Glory Bound - This Too Will Fade (2011)

Death To False Hope

8.4

/Pop rock, Hard rock/

Comment: this set of 4 tracks sets up an issue of pop rock which used to run on clear-cut song structures based on quasi angry, shouting vocal lines and secure heavy guitar propulsions. Though the tradition of such kind of music is being widely practised and quite predictable the result is well accomplished. It can be compared with the likes who have had huge commercial success over the years (Bon Jovi, for instance). 

Dictaphonia Microcassette Compilation Volume 1 (2009)

Bandcamp

9.2

/Avant-garde, DIY, Abstract electronica, Compilation, Experimentalism, Noise, Experimental electronica, Psycho-acoustic, Electro-acoustic, Acousmatics, Non music/ 

Comment: this compilation consists of 25 tracks each of them is produced by different artists (the most of them originate from USA, and a pair of artists come from Canada). The most well-known representatives presented over there are probably Big City Orchestra, and Hal McGee. All these relatively short-running pieces are genuinely experimental ones, setting up a blend of concrete sounds, frantic acousmatic visions, homemade low-end frequencies, noise-infiltrated endeavours and so on. However, the listener can perceive different accents, sometimes being more spotted upon analogue synth-relied effects, at times being more noiseful incantations or glass bead games-centered electro/psycho-acoustic outlets. Frequently you can catch yourself from thinking it is like a way of how early electronic music would chime once upon a time. In a word, this is mandatory for every meloman who likes to discover the boundaries of the sound.    

*** - Soul Tide (2008)

Rack & Ruin

9.3

/Alt-folk, Indie folk, New Weird America, Experimental folk, Folk indie, Psychedelic folk/ 

Comment: *** was a combo from Michigan, USA who had composed subtle alt-folk music in the end of the 00s. This issue was their sole effort under this name including 11 tracks full of chiming, soulful harmonies, fanciful vocal endeavours and intriguing, electronically shaped instrument-based voyages. Thereby the album searches for the balanced, organic shift between the old tradition of Americana and more contemporary moulds regading the New Weird America movement. At first the trio (Chad Golda, Dylan Rogers, Mike McConeghy) was being known as Ringo Star, though, ultimately they changed their name to starstarstar, however, issuing an album called Electric Goose and The Nylon Moose, one of the hidden gems of the 00s. In addition to it, I recommend to listen to Chad Golda`s solo efforts. These ones are really worth to give them a try.       

The Peach Tree - Children of Cain, Night​-​Loving Creatures, Prepare Thyselves for 2012 (2011)

 

Bandcamp

Lastfm

8.8

/Neofolk, Neoclassical, Crossover, Dark folk, Singer-songwriter, Electronic pop, Goth synth/ 

Comment: the Melbourne-based prolific singer-songwriter Angus Maiden takes mainly on dark folk-inspired guitar chords and electronic manipulations or occasionally mixes up both of them with each other. More profoundly, his soundscapes used to base on essentially heavy punching adorned with synthetic undercurrents, commonly feelingless singing and saturnine goth rhythms and abrasive guitar arrangements. 

No Monster Club - Sleigh Decibels Volume One (2011)

Bandcamp

8.9

/Alternative rock, Fuzz pop, Indie pop/

Comment: this set of 4 tracks seems to be closely related to the Christmas, though, being offered in a quite unusual format. Bobby Aherne (who was previously known as Dublin Duck Dispensary) rocks off with the washes of cellophanic guitar dust and tumultuous twangs. Elegant and catchy by any means.

Abstract Nostalgic Fractals Systems - The Inner Peace (2012)

Enough

Bandcamp

Lastfm 

9.3

/Dub-tech, Ambient dub, Crossover, Experimental electronica, Tech-dub, Deep house/

Comment: this 8-track album is an lofty amalgamation of trippy space disco/house/techno rhythms, panoramic ambient-esque organicness, and highly suggestive dub vibes, more concretely, resorting freely a huge array of frequencies and fractals. In a word, feel how the bounce comes down.

Coro Anthèa & Renzo Vigagni - Cum novo cantico (2011)

Parafonica

9.0 

/Conceptual, Gregorian, Ethereal pop/

Comment: these 11 tracks function here to be a sort of holy, blissed-out songs made up of the high-register female vocals and the whiffs of a cathedral organ which in turn used to veer away silentful, almost inaudible and quite powerful outbursts on the other side. While the Gregorian chants are mainly associated with the singing of men this album can be considered an example of the counterpoint of it. Fragile and intact indeed.

[Teaser of the day] Sean Archibald - Sniping for Wallies

Archive

Beats of Rage - Beats of Rage (2010)

Bandcamp
Lastfm 

9.0

/Digital hardcore, 8-bit, Tracker music, Crossover, Electro punk, Electroclash, Riot Grrrl, Alternative/  

Comment: firstly, you can be sure this 3-piece collective from UK deserve its name. It is built upon different compulsions which used to extend from harsh electro appearances and sharp 8-bit/tracker music-infiltrated dodges to more punk-exorcized and even noiseful, more abstract, warped glimpses. Moreover, over all these abrasive constituents are laid the layers of angry, screaming female voice. I guess Malcolm McLaren would have loved it.      

Marissa Nadler - Epitonic saki Session (2011)

Epitonic

9.6

/Dream folk, Alt-folk, Singer-songwriter, Indie folk, Folk indie, Live session, New Weird America/

Comment: this set of 7 tracks is an amazing live session by Marissa Nadler whose profoundly dreamy yet somehow powerful reverberations backed up by lone, clear-cut string chords do immerse the listener in fill. Her aesthetics reminds a little bit of Vashti Bunyan if to hint at her precursors.