Cankun + Holy Strays - Beko_91 (2011)

Beko DSL
Lastfm

9.0

/Psychedelic, Post-psychedelic electronica, DIY, Hypnagogic, Lo-fi, Experimental indie, Avant-pop, Glo-fi, Bedroom pop, Electronic pop, Chillwave/

Comment: two Gallian artists-bedroom musicians do appear herein who have previously recorded on the legendary Not Not Fun label. The keywords are obviously zeitgeist and stylistic borderlessness in the bubble of lo-fi/DIY music.

Romantic States - Still Petals (2011)

Beko DSL
Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.0

/Glo-rock, Alternative pop/rock, Bedroom pop, Lo.-fi, DIY, Experimental indie/

Comment: This is a combo (Jim & Ilenia) from Baltimore, Maryland, USA who used to produce a kind of music I would entitle as glo-rock made in bedroom. The duo`s sound consists of sublimely ascending layers based on lo-fi, fuzz pop and shoegaze-ish tendencies. The favorite of mine is The Fourth which exploits the arcs of mandolines above a Bacharach-esque melody hook (more concretely, it reminds of Do You Know the Way to San Jose sung by Dionne Warwick, and Frankie Goes To Hollywood once). An enjoyable, 6-pieced EP indeed.

Alligator Indian - Beko_92 (2011)

Beko DSL
Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.4

/Post-punk, Psychedelia, Alternative pop/rock, Garage rock, Gothic, DIY, Experimental indie/

Comment: Asheville-based combo (of two guys and one gal) Alligator Indian (formerly known as Eleven and the Falcons) provides an exhilarating jaunt of garage rock over to its punk-ish (and post-punk-ish/gothic) and psychedelic roots of the 70`s, and even some bristled jangle pop action lines (a la the Pastels sometimes). It reminds a bit of Slutever, Best Coast, and Vivian Girls, and Electrelane (if to compare it to their contemporaries). Stay tuned for the collective`s future publications.

A Tribute to Club Tropicana vol.2 (2011)

Beko DSL
Free Music Archive

9.4

/Glo-fi, Dream pop, Experimental indie, Crossover, Tropical pop, Electronic pop, Art-pop, Alternative, Post-punk/

Comment: In fact, the French-based label Beko DSL used not to be the single-only label anymore. Reno`s curated label has issued a handful of EP`s and compilations during the last year. A series of Club Tropicana has got the sophomore notch recently. This is a solid 17-track miscellany of glo-fi (this time it is possible to avoid using the stylistic term “chillwave”) and electronic-driven indie pop, noble post-punk progressions and autotuned electronic pop, Ariel Pink-esque art pop and heartbreaking dream pop, and lots sorts of crossovers inbetween them. And of course, tropicalia pop as well (having not depending on the fact is it either the kind of purely subtantial or relational/contingent definition). All in all, listen to the compilations of such labels as Beko DSL, Holiday Records, and Eardrums Pop, it is the easiest way to find out exemplary indie music for yourself. Through this compilation showcases Beko DSL itself to be related to the Free Music Archive (a music site per excellence!) either.

The Bilinda Butchers - This Love Is Fucking Right!

Daixiaole - Beko_89 (2011)

Beko DSL
Lastfm

8.8

/Indie pop, Dream pop, Bedroom music, Singer-songwriter, DIY, Lo-fi, Shoegaze/

Comment: Daixiaole is a female bedroom pop musician from China offering a three-pieced issue on Beko DSL. Indeed, she has her own idiosyncratic approach of the songwriting exploiting the hazy soundscapes surrounding densely subtle guitar fingerpickings and dream-soaked vocal manner. It reminds a bit of those "opened" shoegaze outputs (Lavished EP; Luxate EP) in the lo-fi method by Vlor recorded in the end of 90`s.

Doctrine - Beko Digital Single # 90 (2011)

Beko DSL
Bandcamp

9.0

/Hypnagogic pop, Post-pop, Glo-fi, Synth pop, Chillwave, Electronic pop, Poptronica/

Comment: Doctrine is a combo from France (Douglas Donovan & Holden Brahms) offering a single consisting of two tracks. The first of them is English-sung, the other is just instrumental. The first rings out like a mesmerizing sign of already starting summer time (using cloudless synths an a drum machine), the other laces some brooding synth chords with the progressions into dream-coated electronica/hypnagogic pop. In any cases, all is pleasant.

Chevalier Avant Garde - Selectronic from Montreal (2011)

Beko DSL

8.6

/Post-psychedelic electronica, Electro-indie, Electro-rock, Glo-fi, Lo-fi, Experimental indie, DIY/

Comment: Dimitri sings and Filip plays the guitar... . A duo from Montrèal, Quebec, Canada, providing a pair of songs which are obviously influenced by the nowadays chillwave/glo-fi aesthetics and the first attempts in the realm of electronic rock/indie like The Silver Apples by the end of 60`s either. The 2-headed single starts off with Toy, which is sustained by heavily bounding, high-frequencied sequence machines (the recent beat music, isn`t?) which later, in the second track Sixteen Candles, will be converted into the sort of mid-tempo, a little drowsy sound. But thumbs up anyway. It might freely be possible that the duo will be famous in 2012, for instance.

Lowlands - Beko_85 (2011)

Beko DSL
Bandcamp
Lastfm

8.6

/Alternative rock, Indie, Jangle pop, Post-punk, Fuzz rock/

Comment: Behind Lowlands is Tobias Brockie (aka Rhinoceros Brave) from Wellington, the New Zealand. This 3-track issue is about windy jangle pop with some influences of post-punk and fuzzed-out/feedback-backed guitar gears (plus some bombastic progressions). The tracks are running from fast paces to slow tempo-ness. Simple but masterfully treated.

Wonder Wheel - Speakeasy (2011)

Beko DSL

9.8

/Free folk, Shoegaze, Alternative, Glo-fi, Poptronica, Post-psychedelic electronica, Psychedelia, Lo-fi, Avant-pop, Primitronica/

Comment: Wonder Wheel is the brainchild of the californian Paul A Rosales, already being known as a demiurg of a great mix of psychedelia, lo-fi, glo-fi, and shoegaze. In fact, this 9-track album continues to ooze greatness out of every pore, though, this time Rosales` shoegaze element is even a bit more subdued in comparison with his usual practice (and replaced by a kind of trance-induced Animal Collective-esque repetitiveness, for instance). Yet, it does not mean it is not an example of nowadays shoegaze album at all. Exhilarating progressions is filled in with the washes of serotonine. At times it chimes like Ariel Pink meets Slumberland Records sound. By the way, some grooves of deliberately primitive dance music are made out on it as well. If you have been involved in sound of Ariel Pink, Wavves, Coolrunnings, Animal Collective, and Memoryhouse, such sort of quality is thought for you. One of the albums from the path of 2011 so far. Music is not dead yet. Fortunately.

Sejdman - Invisible Bells (2011)

Beko DSL

Lastfm

9.6

/Modern classical, Post-rock, Epic, Ambient drone, Organic electronica, Experimental rock, Ambient, Crossover, Chamber music/

Comment: In fact, there has not passed much time since the Swedish duo Ecovillage`s (Emil Holmstöm & Peter Wikström) 2-track (long notches in fact) release had been reviewed at Recent Music Heroes (9.3). However, the Beko DSL did set up the cohesive link between Ecovillage and (Holmström`s) Sejdman. By the other way round, Holmström`s used to continue with similar artistical processes yet having designated more concern on orchestral compartments and less concrete sound-drenched growths. The album can be divided into three parts - the onset section is dominated by the epic ambient movement since it will be superseded by the focal modern classical-tinged minor gorgeousness which by its side will be chiming into a post-rock-ish crescendo and ambience. Altogether, it is an essentially elusive and breath-taking masterpiece indeed.

Os Ovni - Beko _81 (2011)

Beko DSL
Lastfm

8.5

/Lo-fi, DIY, Primitronica, Experimental pop, Post-pop, Covers/

Comment: Os Ovni is a duo from Austin, Texas, USA paying a fine tribute to Trish Keenan (1968-2011)/Broadcast (You Can Fall) and Kraftwerk (Radioactivity).

Ecovillage - Beko_80 (2011)

Beko DSL

9.3

/Ambient, Post-rock, Dream pop, Chamber rock, Post-rock, Organic electronica, Musique concrete, Progressive/

Comment: Emil Holmström and Peter Wikström aka the Swedish duo Ecovillage started out in 2006 and since it having been blending dreamy soundscapes consisting of chamber rock/post-rock, shoegaze, ambient, organic electronica, found sounds. Of course, they are not being an example of arty-farty artists, being skillful on driving out of beatific progressions, bringing forth of diverse segments and managing them seamlessly fall into each other.

Beko_ lsr 01/10/11 (2011)

Beko DSL

9.2

/Neokrautrock, Chillwave, Lo-fi, DIY, No wave, Avant-pop, Experimental indie, Electronic pop, Poptronica, Psych-pop, Ambient/

Comment: This is a hilarious compilation by Beko DSL, including the artists like Dirty Beaches, Wet Hairs, Gremlinz, Jeans Wilder, Terror Bird and other ones. Those 11 tracks are an example of riding on the beauty of imperfectness, searching for a tight connection between lo-fi/DIY-esque experimental-biased aesthetics and gorgeous melody hooks and harmonic sense. Lots of hints at diverse genres and (innovative) pop eras are presented here, yet, first of all, this is an idiosyncratic brooding of nowadays angst in a nutshell.

Beko_clandestine (2011)

Beko DSL

7.5

/Lo-fi, Primitive music, DIY, Experimental indie, Shoegaze, Witch house, Drag/

Comment: This compilation of 22 tracks contains the glides of shoegaze music/post-punk, heavy, martial music-alike brooding and punching, substantially rough, even primitive lo-fi/DIY-based electronic/synth-based chords and paces. Here are presented such bands like Meddicine, Mater Suspiria Vision, Petra Schelm and others.

Tolouse Low Trax - beko_74 (2011)

Beko DSL

10/8

/Lo-fi, Experimental, Motorik, Neokrautrock, Electronic, Leftfield/

The KVB Beko_73 (Beko DSL)

Behind The KVB is a man named as Klaus Von Barrel who comes from Southampton, England. He is previously known as a guitarist in the line-up of the gothic/post-punk band Suicide Party. His 3-track EP under Beko DSL is essentially rock and roll music even by nowadays variety and omnipotence. Imagine a kind of New Order which is line-upped with Ian Curtis and his murky seethings and introspective wraiths. Or like Bauhaus with a more synthetic approach. In a more concrete way, the concept is focused upon an impressive mix of throbbing synthezised rhythms, drilling acid-filled sonic coats, dark-hued synth clouds, impassive sense of vocal manner, rattle and brusque guitar massives, and whistling feedback which purposefully come forth to flutter again and again.The whole is here to be destroyed by itself and thereafter to be re-created for itself. A forceful destroyer and reminder simultaneously, indeed.

Listen to it here

9.7

Raw Moans + LAY BAC beko_70 (Beko DSL)

There is a fine joint release by LAC BAC and Raw Moans, the kind of one-man-bands, coming from Austin and San Diego, USA, respectively. More detailly, two tracks by both sides, used to be quite similar to each other, however, it can be drawn the gap between them. Raw Moans is up here, to reflect upon minimal, dreamy floating, though, doing it that way which will show up the devoid or at least restraint of his feelings. It is mainly a blend of hazy monotonic chord array and loose motorik rhythms. LAC BAC does play up disco house-drenched, heavy-filtered bedroom visions similar to Ariel Pink`s early doings, on the other side, the second track Ralf Goes Out is based upon a highly down-pitched cadence to offer the platform for Jsef Calamusa`s murky voice to be appeared everywhere.

All in all, it might be seemed as a following example riding on the chillwave and witch house hype, yet, undoubtedly it is a split masterfully composed and played out.

Listen to it here

9.0

[Artists] Mon Insomnie

Beko DSL
Bandcamp
Lastfm

[Compilation] Beko DSL Beko_Fla (Beko DSL)

In fact, there is not much time passed by when I reviewed Bekos DSL`s compilation box_3 being dedicated to witch house/drag/haunted house/screwgaze/crunk shoegaze. It is another compilation, however, also subnamed as A Beko/Free Loving Anarchists Collab concerning profoundly on shoegaze, lo-fi, fuzz pop, dream pop, and post punk-influenced sound from one area/scene (Houston, Texas). Indeed, this miscellany can be dealt with as a fine indie stuff for nowadays people being seriously annoyed by the mediocrity and unvariedness of ordinary music examples. 8 tracks by projects like Rape Faction, Lois Magic, Pink Playground, Young Henry, The KVB, Virgo Rising, Wicked Crafts, Sacred Place do draft solid harmonies and catchy pace notches. The favorite numbers of mine are The KVB`s Into The Night which is an experimental drive on the level of DIY via pulsating trance-alike synth drones, and Joy Division-esque coolness; and Virgo Rising`s To Deal Without It based upon reminiscence of a track by My Bloody Valentine (find it yourself out, I guess) through a memorable synth repetition and spaced-out milieu.

Listen to it here