Olympic Smoker – Noises And Echoes (2009)

Bypass

Jamendo

• Electronic music 
• Alternative dance 
• Breaks

Comment: undoubtedly this patch of 13 tracks is not an easy fare to be described although musically it is an enjoyable ride. Olympic Smoker is an artist from Russia who did start making music in the mid of the 00s. Lots of spiky rhythms, low frequencies and different tempos used to surface and fade away. Clangour is traded for silent progressions occasionally (even a couple of piano balladry stylised snippets are represented over there). I would like to call it post-breakbeat/post-techno/post-jungle music because it contains vague echoes of the aforementioned styles yet surpassing obviously their limits and thriving toward a wider comprehension. Some advantage of the album is a partial withdrawal at greater extent from the annoying contemporary post-dubstep and autotune/poptronic influenced (electronic) pop scene. There is no need to waste time on the aesthetics of softened artists and thin machines. All we need is more power, more jungle, more sweat, more pain, more sincerity, more natural feelings and organic consequences! We need more Barry Whites, Fausts, Sun Ras, Aphex Twins, Kraftwerks, Pulps, Joy Divisions, My Bloody Valentines, Scott Walkers, Johnny Cashes, CANs, The Smiths, Sonic Youths, Carpenters, Authechres, Lee Hazlewoods, Nina Simones, Diana Rosses! We need more obsessed characters and especially natured mavericks! The release is a part of the discography of Chinese imprint, Bypass.

Mel - Unguarded (2010)

Bypass

Archive.org

Lastfm

/Ambient, Experimental electronica, IDM, Folktronica, Post-rock/

Comment: Mel is the Japanese musician Aogu Yoshida (also known as On_14, and Ao) who is being part of the discography of such labels as Test Tube, Bypass, MiMi, On-Li, Rain Music, Complementary Distribution. Unguarded was issued in 2010 under the Chinese label Bypass. The album consists of a couple of lengthy compositions, however, being truly eclectic and mixed. More concretely, borderline post-rock meets downhome folktronic meets circulatory IDM meets panoramic ambient. The issue is based on an edited live recording with purpose to preserve the previous warmth inside it. The listener can perceive both acoustic and electronic feel, both freedom and titillatingly aesthetical pressure on her/his nerves. Furthermore, some of these acoustic chords seem to be loaned from the Japanese traditional music. Despite of being heavily segmented in form the whole sounds in an organic way. In a nutshell, it is truly appealing.      

ZhangJW - A.D.S.R - Linkage (2008)

Bypass

Lastfm

9.0

/Downtempo, Breaks, Cinematic, Chill out, IDM, Experimental electronica/

Comment: this set of 3 tracks comes out from Beijing, China. ZhangJW is the musician who is known due to establishment of the Bypass Records, a label created for representation of different kind of electronic music and broken beats. His own set has been managed in a way to fuse cinematic, laidback rhythms with some concrete sounds and lush ambient textures.

Nick R 61 - X (2009)

Bypass
Lastfm

9.2

/Broken beats, Breakcore, Tracker music, Experimental electronica, Noise, Spoken word, Chiptune, 8-bit, Avant-electronica/

Comment: Nick R 61 is a producer from Shakhty, Russia, who used to explore electronic music from different point of views. More concretely, he explores glitch-filled electronica, tumultuous noise, high frequency broken beats, and even frantic 8-bit pathways. X is a patchwork involving all the aforementioned elements, yet, there is one farcelike development based on a phone call with bad language in Russian, and playing on abrasive, off-beat frequencies, and noise-doused chopped electronica (108). Furthermore, even the string-induced textures getting developed into a border area of folktronica are to appear over there (IP I2-IV-I96I).

Billy "Bong" Kenny - Albatross EP (2008)

Bypass
Lastfm

8.9

/Downtempo, Chilltronica, Chill out, Lo-fi, Cinematic, Experimental electronica, Mood music/

Comment: in a rough way, lo-fi-tinged downtempo rhythms and profound dub flickering counterpoint organically progressing synth inflections and cinematic orchestrations effectively accentuated above it. Just 3 pieces spreaded out over 11 minutes by Billy "Bong" Kenny, a producer from Liverpool, UK.

Enko - Sister (2009)

Bypass
Lastfm

8.8

/Experimental electronica, Abstract techno, Glitch techno, Industrial techno, Avant-electronica, IDM/

Comment: it might be you have already experienced sharing of the albums of Enko, a Ukraine-based electronic producer and IDM musician. His music is colourful and it comes up to the listener. Quite short-running notches are represented there, though, the ones are craftily soaked with experimental angles and somehow propulsive compositions. The 10-piece release is set for being far away from the common understanding and perception of electronica/IDM, because of being frequently heavily abstract, glitch-drenched industrial techno. Indeed, it is playful and punching simultaneously. Of course, it is not the most sharpest pencil on his pen-case, yet, it is highly enjoyable.

Syndrôm - Nomades En No Man's Land (2010)

Bypass
Archive.org
Lastfm

8.8

/Samplecore, Jungle, Drum and bass, Experimentalism, Breakbeat, Rhythmcore, Musique concrete, Folktronica, Crossover, Avant-garde/

Comment: Within those 20 tracks will have happened much in fact. Undoubtedly the whole release is trodden upon densely swinging-grooving beat combinations, mainly on jungle, breakbeats and its closest "step" genres. Yet, the whimsical pace mayhem is differentiated by another level which is constructed of concrete sounds, spoken word overthrows, ethnic drums, the first half of the 20`s century proto jazz, bunch of elaborated sounds, murky soundscape and much more else. By its ideology, idiosyncratical sonic mirror and sheer intellectuality, however, Syndrôm resembles the Italian artist IlKobra.

Cagey House - Calico Pastry Sunshine (2011)

Bypass
Archive.org

9.1

/Psychedelic, Art-pop, Plunderphonics, Film noir, Cut and paste, Avant-garde, Experimental electronica, Space age pop, Hauntology/

Firstly, Dave Keifer aka Cagey House hides behind himself a peculiar phenomenon where the music of him seems to be sounded outside of the recent era, mostly back to the 60`s and 70`s, yet, it is strictly future music on its own. Secondly, as he is used to manipulate with samples and sounds, he is able to evoke lots of good memories and direct it upon the listeners as well. In the recent case, however, psychedelic electronica meets space age pop meets hauntology, all of which is wrapped up in the concept of plunderphonic/sampledelic music as Keifer has practised during more than 10 albums so far. Still, it is greatly funny and even some art-rock-ish tunes can be heardable over a long stretch of time. By the way, the coverprints of Keifer`s albums are still used to be great ones.

Enko - Dush (2010)

Bypass

8.7

/Experimental techno, Avant-techno, Breakbeat, Abstract techno, Dub-tech, Lo-fi/

Comment: An Ukrainian techno-biased gearhead and rhythmic alchemist goes on his way, in this case exploring the fringes of breakbeat space infected with a strong hit of experimentalism, including lots of pitch effect-aesthetics, elemental layerings, strongly rumbling side channels and cosmic loops. However, it is an example of progressive music of the 21th century. By the way, at times the samples of real bass guitar are exploited for and dub undercurrents and lo-fi-backed pace combinations will be showcased.

[Artists] Fescal

1798
Bypass
Black Square
Fescal/Bandcamp
Lastfm

[Artistid] Laiila

Laiila
Amduscias Records
Far From Showbiz
very nice noise
Bypass
Myspace
Lastfm

Fescal Lethal Industry (Bypass)

Fescal´i debüütalbum "Lethal Industry" on üks hägune ja kummastav halo- ja hauntopiiridega teos, mille aluseks on avar hüpnootiline helipilt ja eksperimentalistlikud analüütilised ideed. Ühelt poolt ambient-muusika, kuid selgelt oleviku ääre peal seisev, st milles peituvad sound art- ja field recording-loogika ja allikad pluss elektroakustiline virvendus. Muusika, mis püüdleb immanentselt eemale ambient-kehandi klišeelikkusest, eemale selle ohtlikest lõksudest. Lõksud, mis peituvad apelleerivas "sügavuses", st sisutühjuses, mis nii sageli ambient-teostele saatuslikuks saavad. Üllitis koosneb 8 rajast ja 35 minutist, milles marginaalsele helile (sahinad, suvalised sämplid, jutukõmin) on antud vorm ja mõte. Kohati tume ja kummituslik, sageli abstraktne, kuid mitte kordagi settiv ja kopituv. Nagu mingi stiihiline voog, mille loomuldaseks ja kaunistavaks tungiks on liikuda ja liikuda- st paisuda ja vaibuda -, omandades ajapikku ja märkamatult teistsugused reljeefid, mistõttu triivi(de) suuna järele pärimine näib kaunis mõttetu. Selles ei peitu eesmärk. See on justkui kaleidoskoop, mille tuum seisneb protsessi jälgimises, monumentumite ülestäheldamises. Jäin "Lethal Industry"`d kuulates poolteiseks tunniks arvuti taha sügavalt magama - mida ei olnud muideks minuga kaua aega juhtunud. Siinkirjutaja personaalne lemmik on sünge ja pahaendeline Wayfaring Geography.

Kuula albumit siit

9.4

Cagey House B for Breakfast (Bypass)

Kas B for Breakfast" on sama, mis oleks "H hommikusöögi tarvis"? Või peab jätkuvalt täht "B" seda seost tunnusmärgitsema? Või hoopis mõni teine initsiaal? Näiteks M(esilane)? See on ilmselt sama, mis küsida, mis eristab Dave Keifer`i 13. albumit tema eelmistest teostest "Lark" ja "1902". Narratiivi muutused pisiasjades, millel on illusoorne moment juures, st tegelikkuses ameeriklase muusikalist kehandit muutmata. Hoolimata tõigast, et Jaapani leibel (Bump Foot) on vahetunud Hiina oma (Bypass) vastu - viimane on ennekõike tuntud rütmikeskse elektroonilise muusika kataloogi läbi. Tõepoolest, Cagey House`i kulg - 5 lugu 14 minuti sees - on jätkuvalt mittetantsuline ja sämplikeskne - kummastavad miljööd, happelised sündipassaažid, spooky klaverimuusika, teatraalsed sopransämplid - mis kokkuvõttes justkui pärineks kusagilt kummitusooperist. Sametise interjööriga art house-muusika. Metafüüsiline noir. Minu lemmiklugu on Honey Yep Nope - hunnitute vokaalosiste ja klaveriakordidega klanitud sundimatu electro-draiv.

Korralik tasemenäit jäjekordselt. Teisalt - kuivõrd seda üllitist võiks vabalt ka eelpoolmainitud albumite osaks arvata, siis ootaks ameeriklaselt juba uutele aladele liikumist. Muidugi, daoistlikust perspektiivist vaadatuna on kõik jätkuvalt korras - kulgemine ilma kulgemiseta.

Kuula albumit siit

8.7

Enko Okne (Bypass)

Muusikaajaloos on olnud ning on jätkuvalt artiste, kes kiivalt on püüdnud oma identiteeti varjata. Tuntuim näide on kindlasti legendaarne The Residents, kelle kohta on koguni arvatud, et selle taga võivad California tippärimehed peituda. Üle 30 aasta oma identiteeti varjata ei ole saavutus kergete killast. Ka Ukrainast Sumõ linnast pärit Enko (ka eNKo) nime all tuntud artisti kohta ei ole palju infot. Tema myspace`i lehekülge ei suutnud ma vaatamata suurtele pingutustele üles leida. Teada on, et ta on tuntud veel pseudonüümide Artem ning Enkolf Kitler all. See, mis Ukraina artisti eest kõneleb, on tema muusika. Muusikat on ta üllitanud kahe leibli all - Venemaa Qulture Productions`i ning Hiina Bypass`i all. Plaadifirmad, mis mõlemad on tuntud elektroonilise kvaliteetmuusika poolest.

Enko muusikat võib peaasjalikult iseloomustada järgmiste terminitega: abstraktne/eksperimentaalne/minimalistlik tehno; abstraktne elektroonika; avangardelektroonika. See ei ole tantsumuusika. Klubibiit ei saagi niivõrd krutskiliselt kõlada. Puurivad madalsageduslikud bassiliinid ning helipilti kallutavad-moonutavad efektid on Enko`se helipildi lahutamatud osised. Kõrgete ning madalsageduslike helide äärmised piirid ristuvad sageli ühes ja samas loos. Ruumi avaruse ning selle puudumise testimine. Eepilised orkestratsioonid ning elektroonilised mudakihistused. Näituseks tema esimene album “Steel Retina” (2008, QP) tulistab müra, digital hardcore`i, plunderphonics-esteetika ning massiivselt abrassiivse elektroonikaga. Saund omandab kohati thrill and bass´i peapöörituse. Seesugust saundi produtseeriks tänapäeval CAN või Neu!, kui nende liikmed sündinuks 30-40 aastat hiljem. Krautrock`i vaimu hõljumine tänases päevas. Loomulikult seesugusest muusikast kõneldes ei saa üle ega ümber Autechre`ist (kuigi käesolev projekt teeb Briti legenditele juba silmi ette). Sugulushingedest - kelledega viimastel aegadel olen kokku puutunud - väärivad äramärkimist veel Shtift, Xenoglosia, Nth Synthesis, HermeneutecH, Proswell.

“Okne” on Enko kolmas album Bypass`i all. Reliis koosneb 4 lühikesest loost. Võrreldes varasemate albumitega on üllitis popilikumaks muutunud - suhtelises tähenduses loomulikult. Ennekõike tähendab see lihtsustatumat ning hõredamat ülesehitust. Struktuurist on kadunud varasem pingestatus. Ühesõnaga, konstrueeritakse popilähedasi kontseptsioone. Avalugu Ekon on eepiline, massiivne ning ekspansiivne. Techno-rütmide kaskaadile järgneb nende lammutamine. Kaheduuriline kirkuorel kihutab sihitult edasi-tagasi. “Ära lammutamine” tähendab antud kontekstis mängimist rütmi erinevate kiirustega. Enok on elektroakustiline taies, mida leiab toetust keskmise biidisagedusega basstrummilt. Neko algab ning jääb kestma nagu mõnele psych-folk-bändile (Castanets, Six Organs Of Admittance) omane. Õieti loop jääb korduma, millega hiljem liituvad rütmid ning vokaalsämplid. Ka viimases loos (Keno) distantseerub ukrainlane oma varasemast muusikast, liikudes indietronica ning Boards Of Canada vahelisele alale. Loo lõpp teeb sugereerivaid põikeid-volksamisi-hüppeid-käändeid. Suurepärane lugu!

Vastuolulised tunded. Käesolevat albumit kuulasin ma Enko`se diskograafiast kõige varem. Esimene (ja teine, ning arvatavasti ka kolmas) mulje oli väga positiivne. Tõsi, varasemaid albumeid-šedöövreid kuulates “Okne” üldmulje langes. Ometi - kui see kullatolm korraks minema pühkida, paistab sealt alt üks korralik üllitis välja.

Kuula albumit siit

8.6