|sistra| - All My Friends Were Dead (2011)

BFW Recordings

BFW Recordings

• Indie pop/rock
• Electronic
• Alternative pop/rock
• Dream pop
• Live
• Art rock

Comment: there are represented three pieces altogether By Russian combo |sistra| which used to reveal the ensemble`s exquisite manner to produce sounds – sparse yet poignant instrumentation is bound to high-pitched singing which emotionally provide a pre-eminent dagger ultimately. Indeed, the singing is a very amusing element within it providing different threads due to exploiting female-male mixed dreamy voices with a slightly elliptic trajectory which used to chime and chirp in an unconventional manner. Because of this it sounds in a familiar and unknown way this creates a welcome tension in the listener. Because of this one could enjoy indie music which does not follow an average indie pop formula. There are the guitars to be represented but they seem somehow to be treated or pulled out of the blend sometimes. It is very ok for this case. One could even say it is an example of dream pop produced and rehearsed in vacuum. By the way, one of those songs Tiny Boat is performed live. In a word, it is a solid indie glimpse under BFW Recordings. 

Bing Satellites - Motif (2013)

BFW Recordings

• Post-classical
• Modern classical
• Ambient
• IDM

Outstanding tracks:
Motif Two
Motif Four

Poodleplay Arkestra - Developments In Calligraphy (2013)

BFW Recordings

Lastfm

• Chamber pop
• Indietronica
• Electronic pop
• Mood music
• Baroque pop
• Epic

Outstanding tracks: 

An Array Of Astral Hula-Hoppers

Ochre Landscape

The Laughing Pigeons Of Venice

Eko_Fisk - Solid State (2012)

BFW Recordings

8.7

/Ambient techno, Psybient, Experimental electronica, New Age/

Comment: glacial glow-alike ambient propulsions have popped out to dominate on this 7-piece release. On the other side it is a little trance tinged or now and then embellished with blissful electronic looming or New Age and Morricone-esque soundtrack frames.

AFFEN - Like Life Easily Ended (2011)

BFW Recordings
Lastfm

9.2

/Alternative pop/rock, Soft rock, Pomp rock/

Comment: AFFEN does mean Anatomy For Fabulous Emergency Noise and is a quintet from Bandung, Indonesia, an Asian country so well-known due to its outstanding indie scene. Their 4-minute single can only be described in positive way. Indeed, they deserve their name partly - Next to embraced Coldplay aesthetics (mellow, dreamy singing manner, shadowed guitar chords) there you can enjoy massive, even punching guitar washes in the part of refrain. In a nutshell, this single can be compared with an intense sort of firework where you can experience different kinds of shapes and patterns, making people somehow happy and jubilant.

Bing Satellites - Summer Night (2009)

BFW Recordings

9.4

/Ambient, Soundscape, Progressive, Shoegazetronica, Epic, Synth pop, Crossover, Ambient dub, Psyambient/

Comment: This 7-pieced set is a peculiar and wondrous issue by a profilic musician and label founder (BFW Recordings) from Manchester, UK. First of all, therein can be detected for a wide smorgasboard of styles and tendencies, veering from bubbling ambient dub/psyambient and shoegazetronica to cinematic, sometimes bleak synth-induced soundscapes and melancholic quasi-modern classical approach and angrily gazing synth progressions. Regarding his previous experiments, however, the most odd track is Indigo, which used to be an instance of cosmic prog/fusion (with those barking bass interventions). By the way, the last track does have the longitude of 80 minutes (it starts out as melancholic and epic as a steam ship coming slowly out from the fog down the river).

Meczûp - Hanging from the Purgatory's Pendulum (2010)

BFW Recordings
Lastfm

8.6

/Hauntology, Ambient, Avant-garde, Experimentalism, Conceptual, Drone, Minimal/

Comment: Howling and haunting... . What is that? An monolithic slab of theremin-induced sounds which at the time of closer investigations will be decomposed into the countless particles of (dark) mood situations? Indeed, the whole issue is made out of using this ancient, legendary electronic instrument. The album is created in Istanbul, maybe that is the reason why it used to sound a bit oriental at times. However, Cihan Gülbudak`s workout has reached the borders of drone, avant-electronica, ambient, and even orchestrated music, thereby re-locating these genre-related expectations and initial sense/meaning of them.

Amygdala Projects - Shortcut to Heaven (2011)

BFW Recordings

8.0

/Electronic pop, Downtempo, Big-beat, Ambient trance, Psyambient, Psytrance, Kosmische musik/

Comment: Those 11 tracks do come by László Néder from Hungary, which mainly relies upon brooding electronic textures with hypnotic big-beat stokes and sometimes calm, middle-tempod hypnotic trance/psytrance/psyambient, and the other time (The Snag) embarks on a journey through the spherical realm of our inner space, reminiscent of the workouts in the realm of dark ambient and kosmische musik.

SineRider - Ambivert (2011)

BFW Recordings

8.5

/Ambient, Subtle soundfields, Soundscape, Post-rock, Ambient rock/

Comment: At first, all the kick proceeds off with evolving into soothing and wide-scale yet austere soundscapes, which in the middle of the issue tends to grow upon more post-rock-ish realms, wherein guitar chords are drenched into a dream-filled fog. Yet, the best moment is a track called Dream Sequence which is static and dynamic simultaneously on its own, fluttering in effect-based escapism. The album - which can be called an instance of classical ambient sound - finds its closure in the similar way as it embarked on.

[Artists] Poodlepay Arkestra

BFW Recordings
Myspace
Lastfm

Phillip Wilkerson Daybook EP (BFW Recordings)

As his first name used to be unusual the englishman Phillip Wilkerson is an important and special name among sonic experimentalists and soundscapers. He has released shitloads of albums during last five years, under such labels like Bypass, Resting Bell, Earth Mantra, Amorphos Music, Justnotnormal, and BFW Recordings as well.

4 tracks released in the start of 2010 are used to sound in a very broad way, involving in epic and warm-sounding choppiness, sometimes it can be distant and anonymous, and even "sexy" would be a correct adjective. Probably the tags as "dreamscape" or "subtle soundfields" are the most proper characteristics to describe the essence of the release. No doubt, the coverprint which illustrates a kind of colourful sphereness does convey the stand of the EP in an excellent way. Wilkerson`s quality is here to be proven again. A great masterpiece.

Listen to it here

9.5

Spell 336 Reverse EP (BFW Recordings)

California bändi 5-loolist albumit kuulates assotsieeruvad suured muljed. Kirjeldada käesolevat kingapõrnitsemissaundina oleks tegelikult väga vähe lausuda. Tõsi, sellel on küll mainitet element olemas, kuigi jah, läbi kaunis ebaharilike rakursside. Avang Dreamworld kõlab kui baggy-lokuga 90ndate Cocteau Twins ("Four-Calendar Cafè"; "Milk & Kisses"). Remain In Time võiks vabalt kanda nime Ruins In Time - esmapilgul täiust mittepüüdlev, koguni lagunev helipilt - erinevalt nt Slowdive`i hermeetilisest inglisaundist. Strummivad akustilised kitarrid, tumevarjuline sentiment ning tugevad kahinad-sahinad meenutavad legendaarse darkwave/shoegaze-kombo Lycia tegemisi 90ndate esimesel poolel ning Vlor`i muusikat 90ndate viimastel aastatel Atlandi teisel kaldal. Sama jutt kehtib ka järgmiste - Old Souls`i ja Spun By Man`i - kohta. Lõpulugu Dreams on iseäralikem põige sellel imetabasel albumil, mis kätkeb eneses tugevat neofolk/dark folk-elementi, mis viib mõtted nimetatud stiili lipulaevale Death In June`ile. Oma ebatäiusliku, väreleva helikeele ning erinevate toonide vahel ekseldes kõlab üllitis peaaegu täiuselähedaselt.

Kuula albumit siit

9.3

Korine Conception Glow In Transparancy Aurora (BFW Recordings)

Korine Conception`i debüütalbum tekitab siinkirjutajas kohati kimbatust. Mitte sellepärast, et shoegazer`id-postrokkarid tulevad maailma suurimast moslemiriigist Indoneesiast - kus on olemas iseenesest korralik post-rock- ja indieskeene -, vaid nende eklektilist helipilti on raske üheselt määratleda. Eklektilisus on küllap õigustatud siis, kui suudetakse (varasema) kultuurikihi - mis kuhjub kui lumepall - osiseid forsseerida, forsseerida ja veelkord forsseerida. Konkreetselt tähendab see omapoolse knihvi ja nägemuse lisamist asjale. Kaasaegne rokkmuusika ei ole erinevalt varasemast enam eelneva ümberkirjutamine ning hülgamine, vaid analüütilisel teel vaevumärgatavate niššide läbikompimine ja kasvatamine. Ratsionaalsusel on üha suurenev roll kanda. Sekstetil on kahtlemata laulukirjutamise ning positsioneerimise annet, suutes seetõttu enamasti ülesannete kõrgusel püsida. Probleemid tekivad sealtmaalt, kui Dandy Age`i vokaalmaneer läheneb ning hakkab värelema Sigur Ros`i Jònsiga analoogses võtmes - neutraalseks jätvast falsetist paiskub tuttavlikku pompöösset tühjust, mis ei toida ega kata (nt nimilugu; Eleanor Whisper; This Mess Around). Ulguda eeskujulikult mõne kuulsuse moodi - kas seesugune teguviis väärib küünlaid? Seda enam, kuivõrd muusika kõlab sugereerivamalt kui Islandi popvisiitkaardil. Sellele vastukaaluks on sisukat analoogiat - nt loos The Moon With A Melody sulavad vokaalhäälutused ja helid mänguliselt üheks niidiks, avaloo Lost Imaginary hillitsetud rullumine meeleolukaks kitarrimaastikuks. Või teisalt enniomorriconelike haaravate viiulihaakidega Unexpected Secret Story. Pomp-element väreleb, paisub ning kiirgab väljapoole. Vot see on ilus, eepiline, ülendav ning...mhm...androgüünne nagu üllitise kaverprindilt peegeldub.

Kuula albumit siit

8.7