Tyrone Miller – Batman & Tyrone (2002)

Redstarcommunity 

• Drone
• Avant-garde
• Experimentalism
• Minimalism
• Post-rock
• Ambient drone
• Microtonal
• Ambient
• Post-classical

Comment: in fact, one can find out just a couple of links about an artist called Tyrone Miller across the Net. There are up a pair of albums, the second of them All These Moments (2005) already appeared at RMH some years ago but the artist's first outing Batman & Tyrone is here to be focused upon. With regard to the sophomoric issue which is apparently more electronic - and let's say nonsensically contemporary - to introduce the dreams with the aid of synthesisers Batman & Tyrone consists of three lengthy compositions instead based on sparse organ droning which is either twisted and switched on/off or then complete with an electric guitar and spoken word snippets and voice samples. There is no hurry due to each track to clock in at least at a 11 minute meandering from introverted minimal music to lucid outbursts. More profoundly, it is something between late Talk Talk, and Labradford/Pan American. It is issued on a Swedish imprint, Redstarcommunity.

Daughters Of A Righteous Riot - Breaking My Heart Again and Again (2008)

Redstarcommunity

• Hypnagogic pop 
• Indietronica 
• Art pop 
• Glo-fi 
• Electronic 
• Alternative pop 
• DIY 
• Ambient pop 
• Chillwave 
• Synth-pop 
• Indie pop

Comment: this handful of compositions sounds like it was driven by a vocalist who is seriously depressed and who sings in a muffled manner even if the adverse state of mood is tried to hide with digital filters and echo chambers. I did even hear the line - I am a worthless piece of shit (being sung impressively). However, the best part of pop music used to pop out due to the artist's distress and suffering. DOARR's music is craftily embellished with acerbic synths and dynamical beats and some speech samples full of coherent synergy and ennobling impulses. One can feel that these hypnotic loops create something curative and purgative. Musically it can be considered a part of the movement of chillwave/glo-fi/hypnagogic pop though it is not an average example within the genre. Funnily, at Discogs it is tagged as dub, and house. Maybe it is in this way. Of course, the music can be considered a sort of synth-pop though it has a little to do with classic synth-pop artists like Pet Shop Boys, and Erasure, for example because it is more acidic, it is more atmospheric, it is more technical. The overwhelming issue is a part of an excellent Swedish imprint, redstarcommunity.

The Late Virginia Summer – Sundowning (2007)

Redstarcommunity

• Lo-fi 
• Indie 
• Cowbell indie 
• Post-rock 
• Field recording 
• Musique concrète
• Crossover

Comment: soon RMH will celebrate the 10th year anniversary. When I started in January 2009 the first comment was made about Leafes' In The Mountain's Belly being issued on Swedish imprint Redstarcommunity. The Late Virginia Summer's 11-notch outing comes out of the same label and it is also a lovely lo-fi case, however, in the vein of indie and post-rock mixed case. I would like to call such sort of music cowbell indie because you hear glockenspiel chords in the middle of the lightly churning guitars. At times it is variegated with sounds coming out from the nature - from a meadow, from a forest, at times the course is a bit changed by adding droning sequences and lofty orchestrations and a little electronics to the mix. A positive point of the release is due to no sterile production. As it was mentioned above it is a lo-fi apparition. In a nutshell, get it, enjoy it.

Jonassis O`Hara – A Sailor's Love (2007)

Redstarcommunity

• Lo-fi 
• DIY 
• Drone pop
• Psych-rock 
• Electronic 
• Organcore 
• Acid pop

Comment: this album was released 11 years ago and as much as possible I searched for additional information about the artist to find out other possible outings but it is the only one. It can be admitted the artist erected the sonorous monument for himself. And it is a fine issue being obviously concordant with some indie and underground tendencies of the 00s. One of the prototypes then was Ariel Pink with his amazing out of time issues. Jonassis O`Hara used to produce similarly in methodological sense though musically his sound is more hirsute and rough and one-dimensional and stylistically it trends toward droning acid rock with hints at noise pop, post-punk, and also electronic music in the sense as if it were produced on Commodore 64 (only My Molly EP 2006 by Ariel Pink can be compared with it as similarly rough and broken). At times the 12-notch outing reminds of the aesthetics of The Fall, and Clinic. The issue is a part of the Swedish imprint Redstarcommunity. Great listening for sure.

River Carnival – Ep (2012)

Redstarcommunity

Bandcamp

• Alternative pop/rock 
• Indie pop/rock 
• Fuzz pop 
• Lo-fi 
• Electronic 
• Chamber pop

Comment: indie as a genre is something which used to have a little to say today. In restricted sense. On the other side, today many genres are considered parts of indie like vaporwave, many kinds of electronic music which used not to be so years ago. In a word, we would abandon the stylistic restriction as superficial and excessive. OK, it could be used in retrospective sense, though. River Carnival's 7-notch embraces old and new, and frequently at the same time. At Streets of Gold Remix one can hear 80s eurodisco pop being mixed up with fuzzed-out guitars. I suspect the remix is made by Desiree. It's joke but not a forlorn one. Its original version is an enchanting blend of gothic, death pop alike reverberant female and male mixed vocals, minor piano chords and cinematic orchestrations atop. Top notch (if you watch the official list of the tracks of the release one cannot see the additional mix track but by downloading it you will get it). However, the same description can be ascribed to the rest of the tracks either. There are up both catchy melodies and compelling dynamics. On the other side, it is a simple example of music without excessive bombastic load and annoying artsy burden. Of course, it is artsy but in a sublime way. Outstanding composition by any means. It is a discography of an excellent Swedish imprint, redstarcommunity.

Sanchez Is Driven By Demons – And Friends (2007)

redstarcommunity

• Noise pop 
• Alternative pop 
• Indie pop 
• Electro-indie 
• Remixes 
• Art pop/rock 
• Experimental pop 
• Post-rock 
• Organcore 
• Drone pop 
• Glo-fi 
• Ambient pop

Comment: the first post at RMH at the beginning of 2009 was about an album by Leafes being released on a Swedish imprint, redstarcommunity. Because of that it is very understandable to feel delighted being at the discography of the record label again. And the 12-track issue is truly worth to spend time with it. Musically it is a strong miscellany of experimental pop/art pop/post-rock tendencies with hints at organcore/ambient pop/glo-fi styles where droning organs and noisy guitars resonate with one another thereof creating flickering shadowplays and velvety soundscapes. Indeed, the main tone is rather dark than light though at times some sunbeams come into the room being hidden behind thick curtains. The result is truly invigorative and consistent to conceal one's broken soul. The artist is assisted by other imprint mates who have created remixes for some of the compositions (more profoundly, Tyrone Miller, Jonassis O'hara, PHerd Deconstructivists and The Late Virginia Summers).

Karl Frank – Fragments of Decay (2015)

Redstarcommunity

Bandcamp

• Indie pop 
• Alternative pop 
• Glo-fi 
• Post-pop
• Electronic
• Art pop 
• Chillwave 
• Hypnagogic pop

Comment: first of all, the album is quite peculiar due to embracing 9 tracks and clocking in at a 13 minute. Formally it is the album but by its nature it is a long-running (but not bothersome) track in fact. Yeah, it is an example of contemporary indie music because of ranging from guitar-based progressions to drum machine and synthesiser based build-ups. It starts off with Voices in the Dark with some stomping guitar riffs and skidding drums at mid-tempo. Shadows is a similar case though adding a spaced-out vocal template and joyous brass whiffs to the mix. Red Eyes is a step further in comparison to Shadows because of employing a mutant electro vocal within the usual vocal employment. A part of the rest of the tracks are formulated by using the aforementioned elements in different combinations but the favourites of mine are such tracks as Disappearance Delay, Recycling Dreams where the listener can enjoy blissful memories and synthesised space mixed bittersweet beauty which has been demonstrated at a large scale somewhere 5-10 years ago when chillwave and glo-fi and hypnagogic pop were a cut above within the indie scene. By the way, Karl Frank started his career more than 10 years ago so I like his statement to create such sort of art he himself wishes to create. That`s honest and ennobling. The issue is a part of the Swedish imprint Redstarcommunity. Outstanding pop music.

Tyrone Miller – All These Moments (2005)

Redstarcommunity

• Synthwave 
• Alternative 
• Kosmische Musik 
• Indietronica 
• Electronic music 
• Dreamwave 
• Shoegazetronica 
• Drone pop 
• Post-psychedelic electronica 
• Neokrautrock

Comment: before reviewing this handful of tracks I had got in mood while listening to The World Won't Listen by the Smiths, an album I bought recently. Musically it might be a different case yet by attitude one can perceive on it this seems to be quite analogous. First of all, it is music for lonely souls to provide an ennobling boost for them. Tyrone Miller's music continues to trudge the vein created by the Manchester legends to be represented in progressing way. It does mean guitars and the drums are traded to synthesisers to create a moody effect for lonely souls. /You are sleeping you don't want to believe/. If you watch the date of the issue you can parse it was released before such styles as chillwave, dreamwave, and glo-fi started to emerge. By listening to it one could step back in time even more far. I guess one might relive the era when some shoegaze inflicted bands started to deviate from their main hazy guitar driven path while searching for new pastels and rhythms (Slowdive, Seefeel, Moonshake, Mark Van Hoen's solo projects). Thirdly, you cannot ignore influences of Kosmische Musik, and Krautrock either. Yet the aforementioned names are just some vague orientations to understand the artist's beatific world of sounds. The result is great and the process of how these layers are organically intermingled with one another to be the source for angelic higher chords and indirectly for one's blissful memories. The issue is a part of the discography of Redstarcommunity. 

Sanchez Is Driven By Demons – Robot Replicas (2009)

Redstarcommunity

Lastfm

/Post-rock, Indietronica, Organcore, Glitchtronica, Electronic, Noise, Leftfield, Experimental indie, Ambient rock, Jazztronica/

Comment: Sanchez Is Driven By Demons` 10-track issue is a mixture set up of indie, post-rock, noise, jazz and electronic compartments. The result is astonishing and it might be one of the most intriguing post-rock and indietronic albums ever produced because of revealing unsettling nature and unconventional use of sonic components within itself. It is awash with many disparate sounds and tickling effects replete with inner power and readiness to convey further vivid impulses and glistening thoughts. The combo (Emil Johansson and Jonas Ottosson from Sweden) proves that noise can be penetrating and epic at the same time, and silence can be threatening and beatific simultaneously and (free) jazz can be very sexy and appealing. By kindred souls there can be drawn parallels upon such projects as Tortoise, and Bark Psychosis. 

The Late Virginia Summers – TLVS (2006)

Redstarcommunity

Lastfm

/Lo-fi, Ambient, Cowbell indie, Drone rock, Post-rock, DIY, Live recording/

Comment: Redstarcommunity is a Swedish record label having been existing since 2001 and having the discography of 22 issues so far. TLVS was 11^th release which consisted of elemental crackled noises, graceful glockenspiel snippets, spaced-out drones, ambient music inspired reverberating soundscapes and improvised noodling here and there. Emotionally are outstanding those moments when epic guitar chords are put into delayed loops while being accompanied by sublime glockenspiel fabric and droning bold cello keys (Almost Asleep, Part One). You Are What Gets Me In Trouble was recorded in live at The Nanci Raygun in Richmond, USA. Grossly, it is a lo-fi sort of post-rock/experimental indie approach produced by Joe Morgan & Nathan McGlothlin.      

The Late Virginia Summers - TLVS EP (2006)

Redstarcommunity
Lastfm

8.4

/Post-rock, Experimental rock, Cowbell indie, Lo-fi, Epic, Live recording, Ambient rock/

Comment: Indeed, TLVS is a duo from Lynchburg, Virginia, USA playing up an experimental mix of ambient (rock), lo-fi, and indie. The best moment at those 6 tracks is related to that Joe Morgan and Nathan McGlothlin are inclined to exploit un-plugged musical instruments or record their concept in the live recording mode respectively. Thereby their aspiration to avoid hermetical soundscapes so usual to the most of ambient music will be resulted in natural results and strong confidence.

leafes In The Mountain`s Belly (RSC 012)

Rootsis baseeruva väikese ning nime järgi aimatavalt-rõhutatult revolutsioonilise - poolenisti netileibli, poolenisti väikese indieleibli redstarcommunity artisti album aastast 2007. leafes`i moodustavad kolm jorssi Jonköpingist, kes 2006. aastal panid pillid kähku ühte kappi. Juba aasta lõpus üllitas release the bats records nende esimene 6-loolise kassettalbumi. Pundi esimene gig leidis aset 25. detsembril 2006. aastal. Luubi all oleva albumi kohta kõigepealt seda, et väidetavalt pandi see mõne päeva jooksul ninamehe Viktori isa korteris kokku ning muusikalise külje pealt toetas neid leiblikaaslane Jonas eksperimentaalkombost Sanchez is driven by demons. Avalugu Autumn Storm juhatab sisse kahest stilistilisest eristuvast tahust esimese - hoogne poolakustiline kidraplõnnimisel ning reipal vokaalil baseeruv lo-fi pop. Kuid see ei ole tüüpiline paaril duuril baseeruv paariminutiline hallisegune lo-fi. Kidrale sekundeerivad akordion ning kellamäng. Bastard Son algab taas lihtsa plõnnimisega, et siis paari välte vahetuse järel hakata orelitega rokkima. Psühhedeelia ulatab lo-fi`le sõbrakäe - orelidrone võimutseb, saund paisub ja langeb laiali... stopp... ja orel võtab seejärel veelgi innukamalt gruuvid üles. Ja nii mitu korda järjest! Leafes Howls With The Wolfs peegeldab pundi harmoonia ja meloodia seadmise peent kunsti. Kuna meloodiad on ümbritsetud eksperimentalistlikust vaimsusest, siis hakkab paistma albumi teine tahk, milles New Weird America ning Animal Collective`i eksperimentalismi mõju on selgelt tajutav. Lugu Pink Moonlight on leafes`i The Campfire Songs, aga on põnevam kui njuujorklastel endil - asi ei piirdu üksnes plekise kidrasaundi ning tuulekahinaga - asjale lisab pinget kriipivaks paisuv-kahanev-paisuv drone; vokaal on taamale lükatud, veniv ning unisklev laulumaneer võimendavad lisaks kummituslikku iseloomu. See on albumi kulminatsioon. Samerna Hade Rätt on justkui järgnenud kainenemine - pohmakaseisundist normaalsesse olmesse - pingestatus on kadumas, linnusirin ning õrn ja lendlev, kuid edasitunglev kitarrisaund paitavad kuulaja kõrvu. Viimane lugu on lõpulugu - ning lõpust saab ühtlasi algus - Wooden Lung sünteesib albumi kahte mõtteliselt eraldatud osa. Kokkuvõtvalt In Mountain`s Belly on lo-fi, psühhedeelia ning freak-folk`i erk kogemus.

 

8.7 

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