Macroform – Shining (2018)

Jamendo

• Chilltronica 
• Electronic pop 
• Alternative 
• Glo-fi 
• Chillwave 
• House pop 
• Breaks

Comment: Macroform is a musician from Sarasota, Florida, USA. He is a musician who explores sound and experiments with a broad range of instruments including guitars, old Casio keyboards, African drums and percussion and found sounds and synthesizers. By listening to this huge, 19-notch outing it can be said he knows how to conjure up one's mood and bump up neurochemicals to optimal level. Macroform has been a prolific artist who has issued more than 40 releases during the last 12 years including 5 issues in the recent year. One may say the amount is way too much to stay at one and the same level artistically. An other one may say it is necessary to produce in a row to preserve and not forget the artistic skills. In this context the second opinion seems to be true. Of course I have not listened to all his issues but by considering the recent one has all what a very decent issue should provide. Stylistically it veers away from house-tinged piano and electric piano shuffles and catchy rhythms to serene chillwave and chilltronica-drenched glimpses and cloudless synthesised and sampled orchestrations. Macroform knows very well how psychologically manipulate the listener to cope with such a long release – from speedy delivery to slowed-down ones, from raspy facets to more floating ones. By balancing different elements with one another it is a foundation to avoid boredom. Secondly it is like a simulacrum for a listener's life. All in all, I am going to add it to my list of the best albums in 2018. Hopefully I can find time to listen to the rest of issues by him having been issued in 2018.

Open Work Stocking – Intrude into the Grey Slush (2008)

Enoughrecords

Jamendo

Free Music Archive

Archive.org

• IDM 
• Electronic music 
• Alternative 
• Epic 
• Experimental electro 
• Ambient noise 
• Experimental techno 
• Kraut-electro 
• Kraut-techno 
• Alternative dance 
• Art music

Comment: Open Work Stocking is the Russian producer Anton Tatarinov and this 6-cut issue is his debut release under the Portuguese imprint Enoughrecords. Quite much has changed since the year of 2008 yet it is a very solid result full of gentle melodies and lofty progressions while employing the sharp sounds of noises, glitches, unnerving pulsating electronic rhythms. Intellectually merging together the Detroit-based techno and electro tradition and Cologne and Dusseldorf-based IDM/techno/neokrautrock legacy to pop out somewhere in Russia. Additionally, it is keenly a dance-appealed case and those lightweight orchestrations remind of Arthur Russell. Ultimately I am going to say – it is absolutely stunning being perfectly balanced between the experimentally sophisticated and emotively full-fledged one. It must have towered as an IDM classic.

Macroform – Spacious (2018)

Jamendo

• Mood music 
• Chilltronica 
• Electronic music 
• Synth-pop 
• Ambient pop 
• Kosmische Musik

Comment: these 29 blithesome minutes can be compared with Tangerine Dream and the so-called Berlin School though the US-based Macroform`s 10-track issue chimes like a diluted, watery version of it. Yet it does not mean it is weaker than the German legends` music. It is not the point at all. More concretely, it does mean some similar sonic templates and stylistic elements are adopted to be added to the sonic body yet its emotive side is arranged quite differently. For sure, it is a blithesome journey through outer space, across the meadow, on one`s serene mood. For instance, listen to Verbatim which is thoroughly awesome. In fact, at times some compositions go onto a more thoughtful strip yet the sensation is bittersweet rather than sad and somehow depressive I would dare to say. Obviously Tedious is the most "invasive" track on it with those readily bouncy rhythmic parts and thumping bass drumming at bottom. There is no hesitation to have any doubts about the experience and skills by Macroform. With the recent one you can listen to 43 albums by him at Jamendo (since 2006).

Solxis – Dance Dance Dance (2018)

Jamendo

• Trance 
• Electronic music 
• EDM 
• Chilltronica 
• Progressive house 
• Crossover 
• Synth-pop
• House

Comment: Solxis is an artist from USA whose 11-track outing is a solid example of electronic dance music of featuring such styles as trance, techno, electro, synth-pop and (progressive) house. Undoubtedly it is professionally mixed up and thereafter represented in a neat format. At times such sort of music is filled in with tedious clichès and being dry but it is above the complaint. At times the interfaces between the styles are oiled with atmospheric glimpses by adding an extra charge to the whole. By investigating the artist's previous and adjacent releases there are up two features to pop out. First of them is thematic because the artist has been issuing releases being distinctly related to a music genre at a time (for instance, Funked Up, Spa Dreams, Bossa Chillanova, Ambient Guitar etc). Secondly, the recent year is being truly fertile for the artist because of having issued approximately 20 items. Come close to those ones. Solxis says the set may be suited well for retail stores and fitness centers/gyms. Yeah, it does but not only over there.

AAVV – The Other Sound Of The Light (2017)

Ephedrina

Anti-Demos-Cracia

Jamendo

• Electronic music 
• Breaks 
• Space disco 
• Kosmische Musik 
• Alternative
• Disco-rock 
• Electro pop
• House
• Downtempo 
• Deep techno 
• Kraut-techno 
• Glitch-electro

Comment: this is a joint miscellany of 12 tracks by Ephedrina Records, an imprint from Italy, and Anti-Demos-Cracia, an imprint from Portugal. There are represented such artists as Mutaform, CRPTC, Fingerflood, Hypercube, Electric Dreamers, Hist, Overdrive, We Hate All These Liberals, Guta Project, Hesskhè Yadalanah, Errors Alternados, and Orquestra Popular De Paio Pires. I guess most of these names may be unknown to you, however, being an ardent follower of the imprints then you should have made acquaintance with the artists. Let`s have some thread about the compilation which will be clocked in at a 54 minute (indeed, it is an accepted longitude for a compilation). Undoubtedly it is a variegated issue with flourishing accents and exuberant shades. At times it is rhythmically obsessive just consisting of different rhythmic combinations to following one another or establishing new mutations within the rhythmic matrix. Some tracks are broadened with progressions toward atmospheric spheres and extracting an enchanting quintessence from synthesiser. All in all, I could not mention any weak track within the whole so I have to admit it to be a classy, mandatory compilation. Get it, support it.

Robert Daglio – Bitter Blue (2018)

Jamendo

Bandcamp

• Mood music 
• Yacht pop 
• Fusion 
• Jazz rock 
• Swing 
• Jazz

Comment: it is a subsequent issue by an Italian artist, Roberto Daglio to appear on the blog. Daglio's music is always different, always the same. It is always sultry and serene and deliberately retrodelic yet synthesising new elements into a mix. The listener can feel himself like standing somewhere under the cloudless sky while the Sun standing at the zenith and above all. Yet it is a hyper-realistic experience because you are not exhausted by sweating on humid conditions. However, Wintherpole and Steel Drops are exceptions of the 8-track composition due to a heavy, even slamming guitar handling in the beginning of the tracks. Yet in the middle you can hear more meandering and immersive trajectories up there being played on an electric guitar. A third exception is Sometimes In The Rain (Swing Up) based on a classical jazz standard yet it chimes in a refreshing way. In other tracks you can enjoy pastel drawings on the electric guitar and electronic keyboards while being supported by propulsive bass lines. In a word, the result rocks in the way a righteous fusion album should sound. Yeah, it's playful, it's joyous, it's ennobling. And paradoxically it is not bitter at all.

Fortadelis – Overdub Session [Jazzed Up] (2016)

Cyan Music

Jamendo

• Nu jazz 
• Italo disco 
• Electronic pop 
• Deep house 
• Yacht pop 
• Mood music 
• Synth fusion 
• Jazz house 
• Chilltronica 
• Remakes

Comment: it's great honour to share my listening experience of Croatian artist Fortadelis' issue Jazzed Up. Previously I did it about Stimulus which is also a marvellous listening experience. As the title suggests this 9-notch outing is about jazz...at least partly. Indeed, all the modern/nu/acid jazz facets are elegantly represented over there. Moreover, Fortadelis is a potent artist who needs no other artists to remix the tracks to give it an additional value but instead of it he creates by himself it by shifting from the electronically swinging jazz and serene synth fusion and yacht pop glimpses to more immersive areas like deep house based numbers. There is just one little but. All the tracks were originally created by German Marco Köller and Fortadelis would change them into more sultry and sunshiny flickers. All the time one can feel an overwhelming dynamic impulse which is the main driving and unifying power giving no chance to deviate from a listening course. All in all, if you need an uncompromising crossover issue of electronic jazz, moody reflections, and refined club dance, you should pick it up. A cut above being issued on such platform as Cyan Music, and Jamendo.

Roberto Daglio – THE ROOMS (part 1) (2015)

Jamendo

• Nu jazz 
• Mood music 
• Easy listening 
• Lounge 
• Yacht pop 
• Smooth jazz 
• New Age

Comment: a couple of weeks ago I posted a teaser of the day, Obsessive Synchronization from the Italian Roberto Daglio`s THE ROOMS (part 1). It is a great track but by listening to it with the rest of 3 tracks it is a seamless flow of very similar tracks. In a word, it does mean that one and the same elements are represented in all the tracks just providing difference within the configuration of each composition. It seems to be so serene and cloudless as if am arousing glimpse from a hyper-realistic universe. It could even be considered a new appearance of New Age music though its roots are based on different jazz and yacht pop facets. For sure, nonetheless its laid-back nature the issue is apparently ambitious inside its core and thereby propelling a bit more further than just an average moody issue. So yeah, practically and functionally I guess it is a remedy for your soul and mind, it helps you cope with exhausting problems and conveys a perspective to move forward. What else I could add but just take your time to listen to the second part of the issue. Just wait a minute...there is no second part of it (at least I couldn't find them). Instead of it I recommend listen to other issues by the artist then.

Roberto Daglio - Coll.of Coll. Two (2014)

Jamendo

• Yacht rock 
• Mood music 
• Jazz pop 
• Lounge 
• Easy listening

Comment: this set of 4 tracks is the follow-up to the same titled issue though I have not listened to it yet and because of that I have no chance to compare the two ones. However, it is not a problem. So much as I have listened to it so far it is obviously the most moody and easily running issue getting inspiration from cloudless sky, and deep blue ocean. Yet the listener cannot deny the impact directed to the body – so you could imagine a romantic club somewhere nearby the beach being coloured by the sunset and being the place for romantic meetings. Roberto Daglio also makes reference to his famous compatriot Ennio Morricone at Seed of Peace which is an angelic masterpiece. The Mirror includes an acidic, psychedelic development giving the track a catchy outlook. You can draw parallels upon such masterminds as Bruno Nicolai, and Paul Mauriat as well. Yet it is an outstanding success by Roberto Daglio himself.

Noblemo "piano,sountrack,lounge" – Heart Of The Piano (2011)

Jamendo

• Piano music 
• Mood music 
• Electronic

Comment: what about us? What about you? What about me? What about those thousands of people who are listening to Jamendo? What about those millions of people who are listening to mainstream stations and having no idea about those thousands of people who are listening to Jamendo. Don't give a heck to them. And vice versa. The recent artist, for example, has issued a loads of albums during the last decade but will those millions of people to know about the outings until their heart stops to beat. I guess no, because worldwide there are up news and information which are immensely more important. For example, I just read that one celebrity, let's say her name is Lyra Tarhum, decided to remove her uterus. Actually it seems to be a very heroic statement by her but I have no chance to remove it even if I would like to do it. In a word, how to translate the information into a useful one from your own perspective? Indeed, we are weird animals who are descended from the monkey, a stupid beast. And some of us thinking they are better than the others. That's called divine comedy acted by mundane worms. This 5-cut outing is a joyful blend of upbeat piano chords, some more joyful piano chords, and some cloudless synthesised hovers in the middle of it. In overall, it is wrapped up by naive and childish tendencies. I guess Noblemo does mean No Problemo in fact. It chimes like a sonic counterpart to a trouble abandoned picture from a brochure of Jehovah's witnesses. A lion is there beside a sheep and he is not intended to attack the other animal because he is satisfied with the uterus from a parallel universe. It is a sci-fi wish similarly to Elon Musk`s ones to fly and then die on the reddish ground of Mars. God, You cantankerous one please let it happen. We need more cerebral outflow, we need more subliminal delirium, we need more tago mago. We need more possibilities to come as soon as possible to our limited yet deadly borders. So what about us? So what about you? What about me?

Bryyn – Tend My Sheep (2017)

Jamendo

• Indie folk 
• Alt-folk 
• Electronic 
• Americana 
• Art pop/rock 
• Folktronica 
• Folk indie 
• Singer-songwriter 
• Dream folk 
• Art folk

Comment: Tend My Sheep is a second part of the twin issue with In Hiding by the Chicago, Illinois, US-based songwriter Bryyn who has been active since the end of the previous decade. Similarly to In Hiding it embraces cloudless dreams through volatile and dynamic folk progressions yet the difference is sporadically based on more rough and art pop/rock-oriented dodges (and many greyish tones between the styles). Furthermore, it involves more naked (i.e set apart from the rest of particular tracks) and rough electronic developments which seemed to be more integrated on the twin issue. Yet it is not an adverse (i.e disintegrated in the sense of losing its cohesion) aspect by evaluating the issue. Wig on His Head is apparently the most prominent example of how electronic and atmospheric appearances will stepwise take over the course within a track. Bryn Martin shows up his mastermind to have created another gem. It`s deep and entertaining at the same time. Lord have mercy on me as he used to sing at You Are Alive. Indeed, one can agree with him.

Bryyn – In Hiding (2017)

Jamendo
Bryyn

• Indie folk 
• Alt-folk 
• Folk indie 
• Americana 
• Singer-songwriter

Comment: in recent days Chicago, Illinois, US-based artist Bryn Martin aka Bryyn (also being known as the frontman of Pinkle and the Polygons) issued a couple of albums. In Hiding is a crystal clear folk album which gets inspiration from the best sources of an American music history and tradition. It is not the first album by him. Vice versa, he has been a highly prolific artist during the last decade for cheering us with more and less whimsical electronic tinged folk releases. As I said already it is a crystal clear issue yet it does not mean he does not employ electronic devices and effects for his own sake. All these instruments are up there to have been measured out just as optimally and poignantly as it is needed to conquer one's senses and heart. The listener can breathe in and out in a free manner because all the music seems to come directly from an effortless cloud, from liberated uncivilised terrains, from somewhere we used to subconsciously longing for. It is idyllic, it is rustic, it is picturesque. There can be drawn parallels upon such an artist as Sufjan Stevens yet it is not a serious objection to assume it as being one of the best issues in 2017. The outing is a bit of the immense platform of Jamendo.

K4mmerer – Pixeled (2016)

Jamendo

• EDM 
• Electro pop 
• Electronic pop 
• Ambient pop 
• Dance pop 
• Post-disco 
• Hi-NRG

Comment: K4mmerer has been an unbelievably prolific artist since 2008 having released 36 issues on Jamendo. Pixeled is one of them amongst the whole drifting subtly between gentle ambient pop and more crispy electro pop and straightforward electronic dance music rhythms imbued with highly galvanized frequencies. Fortunately the listener can enjoy a more broad picture in comparison to the one described above so the result is multicoloured and effective ultimately. It makes highly sense. Mostly it is instrumental, at times the artist exploits found sounds (indeed, birds are chirping). It is a balanced drift between your dream centred sensations and body related impulses. I truly feel myself fascinated by those sublime jazzy progressions and irresistibly dreamy synthesised chords being followed by the aggressive beats at Faulty. In a word, it is a post disco album in the pre apocalyptic world. Given that it is an instance of prefix pop in a fascinating manner.

Pasqualino Ubaldini – Mosaique (2017)

Jamendo

Bandcamp

• World music 
• Easy listening 
• Mood music 
• Latin music 
• Art music

Comment: Pasqualino Ubaldini is an artist and guitarist from Italy who has been releasing his music through Jamendo within the last decade (the guitar is not the only instrument he has been playing. One can hear bagpipes, woodwind instruments etc). Mosaique is a great issue due to both technical and moody aspects which in fact are tightly related to one another. One can encounter arpeggios which make your soul either to soar or feel bittersweet melancholy. However, the latter makes your soul to be filled with lofty feels as well. Ubaldini's script reminds a bit of the one of Simon Jeffres, the leader of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra regardless is it related to world music vibes or not. Indeed, it is highly playful and relaxing. Despite its carnival-alike touch you can feel the sophisticated arrangements behind it. These 37 minutes are truly great delight to enjoy it once, twice and now and then. You hear it as if watching it through an omnipotent kaleidoscope. So yeah, I have experienced synaesthetic impulses while listening to this set of 9 tracks. It will be a notch in the list of the best albums of 2017 at Recent Music Heroes.

Jupiter Makes Me Scream – Tuesday Morning Huricane EP (2008)

Enough

Bump Foot

Free Music Archive

Jamendo

• Post-rock 
• Art rock 
• Alternative rock
• Crossover 
• Electro-indie
• Experimental rock
• Ambient rock 
• Synth-rock

Comment: my first impression was it is an arty-farty issue while hearing superficial piano chords moving in front of the scale. In fact, those piano chords were not so superficial and many more layers would be get added to the mix. So ultimately it can be admitted it is very far away of being superficial and simplistic. Karolis Burzinskas who is behind the project adds craftily not only emotively accentuated piano chords and orchestrated templates to the mix but also manipulates with synth-based and funky cadences here and there. For instance, at Sunshine Radio it evokes memories about such Soviet synth-led combos as the Latvian Zodiac (it is still a favourite of mine), and the Lituanian Argo. Of course, If you wish you could also draw parallels upon such post-rock luminaries as God Is An Astronaut, and Bark Psychosis but it is indispensable anyway. As well as those thoughtful and picturesque extended piano chords and orchestrations remind of a late Talk Talk at This Girl. However, Karolis Burzinskas` handful of tracks is an ennobling outing where different kind of shifts between the styles and tempos pitch a game. And the cover print is truly heart-breaking. The release is a part of the discography of Portuguese imprint Enoughrecords, and also a part of the discography of Japanese imprint Bump Foot.

Alex Mason & The Minor Emotion – Soul Breaker (2017)

Enoughrecords

Jamendo

Archive.org

Free Music Archive

Bandcamp

• Modern classical 
• Contemporary classical 
• Neoclassical 
• Post-classical 
• Epic 
• Art music 
• Chamber music

Comment: this 9-notch issue comes out from Russia, it is a collaborative issue between Alex Mason, and The Minor Emotion. Its formula is simple – lone, minor piano tapped chords being accompanied by soaring synthesised orchestrated progressions which at times are being bent into murky, neoclassical sadness. Emotionally it is hard to measure the impact of the whole upon the listener. Undoubtedly it is epic but on the other side it might be a bit anemic to feed one's the most profound, transcendental ideas. If you need more vivid colours to be inserted into your every day's life then you have to listen to it while watching outside from the window or just walking in the middle of autumnal beauty and decay. Indeed, maybe concrete sounds and sonic effects could add a more organic touch to the whole. The result is a bit flat out in its sheared and predictable dynamics and two dimensional shift. The outing is a part of the discography of Enoughrecords.

NNY – offear.ep (2004)

Enough

Archive.org

Free Music Archive

Jamendo

• Electronic music 
• Experimental electronica 
• Alternative 
• Drone 
• Minimal techno 
• Glitchtronica 
• Micronoise

Comment: this set of 5 compositions created by Portuguese artist Jerome Faria aka NNY is certainly the kind of electronic music but it is problematic to pigeonhole it in a certain way. Maybe it is just about a physical vibe, to get your change in mood through moving of the sounds from one channel to another. And vice versa. A traffic of gentle and noisy sounds to pass by each other. I couldn't find out any narrative of it. When you have stopped listening to it you could remember just a little bit about the whole. Maybe there were up some shrieks, some noises and glitches, some spans of silence, some kind of talking. You cannot remember nothing but the issue is intriguing and you have to listen to it again to figure it eventually out. It is uneasy to think it off. So your presence is essential for that outing. Without your experience it does not exist in fact. It is a mental terrain which is going to blossom at the presence of the listener. The release is a part of the discography of enoughrecords.

ps – Finding My Own Way Back Home (2017)

Enoughrecords

Free Music Archive

Jamendo

Bandcamp

• Avant-garde 
• Experimentalism 
• Minimalism 
• Leftfield 
• Noise 
• Ambient noise 
• Microtonal 
• Drone 
• Ambient drone 
• Abstract 
• Illbient 
• Dark ambient 
• Epic

Comment: this batch of 10 compositions can be considered as one monolithic track because it consists of very minimally changed phases as if My Bloody Valentine were standing somewhere under a tremendous waterfall. Yet it is the album having nothing to do with shoegaze. Because My Bloody Valentine under an imposing waterfall can not be a shoegaze case at all. Glenn Branca to be set up under a waterfall? More profoundly, you are directed to a hiss loaded droning universe of energy where you can make decisions on sonic intensity, energetic consumption and burning and mere, almost invisible dodges only. However, it is enough to make difference. Furthermore, even if you thought of it as something excessively primitive at a first glance you soon got realized of it as quite sinister and totally overwhelming. At some point you are not reflecting upon it, it reflects upon you. That's the case. Behind visible sonic carpets one can perceive even more invisible ones which used to resonate with one another and thereof produce new templates again and again. There are connected the physical and mental power of music as a phenomenon. Real, existing sounds are created in the way to induce chimeras and phantasms. Vectors, inner impulses and inertia are seamlessly intertwined into ghastly landscapes. Call it hisswave on its own way. And although it seems to be ominous it is beautiful and wondrous either. This stunning release is a part of the discography of the enoughrecords, the legendary Portuguese imprint.

Fortadelis – Stimulus (2017)

Jamendo

• Ambient pop 
• House pop 
• Electronic pop 
• Ambient trance 
• Kosmische Musik 
• New Age 
• Electro pop 
• Italo disco 
• Crossover 
• Mood music 
• Psytrance 
• Deep house 
• Breakbeat

Comment: Fortadelis is one of those electronic musicians/producers who is adept to drift seamlessly between different styles while avoiding to result in either a cheap or a magniloquent result. In truth, it is positively magniloquent because of being partly a firework of gurgling electro, lofty chill out, acidic Italo disco, dusty New Age and atmospheric/psytrance inflected music. On the other side, Tomislav Ocvirek, the musician and synthesiser enthusiast from Zagreb, Croatia likes to convey more contemporary elements to the audible interface such as hypnagogic deep house, peaky breakbeat attacks, profound delay effects (dub) and solid ambient pop. So it can be admitted the artist is an old school musician by his choice on the music instruments while being contemporaneous with the kind of artists whose premise is to match the past with the present and make thicker the cultural layer this way. In fact, any of the aforementioned elements used to reflect the other ones on its own and vice versa. Moody meets cerebral. Yeah, I guess I am going to search for the synthesiser enthusiasts from the Balkan peninsula due to having full of potential because he is the second one I have discovered recently. The first was Abul Mogard, the drone/ambient wizard from Serbia who himself builds up the synthesisers. In a word, the result is a top tier and being issued on Jamendo.

Marrach – Swing With A Black Dog (2017)

Enough

Free Music Archive

Jamendo

Archive.org

Bandcamp

• Jazz 
• Electronic music 
• Improvised music 
• Cool jazz 
• Film noir 
• Alternative 
• Mood music

Comment: Martinas Rakshtinas, the pride of the Lithuanian underground music is being known under a swarm of pseudonyms which in turn does mean he has been a prolific artist for the last 2-3 years. Lately I had reviewed one of the issues by him under the nom de plume Mirth Naarc and the outing was named FX (2016, Free Music Archive). The 3-notch issue entitled ominously Swing With A Black Dog and thereby tipping off about the parlous allusions with the Lucifer is a turn of 360 degrees in comparison to FX. The last mentioned release was techno, electro and experimental hip-hop blended one though which ultimately turned into quite oppressive by its mood and outfit. The album in consideration is musically slowed-down, smoky and noir tinged behind that sonic curtain the Devil is playing with human beings and their souls as marionettes. Bold minor chords on a piano are backed up with volatile trumpet played tooting and kit drum shuffles and superficial electronic effects atop and behind it. The predominant silence induced layers add seductive touch to get craftily immersed in the rest set of layers. Another impression is as lofty as well due to Miles Davis is playing woeful cool jazz numbers in front of the Fallen Angel himself. The outing is a part of the discography of a stalwart Portuguese imprint, Enough Records (or simply enoughrecords). In a nutshell, the whole impression is emotionally striking and at the same time showing us something coming out from the pit. Put a spell on you.