2/02/2012
Elite Gymnastics - Real Friends (2010)
/Poptronica, Experimental indie, Post-psychedelic electronica, Alternative dance, Indie dance, Electronic pop, Leftfield, Alternative pop/
Comment: Elite Gymnastics is an arty, intellectual indie combo which used to take a whack at a thread of diverse styles and getting inspiration from different slots. More concretely, it is a bass, rhythm-driven, highly dance-appealed urban indie outlet. Because of having surfaced lots of intriguing minutiae fused in the middle of bouncy cadences the album can be considered enthralling in its stylistical dirtiness reminding of such groups as MGMT, Yeasayer, Gang Gang Dance, Southern Shores. In a nutshell, they used to fly high as the title of one of the songs suggests.
Death By Snoo Snoo - Death By Snoo Snoo (2011)
Creative Class War
Lastfm
9.3
/Alternative rock, Punk rock, Post-punk/
Lastfm
9.3
/Alternative rock, Punk rock, Post-punk/
Comment: let´s continue reviewing Finnish music, this time from a little bit different corner and point of view. Death By Snoo Snoo chimes and shrieks like the sort of perfect punk music because it is essentially aggressive, cynical and poignant and triumphant. The combo which is led by the frontwoman used to offer tracks like Care Bear, Cat Song, Ethanol, Solar Wind, and The Beast. The average length of tracks is just one minute - as short-running as genuine punk music should be on its own. Additionally to thudding bass lines and blatant voice parts you can detect that the notches are a titmes variegated with unexpected minutiae of other instruments (synths? melodica?) than strings only. And it makes sense!
Kuupuu - Spring High Spiritual Spree Spray Ray (2010)
FMA
9.6
9.6
/Forest Folk, Sound art, Psych-folk, Avant-garde, Krautrock, Avant-folk, New Weird Finland, New Weird Europe, Abstract electronica, Musique concrète, Acousmatics, Experimentalism, Free folk, Improvised music/
Comment: Jonna Karanka aka Kuupuu is one of those obscure Finnish artists who often is being tagged as "Forest folk", "New Weird Finland", the most powerful and radical folk movement worldwide (by the way, I think Paavoharju`s Laulu Laakson Kukista (2008, Fonal) was the most eminent release in the 00`s. Absolutely captivating, otherworldly music). More profoundly, this is a sort of folk which comes together with the definition of folk in very indirect way. With Islaja, and Lau Lau, however, Karanka represents the movement`s female point of view. There are represented 6 tracks which are made up of a minimalistic, repetition-heavy approach of improvised music fringed with tight concrete sounds. At times Karanka`s sound used to be more mathematics than music because all these patterns and progressions are subordinated to algorithms. Or it is more sound-art than general sort of song structured music reminding of the experiments by early krautrockers (Conrad Schnitzler, for instance). The release will be ended up by a lush vista of mellow running krautrock undertaking. Superb!
2/01/2012
Nice Wings, Icarus! - Aurora (2011)
/Post-metal, Post-rock, Classical, Symphonic metal, Progressive rock, Crossover, Experimental rock/
Comment: while this 4-piece publication starts out with the math and progressive rock-soaked progression later it will be leaped into a more conventional chamber rock/progressive rock cubbyhole. However, the result by the Kiev, Ukraine-based trio is decent and elegant - those classical music-induced layers are profoundly laced with more murky, abrasive guitar works, which sometimes result in silentful introspections, at times get involved in very dizzy appearances (the finishing notch Haunted House, for instance). Their progressions used to originate not only from within the compartment of post-rock and classical music but also roaming on symphonic and post-metal territories thus allowing itself to be compared with the likes of Esmerine, The Butcher`s Ballroom, Our Subatomic Earth, Metsu.
1/31/2012
Craig Chordman - Scenes (2011)
Jamendo
9.4
9.4
/Glo-fi, Alternative, Leftfield, Chillwave, Poptronica, Chill out, Instrumental, Experimental indie/
Comment: The Englishman Craig Chordman has issued a lot of singles at Jamendo over time, yet, now it is time to gather them into one, 9-track album. And the result is truly mesmerizing by any means (by the side of harmonies and melodies, by its structural approach, by its sensible balance between experimentalism and conventionalism - if you wish you can tag CC`s music as "retrofuturistic", "retrodelic"). The miscellany starts its way with blissed-out Beacon of Dreams, which is followed by more catchy, hook-throwing synth propulsions, elusive harmonic and melodic turns and repetitive guitar patterns and riffs. It might be the most surprising leap comes out at Emergence which is obviously an dedication for Ian Curtis and his evergreen Love Will Tear Us Apart. Generally, you can admit that chillwave/glo-fi music meets exotica pop thereby reminding a little bit of Monster Rally, a project from USA. Indeed, the release is thought for your soul and for your body. This album includes much more words than the language used to do.
A Problem Like Maria - Radio Wire Empire Solves A Problem Like Maria (2011)
/Alternative pop, Twee pop, Indie pop, Art pop, Baroque pop, Experimental indie, Tropicalia pop/
Comment: a handful of captivating, sonorous indie/alternative pop songs are represented here which are embellished with an array of diverse influences drawn from left and right, from the centre and periphery. These influences do not originate only from within the Western indie scenes (twee, southern rock, baroque pop, art pop, dream pop) but also from Brazil (for instance, at No Me Hagas Daño you can detect the templates of tropicalia pop a la Os Mutantes). Female vocal layers are set in a way to be in front of mellow guitar fingerpicking, sensitive glockenspiel chords, woodwind developments, some studio effects. For instance, listen particularly to the opening single Sea Legs which is enthralling and sexy simultaneously. Within it and more generally relative to the EP Maria C. R is assisted by Matthew R (from Radio Wire Empire). In a word - grrreeat!!!
Somepling - Properly Packed (2012)
/Sampledelic, Nu jazz, Sound collage, Cut and paste, Urban sound, Instrumental hip-hop, Trip-hop/
Comment: upbeat and sunshiny harmonies, cinematic floatation, suggestive sampledelic formations all of that is excited with instrumental hip-hop and trip-hop and nu jazz-mixed rhythms. Such sort of music is being produced very much today, yet, the issue of 11 short-running notches goes across the borders of this sample-based genre. Additionally, I recommend listen to the likes of Blossom, Rimar, Anitek, Juj, htrspltn. Let`s call them the representatives of nowadays muzak.
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