Josh McCurdy -- Z-Mon EP (2017)

Tape Safe

• Alternative dance 
• Electronic music 
• Breakbeat 
• Experimental electronica 
• Big beat 
• Post-industrial 
• Avant-electronica
• Neo-psychedelia 
• Indietronica 
• Rhythmic noise

Käesolev 3-looline taies kahtlemata on eksperimentaalne, ent samas artist näitab kiindumust ka popmuusikaliste tendentside suunas. Neiks kalduvusteks on säherduste tantsumuusikaartistide peegeldamine, kes on ilmutanud armastust rokkmuusika suunas nagu seda tegid Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, Apollo 440, Death In Vegas. Need peaaegu 15 minutit pakuvad intensiivset sagedust (et mitte öelda tulevärki), mida on võimendatud kajade ning peaaegu nähtamatu, ent nahaalselt tunda andva heliprügiga. Pigem on sellele lähemal Primal Screami "XTRMNTR", millel Bobby Gillespie näitas poliitilist allumatust ning viha autoriteetide vastu -- kõik see ilmnes industriaalse põlemisena määral, et järele jäänud rohujuured ja mättad olid ka üdini söestunud; pigem kliiniline ja patoloogiline kaasus kui tavamõistusega (kogemuslik-mäluliselt) haaratav. Aga on hea, et Josh McCurdy (JM) muusikas on originaalsuse aluseks olevat ebasünkroonsust, mistõttu ta looming - nagu eelpool juba mainitud - vaid midagi õrnalt meenutab. Loos "Creature Walkinˋ" tuleb esile huvitav EDM-i ning kingapõrnitsemise kohtumine - õigem oleks öelda kahekõne või kommentaar teineteisele -, ning kõik saab meeleolukalt (isegi meeliülendavalt) klatitud. Näiteks sellele 3-loolisele paar kümnendit varem eelnenud Chemical Brothersi klassikuks peetav "Dig Your Own Hole" on suht luidrik, mis taandubki pelgaks rütmide karnevaliks, samas suutmata eriti luudele kasvatada. (Tagantjärele üllatudes nimetaksin seda teost pigem šabloonide kogumiks, millest hea tulevasi taieseid luua). JM selles küll kuidagi süüdistada ei saa. Tema industriaalne muusika on kasvanud troopilisse vihmametsa nii, et kujutletavad liaanid ning pinnasest välja vingerdavad verd armastavad rõngussid kuulaja elu (eba)meeldivalt keerulisemaks muudavad. Veenab küll, raisk. 9.0 (8.5-9.5)

eric in the kitchen -- a heart of clouds and stars (2012)

Tape Safe/Bandcamp

• Ambient rock 
• Shoegazing 
• Duyster 
• Indie pop/rock 
• Lo-fi 
• Alternative pop/rock 
• Post-rock 
• Psychedelic 
• DIY

Mulle meeldib ikka mõelda ja öelda, et muusika produtseerimine on väga sarnane toidu valmistamisega. Kiht-kihi haaval loomine ja seadistamine, maitse ja tämbri timmimine; äkki sellele viitab ka Vallooniast pärit Eric Delsine'i (ED) projekt. Belgia lõunapoolne (prantsuskeelne) piirkond on oluline koht ka seetõttu, et seal oli oluline postpungi kants 70ndate lõpust alates. Ilmselt oluline fakt on ka see, et Siouxsie Sioux' juured on osaliselt sealt pärit. Ehk mõned mõjud ulatuvad ka sellele 10-loolisele taiesele. Reaalsuses peab vaatama põhja poole -- Flandrias tekkis aastatuhande vahetusel Duysteri-nimeline raadiosaade, kus mängiti kidrakeskset muusikat, mis kandis põues kindralikepikest. Oma südames on Duyster (laiendame selle muusikaliseks stiiliks) atmosfääriline, melanhoolne, introspektiivne ja aeglaselt kõlav, mähkides kuulajate hubasesse ja mõtisklevasse tekki nädalavahetuseks. Ehk siis esikohale on tõstetud sügavus, tekstuur ning emotsionaalne resonants, mitte aga optimistlikud refräänid või tantsulisus. Filmilinalikud paisud, õrna kajaga kaetud pastelsed kitarrid ja emotsionaalsed crescendo'd. Isegi siis, kui muusika muutub müraseks kidrastiihiaks (kõige ilmekamalt loos "Fly Away"), ei muutu rõhuasetused. Isegi kui mõningad eksperimentaalsed puudutused ilmnevad, siis suht alalhoidlikult opereeritakse nendes piirides. Teisalt jälle -- vaiksete helide taga on kõige valjemad mõtted. Ühelt poolt on ED helivalem mõjutatud vaikust väärtustavatest Ameerika kombodest nagu esiotsa Low'st, Codeine'st ning teisalt Galaxie 500 vaiksest lummast ja The Sea And Cake'i pastelsest helikeelest (mis kõlab pühapäeva-Tortoise'ina). Aga sarnastest mõttekaaslastest tuleb kindlasti ära märkida ka artisti kaasmaalased -- Wixel'i, Wio ning De Portables'i. 8.0 (7.5-9.0)

Josh McClure – Z-Mon EP (2017)

Tape Safe
Tape Safe

• Shoegaze 
• Hip-hop 
• Avant-hop 
• Experimental hip-hop 
• Leftfield 
• Crossover 
• Electronic 
• Indietronica

Comment: this bunch of 3 tracks is a fascinating and at the same time frenetic blend of shaggy yet imposing hip-hop rhythms, shoegaze-y guitar-led horizons and spaced-out sonic effects. You can perceive synergistic halo rings coming out from these enchanting noises, massive reverberations and blazing electronic trickery. Of course, I would call it indie music at any time but given that many decayed and conformist music groups are called with the same term and having no joint point with the topic of the recent issue so it would be misleading to do it. On the other side, it is much more worth than an average hip-hop issue. It can be concluded it is great to dwell nowhere or at least somewhere in a mediate position (yet it is not a bare derivative release) and having a more sophisticated and uncompromising spot upon this life. Let's call it an example of beautiful noise though making noise music is not the purpose of the artist. By kindred souls I would compare it to the likes of Seefeel, Dälek, Death Grips yet the comparison regards more the attitude of the combos than their sonic examples. The outstanding outing is a bit in the discography of Tape Safe.

Rasalasad – Thisturb (2017)

Tape Safe

• Illbient 
• Dark ambient 
• Micronoise 
• Post-industrial 
• Leftfield 
• Avant-garde 
• Experimentalism 
• Glitchtronica 
• Neoclassical 
• Drone

Comment: this handful of compositions is somehow eerie and spooky as if depicting an area being devastated either by an enormous catastrophe or horrendous terror. It does not mean these five soundscapes are directly harsh and abusive, vice versa, one can hear slowly droning templates being surrounded by glitched-out bits and gritty noisy frequencies in upper templates. However, there are also represented more harsh torrents to bring forth the contrasted sensibility between it and murky beauty of droning and minimally orchestrated neoclassical segments. The point of mine is all of that is craftily equilibrated within the whole providing either no excessive information or useless and sterile dodges in the sonic terrains thereby avoiding decline in quality with regard to the concept and sound. I am inclined to think off the title "thisturb" refers to disturbing state thereafter (i.e after a catastrophic event). The convincing outing is a part of the discography of Tape Safe.

DMH – New Blood For All (2015)

Tape Safe

• Ambient noise 
• Avant-garde 
• Experimentalism 
• Epic 
• Leftfield 
• Shoegaze 
• Post-industrial 
• Ambient rock

Comment: if somebody does know or suspect how I used to choose albums for my blog than it will happen truly randomly. I have no methodology to choose from within the bunch of releases waiting to be commented. Last albums I have reviewed I have used the terms “avant-garde”, “experimentalism”, “leftfield”, “post-industrial” steadfastly for them. It is quite annoying to speak these words from one review to another but in the world of the web albums these seem to be prevalent labels. It is just to mention it for the sake of truth. In fact, the net label-based world is a perfect world having no main drive and intention toward money and revealing a human being`s intention to set himself/herself free and experiment with sounds in his/her free, natural state. This 3-notch issue starts off with bass frequencies to progress into a resonant span of wobbly electronic effects to progress into the main narrative – into a massively resonant noise template which at the time also striving to more higher, even majestic perspectives in format and concept. More masculine elements used to vary with feminine sonic aspects, from more powerful investigations to more light developments. At the beginning at Demo 18 one can hear the inclination toward atmospheric guitar/shoegaze world. It can be concluded it will ultimately establish a decent whole for pleasure of all of us because of not employing oppressive (harsh) noises to kill other aesthetical seeds and twigs around it. The issue is a solid bit in the roster of Tape Safe.

Rory Storm – Dot Matrix: Red (2014)

Tape Safe

Tape Safe

• Experimental techno
• Avant-techno
• Deep techno
• Abstract
• Dark ambient

Comment: Rory Storm`s handful of tracks wades into the realm of techno music though an abstract one. Indeed, at times those rhythms are minimized to get along with no feeling to simply develop on in an intriguing way. More profoundly, machines are very excited to progress obsessively on microscopic elements of rhythmic music. At times those elements are magnified with dark ambient tinged terrains (containing ominous shades and echoes within it) and even shoegaze and noise rock-alike interventions (for instance, rd_04). In a nutshell, it could be assumed the issue is obsessively enchanting. The outing is a part of the discography of Tape Safe.

XP43 With Slo-Blo – La Fèminin Sacrè (2015)

Tape Safe

• Post-industrial
• Noise
• Avant-garde
• Acousmatic music
• Drone
• Experimentalism
• Illbient
• Experimental electronica
• Non-music
• Musique concrète
• Psycho-acoustic

Comment: firstly, I like an unconventional nature of the album regarding the outer shape. It is composed of 56 notches replete with disparate impulses and irrational progressions and unchained progressions. The cover print depicts the Barbie doll which is being one of the most exploited artefacts worldwide in a truly skewed way. The artist hijacked the idea of the doll to mock the Western consuming community through over-sexualisation of woman`s body. By conceptual side the artist used to follow a classical noise music idea. The initial idea of noise music was to showcase absurdity and mental disturbance within politically invoked martial games through painfully aroused sounds and weirdly sequenced compositions thereby being thought-provoking and challenging. By musical side it is comprehensive by extending from silence induced snippets and tottering ambient and opaque drone sounds to re-contextualized speech snippets and heavily deranged electronic progressions. However, the loose concept is a positive sign in any cases. The issue is a part of the discography of Tape Safe. 

Astrolàbio - Coma (2013)

Sinewave

Tape Safe

• Space rock
• Fusion
• Art rock
• Mood music
• Experimental rock

Outstanding tracks:

Images En Mouvement
Synapsis