Natural Snow Buildings - Solar Flares

Anastasia Vronski - The Kursk (2011)

Electro Rucini

9.2

/Noise, Drone, Lobit, Experimentalism, Conceptual, Found sounds, Electro-acoustic, Acousmatic/

Comment: The Kursk was in a modern way designed Russian submarine which drowned (or was drowned - at least it was claimed in one French documentary film seen years ago) in 2000. Anastasia Vronski used an analogue synth and underwater microphone recordings to create an illusion of the sounds heard by the sailors who perished in the wreck. The soundscape of this 29 minute track is rough and jagged, dense and abrasive. Inspite of being morally ambivalent conceptually, however, the goal is reached perfectly on its sonic side.

Grids/Units/Planes - Her Sound Became my Prayer (2011)

No-Source
Lastfm

8.7

/Post-rock, Shoegazetronica, Electronic, Crossover, Epic, Indie, Emotive electronica/

Comment: While this 5-pieced issue embarks on with a depressive description regarding a woman talking about her child and pain and frustration, it manages to get soon transmitted into a flourishing towering consisting of the elements of shoegazing, post-rock, and chill electronica. There can be drawn parallels upon such kindred souls as M83, Dykehouse, Super Random Knowldege Porridge. Behind Grids/Units/Planes is Andrew Foley, a musician from Brisbane, Australia.

Psychic Enemies Network - P.E.N (1998)

Bandcamp
Cdbaby
Pen & Mallet

9.3

/Post-rock, Ambient, Experimental rock, Epic, Avant-rock, Electro-acoustic, Sampledelic, Crossover, Experimentalism, Ambient rock, New Age, Improvised music/

Comment: This album is a monster. Firstly, its duration is about 90 minutes, on the other hand it veers from vibraphone and xylophone-driven post-rock (a la Mercury Program, and The Dylan Group) and sonic effect-loaded experimentalism to murky ambient patterns and bouncy, cinematic improvisations. More concretely, some chords and snippets are speeded up/slowed down/stretched out, there can be detected for reversed guitars and vocals, witty warped samples) Yet, all of that is somehow zipped through the distorting mirror. In Its Streets offers an unsettling yet highly epic storytelling covered with metallic grit (reminiscent a little of GY!BE). The last track is a remix of In Its Streets by aboombong aka Icastico, an unsung legend, who has been involved in numerous experimental music acts during the last 3 decades (visit the Pen & Mallet site/blog curated by him). In a nutshell, this 13-track album is a hidden and undiscovered yet distinguished chapter in the history of pop music.

Delayscape - Moments, Men and Places EP (2011)

Elpa

8.7

/Electronic pop, Downtempo, Chill out, IDM, Chilltronica/

Comment: Delayscape is an experienced, profilic musician from Copenhagen, Denmark having been involved in industrial and electronic music scenes since the first half of 90`s. He used to exploit hardware devices only to conjure up lush analogue sound on its own. Picturesque, harmony-relied progressions and elliptically shaped synthetic chord progressions are up here to provide a loads of variegating backdrops for soothing electronica and billowy downtempo. Indeed, the issue can be considered an instance of chilltronica either.

Mihkel Kleis - Muusika Lylian Meisteri näitusele 1001 (2008)

HOMSIS
Mediafire

8.8

/Progressive rock, Conceptual, Musique concrète, Improvised music, Experimental rock, Fusion/

Comment: Mihkel Kleis was formerly known as the leader of Estonian prog rock combo Luarvik Luarvik (a chara taken out from the brothers Strugatsky`s Dead Mountaineer Hotel) and nowadays improvisational noise/lo-fi/black metal-tinged project EDASI (which line-ups are permanently changeable for every night - similarly to Damo Suzuki`s Network). Muusika Lylian Meisteri näitusele 1001 is the soundtrack for his art school faculty member Lylian Meister`s exhibition, called in 2008. Here are 6 compositions inspired and made up by horror films, 70`s Italian prog rock music, Edward Elgar, and H.P Lovecraft. Besides the main knitting of soft/hard-cored prog vistas and treacherous miasmahs around it he uses concrete sounds, fusion-like reverberations, samples, acute sonic effects and vowel experiments at times. Or just adding an amusing, uplifting composition to finish off the album in a positive pitch - burn the witch, burn the witch. Burn it out, then.

Richard There - Everyday

sanmi - schizophrenic glitched girl (2011)

Elegirl

9.1

/Toytronica, IDM, Glitchtronica, Microtonal, Organic electronica, Minimal, Experimental electronica/

Comment: this is a lovely project by a lovely recording label from Japan, called Elegirl. Sanmi is an unit started out in 1998. Kyo Sanagi provides a 6-track issue of more or less restraint glitch electronica, i.e undulantly dinging and chiming (at times embraced by sublime noisy hiss washes) or a bit nervously fluttering right and left, respectively. Inspite of its dominantly austere construction it used to evoke a loads of beatific senses and nostalgic memories as if popped out from the very early childhood. It rings out as if Steve Reich`s sonic principles (especially related to Drumming) were thought for to perform them with the help of austere electronic devices and circuit bends. Less is more for sure.

Casket Sludge - The Contents Within Permeate With Necrotic Reek (2011)

Torn Flesh

9.0

/Goregrind, Brutal metal, Avant-metal, Experimental metal, Non music/

Comment: Do you know where can be drawn the distinct frontier between the areas of goregrind and grindcore? Indeed, along the realm, out from where awful kinds of objects begin to surface (excrements, sexual perversity, vomit, necrophilia, brain tumors, schizophrenia, visceral entities etc). (Be very careful if you are intended to check out the sleeves of albums issued on Popsakal, for instance). Goregrind is previously the most banished stylistical lot with enormous brutality and showed up with distorted outlook. Obviously in the former Soviet Union such guys would have been imprisoned in psychiatric hospitals to be cured for (along with political dissidents, by the way). Indeed, mental illnesses and social deflexions are the productions of society (directly and indirectly - depending on the definitions of sanity by certain societies). On the other side, life is a vast theatrical stage where role plays begin to appear. First of all, I like those spectacular prototypes and instruments appeared in Casket Sludge - Moe "Spermblaster" Lest(h)er -pukes & growl - gurgling formaldehyde phlegm throat; Mr. Gorecyst - torso ripping string shreds; Cacophallus - digital pummelling of rotten flesh. If you want to get more involved in absurdity then erstwhile explore the titles of songs and album coverprint. The business as usual - at the first sight there is huge entropy everywhere, i.e through zombie-like moaning and destructive noodling, yet, which have managed to ascend to the organized level of composition ultimately. It always works out.

Spherical Minds - Transpheres (2011)

Archive.org
Lastfm

9.3

/Post-rock, Dub, Chamber rock, Epic, Ambient, Crossover, Avant-rock, Classical, Organic electronica, Minimal/

Comment: Honestly, I don`t have any reprimand against the third album of this French quartet (Paul Chantereau - bass & fxs; Valentin Chantereau - piano & keys; Mathieu Maestracci - guitars & other instruments; Clement Vullion- drums), which used to mix up epic post-rock pannels with chamber/classical music, profound ambient experiments, shamanic incantations, medieval etherealness, dub, and ruffled electronica/glitch inbetween it. While the frenchmens` sound is arguably influenced by such composers and artists as Steve Reich, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Kai Saariaho, Igor Stravinski, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, High Tone, Ez3kiel etc, they used to bring forth an idiosyncratic result on its own - however, for everyone is there something about to record for him/herself. The favorite of mine is Kokkola Transition where female singing in Finnish is whimsically reversed, backed up with acidic electronic, dub, and massive rock forays.