Adam Balusik – presah (2020)

La bèl

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• Art music
• Piano music 
• Modern classical

9-looline "presah" moodustab kordusrežiimil kuulatuna kontiinumi, mis viib selleni, et üksildus ei tundu enam hirmuna – nagu autor on luulesalmi abil plaadifirma La bél saidil lootust väljendanud. Kahe ja poole minutilised klaveripasaažid, täis mõtisklust tõusude ja vaibumiste kaudu maalituna. Adam Balusik väldib suuri tühje valendikke ja kuristikke, hoiab kurssi viisil, et monokroomne (sellele vihjab plaadiümbris) helipilt ei mureneks ja teiseneks. Teisenema ei peaks seetõttu, et seatud ülesanne saaks täidetud. Ainult klaver, ainult valged ja mustad klahvid; ei kuuldu siit ei elektroonikat ega ülipretensioonikaid klaaspärlimänge. Aga...ei ole see tühi klimberdamine, kuna sisend ja väljund saavad üheks ning kontiinum jääb kestma. Väärt asi, mis mingil hetkel teiseneb millekski transtsendentaalseks. Nagu elu tohutusuurel kinoekraanil, millel algust ja lõppu üles leida ei ole lootust ega ka mõtet. Piirid kas on hääbunud või omandanud teise tähenduse. See on voog, see on vool, sellest on saanud (voolu)ring.

Go Ask Alice – Ten Little Dreams (2019)

La bèl

• Synth-rock 
• Krautrock 
• Prog-rock 
• Art rock 
• Indie rock 
• Alternative rock

Comment: Go Ask Alice`s previous issue Perfection Is Terrible was added to the list of the best albums of 2017 at RMH. It was a blend of strong melodic lines and guitar and synthesizer mixed intellectual soundscapes. Stylistically something between post-punk, synth-rock, and krautrock. However, the lines between the last named genres used to be almost invisible as you have figured out already. And in fact what does it mean the vague term “synth-rock”? All of that case was embraced within the whole of a 28-minute with 8 tracks only. Ten Little Dreams may be a bit disorienting title because the whole clocks in at a 56 minute with 10 tracks. Less guitars, more electronic washes to be added to the melting pot. More dreamy reveries and elaborated progressions, more sonic distances to provide a sophisticated dialogue between blissful dreams, more steep rhythmic structures and hirsute yet somehow atmospheric electric guitars. I would like to call it a contemporary instance of prog-rock. The only exception is a track called sssun!, a pure disciple of motorik/krautrock music. Similarly to the previous issue it is also issued as a part of the discography of an Italy-based imprint, La bèl.

Macchiato Funky – Bugella 20-50 (2018)

La bél

Free Music Archive

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• Post-rock 
• Indie rock 
• Alternative rock 
• Yacht rock 
• Art rock 
• Electronic 
• Funk rock

Comment: Macchiato Funky is a quartet from Italy whose line consists of such musicians as Michele Seggiaro (guitar), Massimo Ferretto (guitar), Nicolò Seggiaro (bass guitar), and Adriano Bossola (electronic & production). I would like to compare Macchiato Funky with Tortoise but the main difference between the combos is that Macchiato Funky`s music used to lean more toward yacht rock-ish horizons rather than flirting with jazz-y edges. Yet, the line between these stylistic characterizations is relatively thin. At times even funky rhythmic patterns used to drive the course (however, it is a bit more synthesised funk than the music of Pop Group, or Gang Of Four due to prominent role by Adriano Bossola). Similarly to Tortoise they use electronic layers and sonic effects around the pace in an adept and intriguing way. Otherwise, the music is an artsy alternative rock/post-rock example being issued on an Italy-based imprint, La bèl. Great album by any means.

Go Ask Alice – Perfection Is Terrible (2017)

La bèl

Bandcamp

Free Music Archive

• Art rock 
• Post-rock 
• Experimental rock 
• Epic 
• Synth-rock 
• Electro-rock 
• Cinematic 
• Ambient rock

Comment: La bèl is an Italian imprint having been releasing music since 2010. All their artists with some exceptions are being Italian even if the artist's residence has been outside the country's borders. Musically it has embraced a huge range of styles from witty electronica and subtle indie and folk mixed electronic music to artsy electro-acoustic progressions and epic post-rock driven ambience. Go Ask Alice's Perfection Is Terrible is a subsequent solid chapter within the discography by getting hold of different styles of the kind of synthesiser and guitar-driven music. Furthermore, the result is blissful thanks to some cinematic development as if being languished by the sun during a very hot summer day. You do not have enough power and verve but just lay back in the hammock. Let's call it the sort of guitar-based chill out music. With regard to exploiting or imitating such instruments as glockenspiel/vibraphone you can discern some similarities with such artists as Talk Talk, Mice Parade, The Dylan Group, Tortoise, The Mercury Program though Go Ask Alice's music is distinctively more hovering and volatile. Besides the aforementioned elements there are also magniloquent elements yet the result is pushed to the very limits of elegance. Last but not least – there is up a track imbued with a hook of great pop potential (Morning). In a word, it runs head-to-head with the best issues from the recent year. Behind the project are such musicians as Flavio Moro and Lorenzo Albanese, and Valerio Occhiodoro. Undoubtedly this sprightly 7-track outing is one of the most favourite albums from the recent year.

Feminine – Lorelei (2016)

La bèl

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Free Music Archive

Archive.org

• Indie 
• Alternative pop 
• Indietronica 
• Art pop 
• Experimental pop 
• Electronic

Comment: I am very pleased to be back at the discography of La bèl because the Italy-based imprint has always been inclined to surprise with something having never been within its discography. Feminine's Lorelei, the 10-notch issue, is a stunning listening experience due to crystal clear sonic plateaus on one side being saturated with electronic glitches and sublime noises and some oppressed droning on the other hand. A Ghost Too, the composition featuring Laura Loriga, includes the shrieks of seagulls. If you are going across an empty field being surrounded by cold wind and dust you are feeling the impact of the song more remarkably. It is somehow eerie and appealing at the same time. All the whole is epic and artsy at the same time. Make indie great again.

Safir Nòu – Groundless (2016)

La bèl

Bandcamp

• Art pop 
• Chamber pop
• Post-pop
• Baroque pop 
• Alternative pop
• Indie pop
• Post-rock 
• Balkan folk 
• Post-classical 
• Epic

Comment: first of all, I have had a successful day behind. After a day's hard work I visited and bought approximately 10 tapes for 30 Euros by Trash who is curating his own amazing Trash Can Dance label. By the way, I got my personal project's four tapes of the latest issue additionally (Autharktos' Warped Irrpulses). And now I am listening to the Italian one-man-project Safir Nòu's 7-track masterpiece on the amazing La bèl imprint, which used to run in the vein of chamber pop-based easiness and high melodic affinity (it might remind you of Penguin Cafe Orchestra at Blue Dance and other tracks as well), and one of the exceptions do happen at Puppets' Waltz filled in with joyful gypsy melodies and positive sensibility. At New Lunacy cinematic post-rock progressions will take over the course for a 7-minute. It will be ending with a hymnal orchestration which could be considered one of the top moments within the album. In overall, it is fairly enjoyable how these instrumental passages used to elegantly roll over your mind again and again. In a word, the result will appear in the list of the best albums of Recent Music Heroes in 2016. If you like such artists as Bark Cat Bark, Beirut, Tortoise, Esmerine, A Silver Mount Zion, Tindersticks, Yann Tiersen then this issue is also your cup of tea. Get it! Support it!

Samurau – Things Left Unsaid (2015)

La bèl

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Free Music Archive

• Fusion 
• Jazz 
• Improvised music 
• Experimental rock 
• Mood music 
• Post-rock

Comment: three friends decided to embark on with a band in 2014 and the year thereafter their first issue was released. Indeed, Michele Sanna (guitars), Matteo Muntoni (electric bass), and Alessandro Garau (drums) play sensitive music on their debut album where the listener can perceive diverse moments from a tickling jazz spectrum. Although it is mostly predominated by jazz music (indeed, the term “jazz” could denote very different things from bebop and hard bop to fusion to acid jazz/nu jazz) it is truly moody, picturesque as if conducted by the maestro Ennio Morricone himself. At times it is exalting, at times lethargic thereby calming down and stirring up the listener. At times one could discern the trio’s fondness to Chicagoan jazz-drenched post-rock scene, however, it happens in some tracks only. Maybe a counterpoint to it from real life is driving in cabriolet across the highway in an unhurried pace, at times stopping and making pauses to check surroundings and sights. The 8-notch issue is a part of the discography of La bèl.   

Ykymr – Spring Fields Become a Hummingbird (2016)

La bél

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Free Music Archive

• Folktronica 
• Ambient pop 
• Shoegaze 
• Alternative
• Modern classical 
• Art pop 
• Mood music
• Epic 
• Yacht rock

Comment: Ykymr is an artist from Tokyo, Japan whose 7-track issue sounds like a picture extracted from a sunny day when you have no obligations to go somewhere and do something. Given that this soundscape of 7 compositions is mostly unhurried and relaxed where thoughtful acoustic guitar chords are mingled with exquisite electronic progressions where one could discern majesty and soulful depth. Nervous Club Weekender can be tagged as yacht rock because of being outrightly serene. Snow In the Southerly is another highly unagitated moments where lone piano chords are mixed up with found sounds and barely audible electronic developments. The same could almost be said about Spring Birds though being produced in a more minimalist manner. However, there are some moments where laid-back glimpses are jettisoned for more tumultuous ones. For instance, at Sleepy the artist used to experiment with loud shoegaze-y guitars and pummelling drums, however, providing also an epic account though doing it quite otherwise than his more tranquil ones thereinbefore. In a word, the result is worth remembering to the extent of being one of the best issues in 2016. The issue is a part of the discography of the Italian imprint La bèl.            

Cuarto / Indiosingracia - Krilin Split (2016)

La bèl

• Folktronica
• Folk indie
• Experimental pop
• Art folk
• Indie folk
• New Weird Italy
• World music
• Post-folk
• Ethnotronica

Comment: I am very glad that the Italy-based imprint La bèl is back with their brand new one which is a split album for Cuarto, and Indiosingracia. Indeed, both artists provide a handful of tracks the former is more world music/ethnic music centred and the latter`s concept used to rotate around the more orthodox folk and electronica tinged concept. On the other side, this differentiation is indirect and contingent just based on some diverse chords and tendencies between the two artists. The most important thing is that the result is consistent and accomplished from start to finish having no signs about weak and accidental compositions. A common thread is that both artists provide instrumental music despite there are represented some vowel effects now and then. Of course, all those tiny fragments and bits which used to appear over there have significant weight and impact. At times those suits can ring loosely yet consistently and elegantly as if it were produced near the campfire (I mean it indirectly). Cuarto´s Harco´s e-mail is an example of blissful crossover which consists of world rhythms, free jazz/improvised sonic mist and folktronic undercurrents. As I said previously I am very glad that La bèl is back with their brand new one…which used to reflect upon such sort of music they are the masters of pertaining to (with regard to the likes of Plusplus, Nick Rivera, Elisa Luu, for instance). Get this and the previous ones under La bèl. 

Jan Grünfeld - Music For Plants (2015)

La bèl

Headphonica

Free Music Archive
Archive.org

• Experimental rock
• Post-folk
• Indie folk
• Musique concrète
• Kosmische Musik
• Post-rock
• Modern classical
• Folk indie
• Electronic music
• Art folk

Comment: Jan Grünfeld likes to basking by just playing guitar and using a few elements to accentuate the instrument`s chords. Mostly those few elements are just algorithms to be implemented for more and less tight air surrounding his guitar endeavours. More profoundly, there are up a loads of echoes and reverbs in the middle and on the fringe throughout seven compositions of improvised guitar playing, however, additionally adorned with hisses from concrete music (the birds are singing and people are chatting) and the tolling of faint glockenspiel here and there. The only exception is The Nightshade where the composer takes on electronic devices to create more sequencer induced paces and synthesizer led Kosmische Musik impulses. The final track Feel Alife used to move on through slow motion lenses with the assistance of bold yet lonely piano chords and concrete music layers and an extended guitar riff thereby eventually resulting in the thoroughgoingly dream-soaked appearance. Fairly impressive. Indeed, the result is a bewildering piece of instrumental music where experimental approach in chords is finely balanced against beauty in touch. It is a joint release under la bèl, and Headphonica imprints. 

Di Bos - Five episodes from Le garage hermetique (2011)

La bèl

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Free Music Archive

Bandcamp

/Experimentalism, Acousmatic music, Sampledelic, Crossover, Musique concrète, Improvised music, Jazz, Avant-garde/

Comment: let`s bring forth some the most marked remarks about this 5-track issue. It is highly fragmented and dissipated, the unity of it is destroyed at the first sight. However, it is being accomplished in a crafty way. So the listener must have no fear to slide into a possible schizophrenic world. It is just art, though truly fragmented one for your sake. One can hear hints at jazz and improvised music, at concrete and acousmatic music tendencies, at outsider/eccentric pop and electronic music explorations. It consists of short-running tracks most of which are permeated with an uncountable amount of turns and twists everywhere. In fact, if the listener is interested in creating the whole it her/his head then he/she has to listen to it many times in a row. Behind this project is Di Bos, who is also known due to heading great Italian imprint La bél with amazing folktronic/indietronic musician Elisa Luu.

Madoka - Take a Walk (2014)

La bèl

Archive.org

Free Music Archive

/Indie folk, Art folk, Folk indie, Indietronica, Mood music/

Comment: this handful of tracks is a moody scraping made up of slightly angular electric guitar chords, some barely audible orchestrated shuffles and faint electronic rhythms beneath it. Indeed, it is instrumental music to the full extent filled with emotive key changes and motive replacements and adding some subtle sonic effects and concrete sounds around the main backbone. The artist comes out of Japan and the issue is released on Italian label La bèl. Love it.                        

Nick Rivera – Zamalek (2013)

La bèl

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FMA

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/Indie folk, Folktronica, Art folk, Singer-songwriter, Americana, Folk indie, Experimental folk, Post-folk/

Comment: Zamalek is the follow-up to the album Happy Song Is A Happy Song (2010, La bél). One of the main differences between those issues is the Italian artist`s close flirtation toward more noisy sounds and transformations from silent moments to ferocious bursts very quickly. On the other side, Nick Rivera has not abandoned his branded mellow songwriting touch with lofty sonic experimentation (mainly electronic micro noise wisps and sublime orchestration here and there) being abundantly represented on this 7-track release as well. Furthermore, the issue involves some fairly epic moments replete with magic splendour (The Beast, for instance). The album was issued on La bèl, a record label from Italy dedicated to issue folk tinged experimental pop music.   

Plusplus – Psycho (2014)

La bèl

Bandcamp

/Indie folk, Epic, Americana, Art rock, Baroque pop/

Comment: I can remember for the British musician Adam Randmall`s previous issues like Evils (2011, La bèl), and Game Over (2012, La bèl) which used to be principally folk-tinged music, though, being accentuated with diverse influences from here and there. The recent album starts off with majestic, Americana-loaded glides and volatile insights into a beautiful alternative world thereby a little reminding of Mercury Rev`s epic moments. The whole is absolutely instrumental, though, voice would be a decent addition to accentuate such kind of baroque/chamber music. In a word, the result is solid and pleasant worth to be enjoyed and dive into memories.          

Elisa Luu – Shebeen (2014)

Soundcloud

Bandcamp

La bèl

/Folktronica, Acid folk, Electronic, New Weird Italia/

Comment: Shebeen is the first single from Rome residing Elisabetta Luciani`s brand new album Enchanting Gaze. The single consists of manipulated sonic effects, catchy repeated folk chords, exuberant electronic hovers and ambient loaded panoramas. Undoubtedly she is an outstanding artist. For instance, I can remember for her album The time of waiting (2010, La bèl) which was a tumultuous but organic mix of spherical electronic music, spectral sound art, experimental rock influences and (modern) classical music. In a word, get her new album and enjoy it!    

Geometrie Variabili - The Breath (2013)

La bèl

• Improvised music
• Electro-acoustic
• Piano music
• Modern classical
• Chamber music
• Post-bop
• Jazz

Outstanding tracks:

The Breath

Coastline

Stakeout

Daniele Pasini, Raffaele Pilia - Northern Lights (2013)

La bèl

• Improvised music
• Acoustic folk
• Chamber music
• Experimental folk
• Drone

Outstanding tracks:
Kronos

Menion - Menion (2013)

La bél

Menion

Free Music Archive
Lastfm

• Indietronica
• Electro-rock
• Post-rock
• IDM
• Leftfield
• Glitch
• Alternative

Outstanding tracks:

Stai Attento Ai Segnali

Lech Mich

Sopra Un Aereoplanino Di Carta

Ongaku2 - Short Stories (2013)

La bèl

9.3

/Improvised music, Glitch, Art pop, Post-psychedelic electronica, Acousmatics, Sampledelic, Electro-acoustic, Chamber music, Abstract, Dark ambient, Psycho-acoustic, Neoclassical, Experimentalism, Avant-garde/ 

Comment: La bèl is a record label which is being known to have been releasing the issues of musicians related to the island of Sardinia (with some exceptions as common- the albums of Plusplus, the collaborative issue Cuatro Covers of F.S. Blumm and Lucrecia Dalt). Ongaku2 is the duo of Elia Casu (prepared guitars, electronics) and Paolo Sanna (drums/percussions, artifacts) who provide a batch of 12 tracks, any of them will be finished off exactly at 2.30. Stylistically the whole sways and flutters somewhere in between art-y guitar fingerpicked outlets and galvanized riffs (of course, the listener can unmistakably recognize the distinctive, metallic timbres of prepared guitars) and more frightening electro-acoustic ambiance tightly wrapped up around it. Furthermore, Elia Casu generates lofty but barely audible ambient whiffs in the meantime thereby giving the album a little bit horrible, ticklingly ghastly touch. Maybe the most moment emerges out from within the eighth snippet Osaka which depicts the presence of tuning the radio waves (with some amusing, ancient melodies) blended with sublime glockenspiel-alike chord progressions. The ending composition is a fragmented one of different particles of spoken word, hand clapping, exotic singing and solemn chords of a cathedral organ. All in all, the result is intricate and interesting.

Old Splendifolia - Utterly Heartbreaking (2013)

La bèl

Free Music Archive

Bandcamp

• Indie folk
• Folk indie
• Psych-folk
• Experimental folk
• Chamber folk
• New Weird Germany
• Alt-folk