Gutta Percha - A Crawlspace Companion (2011)

Test Tube
Lastfm

9.6

/Ambient, Avant-garde, Sound art, Hauntology, Organic electronica, Dark ambient, Experimentalism, Noir, Musique concrète, Weird pop/

Comment: A Crawlspace Companion is the sophomore effort by the brothers Hibbett from Illinois, USA The 5-pieced set rings out as if an indicative approach of ambient music on getting aware of itself. However, it subsequently gets conscious of itself. It offers up warm yet haunting arcs of soundscapes being synergized with the samples from the scenes of ancient music and dark-hued orchestrated pieces. In fact, being adequately accented it evokes lots of memories with no certain addresses and hints at, however, reminding of the genuine works by James Kirby aka Caretaker. Just great.

Light In Your Life - Christian

Tunguska Electronic Music Society - Ellipsis: Tunguska​.​Shaman​.​Vimana (2010)

Tunguska Electronic Society
Jamendo
Bandcamp

9.0

/Ethnic, World music, Big beat, Downtempo, New Age, Ritualistic, Chill out, Psyambient, Chilltronica, Psytrance/

Comment: In fact, the album`s content deserves its name. Tunguska Electronic Society is an intricate conglomerate of a wide array of artists mainly from the Russian Federation who have been active in diverse territories of art and culture (by the way, having their own net of bars and coffees). The collective has completed lots of albums/compilations since 2007 and this release of 14 tracks is one of the most convincing by them so far. It veers from psytrance /ambient and ethnic downtempo to fusion-like pop guitar riffs (EXIT project - Opium) to obscure experiments in the realm of littery electronics and shattering big beat (Jung - Sunrise On Pluton) and shamanic incantations alongside with soothing chill-ish paces. However, you can find out much more else from this miscellany, of course.

Panta Rei - Panta Rei (1973/2011)

Free Music Archive

Golden Pavilion

9.2

/Avant-rock, Fusion, Progressive rock, Classic rock, Experimental rock, Psychedelic rock, Blues, Improvised music/

Comment: The eponymous album by a Swedish septet was firstly issued on the Harvest Records in 1973. Obviously influenced by then-progressive and fusion rock by the side of the Canterbury sound, on the other side, the Swedish combo used to rely on strong blues gears either (by this angle of view it can be compared to Grateful Dead, for instance). The last track The turk - as the title hints at - exploits the Orient-based influences. However, all of that is wrapped up in dynamical improvisations and effortless progressions, however, at times reaching out dizzy heights. Moreover, Panta Rei used to grow during its course and with each following listening time. In a word - classic.

The Picturesque Episodes - Cosmogenesis (2011)

Picturesque Episodes
Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.0

/Post-rock, Experimental rock, Experimental electronica, Epic, Ambient, Organic electronica, Avant-rock/

Comment: Darius Gerulis, a 23-year-old musician from Lithuania, is a truesome and yet quite undiscovered genius on the post-rock realm. If to compare his youth and productivity with his aesthetic preferences, indeed, there can be found lots of similarities to Nic Ross aka gotikplage aka Our Subatomic Earth. It seems that the creating of music is his obsession as he has released approximately a dozen of albums during the last years. Abundantly textured soundscapes - potent ambient skies, organic synthetic-ness, near-abstract introspections, epic growings, exploding guitar massives, and solemn synergy oozing from those numerous layers. However, as unusual to the (classical) post-rock sound a listener can not get tired of it. Awesome. The huge question is how does Gerulis ring out at the stages of music festivals?

Pollux - I Love My Nervous Twitch

WINSTONMCNAMARA - Amore E Iodio (2011)

42 Records/24

8.7

/Alternative pop/rock, Dance rock, Electronic, Psychedelic pop, I-pop/

Comment: Inspite of the Irish/Celtic-entitled project name you can figure out only Italian-sung songs from there. If to crack a joke about this 10-pieced album, however, it can be considered like a set of the alternative version of Eros Ramazzotti`s music produced by the members of Sonic Youth. Yet, beside those shrill guitar somersaults the concept is made up with orchestrated snippets, dance-appealed interludes and synthetically embellished undercurrents. Altogether, it is a sophisticated pop album indeed.

Brian Green - Untitled With Kayla Valerie (2010)

Luv Sound
Luv Sound

9.2

/Chamber music, Avant-garde, Dark ambient, Acousmatics, Darkwave, Noir, Crossover/

Comment: Oh, this is simply mesmerizing. Although consisting only of a short-running track, however, it carries out an impressive dash upon the centre of your cognitive mind. The sound is conjured up with a cello and elaborated-amplified via electronic devices. All in all, it rings out like an irresistible alloy of (neo)classicism and hauntingly pounding ambient.

Dntel - Clelia II (2011)

Basic_sounds

9.4

/Indietronica, Experimentalism, Ambient, Conceptual, Crossover, Avant-garde, Organic electronica, Experimental electronica/

Comment: Obviously the name of Jimmy Tamborello needs no longer introduction for our obdurate melomans. He has been one of the main stalwarts regarding the worldwide organic electronica/indietronica scene at least for the last decade. This release consists of a 30-minute track only wherein diverse layers as the summary result have epic shifts against or parallel to each other. You can detect for some long-running synth drones, organic electro-acoustic overthrows, air-filled found sound, vastly suggestive motives and much more. Indeed, he did it again.

▼□■□■□■ ( Mourning Star ) - The Fall Of The House Of Usher