The Easton Ellises - EP One (2011)

Enough Records
Lastfm

9.0

/Nu rave, Alternative dance, Alternative rock, Indie dance, Electro-rock, Synth rock/

Comment: Alexandre Dionne aka Alex D and Simon Roy, a couple of residents from Montrèal, Quebec, were previously known as The Stereomovers (2000-2010) mixing up rock music with danceable beats. Moreover, beyond of it, before or in the meantime of the group`s activities they have practised sonic enterprises based on punk rock, trance beats and house music. Whatsoever, as a proof to their huge experience-based past the duo continues with their amalgamative manipulations on rock and very seesawing rhythms. Indeed, this 5-track issue is a crafty blend of sequencer-backed beats and hooks, high-energized nu rave aspirations and intoxicating harmonies. E-rock, as Alex & Simon have themselves described their sound. Although I am not used to be an idle proponent of the nowadays dance music, EP One makes really hugely sense. Good job, dudes.

Greenland Is Melting - Our Hearts are Gold, Our Grass is Blue (2011)

Greenland Is Melting
Bandcamp

8.5

/Bluegrass, Alt-country, Folk, Crossover, Southern music, Punk folk/

Comment: This is a trio from Gainesville, Florida, consisting of Karl Seltzer, Will Dueease, and Shaun Pereira. They mainly do play a upbeat folk/country music with some influences of punk, vaudevillian appearances, bluegrass, and brass music. All is played on a variety of diverse instruments like banjo, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel, harmonica, trumpet, bass drum and fiddle. The lyrics represented here do tend to carry more or less careless attitude upon the bittersweet minutiae of life (talking about lingering, finding themselves shelter around here and there, the heaviness of being sober etc). In a nutshell, this is a romantic publication played out in the vein of the Southern music tradition. A honest soundscape indeed.

Wladysław Komendarek - Chronowizor (2011)

NoEcho

9.8

/Progressive, Kosmische Musik, Synth music, Astral dance, Progressive rock, Electronica, Improvised music, Chillout, Fusion, Easy listening/

Comment: Władysław Komendarek (born 1948) can be named as the Polish Edgar Froese (I really hope he does not mind about my statement), who started off as the keyboard player in the line-up of Polish symphonic rock/progressive rock combo Exodus for almost four decades ago. Upon the termination of the group`s activities in 1983, however he has frequently been referred as one of the leading Polish electronic musicians thereafter. On some pictures, he looks out like a crazy hippie behind the wide board of the analogue equipment (Moog synths). Though, not only his outlook used to be welcome - his attitude toward the music is integral, lush and ravishing. Lots of uplifting cosmic synth overthrows, electro/synth rock gears, progressive rock, astral dance music (somewhat similar to deep house, for instance), electronic fusion, near-soundtrack appearances. Regarding his professionalism, this whole of 9 tracks ( most of the tracks are long-running ones) is craftily arranged which in a more concrete sense thought does have a clear-cut vision and complete accomplishment. I think for everyone coming from the Soviet block, indeed such kind of soundscape does conjure up many hazy but good memories stemmed mainly from the sci-fi and youth films. Yet, first of all, it is a gem by the standards of progressive music/krautrock/fusion.

Plusplus - Broken Boiler

Yall - GUM single (2011)

Mediafire
Lastfm

8.7

/Punk rock, Noise rock, Blues rock, Art-punk, Crust punk/

Comment: Yesterday I got this submission by this US-based collective... . I like their frenzy energy and the dense noodling on guitars and drums channelized into the form of crust punk/noise rock or something in-between of that. It rings out as if a jam session coming directly forth from a rehearsal room. Only 2 short-running tracks are represented here - the first of them, GUM, kicks off as a blues-coated one, which soon will be dropped into the hell-ish chase "embellished" with overlapping sound shit in the backdrop in the ending part. The second track um gets embodied as mesmerizing through the catchy repetition of a elliptically shaped drum gear. All in all, it is an example how one somewhat style-related punk rock should be templated for - very destructive, wonky and rotten, getting inverted in its madness. Indeed, it is is not a love song.

Chevalier Avant Garde - Selectronic from Montreal (2011)

Beko DSL

8.6

/Post-psychedelic electronica, Electro-indie, Electro-rock, Glo-fi, Lo-fi, Experimental indie, DIY/

Comment: Dimitri sings and Filip plays the guitar... . A duo from Montrèal, Quebec, Canada, providing a pair of songs which are obviously influenced by the nowadays chillwave/glo-fi aesthetics and the first attempts in the realm of electronic rock/indie like The Silver Apples by the end of 60`s either. The 2-headed single starts off with Toy, which is sustained by heavily bounding, high-frequencied sequence machines (the recent beat music, isn`t?) which later, in the second track Sixteen Candles, will be converted into the sort of mid-tempo, a little drowsy sound. But thumbs up anyway. It might freely be possible that the duo will be famous in 2012, for instance.

The New Mystikal Troubadours - Second Spring (2011)

Free Music Archive
Mt6

9.7

/Psych-folk, Trance rock, Experimental indie, Drone folk, Psychedelia, Avant-rock, Avant-folk, New Weird America, Free folk/

Comment: Second Spring is the duo Dave Gibson (Agrarians) & Matt Perzinski (Bad Liquor Pond)`s sophomore outing (after the self-titled debut album in 2009). Anyway, such kind of psychedelic (folk) music makes most of the times subtly out. No doubt, the duo is able to straddle diverse elements into a seamless blend of psychedelia, drone folk, and psych-folk. But you can get intoxicated on guitar strums and halo-like washes within and around it. In true, experimental folk seems to be their most but not just only realm to get steps into it. At times it reminds of the trance rock incantations by wizards like Jason Pierce (Spacemen 3; Spiritualized) and Peter Kember aka Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3; Experimental Audio Research; Spectrum) or warblely exorcized indie folk songs a la Animal Collective or contemplative drone folk groups like Children Of The Drone, and Natural Snow Buildings. In a nutshell, this is a highly synergic set of 12 tracks and it can be considered a manifesto for beauty in music and universally either. One of the best albums during 2011 so far - by this shamelessly underrated group.

F.S.Blumm/Lucrecia Dalt – Cuatro Covers (2011)

La bèl

9.3

/Folktronica, Cowbell indie, Avant-folk, Krautrock, Experimental folk, Chamber folk, Dream folk/

Comment: This collaborative act between F.S Blumm and Lucrecia Dalt is just more than mesmerizing - it is quite hard to search for a more proper sentence to describe the result. One`s can detect for elaborated guitar chords, semi-tones and fully fragmented light, adjacent to the organic electronic imprecation which is brought forth through repetitive loops (moreover, acquiring even krautrock-ish characteristics at times) and gently rising progressions, all of that reaching out from the subtle glockenspiel touches to noiseful guitar explorations, from quasi-orchestrated developments to drowsy fingerpicked magic. In a nutshell, a subsequent folk-related instance under the La bèl label.

Fescal - Into The Atmosphere (2011)

Test Tube
Lastfm

9.5

/Drone, Minimalism, Avant-garde, Dark ambient, Epic, Microtonal, Sound art, Soundscapes/

Comment: Fescal, a UK-born but now in the South Korea residing musician provides an astonishing set of 5 tracks relied on the profound explorations of droning soundscapes. Indeed, it is quite hard to realize out where reality could be distinguished from possible fictive vistas. As Fescal`s brand used to be to date, all is enveloped with a tight mass of tape hisses, making all the content ring out really subtle and organic. If to try to convert the recent impression into rock music and to find out the equivalent for it, however, it might be considered dream pop, for instance. In any cases, such kind of dreamscapes cannot be transcended upon the frames of time and space. It is rather a kind of mental level, though.

Mobyl - The Pact EP (2011)

17 Sons
Jamendo
Lastfm

8.5

/Minimal techno, Tech-house, Avant-techno, Experimental techno, Bubblegum techno/

Comment: As we know very well one of the intentions by the French-based label 17 Sons used to be releasing catchy techno music among other genres. However, I really get involved in listening to this 4-track EP, which is a crossroad of Autechre-like intellectual techno (dynamic breaks seem to be a bit corroded and angular) and bubblegum-mish yo-yo-tech-house appearances. There can be perceived for propulsive up-and-down filtered cadences, drilling machine-like grooves, swelling-squealing sonic effects. Less is more - this would be a motto of the issue. It almost sounds like someone`s life observed through the spectrum of a stroboscope.