Guillotine Hairshaver – Miloque Kloque (2011)

Elegirl

9.0

/IDM, Experimental electronica, Primitronica, Glo-fi, DIY, Lo-fi, Ambient techno/

Comment: Another spectacular cake on the Japanese Elegirl Records. You can call it as experimental IDM, or a new sort of electronic approach, however, it prickles and tingles relentlessly, constituting the lopsided, at times clumsy patterns and sublime bows based on spherical layers and throbbing undercurrents. It obviously draws inspiration from the nowadays lo-fi/DIY/glo-fi aesthetics and a sort of easy listening and electronic music created many decades ago (you can perceive some similarities with Silver Apples, and even Suicide, for instance). Indeed, it outpaces the possible calculations and patterns of common electronic music writing.

GNs Compilation - Break Asymmetry (2011)

*export

9.3

/Trip-hop, Hip-hop, Sampledelic, Cinematic, Chilltronica, Downtempo, Urban music/

Comment: this is a great compilation of 17 tracks taking on in the vein of cinematic downtempo and gritty trip-hop, unconventional/experimental hip-hop, tricky nu jazz, exciting chilltronica (and apparently much more else), all of that made up through impressive colourful scopes (ancient/retrodelic samples, slowed down rhythms). Here are represented such artists as Quantifier, Maed, Ears, Nienvox, JazzClams, Thallus, B.R.O, Bandfx, Printempo, Crookram, Danny Bow, Niteffect, and Lupid Ocampo. It suits very well to be a part of the upcoming autumn.

Electric Rainbow - Good Morning To The World (2011)

Jamendo

8.5

/Alternative pop/rock/

Comment: Good Morning To The World is dedicated to those (mostly young) Spanish people who did dare to protest against the huge unemployment rate in their country and stand up for their civic rights, just sitting on the ground, yet, who where attacked by the police. All that happened in May, 2011. However, here are represented 10 solid pop rock tracks, thoughtful and calculated.

Lee Rosevere - Son Of Tegwar

Jim Guittard - Buried Underneath the American Dream

Sky Technology & Nova Fractal – Versus (2011)

Ektoplazm

8.8

/Trance, Psychedelic electronica, Psyambient, Psytrance, Crossover, Remixes/

Comment: Dmitriy Kolosovskiy aka Sky Technology meets and mixes Nova Fractal (Renato Brnić), and the way round. The second track Dark Energy is made in liaison, and seems to be the best result there. All the sound goes on at the crossroad of psychedelia, trance, ambient, and outer space undercurrents. Actually this split/collaborative issue is a grower, more concretely, with each listening time you are allowed to discover more segments and magic from within.

Kluge - Grazuole (2009/2011)

Pocket Fields

Bandcamp

9.6

/Dark ambient, Minimalism, Noise, Musique concrète, Field recordings, Experimentalism, Ambient noise, Ambient drone, Drone/

Comment: No doubt, St Peterburg, Russia-based Kluge is one of the most eminent noiseniks/drone musicians through its very impressive fringe area developments and crushing accents nowadays (inspite of being not celebrated yet). Here is one, 40-minute issue (at Bandcamp it is divided into 2 compositions, though) which functions to get evolved into dark ambient patterns at times, into persuasive minimalism sometimes. Mostly all of that strives to conjure up an elusive, delicate pathway between drone and noise. Moreover, he/she uses a cogent practice, more concretely, mixing up artificial knittings with organic soundscapes. (By the way, using non-musical artifacts to make up soundscapes).

Jason Corder - Microcosmos (2004)

Thinner

9.4

/Dub house, Fusion, Electro house, Bubblegum house, Tech-house, Deep house, Cinematic/

Comment: First of all, it is an excellent album for your body and soul, for your lower part and for your upper part by a guy from Lexington, Kentucky who is also known by his dense ambient soundscapes. Actually I don`t have idea why it seems to me that old house music issues will be improving during time course. It veers from slightly neurotic electro house and stuttering tech progressions to bouncing bubblegum disco(theque), from cinematic dance fusion to such numbers having its shift into depth and paying its tribute to dub. This 10-track album was issued on the legendary Thinner label in 2004. Obligatory for sure!

Suzie Zuzek - Oh It`s a pity

Personal Finance - Chump Change (2011)

Bandcamp

9.3

/Psychedelic rock, Art rock, Alternative pop/rock, Funk rock, Blues, Dance rock, Crossover/

Comment: This 5-track issue is not chump at all. The quintet comes out from Boston, Massachussets, offering a way of how solid rock music should be presented for. However, the issue is a highly loaded set of groove-ish art pop and psychedelic pop overthrows, at times reminiscent of The Nits (the first track Pigs On The Prowl especially), Talking Heads, and even The Fall every now and then. Yet, the album is far away from being a cheap rip-off on its own. More detailly, I very like Patrick Orr`s bigheaded vocal manner, bumping guitar gears, and organ-driven acidity. The last track Japan is a sublime flirtation with blues rock.