Pillars & Tongues - Epitonic saki Session (2011)

Epitonic

9.4

/Slowcore, Drone pop, Alternative, Americana, Live session, Avant-pop, Experimental indie, Psychedelic pop, Ethereal pop/ 

Comment: this set of 4 tracks does build on a highly enjoyable live session for a fascinating music site, entitled Epitonic. However, Pillars & Tongues` soundscape consists of soothing drone undercurrents, dreamy pronounced singing and soulful vowel effects and loosely throbbing rhythms below the two firstly named constituents above. The last track (which will be finished off at the length of 16 minutes) seems to be biased more toward improvised elements, i.e fusing the elements of buzzing minimalism, slight Americana-related touch and expressive ethereal pop, a subtle batch which in the last section evolves into man and woman mixed vowel experiments involving both shamanic and hypnagogic elements.

Son Of A Bricklayer - Shades Of Grey (2008)

Ground Floor

9.4

/Techno, Trip-hop, Downtempo, Experimental electronica, Cinematic/

Comment: This 11-track album is a good instance of how mesmerizing, dance-appealed rhythms should be interlaced with more affective facets of pop-laden electronica or on the other side providing more thoughtful but vigorous trip-hop/downtempo clatter. More profoundly, the listener can detect elusive, cinematic samples as if being a humble witness for the mesmeric motion of clouds above his/her head; now and then it involves silentful smoky reverberations and hazy, though at times murky contemplations abundant with repetitive chords and suggestive harmonies behind it. In a word, it is blissed-out and spaced-out at the same time. This is a great classic by any intentions.

Violeta Päivänkakkara - Kuu (2012)

La Gramola

FMA

Bandcamp 

9.5

/Forest folk, New Weird Finland, New Weird Europe, Weird folk, Free folk, Singer-songwriter, Organic electronica, Alt-folk, Experimental folk/

Comment: VP is a Finnish artist whose music to this album can be considered a part of the famous Finnish forest folk scene. The listener can be sure an intriguing example related to the genre is played craftily out. She provides a handful of addictive, bucolic tracks which are arranged with the assistance of searching, harmony-coated clambering guitar chords, glockenspiel-alike touches, some slightly bleak keyboard lines, microscopic noises and more or less whispering vocal lines, however all of that is accompanied with concrete sounds and thin air plateaus surrounding it at any corner. Furthermore, possible "faults" which might be found out from within the whole seem to be so affective, organic and concept-related thereby demonstating themselves like the strength on it. By kindred souls there can be drawn parallels upon the likes of Paavoharju, and Keijo (Virtanen), Lau Nau and Islaja. Simply glorious.

Jason "EVIL" Covelli - The Sick And The Psychotic (2010)

 Trashfuck Net 

8.8 

/Spoken word, Conceptual, Avant-garde, Psycho-acoustic, Experimental, Non-music/

Comment: indeed, Jason "Evil" Covelli spells out what does it mean being sick and psychotic, talking of abjection of the existence of a human being and criticizing the appearances in social life. How could we be normal and adequate at all in such societies we are living in at the moment? His speech is essentially impassioned and accentuated. There are presented a pair of monologues, especially the first part stands in the middle of the release because it lasts for a little longer than one hour. So the listener could add the release to the folder of the existentialism or psychology-related topics. So consume this fucking piece of freedom!

Reverend big O - When There Is Only Light To Believe In/Hope For (2012)

23 Seconds
Lastfm 

9.2

/Post-rock, Epic, Experimental rock, Dream pop, Alternative rock, Electronic pop, Kosmische Musik/ 

Comment: the collective comprises Nicklas Nilsson, Jörgen Dahlqvist, Marcus Råberg, Henrik Palmberg, and Lukas Råberg. Before issuing on 23 Seconds they had been releasing music for A West Fabrication. However, the particular set is made up of both bombastic and dreamy pathos oozing out and thereafter ascending higher from the compositions based on the monumental moments of gleaming guitar works and epic drum sequences and lofty keyboard washes. The notches where the power of guitars is abandoned gradually and instead of it synthesizers and treated snippets began to prevail the collective`s music approaches a little to the aesthetics of some representatives of the 1970`s German Kosmische Musik. By contemporary artists there can be drawn parallels upon the likes of God Is An Astronaut, for instance. Moreover, such kind of music can be tagged as an instance of today`s progressive rock.

さいごのくに - 黒傘のame (2011)

Bunkai-Kei

8.8

/J-pop, Alternative, Shibuya-kei, Electronic pop, Ethereal pop/

Comment: this set of three compositions (consisting of the original track and a pair of remixes for it) is a case to showcase the ethearalness of J-pop filled with atmospherical voices and vowel effects, and lone guitar chords which in turn are backed up by intriguing elements - for instance, depending on certain tracks there are available such details as seductive glockenspiel works, the noises of radio waves and programmed propulsive chunks.

[Teaser of the day] The Hirundu - Straw Tracker

The Retuses - Lasdehnen

dadub - ∆ (2011)

Mime

9.4

/Dub, Ambient, Ambient dub, Crossover, Dubstep, Soundscapes/

Comment: this 3-track issue produced by Daniele Antezza and Giovanni Conti consists of lengthy progressions at the length of 7-8 minutes where very wide panoramas grow out to bemixed up with catchy but a little bit haunting dub oscillations, however, thus constituting a mesmerizing outlet full of gliding charm and magic dust. The last track remixed by Arogalla sounds like a tribute to a melodica and dub wizard, Augustus Pablo (by the way, yesterday I was listening to an album, called Vanishing Point (1997), the favourite of mine regarding the production of Scottish acid rockers Primal Scream at which the Jamaican musician was also participant once. And kudos to Bobby Gillespie who besides making great music also fights for right subjects in the world). In a word, it is like the flight of the bluebird whom you are not able to catch.

Youth Camp - /​/​-​/​/ (2012)

Bandcamp
Lastfm 

9.0

/Ambient, Minimal, Drone, Experimental electronica, Ambient dub, Experimental rock, Ambient rock, Post-rock/

Comment: this handful of tracks created by the yankee James Harris`one-man project starts off with a little bit unpleasant, tightly abrasive pulsating noises (there can be drawn parallels upon the works of the likes of Konrad Schnitzler, and Manuel Göttsching, for example) which later will be softened, however, turning sometime into pronounced guitar fingerpicking or more rattling twangs either in the middle of lone chords of the bass drum or extensive air areas surrounding the listener around all corners. Furtermore, it involves some moments where you can be a fitness of how Harris can create hearttrending moments. On the other side, it used to convey to the listener concrete sounds and hazy ambient (dub) panoramas blended endeavours. However, the result is impressive and worth to be caught up.