Kent State - Spahn Ranch EP (2011)

Mediafire
Paranoid Futures
Lastfm
Soundcloud

9.2

/Alternative rock, Shoegaze, Garage rock, Fuzz rock, Experimental indie, DIY, Lo-fi/

Comment: in fact, it was not much time ago when I reviewed Nicholas Vance (with Emma Maatman, and Chris Camden) aka Kent States`s Challenger B/W single. By listening to Vance`s debut issue I can only admit that there is existing the flourishing indie scene (Dan Deacon, Ponytail, Romantic States, Cagey House, Wye Oak amongst others) in Baltimore. Spahn Ranch EP is described as psychedelic death pop at lastfm. Indeed, this cellophane-wrapped guitar fuzz is obviously influenced by the aesthetics of garage pop, Sonic Youth, and Slumberland-bound volatile guitar pop. By the kindred souls I recommend to listen to Andy`s Airport Of Love, and the Procedure Club.

My Silver Booster - 41 (2011)

Paragrafo

8.7

/Experimentalism, Avant-garde, Noise, Improvised music, Experimental rock, Primitronica, Psychedelia/

Comment: just one, 42-minute improvised free form notch. It comes from Italy and its appearance is quite freaked out thanks to its slowly toiling and roughly resonating guitar work which is permanently undermined by unpolished, bumpily billowy electronica and greige sonic effects. The issue is released on the Italian avant-garde/experimental label Paragrafo Records, however, you should listen to other ensembles (analognoisemonster, due samoani, awaycaboose and some artists as much again) under it too.

Lorelle Meets The Obsolete - Waitin' For The Orange Sunshine

Lorelle Meets The Obsolete - Waitin' For The Orange Sunshine (live at Mentira Mentira's place) from LMTO on Vimeo.

Metsu - As The Earth Drinks (2011)

Metsu
Bandcamp

9.1

/Post-metal, Crossover, Avant-metal, Sludge, Post-rock, Experimental rock, Math metal, Drone metal/

Comment: As The Earth Drinks is a debut album by a trio from Toronto, Ontario, Canada providing a diverse set of skewed metal/post-metal music which used to incorporate the elements of screamo, sludge, math and drone rock. Indeed, throughout the course it used to run in a way to be described as slowly punching and dilating, yet, only sometimes showing its more mellow and calming side.

Nheap - Clouds Under The Table (2011)

Acustronica
Lastfm

9.0

/Post-rock, Organic electronica, Experimental rock, Art rock, Instrumental rock, Fusion, Jazz/

Comment: I can only agree with the statement that creative music can also be warm, for instance, if to regard Massimo Discepoli`s 8-piece brand new one. More profoundly, you can mention that it is a lofty trudge alongside the shores of vibraphone-drenched and emphasized live drum-driven post-rock, and electric piano-dominated intimate jazz (and even imbued with fusion) progressions having lots of similarities with such groups as The Dylan Group, and Tortoise, and on the other side you can detect for the influence by Steve Reich`s Drumming, for instance. Moreover, Discepoli`s project does have a strong retrodelic touch within itself.

Tree, Bosier - Hometown EP (2011)

Subwise

8.9

/Nu jazz, Chilltronica, Trip-hop, Downtempo, Psychedelic, Mood music, Post-rock, Downbeat, Cinematic, Crossover, Dub/

Comment: this is a picturesque output consisting mainly of sunshine-filled chill out-ish electronica, trip-hop drops, dub vibrations, and cinematic (nu-) jazz and at times deep, longing motifs. By the way, before it this Russian-based artist had released an album, called as Motion Picture Soundtrack (2010, Mimonot). However, the second track Seconds Before Awakening (feat. Futuredub) displays even the grits of post-rock-visaged guitar waves and oriental flute whiffs.

Ulf Staflund - Sanctuary

Little Jungles - Wuts Goin Thru Yer Head (2011)

Bandcamp

9.3

/Bedroom pop, Chillwave, Glo-fi, Shoegazetronica, Poptronica, Psychedelic pop, Tropical pop, Experimental indie, Lo-fi/

Comment: before you are going to chart the best albums of 2011 I recommend to listen to this 9-track one. Little Jungles comes from Canada offering up a lofty merge of glo-fi/chillwave pop and more traditional indie pop/shoegazing/psychedelia/indie dance. More concretely, all the excellence is made up with the help of chiming vocals, fuzzy guitars, sun-drenched keys, and dance-appealed rhythms. Here you can meet a bunch of eargasmic numbers. For instance, let`s take 1000 Cigarettes, which is a heartbreaking vision of bedroom pop ballad, or Winter Was Warmer, a folkgaze-ish ditty, where MBV meets Belle & Sebastian in its own way. Beside the abovementioned names you can see the traces by Silver Apples, Animal Collective, The Papertiger Sound, and Eureka Brown either.

Sarwari - Transit (2011)

Bakery Allstars inc

9.2

/Alt-folk, Electro pop, Experimental indie, Singer-songwriter, Crossover/

Comment: crunchy electro meets calm folk meets lush, saccharine underground-influenced singer-songwriter-ism a la Lee Hazlewood. Enthralling harmonica solos and half-orchestrated bits are set above a galvanized hotchpot. These 3 tracks used to ooze elegance and have touch with a big initial letter. A truly idiosyncratic one indeed.

SLZR - Demon Lain (2011)

Estàndar
Indian Gold
Free Music Archive
Mediafire

9.3

/Avant-rock, Experimental rock, Psych-rock, Psychedelia, Dance rock, Electro rock, Krautrock/

Comment: heck, noisy yet propulsive psychedelia runs through the hirsute tunnels and around the hispid corners of electro rock. The trialogue between tempered guitars, motorik drums and acidic synths do make impact on the listener. Moreover, it is loaded with a shitloads of shooting sonic effects and obsessive repetition in the meantime. By the way, no surprising, this set of 3 tracks is an instance of instrumental rock. However, there can be detected for the influences of Silver Apples, Acid Mother Temple, and Clinic. And of course, such freneticsoundscape can only be inherited from Mexico (or otherwise from Japan).