The Lautreamonts – Photophobic Sunflower (2023)

Bandcamp

Post-punk Blonde hair indie Indie rock Alternative rock Dance rock Remix

Brasiilliast pärit punt pakub singlit koos remiksiga. Üllitis meenutab 80ndaid -- sügavaid 80ndaid --, konkreetsemalt blondiinitaridest esilõõritajatega poprokki-indirokki (võrdlusmoment The Darling Buds'i, Transvision Vamp'i, The Heart Throbs'iga). Ja üllatus-üllatus -- kontrollides selgus, et lauljatari Martha juus oli väga hele. Jättes juusseksismi kõrvale, siis selles muusikas peegeldub 80ndate võlu ja valu. Tehti häid lugusid, ent mis ilmusid reeglina keskpärastel albumitel (kehtib hästi eelpoolmainitud bändide kohta). Siin võimutseb keskmistatud postpunk/alternatiivrokk, mis vaatamata sirgjoonelisusele ilmutab kunati mäslevat mürakeelikut. Siuke skisoidne värk, noh! Singel algab orientaalsete motiividega, ent see on petukaup -- ei oma mingit mõju hilisemale kraamile. Remiks lisab tantsulisust -- trummimasinatele, süntekatele ja filtritesse mässitud vokaalidele on antud vaba voli lüüa nii biidinätaka kui nostalgiaga. Töötab küll -- tuues kuulajas kordamööda esile nii Jekyll'i kui Hyde'i. Ajab muigama ja sunnib tõsiseks ühtaegu või vaheldumisi.

Tallinn Daggers - Fresco LOVER012 (2011)

Love Forever

/Electronic pop, Alternative dance, Breaks, Chill out, Remix, Electro-indie, Mood music/

Comment: Tallinn Daggers is a combo from Tallinn, Estonia headed up by Ardo Kivi. Fresco comes out from a time when TD´s music was to be less rock/post-punk and more electronic, beat and synth-oriented. The single is saturated with interesting sonic effects, and indie dance/baggy rhythms with vocoder-induced vocal lines (sung in English and Estonian). However, Paul Oja`s Nightmare Before Christmas Remix draws on more low-slung rhythms and providing a more tranquil, actually chill out sensibility. Several Symptoms Antidote Mix is set up in the way to have impact upon the listener with respect to the elegant shuffle of beats. By the way, recently they issued a new album, called Suburban Decay (available at Bandcamp, for instance).      

Popidiot – Talk To Me (2014)

Seksound

Bandcamp

/Indie pop, Alternative pop, New Wave, Electro-indie, Synth rock/

Comment: Popidiot is an Estonian-Finnish project consisting of Hendrik Luuk, Matti Peura, and Rein Fuks who started off their way at the beginning of 00s and have issued a couple of albums so far. This is their two-folded single with catchy guitar hooks, bouncy rhythms and freely movable synthesised squelches here and there. The outing was released on Seksound (by the way, Rein Fuks is the chairman of the record label), a leading Estonian indie label being the domicile for many contemporary and early Estonian indie artists (for instance, Seksound issued recently Bizarre`s Café De Flor (initially released in 1996 on the Forwards Records from Tartu, Estonia) on vinyl which can be considered one of the most eminent indie albums from Estonia – a spellbinding blend of dream pop and electronic rhythms).

Jan Helsing – Sünnipäev (2014)

Seksound

/Shoegaze, Alternative pop, Indie rock, Dream pop/

Comment: Undoubtedly Jan Helsing`s debut album Kajalood is one of my favourite albums in 2014 (issued on the Estonian main indie label Seksound). Sünnipäev (Birthday) is a main hit track from it. There are represented two versions of it, one of them is the instrumental one and another is with singing. I shall have to confess, I am deeply felt in love with Kärt Ojavee`s beautiful voice and Jan Kaus` wise lyrics about love, hope and openness for the world. By the way, behind Jan Helsing hide themselves five middle aged gentlemen who did constitute such musical group as Dreamphish in the 90s, an outstanding indie combo. They recruit guest vocalists for different songs, most of them are female ones.     

Tallinn Daggers - Evol And Rockets (2013)

Love Forever

• Alternative rock
• Indie rock
• Post-punk

Outstanding tracks:

Evol And Rockets

Songs For Walter - Moon/Two Out Of Ten (2012)

Red Deer Club

Soundcloud

• Alternative pop
• Indie rock

Shattered Darlings & Liquid Kisses - These Days (2012)

Bandcamp

8.8

/Shoegaze, Psychedelic rock, Alternative pop/rock, Dream pop/

Comment: it is the second single hailing from the group`s sophomore album You Know Me Well. More detailedly, some lingering psychedelic loops are interlaced with panoramic shoegaze-tinged expansions throughout the course of 202 seconds. However, the more you listen to it the more impressive it seems to be finally. So please give it a (repetitive) try.

Paper Plane Pilot - We’ll Disappear (2012)

Paper Plane Pilot

8.5

/New Wave, Alternative pop/rock, Post-punk, Indie rock/

Comment: behind this project are Dustin Frelich, and Paul Welch who are inspired by 80s new wave moods and state of minds. We`ll Disappear is a song in a huge array of singles issued by them, however, delineated by lush post-punk/gothic bass lines and clear-cut, somehow emotions oppressing singing. Indeed, it is a solid, Billboard-shaped single.

Bring Prudence - Aliens (2012)

Bandcamp
Soundcloud

9.0

/Electronic pop, Poptronica, Baroque pop, Singer-songwriter, Crossover/ 

Comment: these 216 seconds are a pleasing blend of sublime baroque pop and glockenspiel-induced indie pop and synth chords of having no gravity. It is hard to love in the summer it is easy to love in the fall. Behind Bring Prudence is Oleh Zaychenko, an artist of Ukrainian descent from Brooklyn, New York, USA.

Lizard Kisses - Water Tap (2012)

Bandcamp

9.4

/Indie pop, Exotica pop, Tropical pop, Alternative, Art pop/

Comment: still fabulous Brooklynites Cory Siegler and Marc Merza make music which is a tiny bit deviated from their artsy and intimate/restrained folk music on this particular track. They are assisted by Jordan Lee (vocals), and Andrew Morehart (drums) therefore rocking a little more off and having somewhat more exotic flavour than in an usual case. More detailedly, it chimes like an instance of pleasing Hawaii-tinged indie/tropical pop full of bouncy guitar hooks, sultry feeling and assuasive vocal harmonies overhead. The single is taken out of their 7" split issue with Crystal Dorval`s one-man-project My Friend Wallis (from Victoria, Canada).

Abe Lyman Orch - Never Swat A Fly (1930)

78 RPM

9.5

/Big Band, Jazz, Classic, Classic pop/

Comment: indeed, this track was composed 82 years ago. Inspite of the huge temporal interval I suppose the track sounds as entertaining and joyous as many decades ago, though, obviously chiming in a more exotic way. It consists of uplifting swinging and grooves set up for a big band collective. Dance music in any sense which predicted the birth of rock and roll ready to be conceived after a timespan of 25 years onward. Classic.

Teepee - Time Meant Nothing (2012)

Lastfm

Soundcloud

9.5

/Shoegaze, Alternative pop, Indie rock/ 

Comment: Erix S. Laurent aka Teepee started off today his east coast tour with the full band. Success on the tour means that his next LP will come out on time, and he intends to share it with everyone. There is a gift for us, called Time Meant Nothing which involves an exciting trajectory on its own - throughout the course it used to grow bigger and bigger until getting its shimmering blooming. More thoroughly, it chimes like a pristine Beach Boys set up under the waterfall. A wall of noise.

Conveyor - Mukraker (2012)

Bandcamp

9.4

/Alt-folk, New Weird America, Americana, Glo-fi, Baroque pop, Avant-pop/ 

Comment: I can remember for that Conveyor`s first issue Sun Ray (2011) was an astonishing effort full of mesmerizing harmonies and modern compositions. However, the Brooklyn-based quartet`s single continues the same path mixing up light-hearted blisstronic oscillations with the glorious New Weird America, and Americana tradition (these emotionally impressive vocal lines and hazy orchestrations/brass sections used to make true impact upon the listener). The single originates from the band`s self-titled album issued on Paper Bag Records in 2012. Mandatory by any means.

Starfire Connective Sound - Where Go The Boats (2012)

Bandcamp

9.3

/Shoegaze, Alternative rock, Space rock, Post-rock, Dance rock, Psychedelic rock, Indie dance/

Comment: If to talk of the Brazil-based shoegaze scene, first of all, my glance is spotted upon Sinewave, the record label-related artists, and Starfire Connective Sound on the other side. This single is a two-headed one, creating of which is assisted by their friends from This Lonely Crowd. However, the result is a formidable blend of shoegaze, post-rock, psychedelia, dance-appealed sequences, and slight stoner/desert rock dust. The second track reminds a little of the Happy Mondays` Lazytis. Great.

Badass Yuki - Cherry Tree Bonanza (2012)

Bandcamp
Soundcloud
Mediafire

9.5

/Madchester, Leftfield, Indie dance, Electronic pop, Acid rock, Art rock, Experimental rock, Alternative pop/rock, Alternative dance, Experimental indie/

Comment: one of the shipheads of nowadays Estonian indie rock movement Badass Yuki is back with a pair of brand new tracks. Mart Avi, Paul Sild, and Aigar Vals together have always produced very good sound (including their side project Stones & Holes, though, without Vals), though, they have never chimed so mesmerizing way. The opening track Cherry Tree Bonanza takes on eddying grooves made up of the elements of Madchester, aching indie pop, and some honky-tonk piano gears as if Happy Mondays were met with Dallas, the indie juggernaut throughout the 90`s from Tallinn). White Glove Theme is a more obscure one due to its throbbing layers and fluttering and clockwork effects which is built on gloomy synth progressions and gong strikes.

Istari Lasterfahrer - That's the Story (2001)

Commie

9.0

/Industrial techno, Avant-techno, Experimental techno, Robot pop, Avant-industrial/

Comment: just one track spreaded out over 5 and a half minutes. It takes on brooding techno progressions being embellished with spoken word snippets (obviously snatched from an old movie), burning out possible air inbetween the layers within it. Indeed, it is essentially artificial and synthetic, more profoundly, it may be deemed a bow toward machine/robot-deflected, Kraftwerk-esque emotionless aesthetics, and on the other side, it celebrates the tradition of nihilistic old school industrial music particularly running in the vein of Cabaret Voltaire, and Throbbing Gristle. Istari Lasterfahrer is an artist from Hamburg, Germany and the single was released on Commie, a Finland-based blueprint.

Voyageurs - WHITE MOON RECORDINGS SINGLES CLUB (2011)

White Moon
Bandcamp

9.2

/Psych-rock, Experimental rock, Trance rock, Krautrock, Psychedelia, Shoegaze/

Comment: every following step by Voyageurs, a Fayetteville, Arkansas-based combo is worth to be listened to. Their psych-fused, repetition-heavy patterns and shapes used to create lots of moods and dilate the space around the listener. This time the abovementioned styles are interspersed with the elements of shoegaze and krautrock, especially at those spots regarding ethereal vocal lines and lopsided, elliptical yet repetitive trajectores, respectively. These two pieces (Big Ritual, The Distance) are thought for those melomans who are got involved in listening to Spacemen 3, Serena Maneesh, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and other such kind of musical groups.

The Underscore Orkestra - Balancing Act (2012)

Bad Panda
Lastfm

9.0

/Vaudeville, Swing, Music hall/

Comment: an amusing, one-track appearance reminding of the heydays of vaudevillean, highly swinging pop. Indeed, it used to be a quite authentic representation of it. It involves an array of tempo changes (from very slow to very fast moments) and harmonica-laden chirps which play on a suggestive motif. The notch is sung by female and male voices, thereby creating a lot of pleasant contrasts between the different sides of the piece. The track can be considered an example of a simulacra, yet, it is not because it is very good, i.e being without any deviations.

Dreams - Driving To Your House Party (2011)

Bandcamp

9.0

/Alternative rock, Shoegaze, Post-punk, Dance rock, Gothic rock, Leftfield, Indie rock, Post-psychedelic electronica/

Comment: it is thoroughly sparkling and pounding at the length of 4.49. A little bit murky with tortured vowel effects reminiscent of old school post-punk/goth rock templates and on the other side it exploits clear-cut, high registered guitar chords getting close to more shoegaze areas and thirdly it showcases massive, billowy synth plateaus above it. Of course, the listener can perceive compelling dance vibes oozing out from it either. In a word, it is a lovely drift from Portugal.

Glitter Bones - The Dark Tide (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.4

/Poptronica, Slowcore, Glo-fi, Chillwave, Post-pop, Leftfield, Post-psychedelic electronica, Lo-fi/

Comment: the single (4.52) is a slow paced, dream-soaked enterprise, looking at the world through offbeat glasses. There are some brisk turns into a blissed-out realm, into great beauty into which the listener get immediately immersed. Glitter Bones is the collaboration act between Nick Donlin, and Zach Vouga this time they are assisted by Brian Brissart (vocal) from BIGCOLOUR, another Chicago, Illinois, US-based collective. The single crosses finely tendencies so characteristic to Beach House`s slowcore aesthetics and blissful seeds from the glo-fi/chillwave scene. An enthralling wash indeed.