Mensa -- Moorland (2010)

Test Tube

• Ambient 
• Field recording 
• Abstract 
• Ambient drone 
• Musique concrète 
• Dark ambient 
• Sound art 
• Drone
• Organic electronica 

Hispaania artisti Edu Comelles'i aka Mensa (samuti veab asjalikku eksperimentaalse muusika plaadifirmat nimega Audiotalaia) 5-looline seisab pärishelide, nende pärishelide töötlemise, ämbiendi, ämbiendist välja tõmmatud pikkade akordide ning helikunsti ristteel. Niikuinii mainitud stiilid ristuvad teineteisega eri kombinatsioonides, mistõttu piir nende vahel on hägune ning hägustub kuulates veelgi. See on helimaastik, mis ei jää abstraktseks (v.a nimiloo algus), kuivõrd on täidetud ratsionaalse hulga emotsioonidega -- nagu on lõunaeurooplastele kombeks (mis teeb neist imetlusväärsed ja ilusad inimesed). Käesolev teos on inspireeritud artisti viibimisest aasta jagu Šotimaal, mis ilmselt lisab merehoovuste jahedust, õhukese taimkattega mäestiku tüünust ning kaljurünkade teravust helitekstuuri. On mõnusat linnutiivul üle mere ning haljaste lagendike libisemise muusikat kui ka ähvardavamat kaljulõhede sügavusest õhkuvat tumedust ja tormleva mere süngust (kuigi mitte sõna-sõnalt!). Kontaktmikrofonid siin-seal annavad edasi vahetut, suurendatud ülesvõtet ehk ka kontseptuaalselt distantsi puudumist-loodusest eemaldumist, lisades tervikusse uut segmenti. Ka on albumil tinglikult EP nimega "Braid Heritage" (tõsi, Saksa netiplaadifirma Resting Bell all), mis sisaldab pikemaid versioone kahest siinsest kompositsioonist. Kokkuvõtvalt tuleb artisti igati kiita väärilise terviku eest.

Aitänna77 -- The Last Summer Days EP (2010)

Test Tube/Bandcamp 

• Indie folk 
• Drone pop 
• Cover 
• Dream pop 
• Folk indie 
• Singer-songwriter 
• Art folk 
• Folktronica 
• Slowcore 
• Post-folk 
• Folkgaze 

Kõik läheb kiiremaks, miski ei jää aeglasemaks -- muusika on see meede, mis võimaldab aega maha võtta, vaadata asju kõrvalt. Hästi sobib kitarrimuusika, milles on piisavalt sügavust, st distantsi kunstiliste ambitsioonide rahuldamiseks. Hispaanlase Mikel Martínez'i 4-looline taies oivalise Test Tube'i all sisaldab omaloomingut ning üht tõlgitsuslugu slowcore-klassikast (Codeine "Broken-Hearted Wine"). Võiks koguni panustada, et artisti lemmikartistiks on legendaarne Boston'i trio Galaxie 500 -- minimaalsete vahenditega väljendatud maksimaalne tundelisus kajab siit vastu. Atmosfääriline minimalism, milles iga metallofoni kõlks ja ukelele näpe võimendub; milles meloodika ning vokaali tekstuurid värelevad, kaiguvad ning seejärel sulpsavad melanhoolsesse tundevoolu. Väga kütkestav.

Daniel Maze -- Lush Premiere (2011)

Test Tube

• Ambient 
• Glitchtronica 
• Experimental electronica
• Microsound 
• Clicks'n'cuts 
• Micronoise 
• Organic electronica 
• Musique concrète 
• Dub techno

Olulise Kanada ämbientmuusiku Daniel Maze'i - kuigi ta ei ole nii tuntud kui ta kaasmaalased Tim Hecker ja Loscil, ent samavõrd kui teised meistrid Muhr ning Dave Zeal - muusika loob taas ülevaid emotsioone. Seda oleks õigem nimetada heliliseks manipulatsiooniks, kuivõrd kokku on sulatatud nii tehislik kui orgaaniline ülakihtides ning teisalt maagiliselt pulseeriv rütm all (tegelikult igal pool) lükkab seda kõike edasi. Nõnda see sünergia avaldub ja muutub 8 loo vältel, millesse mängulisust ja raputavat muljet lisavad väikesed ent oskuslikult lisatud elemendid (mikroskoopiline müra, vinüülinõela praginad-sahinad, eri liiki pärisheli fragmendid, tükeldatud sõnad-silbid-häälutused, võbelevad mikroskoopilised sagedused). Digitaalne tähetolm ja pärishelid segunevad jälgi maha jätmata, kiirates mõõtmatult soojust mõõdetamatutest sügavustest. Vabalt võiks olla tegu jõulumuusikaga, kuivõrd õdusas miljöös valguse ja pimeduse mängus ümbritsetuna paksust lumest päästab nii lumevangist kui vaimsest kurnatusest. Mingid elemendid, mis esmapilgul võivad kõlada kahtlase väärtusega, saavad loomulikul viisil lahendatud -- näiteks rütmid võivad trampida - olles tihedad, ent muutumata rõlgeks tagumiseks -- olles kas summutatud või hägustatud hüpnopatjadega, mistõttu sobitub loomuldasa ülemiste kihtidega. Tükeldatud dešifreerimata silbid lisavad albumile alateadlikult inimlikku puudet ja üllatusmomenti - panustades üldisesse dünaamikasse -, samas kuidagi kahjustamata ämbientset mana. Suurepärane teos meistrilt suurepärase Portugali netiplaadifirma Test Tube'i all, mis hägustab žanripiire, olles seniidis ja nende horisondil. Loodetavasti saab (lähi)tulevikus ämbientklassikuks.

PREC – Cultural Revolution (2011)

Test Tube

• Electro-acoustic 
• Improvised music 
• Art music 
• Avant-garde 
• Free jazz
• Live session 
• Micronoise 
• Post-classical 
• Experimentalism 
• Cinematic 

Kas see just kultuurilise revolutsiooni mõõtu postmodernistlikul ajastul peaks pakkuma, aga huviköitev on see küll. Portugali leibeli Test Tube'i poolt üllitatud viielooline album Portugali triolt opereerib

elektr(oon)ilise ja akustilise muusika hallide piirjoonte sfääris, mille mehhaanilisust ja monokroomset fassaadi mahendatakse mängutehnilise varieeruvusega. Värve lisandub mõningase vabajätsu, klassikalise muusika ja mikromüra saastega. Eraldi tahaksin rõhutada vana kooli filmimuusika noir-segmenti – a la Albert Glasser või Bernard Herrmann'i muusika Alfred Hitchcock'i filmidele –, mis sageli tipnevad pikemate improte lõpuosas. Intensiivne, piisavalt hullunud ja sugereeriv. Sellise muusika puhul on raske mõista modaalsuse olemasolu või olematust. Justkui eksisteeriks intuitiivselt, aga mis see täpsemalt on jääb selgusetuks. Ja ongi parem, sest konkreetne üllitis on selle mõistmisetagi väga hea. No võib-olla tõesti on tegu kultuurilise revolutsiooniga – vähemalt kunatise muusikalise situatsiooni-ajusurma kontekstis kõlab portugaallaste muusika nagu Marsi intelligentsete amööbide muusika.

A Sankip Hummad – Lamiales (2007)

Test Tube

• Glitch-hop 
• Electronic music 
• Clicks'n cuts 
• Avant-techno 
• Experimental hip-hop 
• Micro-techno 
• Micro-dub 
• Ambient dub 
• Dubtronica 
• Minimal dub 
• Minimal techno 
• Tech-dub 

Žanriülese elektroonika ja uuenduslike rütmide generaator Desmond Hollis (Katrah Quey, Ceptual, Palet) koob prõksuvad biidid ja baidid sametisesse kangasse, mis omakorda õrnalt voogab ja lainetab. Selles on nii konkreetsust kui abstraheeritust, kahinaid, mikroskoopilisi biite ning aegluubis kulgeva jätsu heiastusi. Üks lugu on äkilisema minekuga, põhinedes põrandalaudade põrkamisel. See kontrast on siiski liiast, kuna kompositsioon ise jääb veidi õõnsaks, pealiskaudseks ning seetõttu ka arusaamatuks. See lisamine kannataks välja võrdluse deep house albumiga, mis kätkeks endas ühte hardcore trance'i või gabber'i träkki. Kriitilisemat selektsiooni, palun! Kokkuvõttes on tegu korraliku albumiga, mille sügavus tuleneb Desmond Hollis'e oskusest balansseerida tavapärase ja eksperimentaalse vahel ning mikro ja makro peensuste keskel. See on ilmne dünaamika, mis loob konteksti väljapaistva plaadifirma Test Tube'i all (mis ühendab endas plaadifirmade Mille Plateaux, Ninja Tune, Warp, Kranky, Basic Channel'i parimad omadused).

Dave Zeal+Daniel Maze – Small Airports EP (2007)

Test Tube

• Ambient 
• Downtempo 
• Epic 
• Post-rock 
• Drone
• Hauntology 
• Ambient drone 
• Microtonal 
• Micronoise 
• Electronic music
• Musique concrète

Kui kaks väga head artisti otsustavad teha koostööd, on tulemus kas väga hea või...lihtsalt hea; kuivõrd hea artisti tunnus on kaheldava kvaliteediga loomingut mitte üllitada. Dave Zeal ja Daniel Maze on üllitanud omajagu – omajagu kõrge kvaliteediga muusikat, mille tuum on ämbient ja boreaalsus – tõepoolest, põhjapoolust märgistavad laiuskraadid on Kanada ämbientmuusikale jätnud positiivse pitseri. Positiivsus tähendab mitte hea tuju tekitamist kuulajas – seda ka! –, aga ennekõike sügavust, sugereerivat jaheda tunde tekitamist hinges ja tundmustes. Selle kohta on meie kallis emakeeles sõna "tüünus". Hugenoti soost Briti muusikalegend ja hall kardinal Brian Eno andis 70ndatel välja albumeid, mis olid inspireeritud lennujaamadest. Siin tegeldakse väikeste lennujaamadega, mis ilmselt on suunatud Kanada tohutute avaruste katmiseks. Muusikaliselt on see natuke enamat kui pelk tavakujutluses ämbient. Siin on paralleelsagedusi, mis mingil hetkel sisenevad, jäävad saatma ja võtavad ehk kruiisigi üle; mingi hetk taanduvad märkamatult ja jätavad kuulaja kahtlema, et kas oli see unes või ilmsi. Nimetatud paralleelsagedused ilmuvad justkui vanavanemate vanast raadiost, täis kahinaid-sahinaid ja ununenud aegade esteetikat (aga võib-olla vaimud esinevad laivis ahju taga). Siin on ka ebakonventsionaalset kidramuusikat, mille käsutusse on antud unenäoline hoovõtu- ja maandumisrada. Tulemus on väga hea; üllitanud on viieloolise Portugali imetabane plaadifirma Test Tube.

Yara – Lucid Dream (2012)

Test Tube

• Ambient 
• Acousmatic music 
• Electronic 
• Electro-acoustic 
• Field recording 
• Spoken word 
• Musique concrète 
• Organic electronica 
• Improvised music

Eksisteeris kunagi Portugali leibel Test Tube, mille mahukas diskograafia hõlmas eriilmelist muusikat folktroonikast ämbiendini, põhirõhuga siiski viimasel. Samas ei ole (õnneks) võimalik konkretiseerida, milline on ämbientmuusika kuldlõige plaadifirma kontekstis, nn keskmise visandamine. Üllitised on kvaliteetsed; on asjassepuutuvad tänaseni. Aastaid kümme tagasi plaanis üks avangardistlik Eesti rokkansambel oma plaadi Test Tube'i all avaldada – solist küsis veel mult nõu. Plaaniks see jäigi. See selleks. Selle kolmeloolise albumi võlu – mille taga on Vene artist Yara – seisneb eesmise-tagumise fragmenteerituses. Justkui eraldi kulgevad helikihid (vokaalsämplid, konkreethelid, argitoimetuste kolinad-saginad; teisalt struktureeritud pulseerimine-rütmilisus), mis ometigi sulanduvad häirimatult kokku. Võib-olla "ometigi" on kohatu, kuna eelpoolmainitet elementide vastandlikkus kätkeb endas üllitist kandvat dünaamikat. Konkreethelid on peaasjalikult alati tähelepanuvõitvad teatud müstikale, ja müstika teatavasti on sissepoole pööratud. Siin on esindatud helid, mis sügavustest aeglaselt esile kerkivad tuttavamate manu, tekitades mnemoonilist resonantsi. Väga mõnus kuulamine igal juhul.

Dave Zeal – Animal Craft (2011)

Test Tube

• Ambient 
• Electronic music 
• Drone 
• Avant-garde 
• Microtonal 
• Abstract 
• Ambient drone 
• Experimentalism 
• Sound art 
• Microsound 

Dave Zeal'i seitsmeloolise albumi pealkirja võib tõlkida mitmeti – "loomalik osavus/kavalus/pettus". Kõik nimetet adjektiivsed nimisõnad osutavad loomade olelusvõitlusele eesmärgiga leida piisavalt lobi, jätkata sugu ja lükata oma surma edasi. Viimane aspekt ei ole siiski universaalne, kuna mõnede ämblikuliikide puhul isased pistetakse pärast paaritumist nahka ja lõhed lähevad pärast kudemist surema. Kõik see näikse morbiidne ja madal olevat, aga tegelikult mitte. Selles ilmneb looduse eepiline mõõde – loomad on võidurelvastumises saavutanud kõrge(ma) taseme, mis puudutab nii füüsist kui intelligentsi. Vaadata karu, pühvlit, kaslasi, haisid, gaselle on kahtlemata naudingutpakkuvam pilt kui mõnd luitunud hipsterit Kalamaja kandis jalgrattaga ukerdamas (palju alandavam ja masendavam on vaadata (uusöko)orjandusliku korra ahelaisse langenud suurte roheliste seljakorvidega inimesi jalgratastega ringi kooserdamas - "head isu" kõigile, kes sealt toitu tellivad). Ühesõnaga, armastan loomi, austan loomi ja arvan, et meil – inimloomadel (vabandust, tarkinimestel) – oleks palju neilt õppida. Ennekõike tegeleda asjaga – eesmärgile orienteeritus –, mitte peksta sõnavahtu eimillestki üles eimillegi ümber. Dave Zeal on väärikas Kanada ämbientmuusik teiste väärikate Kanada ämbientmuusikute rivis (Scott Morgan, Vincent Fugère, Daniel Maze, Tim Hecker, Nicolas Bernier), kellel on küll ja küll mida öelda. Ja ta ütleb varjude ja varjundite tagant piisava innukusega, et kogemus meelde talletuks. Konkreetselt – tema muusika ei ole (ambient) dub, aga ta kasutab sellele žanrile nii omaseid pakse kahisevaid-sahisevaid analooghelitaustu, millest ilmuvad droonivad-luupivad boreaalsed kummitused. Ja need kummitused on väga teretulnud, nad ehk annavad (suurlinna)inimesele tagasi osakese sellest tundmusest, mis tal viimastel sajanditel on kaduma läinud. Loodetavasti mitte lõplikult – et ta oleks võimeline seda taas ära tundma. Hinge värelust sisestava albumi on üllitanud imetabane Portugali leibel Test Tube.

room101 – Subconscious (2008)

Test Tube

• Experimental electronica 
• Avant-electronica
• Micronoise 
• Drone 
• Abstract

Comment: I am wondering why I have been so long away from the music of a qualitative imprint, Test Tube. When I started off more than 10 years ago with regard to the net/weblabel scene the imprint was an experimental one dedicated to cutting-edge electronic music among other great ones like Clinical Archives, Zymogen, One, Justnotnormal and Sinewaves. By listening to this 5-track issue I shall have to admit the adventurous, sterling touch of the label has not been diminished over the years. More profoundly, lots of buzzing noises and drones which move forth on cyclic orbits being emblematic of recent chaotic and overloaded life and on the other side an inner impulse by propelling the whole further. So one's consciousness and subconsciousness are poisoned by all sort of troublesome conflicts, tensions, changes and fears in a daily life. It is way too much enough for a person. If someone used to say that the problems are the very ground to step further for developing a life the next question is about the nature of development – has it been viable or failed? Could it foster the life in the next future? And then all the noise by Slovakian Adam Balušík gets disappeared being replaced by total silence – by death, by nothing. And then again – all starts off from scratch. Was there something ever before and will be there something after the end?

Cory Allen – Satory In Atlantis (2007)

Test Tube

Archive.org

• Ambient 
• Electronic music 
• Minimalism 
• Epic 
• Ambient drone 
• Microtonal 
• Field recording 
• Organic electronica 
• Dreamwave 
• Musique concrète

Comment: Austin, Texas, US-based musician, producer and a music label co-owner Cory Allen's 5-notch outing is a tense blend of dreamy droning incantations and beatific ambient plateaus. Despite his deliberately austere concept he has much to deliver to us. "Satori" is the Buddhist term for "awakening, comprehension, understanding". Less is more which could be the slogan of this issue under the marvellous Portuguese imprint Test Tube. To get awoken a human being needs silence, as a part of the rest; given that there is almost no places around where one could do it the artificial silence is suitable for this purpose. It may be there exists no absolute silence at all - it might be silence is an invisible conversation as once sung Malcolm Mooney from CAN. These 30 minutes create an organized calming padding for both an unnerving person and adventurous music lover. Journey to Bodhi can be considered an example of contemporary New Age/Reiki music. As it is said his work focuses on the manipulation of human perception with the intent of altering the listener's state of consciousness. I am very convinced this outing can be considered as a step for a person to move toward his/her personal enlightenment.

Tidy Kid – One Week With My Casio (2008)

Test Tube

Froggi

• Toytronica 
• Electronic music 
• DIY 
• Alternative 
• Indietronica 
• Lo-fi
• Electro pop 
• Glitchtronica 
• Singer-songwriter 
• Breakbeat

Comment: one of the first netlabels I was honoured to meet was Test Tube. It might be the first impression of mine was highly piebald about the netlabel/webaudio scene and because of that I could not evaluate any single netlabel properly. However, by listening to the discography of Test Tube back now it is being a highly pleasant quality time. Brisbane, Australia-based Tidy Kid`s One Week With My Casio can be considered rather an unusual example within the discography due to providing no spot upon lush experimental/ambient music but instead of it experimenting with sounds and creating poppy songs on his own cheap Casio synthesizer. By the way, I have also a fancy Casio synth, a small monophonic Casio SA-1, my cordial relation with it has been lasting since 2000. Musically this 6-track issue is a great one by sharing expressive touch between sonic experiments, poppy song structures, and moody feeling hovering above it. From obscure lo-fi flickers and dreamy indie electronic patches to convulsive, glitched-out broken beat madness, littered electro pop and interrupted yet somehow catchy songwriting. By the way, the 6-track outing was also released as a tape release on the German imprint Froggi Records. Astounding lo-fi electronica.

Ieva – Insones (2012)

Test Tube

• Post-rock 
• Experimentalism 
• Avant-garde 
• Avant-rock 
• Sampledelic 
• Ambient 
• Electro-acoustic 
• Field recording 
• Musique concrète 
• Drone 
• Art music 
• Acousmatic music 
• Ambient rock 
• Experimental electronica

Comment: Samuel Andrè aka Ieva's 10-track issue is a beast. It is like a dragon with many heads which are to shake and burst flames from their unfathomable throttles. It starts off in a ghastly droning way by using poignant concrete music samples, microscopic noises, vocal samples of unknown origin and hissing electro-acoustic shards to design something truly stunning and memorable. On the other side, it is a sort of ambient music and clearly chatting up with anonymity. It might remind you the first three albums by Tim Hecker. Later on, the (dis)course of Ieva's music turns into something surprising because it will be the sort of post-rock though a weird and staggering one. More profoundly, it chimes like being played by hippies from the 22nd century full of magic, elemental touch and power of nature. Being obviously more educated and sophisticated than nowadays rabid feminist and neo-Marxist crap imbued with useless exaggerations, warped political correctness and artificial restrictions. It is the philosophy of escapism being something natural and organic and fairly appealing. It can be considered a sort of rock music though with some reservations because other stylistic elements are there around ready to intervene. Let's listen to Implants, it is a spacey jangle pop with glitches and mystical singing of unknown language. It showcases a perfect balance between experimental and affectionate approach. Musically it slightly reminds me of Paavoharju's Laulu Laakson Kukista (2008, Fonal). Later on, it turns towards the emotionally more buried and hushed approach the album started with. In a nutshell, the result is an excellent issue not only in the world of post-rock and ambient world but in overall. The issue is a part of the discography of a finest one, Test Tube.

Paolo Veneziani – 204 (2012)

Test Tube

• Experimental electronica 
• Avant-pop 
• Mood music 
• Ambient pop 
• Alternative
• Kraut-techno 
• Minimal synth 
• Avant-electronica 
• Glitchtronica 
• Techno 
• Ambient 
• Electronic pop

Comment: it is great to be back again at the catalogue of Test Tube, a fine imprint within the web-audio world. Paolo Veneziani is an experienced musician who has been producing music for approximately twenty years. His 8-track outing 204 is something which used to flicker between rhythms and textures, between more comforting moods and more edgy electronic vibes, between buried sonic elements and quite startling effects, though these elements are aligned densely or placed on top of each other on occasion. It is especially characteristic at the ending track (next life) where the silent pause is followed by an erratic, spasmodic electronic torrent. Paolo Veneziani is poignant by describing his children with proper names. For instance, the opening track Frenetic Indecision is about cut-up breaks and hirsute glitches allowing no permission to land within the first minute of the track. However, the composition will be channelized into a fabulous psychedelic kraut-techno flicker. Indeed, it does have an elegant indecisive intention to thrive through different dots and loops. The same could be said about the rest of the issue as well. Fortunately the inner configuration of the compositions is set up in a way to hold their integrity due to frantic dynamics and also being united by similar spirituality and deconstructed parts of having similarity across the tracks. Slender is a contemporary counterpart of minimal synth with exquisite (even tongue-in-cheek) shades of lo-fi, and DIY aesthetic. At Orange Drops the influence comes out from the German kling-klang and Kraftwerk-esque aesthetic, however, as a wise artist, Veneziani does it in seminal way. It is what we could call retro(futuristic) musicvon its own. By the way, there is a track, From The Past wherein atmospheric layers are rounded out by intense feedback effects and shrill signals. It is painful and ennobling at the same moment. All of that represented over there is about loading and thereafter it is let out. Ejaculated staggeringly. Eargasmic one. The same could be said about the issue in general. The frantic loop indeed.

Psychic Frequencies – Projecting Disorder (2014)

Test Tube

Bandcamp

/Experimental electronica, Glitch ambient, Post-industrial, Electro-acoustic, Musique concrète, Avant-garde, Drone, Experimentalism, Ambient dub, Experimental techno/

Comment: it is obviously one of the best most thought-provoking techno and dub albums I have ever heard. In fact, if we think of techno or dub music I used to think of quite sterile and hermetic beats which are extracted from certain synthesised pads and embellished with synthesised overdrives. Indeed, Projecting Disorder is something of the so-called techno and dub music. Psychic Frequencies aka the collaboration act between Alistair Stray and David Clarkson used to draw on electro-acoustic ambience and raw sonic fabrics wherein the listener could perceive lots of open air around it. Of course, those are only some elements provided over the mix. For instance, Projecting Fractures is a terrain to take on rough improvisation due to flute sounds by Southeast Asia and thoroughgoing electronic experiments which in turn used to hint at the aesthetics of industrial music. Those many ambient music snippets represented throughout the course are loaded with many ghosts and other supernatural creatures. Actually it is not surprising with regard to the artists` immensely foregoing musical involvement (Alistair Stray has been involved in such acts as Raya Collective, Irritants, Radical Elsewhere, Noosign, and Inference; David Clarkson has been involved in such acts as Central Processing Unit, Illuminati, Triclops, and Whitecube). In a word, the result is mind-blowingly interesting.

Faerùn – The Night (2014)

Test Tube

Bandcamp

/Indietronica, Space rock, Experimental electronica, Hauntology, Crossover, Avant-pop, Dark ambient, Dark wave, Sampledelic, Experimental pop, Musique concrète, Spoken word, Leftfield, Art pop/

Comment: it is great honour to arrive at the album list of Test Tube. Indeed, there is no reason to feel yourself disappointed at all by listening to Barcelona, Catalonia residing Marius Miron aka Faerùn`s bunch of handful of pieces. The issue starts off with Dusk, the poem of Robin Rimbaud where a presumably experimental sound package is masterfully subordinated to an independent music algorithm. The track chimes like a less pop appeal drenched version of the Cranberries now and then in the second part. The same could be said about the finishing track Ndasi where slightly undulating synth-induced drones are accompanied by a dynamic rhythm and mind affecting vocal samples. Emotionally the most crushing and orgasmic piece is Hanako which involves the raping sounds, sighs of a man and weeping of a woman hinting at the crimes of Japanese soldiers during the WW II. Room 3327 is a haunting hybrid of space rock and minimally pulsating electronica adorned with radio waves and spoken word snippets dedicated to Nikola Tesla, the true genius within the physics field. If you are searching for some analogue examples within the experimental pop scene then the oeuvre of Broadcast might resemble of that span of 28 minutes. In a word, it is obviously one of the best (leftfield) pop albums issued in 2014.                    

w02f – 01 (2013)

Test Tube

/Ambient drone, Experimentalism, Glitch ambient, Avant-garde, Noise, Abstract, Ambient/

Comment: this 8-track album is an amazing listening experience created by Sankt Peterburg, Russia based producer Alexandr Remington. Those tracks used to chime like glimpses coming out from outer space to reflect the past which is actually future for us on Earth. Of course, his soundscapes remind me of Tim Hecker`s early masterpieces threaded with glitched out white noise impulses and washed out with overwhelming hisses frequently. Remington`s music is a fine example of how to amplify low frequencies to the next level. Although all these tracks are very long-running ones these will seamlessly change their shapes and organically veer into other Galaxies. In a word, it is an otherworldly mesmerizing experience.              

Organ Of Qwerty - Treasury Of Curiosities (2013)

Test Tube

• Experimental electronica
• Abstract
• Avant-electronica
• Drone
• Acousmatics
• Electro-acoustic
• Drone ambient
• Microtonal
• Improvised music
• Musique concrète

Outstanding tracks:

Distant Seas

Simple Diagrams

Handicrafts From Antiquity

Secret Lands Of The North

Enriched With Russian Minerals

Spirals, Triangles & Crosses

Unfamiliar Fauna

Linear Bells - Helio Grabados (2013)

Test Tube

Bandcamp

• Drone ambient
• Dark ambient
• Drone
• Abstract
• Minimal
• Avant-garde
• Experimentalism

Outstanding tracks:

Foru

Limon

V-trap - Clockwork Millenium (2012)

Test Tube

10.0

/Repetitronica, Experimentalism, Minimalism, Space funk, Post-psychedelic electronica, Leftfield, Crossover, Avant-garde, Psych-rock, Acousmatics, Electro-acoustic, Experimental rock, Avant-garde, Sampledelic/

Comment: the album starts off with a lengthy, 15-minute psychedelic composition wherein faintly maniac vowel effects, semi-noises and ticking clock loops are to abut together without any threads. However, such a sort of recumbent mentality will be represented in other (long-running) tracks either. The next track adds a suggestive ethnic motive with off-kilter pitch into the mix. You can be sure, this incessant loop stirs you up enough at the ending part of the piece at least. Indeed, these repetition-heavy loops are present in other pieces either providing a concoction of electro-acoustic/acousmatics, space funk, transcendental urban shamanism , enthralling minimalism-inspired (reminding of Steve Reich`s Drumming, for example) ambiance and propulsions, or even spaced-out, trance-induced rock vibes (somewhere in between Faust, and Spacemen 3). In a nutshell, it is an otherworldly, distinctive issue maybe an example of pop music for the next generations. Even if it does not seem easy to digest that stuff it is to grow on you anyway - it is to be ultimately rewarding.

Off Land - Circadian (2012)

Test Tube

• Electro-acoustic                       
• Dark ambient
• Musique concrète
• Post-industrial
• Conceptual
• Soundscapes
• Minimal
• Organic electronica
• Abstract