Andrew Haines – Wayward Sketches of a Manual Labourer (2021/2022)

Phonocake

• Acid techno 
• Acid house
• Ambient pop 
• Ambient techno 
• Psychedelic 

Kõmri Andrew Haines'i album tuletab meelde aegu, kui põrandaalune tantsumuusika oli teelahkmel. Laohoonetest suunduti edasi ristteedele. Teelahkmel mitte seetõttu, et olnuks mingi välise sunduse tõttu vaja liikuda siia või sinna, vaid valikuid oli palju. Ning valikute paljusus sai ka ka reaalsuseks. Rütmiline subliimsus ja haudjas tämbrilisus lahknes mitmeks haruks. Üks osa liikus (et mitte öelda eemaldus) abstraktse eksperimentaalmasinliku maastikutele või laskus süvikutesse (Aphex Twin, Autechre), teine haru püüdles sisekosmosesse unelevate rütmide ja unustust võimaldavate sünteetilistesse pilvedesse viskumisega. Asja ajasid veelgi keerulisemaks hulk kidrabände, kes armastasid murtud rütme, ent jagunesid samuti nimetet tendentsidesse. See teine haru arenes peaasjalikult trummi ja bassi ning hausi suunas. Hauss (millel oli juba varasemast tugev põhi all) õigustas end, ent trumm ja bass mõne aasta arenedes kujunes tüütuse võrdkujuks. Andrew Haines'i muusika otsib ühelt poolt kokkupõrget vana hea 80ndate lõpu reivimuusikaga, ent leiab õige sügavuse detroitiliku süvahausi ja orbiliku ämbientvibratsiooni praktiseerimisel. Tõesti resoneerub – ja veel kuidas!

8.5 (8.0-9.0)

Mikk Rebane – Between (2019)

Phonocake

Bandcamp

• IDM 
• Electronic music 
• Ambient pop 
• Sampledelic 
• Ambient techno 
• Ulmetroonika 

Mikk Rebane on Eesti artist, kes on üllitanud muusikat nii enda Bandcamp'i kontol kui oluliste netileibelite BFW Recordings'i, Bump Foot'i, Cold Fiction Music'u ja Phonocake'i all. Mis asi on vahel? Vahetevahel? Vahele vahel? Kui palju teda teatakse Eestis, ei tea. Eesti Popsi saates on teda igatahes mängitud, asi seegi. Phonocake'i all ilmunud 10-looline võib olla artisti kõige küpsem teos, teisalt on siinkirjutaja käesolevat küpsetanud oma peas ja kõrvades kümmekond korda, saamaks aru, et kas see meeldib või mitte (ei suutnud ümber lülituda). Võin möönda lõpuks, et ikka meeldib. Ma nimetaksin seda eestipäraseks intelligentse tantsumuusika versiooniks, st mis tehtud jalad soos ning pea ja silmad igatsevalt taeva ja tähtede poole kallutatud. Jalad ja keha vajuvad, aga melanhoolne igatsus hinges tõstab subjekti tüünesse kõrgusse. Teisisõnu, see on ulmetroonika. Eks seesuguse helikeele viljelejaid on varemgi Maarjamaal olnud, mille kuldaeg jäi 90ndate lõppu ja nullindatesse. Galaktlan, Uni, Myrakaru on need nimed, mille üle tasub jätkuvalt uhkust tunda. Ka käesolev album on - rõhutan - suurepärane ja hõrk.

Erich Schall – No.7 (2017)

Phonocake

• Electronic music 
• Alternative dance 
• Ethnotronica 
• Deep house 
• Musique concrète 
• Organic electronica 
• Dub house 
• Minimal techno 
• Tech-house 
• Minimal synth

Comment: this bunch of 8 tracks contains lots of sublime moments throughout the vibrant course because a prolific German producer called Erich Schall (also being known from a group, Drehkommando) provides different patterns and mixtures though mainly based on house, techno and dub-induced frequencies and combinations. Additionally he plays with concrete sounds, most evidently and in the most exuberant way at Club Birds; the album embarks on an elegantly messy piano chord shuffle at Static Ram where a bit of aggressiveness dissolves to transform into profound nocturnal house vibes with remote dub reverberations at Night Prism. Gentle noises to be panning here and there used to add an extra gritty ingredient to the whole. At Usha Flute he mixes the predominant minimal, even obsessive techno treatment with ethno-tinged female singing and New Age-y flute whiffs. Contra Vs. Melo is a dynamical, catchy sway between obsessive tech-house and minimal synth(-pop) developments. Anyway, all the aforementioned dissents do not balkanize the whole, on the contrary, one can perceive of how the whole keeps growing on you with any next listening time due to its unfathomable depth based on the aforementioned omnium-gatherum. Erich Schall has done lots of tenures under different imprints, mostly being involved in the discography of such ones as basic_sounds, Der Kleine Grüne Würfel, Insectorama, and INFEKTUS yet this one comes out of another respected and senior weblabel called Phonocake being active since the beginning of the 00s. These decent compositions remind of those old good days with regard to the activities of such imprints as Thinner, Epsilonlab, and Humanworkshop, the releases of the ones still stand up 15-20 years on.

adamned.age - Transit Berlin (2013)

Phonocake

• Indietronica
• Experimental electronica
• Downtempo
• Breaks
• Ambient dub
• Crossover
• Baroque folk
• IDM
• Experimental techno
• Glitchtronica

Beatslaughter - Serenity EP (2012)

Phonocake

9.4

/IDM, Breaks, Experimental electronica, Downtempo/

Comment: Beatslaughter is Alexander Stoica, a producer from Berlin, Germany. His 4-track issue is a synergical composition made up of mesmeric rhythm sequences and soaring ambient/downtempo-alike panoramas. It does have a strong melodic pitch crossed with gleaming electronic bits and flickers. Pleasing by any means.    

         

Beat.Dowsing - Trigger. Melodies (2012)

Phonocake

9.4

/House, Electronic pop, Alternative, Dub-tech, Downtempo, Mood music, Soul-hop, Remixes, Disco pop, Nu jazz, Cinematic, Breaks, Chill out/

Comment: undoubtedly this album is entitled properly because it includes lots of exulting and catchy elements providing endlessly allusions toward a wide array of styles and genres. By the emotional side it is sexy and seductive due to its more or less direct hints and velvety margins. Technically it is based on gritty loop-driven rhythms (veering away from downtempo and cinematic nu jazz glimpses to shimmering electro, some dub-tech vibes at the beginning of some compositions, and soulful house music) blissed-out harmony sections emerged from within the samples of acidic synthesizers sounds and programmed cadences. Some variations presented there are indulged by using acoustic guitars and the orchestrated sounds to strum up the soundscape. Predominantly there is represented such sort of music I would like to call simply as "soul-hop". By the way, the album involves a pair of tracks where Beat.Dowsing (aka Transient) remixes such artists as Carmen Chiles, and Lumeet. In a nutshell, it is a pleasing, sublime hour worth to be spent with it again and again later on.

Digi G'Alessio - Love, Beats and Pina Coladas (2009)

Free Music Archive
Phonocake
Bandcamp
Lastfm

7.8

/Trip-hop, Lo-fi, Latin, Chillout, Big-beat, Easy Listening, Sampledelic, Chilltronica, Sound collage/