/Downtempo, New Age, Synth fusion, Mood music/

Comment: just a pair of tracks (the long-running ones, though) by a Swedish producer which rely on synth propulsions, though doing it partly in different ways. Sandslott is a more New Age-tinged/mood music outlet pushed off with Tangerine Dream-alike layers, and Luftslott based on synth guitar riffs and mellow synth soothing fuses New Age tendencies into a more brisk, fusion-alike cream. Both pieces are instrumental ones.

Double Dan - Emotions In Motions (2008)

23 Seconds
Lastfm

9.1

/Alternative pop/rock, Twee pop, Indie pop, Baroque pop/

Comment: sometimes you as the listener do not need many words to describe music at length. Double Dan, a Swedish trio is one of such kind of instances whose music involve highly sonorous and propulsive indie/twee pop tracks which used to revolve around flourishing guitars, full-chorded singing, lush synth expansions. Its well-accomplished result is not surprising at all because the members of the band are related to such Swedish pop luminaries as Sambassadeur, Club 8, Acid House Kings.

Emerald Park - Reality Bites (2012)

23 Seconds
Jamendo
Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.0

/Alt-folk, Indie folk, Baroque pop, Alternative pop/rock, Folk indie, Indie pop/

Comment: by listening and tagging this EP I had gave it 53 keywords-descriptions in all, including "best of 2012", "indie pop", "baroque pop", "alt-folk" amongst others. Indeed, the 3-track issue makes highly sense inspite of having personally experienced such sort of music for hundred and hundred times before it. Good music - chiming guitars, slight orchestrated sounds, articulated vocal manner. The combinations of these cornerstones used to be always deeply moving. Particularly for me Emerald Park is a collective being a representative of so-called Swedish meadow pop scene (it is my invention, though). It does mean that down-to-earth indie pop is seamlessly interlaced with dreamy baroque and lush folk tendencies, and all of that is sung in an effortless way. The favorite track of mine is UME (alt.version) on it. Closely related to the abovementioned definition, however, you can draw parallels upon such artists as The Concretes, Acid House Kings, Sambassadeur, and even Jens Lekman. Ultimately, if reality bites you can always escape into music to relieve your soul.

Ixtlan - Galaxy Overload In The Circle Of 8 (2007)

23Seconds
Lastfm

8.9

/Experimental rock, Crossover, Ambient, Electronic pop, Kosmische Musik, Indie dance, Krautrock, Experimental electronica, Hip-hop, Dance rock, Psychedelia/

Comment: Bo Green, and Kent Holm do set you free investing in a hypnotic blend of motorik beats, acidic synth flourishes, idiosyncratic visions of dance rock-infiltrated hip-hop crossover examples. Of course, the duo`s music does not pretend to be a kind of usual music enterprise, moreover, it used to incorporate the concrete music frames and get heavily stucked in mumbling, somehow dizzy electronic paths and even funny dadaistic developments (Fool #9). But please do not forget the main topic is related to the Outer Space, though. You can draw parallels upon krautrock artists such as Droids, CAN, Tangerine Dream, The Cosmic Jokers, Neu!, and, of course, their fellow countrymen Joxfield ProjeX. In a nutshell, it is an intricate 9-track issue which needs many listening times to get grasped and adequately understood.

Ram Hoss - PrixQuills (2011)

23 Seconds
Lastfm

8.6

/Lo-fi, Poptronica, Chillwave, Glo-fi, Electronic pop, Hip-hop, Experimental indie/

Comment: first of all, Copx is an eminent pop song reflecting upon essentially nowadays tendencies - angular lo-fi drum loops, blissed-out synth layers and heavenly vocal manner. Furthermore, other 6 tracks do comprise whimsical hip-hop-esque wambling, atmospherical Prince-drenched postures. Ram Hoss is a duo coming out from Calgary, Alberta, Canada being through the line-up closely related with Azeda Booth.

Tobias Borelius - Du känner mig för väl, farväl (2011)

23 Seconds
Bandcamp
Jamendo
Lastfm

8.7

/Indie pop, Indietronica, Poptronica, Electronic pop, Singer-songwriter, Acid pop, Lo-fi/

Comment: this is a relatively short-running, in Swedish sung album. At these 8 tracks may be detected for two tendencies. Sprawling acoustic pop is imbued with a slight touch of electronica, and on the other side it is created with the intention for more electronic-driven ditties. At times it used to be more restraint, sometimes more sunshiny and charming, however, exploiting symphonic keyboards, New Wave-ish synth thudding and effects. At Smaragdgröna Parker is exploited 8-bit/tracker music-alike cadences as if falling to a numerous of dull-coloured smithereens. The favorite of mine is Arkitekten (featuring Lotta Wenglèn), a gloomy gem.

Tim Chaplin - The '80's Girls EP (2008)

23 Seconds

9.2

/Covers, Singer-songwriter, Alt-folk, Indie folk, Folk indie, DIY/

Comment: the British singer-songwriter and experimental musician Tim Chaplin is covering a handful of hits from the 80`s. Here is Westworld`s Silver Mac, Kirsty MacColl`s They Don`t Know, Yazoo`s Only You, and Roxette`s It Must Have Been Love. Twanging guitars and convincingly accentuated are loftily wrapped up by lo-fi-esque intimate ambience and gritty hiss. Indeed, let`s break on through to the other side of those beloved songs.