TNKS – Nostalgic Happiness (2017)

Sucu Music

Jamendo

• Chillwave
• Mood music 
• Glo-fi 
• Art pop 
• Indietronica 
• Post-rock
• Plinkerpop 
• Electronic music 
• Alternative 
• Chilltronica 
• Post-pop 
• Ambient pop

Comment: by listening to TNKS`s sophomore outing Nostalgic Happiness you may perceive it as if a watered down post-rock issue is put in front of your ears. In fact, the explanation is way too simplistic and little saying to the listener. From these 28 minutes in the set of 7 pieces in total there used to emerge enough elements to tickle your cerebral synapses in a breezy way. Indeed, sun is shining and gentle gusts are stroking your cheeks and dishevel your hair while you are spending your time in the middle of a picturesque meadow in the countryside. Throughout the course you can perceive the intact bucolic feel which of course could closely be related to fairly nostalgic pictures from one`s remote past. These 7 tracks constitute a platform to put off your memories toward the childhood. Toward something you cannot reach anymore because physically we have no possibility to overcome the burden of entropy (if we would get it would we wish it?). Musically and stylistically the album`s touch harks back to the chillwave/glo-fi/hypnagogic movement. Indeed, hypnagogic pop as a stylistic phenomenon is closely bound to falling asleep, dreaming and memories. There are bands up within the style who exploit the corresponding intentions (Memoryhouse, Memory Tapes). Jokingly, The Smiths was obviously a pre-hypnagogic combo due to conveying such tracks as Back to the Old House, This Night Has Opened My Eyes, and Asleep (even if the latter one focused on suicide). Exuberant yet gentle guitar chords used to draw its elliptical lines across the synthetic terrain and IDM-esque crispy beats while being coloured by sublime saxophone beeps and colourful orchestrations at times. By the way, I tagged it as mood music as you can see above but it does not mean it is either somehow simple-minded or "lazy". More profoundly, you can hear easiness in timbre and mood pouring out from the sophisticated instrumental compositions. The wondrous outing is a part of the discography of Sucu Music. Additionally I recommend listen to the debut release Gate One. By kindred souls you should listen to Brother Saturn

Limbo Deluxe – Super Disco Pop Beat Punk (2007)

Jamendo

• Alternative dance
• Psychedelic
• Baggy
• Indie dance 
• Rockabilly 
• Dance rock 
• Acid rock 
• Indie pop/rock 
• Alternative pop/rock 
• Surf rock 
• Boogie 
• Brass pop

Comment: this set of 10 compositions may seem quite similar to something or one can feel he/she has heard it before sometime. It might he/she has listened to such project as Juanitos which is headed by the Frenchman Juan Naveira. It is not coincidence at all – Limbo Deluxe is also one of his projects. Similarly to Juanitos Limbo Deluxe's music is a bold carnival of thousands of sounds. OK, I exaggerated a little bit but it involves such elements as rockabilly, surf, indie, boogie, world music, brass pop, psychedelic and acid pop. Certainly I forgot something to add. Guitars, vocals, drums and dusty organs are set up to introduce a groovy party. Especially those rolling acidic organ cascades placed side by side to sonic threads of the other instruments are truly catchy and enchanting reminding me of such baggy juggernauts as The Charlatans, The Wordsmiths, The Mock Turtles, and Inspiral Carpets. All is fairly coherent, all is consistent, all is very convincing. The lyrics are in English and in Spanish. Business as usual by him. One should abandon antidepressants to replace them with the downright optimistic, serotonin-supplying one. It is not funny, it makes up much more fun.

Anitek -ShiHo (2016)

Free Music Archive

Jamendo

Bandcamp

• Nu jazz 
• Chill out 
• Hip-hop 
• Mood music 
• Sampledelic 
• Breaks 
• Poptronica 
• Trip-hop 
• Electronic pop 
• Dub 
• Acid jazz

Comment: this is not the first appearance of Morristown, New Jersey, US-based artist Anitek at Recent Music Heroes. More profoundly, I have commented such issues as Sae Yeon, and Calm & Collect Vol. 1 though the artist has been truly prolific over the years. ShiHo is a massive delivery of 41 compositions where the artist demonstrates his ability to create for a listener's soul and body. Despite this tremendous load of tracks it makes you feel not tired and bored at all. It is an event on its own because Anitek can adeptly play with different genres being very close to such genres as jazz, hip-hop, chill out, and electronica. Electronica in that case does mean both club dance inflected rhythms and progressions in timbre and effects. In fact, Anitek showcases and develops and crosses subgenres of the aforementioned styles in a profound and crafty way. Ultimately it can be admitted the issue is worthy enough to be added to the rack of the best albums of 2016.

Art Sonic – Roadside Sketches (2012)

Acustronica

Jamendo

No-Source

Bandcamp

• Folktronica 
• Folk indie 
• Americana 
• Alt-folk 
• Indie folk 
• Ambient 
• Art folk 
• Musique concrète 
• Tex-Mex

Comment: this 13-notch issue is created by a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, Richard Lisaj whose music sounds like a palette of sketches recorded by driving across highways in southern part of the USA. Indeed, it was recorded while he was travelling from Canada to the US states (Utah, Colorado, New Mexico). By listening to it one can discern Tex-Mex details within it. Musically it is based on pastel guitar jangling, some harmonica whiffs and exquisite electronic progressions and roundabouts which together are grandiloquent and rustic at the same time. Frequently these moods are imbued with the chirping of birds and some other concrete sounds, at times it might even remind of some tracks of David Bowie's albums from his Berlin period (for instance, at Garden of the Gods). However, the music is Americana and it is very welcome to meet it with unexpected dodges within the mix. In a word, it is a fabulous listening experience being released under Acustronica, Bandcamp, and Jamendo. 

The Bourgeois – The Bourgeois (2015)

Jamendo

• Punk rock 
• Indie rock 
• Alternative rock 
• Garage rock 
• Noise rock 
• Ska

Comment: this handful of tracks is a strong appearance of energy of blues and rock and roll heritage which in turn is converted into a contemporary garage and alternative rock slam. The name of the musical group used to ironically refer to our our every day's life I suppose. I reminds me of McCarthy's ditty We Are All Bourgeois Now which was covered by Manic Street Preachers, the faux-communist/leftfield group a kind of whom Joseph Stalin called for useful idiots. Of course, the punks are cool but untrustworthy by their nature who used to demonstrate their stubbornness in principles yet who are ready to betray their principles for money or a bottle of alcohol. And the effect and scope of their aesthetic is way too flimsy to could have had a long-running intriguing impact. On the other side, for instance, the stances of the post-punks are more sustainable and intriguing because of having the impulse of changeability within it thereby reflecting upon the life in a more trustworthy way. Of course, the energy of punk rock within other styles is frequently something really enjoyable and staggering. For instance, the US-based duo The Bourgeois (Zach Mobley, and Ty Clark) dissolves it in different directions from Sonic Youth-esque psyched-up noise rock (Be Your Own Machine) to skidding ska numbers (Electric Shock Value). It is really pleasant to follow the singer's timbral formations from one tone to another, from mind-blowing madness to more sedative moments. For example, at Perverting The American Dream one can hear him singing almost in Tim Burgess-like style and tonality at the beginning but later it will be fleshed out due to more powerful appearance with variegated shades within it. All in all, get it and will be the dog of it.

Jared C. Balogh – A Change Equals A Rest (2016)

Enough

Jamendo

Free Music Archive

Bandcamp

• Post-classical 
• Downbeat 
• Modern classical 
• Mood music 
• Avant-garde 
• Experimentalism 
• Art music
• Post-jazz

Comment: Jared C. Balogh continues to flesh out his concept of post-classical music which was also clearly discernible on his previous issue Awkward Balance (under the pseudonym Life Like Thunderstorms). As you can see there is up some logic (about strongly searching for balance) between the two titles. Emotionally it is a restrained one as if moving in a multiple stream of configured elements which do have a subdued power and having possibility to appear differently. At times one configuration used to predominate over other ones, and vice versa. Because of that it can be called the artsy sort of mood music. It is mind-provoking and soothing at the same time due to being partly driven by velvety downbeat rhythms and immersive electric piano chords. It might it is a sort of (post-)jazz music. At Let's Spoon To This Mello Storm one can hear some similarities with Tortoise, for instance. It is even more calm if to compare it to Awkward Balance. However, it is somehow lurking otherwise. The issue is a part of the discography of Enough Records (but it is also available at Jamendo, and Free Music Archive). 

Robert Avellanet – Heart & Soul (2014)

Jamendo

Bandcamp

• Soul 
• Funk 
• Pop 
• Soft pop 
• Disco

Comment: Robert Avellanet`s 11-track outing gets a place in my listening world because of providing sonic elements which might be sugary and sleazy by some other artists with credibility and powerful inner impetus. More profoundly, it is a quite straightforward pop music with the elements of funk and soul. However, the central track on it is certainly The One And Only, one could feel its axial position while listening to these 42 minutes for many times in a row and while getting to it again. It does have enough strength to hover and tower and find out a slot in one`s heart. Lyrically the outing is predominantly about love, the fact which is obviously not surprising at all due to those softened pads and hopeful audible seeds /Love is a journey I would everywhere with you/My love I found you/My life is yours I was born for you/I dream about you/One day we will stand side by side/. In a word, it is an issue where Latin inflected balladry meets Motown inspired soulful music. Lovely stuff.

Dany Angelelli – Black Flower (2016)

Ephedrina

Jamendo

Free Music Archive

Archive.org

Bandcamp

• Electronic music 
• Alternative dance 
• Minimalism 
• Leftfield
• Alternative dance  
• Post-dubstep 
• Drone 
• Electro-pop
• Illbient 
• Ambient drone

Comment: this is an exquisite example of how rhythmic (dance) music and electronic music elements meet each other given that both of them being clearly separated beforehand (in some circumstances they might be identical) especially these elements are represented in the second track White Flower, a sturdy blend of electro and more veiled post-dubstep frequencies. It is the contemporary version of Italo disco. Indeed, it represents the lighter side of the artist on it while the title composition is more murky and lurking. An ominous ambient and drone tinged pattern just keep hovering over there without remarkable changes while being accompanied by an almost unchangeable rhythmic pattern. Nevertheless, the artist is a true master to deliberately uphold a sultry milieu through the said elements and combinations between them. Although the tracks differentiate remarkably yet both make up these 11 minutes as an enchanting whole. The issue comes out from the Apennine Peninsula under the Ephedrina imprint.

Strobcore – Funky Music EP (2009)

Chase

Jamendo

• Hi-NRG 
• Gabber
• Hellektro 
• Electronic music 
• Alternative 
• Harsh trance 
• Breakcore

Comment: this set of three pieces is managed to an extreme of electro music being overloaded by raspy, cut-up rhythms, iterative noise-near rhythmic blasts and galvanised glitches of digital madness. At times one can perceive how the energy behind those propulsions used to submerge all the whole and it will result in a weird picture of being partly eaten by itself. It is fun(k)(n)y music. Undoubtedly it is not a decent fare fro all those who have fancied dance music of different kinds because it is the kind of dance music which likes to destroy itself. On the other hand, it used to deal with the mighty stroboscopes because you could vividly imagine how the light is going to dance in a broken and fragmented way. There is up a paradox in such sort of music. The cheesiness and some sort of cheapness of the music is superseded by the immense frequency in rhythmic patterns and mind-blowing harshness in textures and fancy experiments with accelerated and decelerated implications in the middle of the mix at times turned to a ridiculous extent. In a word, it could be considered somehow the negation of electro music. Get involved in that stuttering madness. The issue is a notch in the discography of the French label Chase (Chase033).

Chancius - Bando (2015)

Jamendo

Bandcamp

• Art rock 
• Indie rock 
• Alternative rock
• Chamber pop
• Singer-songwriter 
• Experimental pop

Comment: While this issue was plotted out to be an alternative rock opera to depict it does mean the artist must have been some aesthetic restrictions and prescriptions for writing process. In any cases, Chancius comes out of Brooklyn, New York, USA and the listener could readily perceive an exquisite, intelligent touch being so characteristic to many artists from the metropolis. By the recent case, Chancius' sophomore release enthralls the listener by straddling on the border between the restrained and unleashed. All of that turns on expectations in the listener to wait on what will be happening next. On the other hand, the artist controls the process totally allowing no indiscretions and turnoffs. Though he is slightly aloof with regard to the listener his posture suits finely with the music and overall conception. Musically it is an example of how quite austere artsy guitar playing is adeptly imbued with electro-acoustic sonic effects and electronic knacks. At times, at most dreamy glimpses the course is led by affectionate carillon playing and loopy orchestrations (at Big Wave). Obviously the artist is inspired by the local No Wave scene (and by its forefathers the Velvet Underground) and representatives of contemporary art rock/indie scene like The Antlers, Owen Pallett, Terrible Terrible, Foxes In Fiction, Panda Bear. However, those possible influences come in indirectly and rather on the base of similarity thereby allowing to create relatable possibilities between cultural layers and traditions in general. I am pleased he is not trying to spoil the concept with magniloquent details and bloated stances. He has set out a plot to operate within certain borders, however, having enough territory to move forward and then back, by right to left, from bottom to top. As an ancient Greek philosopher once said due to the borders it is possible to exist at all and only this allows you to go beyond, to go to the other side. Psychedelic, isn't? He will not crush himself in the playing out of his genuine role. Listen to Hologram King and you will get convinced this match was made in heaven to save unfortunate souls. In a nutshell, I fairly recommend listen to this 11-notch gentle bright.

Marrach / Bad Poet / Chtin Mara – Opus Oratorium (2016)

Enoughrecords

Free Music Archive

Jamendo

• Hip-hop 
• Rap 
• Free jazz 
• Improvised noise 
• Downbeat
• Crossover
• Industrial-hop 
• Leftfield 
• Avant-hop 
• Experimental hip-hop 
• Spoken word

Comment: this is an arousing yet not ordinary issue of a handful of pieces clocking in at a 24 minute. As you have already figured out behind the project are three musicians/mc`s whose music used to base on striking poetry like The Last Poets but whose profound thoughts are backdropped by free jazz, improvised noise, slowed-down beats thereby chiming like a slowed-down and more acoustic form of Death Grips. At times the message is warped through sonic effect blocks to change it even into more obscure (for instance, at Habitus Poeticus). In general, by listening to the issue one can discern endless undulation from start to end, from top to bottom. They themselves call it “tripstep” it might be because they are represented threesome over there. On the other side, it might be because the three stylistic whales on which the issue used to stand upright are hip-hop, jazz, and electronic music, and the styles are seamlessly crossed with one another. The issue is a part of the roster of the Portuguese imprint enoughrecords. In a word, let’s enjoy an ideal form of hip-hop music.

Ottilie – Histoires d`O (2009)

Acoustic Firework 

Jamendo

• Chanson 
• Alternative pop 
• Singer-songwriter 
• Art pop 
• Acoustic pop 

Comment: this is a cute issue, a sublime drift between dreamy insights and a more buffoonish singing manner and some vocal trickery. In a word, the French singer Ottilie used to rehash the chanson music tradition in a modern appearance being accompanied by acoustic string instruments and Parisian street accordions. As you can see I have had only a few words to describe this beautiful issue. However, it is very nice by any means. The issue is a part of the catalogue of Acoustic Firework, and Jamendo.          

Slimm - Bobo (2016)

Jamendo

• New Age 
• Alternative 
• Post-rock 
• Ambient pop 
• Electronic music 
• Mood music
• Organic electronica 
• Musique concrete 
• Crossover 

Comment: Slimm and his debut album Bobo is related neither physically nor aesthetically to the Swiss producer DJ BoBo who got headlines and was billed as a top tier within the Eurobeat/Eurodance scene in the 90 and 00s. In fact, Slimm is Jacob Skogursson, an Icelandic musician whose 8-track issue has been managed in the way to mingle found sounds, ambient pop, New Age-y synthesizers and artsy indie vibes and static post-rock frequencies with one another. First of all, it is fairly delightful to enjoy the prevalent elemental, even idyllic touch within the blend. On the other hand, all the sonic aspects are precisely surfaced as if following an exact scheme in front of them. However, the scheme is sophisticated enough the listener has no chance to get bored. That's all - now it is your turn to listen to this relaxing outing.  

Terrible Terrible – Fail Better (2015)

Jamendo

• Art rock 
• Americana 
• Experimental pop 
• Indie rock 
• Slowcore 
• Soul 
• Electronic

Comment: by listening to this 4-track issue by the American combo Terrible Terrible I am tempted by the hypothesis – if Terrible Terrible`s issue Fail Better or the follow-up Get The New Computer were produced by Tame Impala and in turn Tame Impala`s Currents were issued by Terrible Terrible then which album of them were more popular ultimately? In fact, my intention to ask in that way is all about outright subjectivity with regard to the popularity within the music business. I guess Terrible Terrible would have been an amazing pop act if they had a solid promotional team behind them. However, let’s enjoy this fabulous, effortlessly moving soul/Americana/art pop/dream pop/slowcore outing where sophisticated rhythms and poignant electronic threads are mingled seamlessly into a harmonious whole. It is not muzak, there is no possibility to consider it in that way altogether. Any second on it seems to be thoroughly reasoned yet the flow is wondrous without any pockmarks. It is a perfect congruence between thousands of sonic bits, which in turn is a platform to new mental configurations to be cropped up. Additionally, let’s listen to Currents, and Get The New Computer either.              

The Shining Men – Interlude Music EP (2010)

17Sons

Jamendo

Bandcamp

• Techno
• Lo-fi
• Electro
• Tech-house

Comment: Undoubtedly it is a challenging outing because of representing some styles with unconventional sonorous appearances and corroded sonic frequencies. More profoundly, electro, techno and tech-house vibes have been emerged by exploiting low-end bits and rough, bumpy rhythmic patterns. It is fairly impressive to hear obsessive mood in some tracks  (Girl Passion, for instance). At times the artist follows cues of the minimalism though doing it in a small scale (Goodbye Birds). Despite its unconventional appearance the result used to be on the top by its quality. 

Chuzausen – Dump Garden (2015)

Enoughrecords

Free Music Archive

Jamendo

• Electro pop
• 8-bit
• Ambient trance
• Breakcore
• Electronic pop
• Mood music
• Tracker music
• Alternative 

Comment: this 11-notch album chimes like a rusty mood music issue where low-end, 8-bit frequency based rhythms do vary with more bold and thudding rhythmic patterns. All these cadences are adorned with catchy melody and harmony threads where one could perceive even the 80s electro disco and house vibes (at Not House, for instance). Not House is followed by Out Smarted which is a fabulous blend of folk, hip-hop and 70s electro pop a la a late Kraftwerk. The next track People is about catchy warped synth lines and heavily stomping electro rhythms which are imbued with exquisite sonic debris and a vowel iteration. The opening tracks Are We Digital, and Duck+Cover remind a little bit of the Orb`s ambient trance opus Orblivion (1997, Island) which makes me immediately psyched. The more you listen to this issue by the Madrid, Spain-based mastermind Chuzausen the more you perceive his poppy yet not self-indulgent potential which could be a case of ideal pop in certain circumstances. The whole is organic and witty – all these elements which are treated over there are the delicate ones and they are expertly mixed up with each other. Fairly great indeed.

Etiket Zero – Planet (2011)

Chase

Chase

Jamendo

• Hip-hop
• Rap
• Ethnotronica
• Urban music
• Avant-hop
• Sampledelic
• Industrial-hop
• World music

Comment: this 4-track issue by the French-based hip-hop artist Etiket Zero is a fascinating one because of providing a coherent bound of rhythms, ill-omened gauze and overdriving effects. Those rhythms are craftily produced to vary in their appearance from slightly sprawling noise-fuelled synth basses to smithereens exploded thumps. Furthermore, the artist used to sample ethnic instruments (tabla, tanpura) and flutes, down-beaten paces and the African people`s singing at _Planet_N_YAK.412. Indeed, this quite long-running composition is very interesting because of involving a shitloads of unexpected turns and dodges. The track is the exception within the whole issue. All these lyrics are chanted in English having no penchant toward such simplistic topics as women, money and cars in a vulgar way. For instance, at _Planet_N_AYK.599_Feat._Guttahface the artist ushers the listener in a more lone and lovelorn way. Musically with the excursion of the first mentioned track there can be drawn parallels with the elegantly squelching and cracked aesthetic of Death Grips who had been making first steps to conquer the world at the time of the release of this issue. However, it was not Etiket Zero`s first album where the artist experimented with such experimental narratives. Additionally I recommend listen to an album called Album La Paix (2008) where the artist had glided along abstract soundscapes, however, noises and ethnic motives were represented either. All in all, it is a bewildering stuff where tension and intensity in sound and on the other side those mind-boggling sonorous crumbs and harnessed to conjure up outstanding incantations for our pleasure. It is an ideal template of hip-hop music. 

Terrible Terrible - Get The New Computer (2015)

Jamendo

Bandcamp

• Alternative pop
• Indie soul
• Hypnagogic pop
• Art pop
• Chillwave
• Experimental pop
• Chamber pop
• Glo-fi
• Electronic
• Dream pop
• Doo wop
• Indie rock
• Baroque pop

Comment: I am very convinced to assume that New Jersey, USA based combo Terrible Terrible is one of the best acts I have ever found at Jamendo, the France-based free music platform. Jack Browning, Mike Tarnofsky, Steve Kelly, and Mark Bucci have issued a couple of releases (Fail Better, and Get The New Computer) under the French imprint though their very first issues Hteet Gnillup, and Pulling Teeth can be found out at Bandcamp. Get The New Computer is not about machines unless they are talking about very sensitive machines because their music is thoroughly soulful, poignantly dreamy and replete with lush arrangements wherein crafty electronic undercurrents are inseparably mixed with Tarnofsky`s daydreamy vocal delivery, shuffled rhythms and artsy guitar handling.  All of that is saturated with something of a hyper-realist feel as if an interface to amalgamate baroque pop with glo-fi/chillwave touch, to mix up slowcore with hypnagogic attitude. If one wants to go back in time then she/he could hear doo wop drenched easiness and effortlessness in harmony structures. If you are searching some more known artists to draw parallel within it then you could find out some similarities with such projects as Atlas Sound, Gravenhurst, Grizzly Bear, Beat Detectives. In a word, it is an absolutely flawless effort.

Noisesurfer – ADSL (2012)

Ethno Indigo

Jamendo

Bandcamp

Noisesurfer

/Krautrock, Techno pop, Musique concrète, Experimental electronica, Dark ambient, Electronic music, Ambient techno, Space music, Tekno, Downtempo, Breakcore, Techno, Ambient pop/

Comment: Noisesurfer is the nom de plume of the Spaniard Joaquin Ronco aka Joachim Rontxelius who has issued a shitloads of releases so far, mostly on Ethno Indigo (established by him) and Jamendo. ADSL is a stunning miscellany of 15 tracks which used to fluctuate from picturesque downtempo vibes and alien emitted techno rhythms to more poppy techno threads to austere krautrock-alike modern rock structures to noise infused electronic propulsions. At times those techno rhythms are accelerated to reach the tekno level (for example, Timepaste). He exploits elements which may be fairly extremist ones in some circumstances (the use of digital noises, and glitched-out debris, and ghastly reverberations) but Joachim Rontxelius does exploit those ones in the way to create something recognizable and sublime yet poignant. In a word, those elements are subjected to formulas of bearable alternative pop/krautrock/electronic music. By kindred souls it could be compared with some Andrew Cauthen aka Take Pills Die`s releases and an early and mid-period Kraftwerk (the period when the legendary German combo started to drift from krautrock-fuelled vamps toward more electro and techno pop tunes, for instance, Ralf and Florian (1973); Autobahn (1974) ). In a nutshell, it is a solid issue which at times may sound like a retro one yet providing sustainable glimpses into the future. In a word, it is an instance of proper electronic music with and without cadences.

PM Prometheus – Mitochondria (2009)

Jamendo

/Electronic pop, Alternative pop, Synth pop, Electro-indie, Electroclash/

Comment: although New York-based PM Prometheus` album Mitochondria put off with Point Your Tendrils to the Sky which draws on arousing synthesised progressions and piano chords at the edge thereby creating a sublime sense in the listener`s head the artist later takes on more rhythm-ridden developments and harshly discordant structures. Musically PM Prometheus gets obviously inspiration from the 80s synth-pop and electro-rock and the highlight of electroclash at the beginning of 00s.Although the artist complains at his Jamendo site that the album does not maintain consistency of recording quality and the listener has to make his/her volume adjustments I did not clash against the aforementioned shortage. The cover print of the album is appealing (there is a light that never goes out?). Additionally to the 9-track album Mitochondria there are represented the likes of Slumberland, and Lilt at Jamendo as well all of them have been released approximately 5-6 years ago. Ina word, it is a decent exertion.