Green Like July – Two cover songs by Green Like July (2011)

Bad Panda

8.8

/Cover, Alt-country, Southern rock/

Comment: just 2 cover songs are uploaded there. Crippled Inside (John Lennon), and September Gurls (Big Star). The last of these notches is the big preference of mine. While the trio comes from Italy their ideological standpoint seems to be closely related to the US-based root and southern pop/rock. In conclusion, slightly psychedelic organ-afforded country songs make huge impression on the listener.

Valery & The Greedies - Where's Satan? (2011)

Clinical Archives

9.8

/Punk funk, Post-punk, Alternative dance, Dance rock, Art rock, Disco, Alternative, Experimental rock/

Comment: punksters have always loved to dance and abandon their bodies to grooves. All of that embarked on once at Hacienda headed by such groups as Joy Division, Section 25, A Certain Ratio. On the other side, at the same time in the USA were some groups living up to the melomans` expectations, for instance, James Chance & Contortions, and ESG. However, the Petrozavodsk/Petroskoi, Russia-based quartet Valery & The Greedies revivifies and revamps this glorious dance rock/dance punk tradition, making it out in a very eminent way. Indeed, Where`s Satan? is one of the best groove rock albums I have listened throughout the 00`s and 10´s. And you are used to think that the Klaxons is a good one... .

Christian Galarreta - Computer Music Is Dead (2011)

Free Software Series

9.0

/Noise, Drone, Experimental electronica, Avant-electronica, Drone noise, Microtonal, Sound-art, Electro-acoustic/

Comment: this is a 2-track album by a Peruvian laptop musician who provokes and reconstructs the very core of electronic (computer) music. Or at least our imagination of it. Incessantly buzzing drones, static yet tense electricity and a shitloads of phase changes, drilling noiseful ghosts are represented here as if gigantic butterflies striking with their wings above the maelstrom of bits and bites. In fact, it almost rings out like an instance of noise symphony chalking out a picture of the cemetery of dead computers. Of computers within the sound is ceased to chime.

awaycaboose - Glencarse Jam

Rob Bridgett - Arkhives (2008)

Rack & Ruin

9.3

/IDM, Experimental electronica, Dubstep, Ambient, Jungle, Experimental, Breakbeat, Epic, Ambient dub/

Comment: behind this project is Rob Bridgett, a Canadian based composer and sound director. Here are represented 13 diverse tracks veering from lofty ambient dub and epic dark-hued steps to intellectual dance music to rattling, thudding breakbeats to bewitching jungle maze. On the other side, Black Lodge sounds like drone/weird folk-alike appearance. Such sort of music does have as similar relation to the rhythms of club dance as post-rock-ish energy used to have a spot upon the adult oriented rock music. This issue belongs to such sort of releases yet waiting its time to be glorified decorously in the future.

Les Enfants Sales - V.I.T.R.I.O.L. (2011)

Zorch Factory
Lastfm
Madame B

9.6

/Art punk, No wave, Avant-garde, Dark wave, Apocalyptic folk, Neofolk, Post-punk, Noir, Experimental rock, Noise rock, Gothic punk, Crossover/

Comment: Les Enfants Sales is anything but ordinary. The French band consists of Chris Zèro, and Madame B, the latter of them has been very profilic in her doings, who, by any means, could be compared with such outstanding vanguard-ish (female) punkers as Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Lydia Lunch, and Linder. This 10-track album showcases a brooding art punk/no wave/gothic punk/cutting edge post-punk approach, yet on the other side having murky flirtations with apocalyptic folk/dark wave-esque muses. More detailly, those slowed-down incantations are craftily varied with noisy mayhems, in the midst of it Madame B used to intone or even groan her wraithful manifestations. Furthermore, the closure track Exi ab eo is a martial anthem centered around Zèro`s angst-filled shouting, Madame B`s reverberations, all of that assisted by medieval flute whiffs and ghastly sounding theremin. A superb issue indeed. This is our punk rock for sure.

Diym - Nine (2011)

Diym

8.6

/Alt-folk, Singer-songwriter, Indie folk, Dream folk, Alternative pop/rock, Soft rock, Folk indie,Dance rock, Electro-rock/

Comment: this is already the ninth compilation by the Diym label. Here are represented such artists as 4our5ive6ix, Revolt at the Robot Factory, Five Star Debauchery, John Burns, Lothian 121, The Orange Strips, and Pete Davis. The miscellany has its focus stretched out from introspective alternative folk ditties to mainstream-appealed heavy guitar riff-based songs, from dance rock/new wave/electro-rock grooves to soft rock/bombastic pop scopes to dream folk appearances.

Evil Men Have No Songs - Home Tonight

Strange Shapes - Slow Sound/Mild Doubt (2011)

Bandcamp

9.0

/Alternative pop/rock, Art rock, Jangle pop, Indie rock/

Comment: mere 2 track-single by a quartet of Brooklynites. Especially the first of them, Slow Sound, is greatly bound up in harmony process and bubblegum cadences. These singles are surrounded by a touch somehow reminiscent of the aesthetics of the 70`s English new wave/art rock/post-punk bands (Echo & Bunnymen; Durutti Column, Teardrop Explodes). Somehow nostalgic and permanently elegant in its path. By the way, these notches were firstly recorded for the Japanese version of their EP.

Lovegrenade - Lovegrenade (2011)

Jamendo

Af-music
Bandcamp
Lastfm

8.5

/Garage rock, Alternative rock, Fuzz rock, Psychedelic rock, Rockabilly, Psych-rock/

Comment: three musicians from Tel Aviv reconvened in the rehearsal room to complete the debut album just in a 24 hour live session. However, the process seems to be succeeded in the very planned way. Dynamical garage rock base is embellished with some rockabilly touch, never to be functioning boring somehow. At times it reminds of Sonic Youth.

Sledding With Tigers - The Hill Sheep (2010)

Bandcamp
Mediafire
Lastfm

8.7

/Crossover, Punk rock, Country, Bluegrass, Folk, Vaudeville/

Comment: when this 8-track album was issued at the end of 2010, it consisted of two members only - Dan Faughnder (guitar, banjo, mandolin, vocals), and Sam Juneman (violin, vocals). Although the album/combo is already compared with Andrew Jackson Jihad, Bright Eyes, and Defiance Ohio, this issue with short-running tracks takes on a brutally amusing crossbreeding of Southern-rooted styles (country, bluegrass, vaudeville folk) and on the other side, punk rock/easycore. And the coverprint is impressive. Spectacular.

Without Time – Trap (2011)

Dystopiaq

8.8

/Post-rock, Epic, Alternative pop/rock, Post-metal, Crososver, Experimental rock/

Comment: Without Time are Sasha Kondrashov and Yan Kolomytsky from Grodno, Belorussia who offer one, 6-minute track Trap. Posture-filled majestic rock/metal drive is ornamented with melancholic piano-headed frames and enjoyable guitar warbles in the midst of the track. And of course, the coverprint is nice.

JLA - Lobotomy (EP MIX)

Sam Gas Can - Summer Of Sam (2011)

Sam Gas Can
Free Music Archive

9.0

/Primitive music, Lo-fi, DIY, Experimentalism, Noise, Sound collage, Free folk, New Weird Belorussia, Improvised music, Freeformfreakout, Psych-music/

Comment: Sam Gas Sam is an eccentric sound creator from Belorussia who has headed the label Faux-Pas Industries. (And making mistakes since 1986!). Actually such sorts of rough approaches has always had huge impact on me, more detailly, using amusing samples, abstract buzzes and sheer noise, rusty anti-folk-ish twanging, free improvised unplugged record sessions and...and of course, a shitloads of "errors". Furthermore, all the soundscape is heavily lopsided, sharing lots of hints right and left, up and down. Its madness used to veer from Einstürzende Neubauten to Vierivä Viiksiportieri. These 11 tracks constitute an enjoyable whole which is part of the New Weird Europe scene. Viva la free spirit!

The Nightchild - Some Stories And Thoughts (2011)

Jamendo
Afmusic
Lastfm

7.8

/Gothic rock, Electro-rock, Synth rock, Post-punk, Alternative rock/

Comment: a pathetic dark pop/rock combo from Ukraine, consisting of Alexey Nightchild A (vocals, guitars, keyboard, programming) and Olga "Holy Cat" (bass guitar). Rigid bass/drums-driven progressions are the base for such kinds of explorations veering from gothic post-punk to brooding electro-rock to more Nightwish-esque pompous symphonic metal approach. Business as usual, yet, seems a little bit weary.

Art Boys Collection - Stoned Wall (1972/2011)

Golden Pavilion
Free Music Archive

9.2

/Art rock, Acid rock, Psychedelic rock, Psych-folk, Soul rock, Progressive rock, Proto disco/

Comment: Art Boys Collection was an Austrian (1969-1975) sextet who offers a delicious set of the blend of psych-folk, art rock, psychedelic rock, and progressive rock. Walter Holz`s organ-driven vibes are on the ball, variegating a bunch of (at times heavily jamming) guitars and sublime vocal mannerism round it. The chords and moods are craftily fixed there, resulting in as a spectacular whole. This 12-track issue reminds of the Canterbury scene, and 60`s angelic introspective folk ensembles a la Dulcimer. But not such obscure artists only. It takes on The Beatles, Queen, and even Motown`s proto-disco vibes as well. In a foreign country, and Jesus said had big potential to blow off the charts. This amazing album was initially recorded in 1972.

Omara - Schubfaktor

Dreamphish - Garlic Icecream (1997)

Bandcamp

10.0

/Experimental indie, Art pop, Dream pop, Alternative pop, Indie pop, Art punk, Shoegaze, Post-rock/

Comment: Dreamphish was one of the foremost Estonian indie pop/rock bands with Dallas, Bizarre, and Borax in the second half of the 90`s. Their debut album Garlic Icecream (released on the cassette format only) rings out even today in an idiosyncratical and vanguard-ish way. While the quintet`s irresistible compositions are based on conventional yet majestic song structures it is spliced up with more uncompromising progressions - trip-hop-relied shadows, naughty punk rock, lofty shoegaze forays, and darkly gleaming post-rock-ish outer space. You can perceive the connections with Pulp, Stereolab, Portishead, Sonic Youth... . Most of the time the 10-track album induces to be longing and looking so hopefully for the future. Indeed, it is a glorious chapter of the Estonian innovative pop/rock. Inspite of missing nostalgically for those old good times, however, the album chimes perfectly on its own. I recommend listen to their follow-up It Is I (2000) either.

Morbo y Mambo - Das Papier EP (2011)

Bandcamp

8.8

/Improvised music, Cool jazz, Fusion, Crossover, Psychedelic, Free jazz/

Comment: no doubt, this is a lush, spatial improvisation set by a sextet from Argentina. Cool jazz-approved trumpets, acid-fried stumbling synths, rattling drums function to take on frenzied grooves and psychedelic washes everywhere. Indeed, it is pleasantly perverted by language.

The Grey Field Project Names - Without Meanings (2011)

Mediafire
Lastfm

9.3

/Ambient, Avant-rock, Epic, Minimal, Soundscapes, Post-rock, Crossover, Ambient noise, Dark ambient, Experimental rock/

Comment: behind these ten exhilarating ambient rock explorations is Adam Kalamàr, a young musician from Tapolca, Hungary. Before starting to create such amazing sound he played in punk (The Extrended Crackers) and screamo/grindcore combo Who Told You This Room Exists. It is an epic and majestic one where clear-cut visions are tensely mixed up with unidentified hiss-buzz and murmuring noise and hazy droning and concrete sound-infiltrated developments. At times it turns out to be essentially abstract (9).

Brad Sucks - Look and Feel Years Younger

Laura K - ePop018 (2011)

Eardrums Pop
Lastfm

9.5

/Twee pop, Indie pop, Cover, Baroque pop, Experimental indie, Sunshine pop/

Comment: Eardrums Pop is back after a while with an amazing miscellany of 3 songs by Brisbane, Australia-born indie gal who has played in such groups as Little Scout, and Roman History. This case takes on amusingly strumming ukuleles, striking vocal harmonies, and chiming synths, thus constituting the organic whole. One of those songs is a cover version of Real Estate`s Beach Comber. By the way, Jarvis Cocker likes her music. Lucky you.

Videodreams - The World (2010)

Bandcamp

8.8

/Alternative pop/rock, Soft rock, Indie pop/

Comment: a nice set of 6 songs from Italy. More concretely, dreamy, a little bit lethargic vocal supply is supported by chiming guitars, colourful glockenspiel undercurrents and acidious synth fringes. The songs are masterfully spirited and soulful. All of that might remind of Coldplay, and Keane. In fact, the quartet do it even better.

The Womb - Escapism (2011)

23 Seconds

The Womb
Lastfm

9.2

/Synth noir, Hip-hop, Experimental indie, Art pop, Crossover, Electronic pop, Dark pop, Angst pop, Ambient pop/

Comment: Alan Driscoll, one of the most intricate singer-songwriters today is back with his brand new heavy. He is known by his idiosyncratic dark-hued vocal manner which is sticked somehow with (white) hip-hop mannerism (extraordinarily in the closure track The Narrator). By speaking about his(?)/someone(?)/anyone`s (?) paranoias and obsessions, he uses lo-fi synthetic sound only to give rhythm and soul for the issue. In fact, Driscoll has added some new elements - for example, Strobelites does function as a hell-ish blend of downtempo and deep ambient. Especially monumental is We Swam Through The Sky, an amazing angst-filled vista. Really horrifying indeed. One of the best tracks in 2011 so far. Of course, while you can feel some difference between Escapism and a masterpiece, called Purity Test (also issued on 23 Seconds, 2011), his last issue is outstanding for sure. You can compare Driscoll (living in Melbourne, Australia now) with another British world traveler and free thinker, called Momus.

Juan Gamiz - Organo de Zadar (2008)

Thrmnphone

9.0

/Electro-acoustics, Musique concrète, Organic electronica, Acousmatics, Avant-garde, Experimentalism, Minimalism/

Comment: such music can be called as "organic growing" where roughly looping electro-acoustic music is crossed with concrete sounds/street noise. The reason why it seems to be so cogent and relaxing is quite simple - all of that is reduced to the algorithms of minimal music. The environments around the lonely looping gear are incessantly in change thus constituting the sense of permanent became. All in all, let`s celebrate this moment.

Computer Magic - The End of Time

Affable Noise & Luka Ueumura - Rehearsal Sounds (2011)

Bandcamp

9.1

/Guitar ambient, Ambient noise, Ambient rock, Experimental rock, Avant-garde/

Comment: monumental and massive guitar ambient/guitar noise/ambient noise outputs from Land of the Rising Sun. Potent guitar carcasses are at times decorated with arpeggio-backed warbles and fingerpicked strings, on the other side undermined with chaotically rolling electronics/and pitch bent effects below it, thus swelling and contracting the 7-track whole incessantly. Indeed, it can be classified as an example of uncompromising ambient exploration.

htrspltn – some mediavirus vol. 1 (2011)

Dystopiaq
Lastfm

9.2

/Sound collage, Experimental, Urban music, Plunderphonics, Sampledelic, Trip-hop, Hip-hop, Cinematic/

Comment: this 10-track decentration is an outstanding amalgamation in the realms of hip-hop and trip-hop music, sound collage and plunderphonics-induced world. Sublime infiltrated layers of cinematic pop, warped downbeat chords, haunting jazz-based detours, stabbing scratches, reversed bits and bites of world fusion, ethereal vowel experiments right and left do constitute your day for sure. All of that is wrapped up in obligatory crackling and hiss mist. It is insolent and alleviating at the same time. It could be described as an instance of demented Portishead, for instance. By the way, the album is created in Ulan-Ude, Eastern Siberia, Russia.

Various Artists - The Garden of Forking Paths (2007)

Hidden Shoal

9.3

/Post-rock, Ambient, Dream pop, Electronic pop, Experimental rock, Indie rock, Ambient rock, Indie pop/

Comment: only the best words can I have to describe the compilation that encompasses the music under the Hidden Shoal Records from the last quarter 2006 and first quarter 2007. The 9-track miscellany meets mostly at the crossroads of sublime post-rock, baggy beat-driven dream pop/electronica, elating indie pop/rock, ethereally washing drone experimentalism, endlessly swelling ambient music and brooding guitar-based experimentations. The Garden Of Forking Paths was the second collection in the array of 5 ones issued to date. Here are represented the tracks by Dilatazione, The Hero Cycle, Sankt Otten, Colour Kane, Moongoat, My Majestic Star, Wes Willenbring, Tangled Star, Slow Dancing Society.

Print(the)Seas - Coast (2009)

Bandcamp

9.2

/Alt-folk, Singer-songwriter, Indie folk, Dream folk, Folk indie/

Comment: intimate folk songs by Grant Monson, released back in 2009. Recorded at home. Simple but impressive 14 tracks are represented here which for much of the time turn out to be shivering and dropped in dreams. For instance, let`s enjoy Still Life In Motion, which figuratively hints at the album`s outreach and intention. Or on the other side, breathtaking post-rock-ish twanging and orchestrated arrangements at Subtitles. The album can be juxtaposed to Wilco`s and Elliott Smith`s ones. A gem indeed.

Smashing Pumpkins - Speed Kills

Cyclic Bits: The Raymond Scott Variations (2010)

Chinstrap
Free Music Archive

9.3

/Experimental electronica, Remixes, Avant-electronica, Exotica pop, Space age pop, Sampledelic/

Comment: a host of nowadays innovative electronic musicians are remixing the tracks of a legendary cutting edge electronic musician (who can be compared with Desmond Leslie, Bebe & Loius Barron, Mort Garson, Bruce Haack, and Delia Derbyshire). Here are represented Satanicpornocultshop, Tracky Birthday, Fireworks Ensemble, Ego Plum, DJPE, Orionza, Vernon Lenoir, Felix Kubin and other ones. All in all, the remixes of the musicians ring out really exotic and intricate, having an irresistible smell of the first decades after World War II. More detailly, all those proto-synths, tape manipulations, pitch bending, rough bits and analogue sound make highly sense.

Zoo - Atrox (2011)

Ducks

9.1

/Industrial techno, Avant-techno, Experimental techno, Lo-fi, Dystopic, Bubblegum/
Comment: Zoo (Marko-Luka Zubčić) is an artist working primarily in sound and theatre. His main interests used to revolve around blue disintegration, vulgar editing and romances outside networks. He tends to call his music "kitchen rave", even though it encompasses a diversity of genres. His composing process mostly consists of recorded sounds and found sounds, as well as dusty digital glitches and dance-rhythm-machines memorabillia, mashed into a bleak glitter of perspiration. He is interested primarily in beat economy, researching new tensions between a kick and a handclap, and tries to make places with his music. His discography consists of Curfew Disco (a sonic movie), Pile (collection of collaborations), Puke, and Atrox (a mothership), as well as work with Zloom, and Szilo. He is musically currently working on his next album, as well as next albums of the mentioned bands, and as a producer of Sara and probably some other new Ducks Records (Rijeka-based label) stars. He lives in Rijeka as a student and a part-time theatre director. Let`s have some words about his 5-track album. It does consist mainly of rough locomotive-like rhythms, which is varied with bubblegum-ish beats and dystopic ambience above it. It is very far away from this hermetically produced bloody mainstream dance sound. More concretely, if you are intended to get just about clear-cut picture in front of your eyes, it can be seen as making adrift between the early Cabaret Voltaire, Locust, and Techno Animal. Great work indeed.

Turn Off Your Television - Turn Off Your Television (2011)

TOYT
Bandcamp

8.8

/Alt-folk, Alt-country, Indie folk, Folk indie/

Comment: a nice set of chiming folk and country songs by a new trio from Malmö, Sweden. The group is already compared to The Avett Brothers, Sparklehorse, Band Of Horses, and Grandaddy. By my side I would add The Wind Whistles, and Jay Bennett as well. More concretely, you can imagine guitar-driven acoustic folk pop which is seamlessly embellished with the whiffs of harmonica and slight psychedelia now and then. However, some tracks are bigger than others (Never Rusting Symphony; The Days We have Today). I am sure TOYT does have big pop potential for the next years.

The Hirundu - Cinnamon Hill (Lost Hirundu vol​.​3) (2011)

The Hirundu
Pitch & Putt

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.4

/Alternative, Avant-garde, Leftfield, Electronic pop, Psych-pop, Sampledelic, DIY, Weird pop, Avant-pop, Experimentalism, Singer-songwriter, New Weird Europe, Psychedelia, Crossover/

Comment: firstly I discovered The Hirundu (formed in 1987) 3 years ago and still having opinion about John Crewdson-headed combo as one of the craziest combos worldwide. If someone would dare to entitle it as the most frenzied one under the God`s sight I would probably agree with him/her. At least the British one for sure. Crewdson himself as a band leader can be compared to much of Mark E Smith`s doings, though, in a more nihilistic way. In fact, every Hirundu`s issue is an universe on its own, including the elements of indie rock, avant-garde, experimental electronic, dada experiments, industrial, acute psychedelia, radiophonic art, cut and paste/sampledelic aesthetics, club dance, DIY, lo-fi, and countless elements more to exist separately or in interwoven ways. Crewdson made Ariel Pink-like music before Ariel himself had the chance to realize his timeless pop ideas. While it might be that Crewdson did not have any idea about R Stevie Moore`s explorations, he is having some similarities with the US legend sometimes. And you can compare it with Speculativism, another highly eccentric singer-songwriter from the Foggy Albion.
Believe me this 14-track album lives up to your expectations, veering from hazy, gloomy electronic rock to atmospheric incantations to catchy symphonies to catchy guitar twanging to acid-fried drone electro to spaghetti electro blues to mariachi surf rock to unidentified cathartic explorations above your contained imaginations. Indeed, this time the album as a whole is established to follow more melodies and harmonies, though, in the Hirundu`s own idiosyncratic way. All in all, I have got a free-spirited experience again. Vitally certifiable. I am going to search for the Hirundu`s old publications once again. Thank you, Johnny.

222 - Friendly Fire

Kyoto Connection - The First Voyage (2006/2010)

Kyoto Connection
Jamendo
Lastfm

9.0

/Chilltronica, Art pop, Downtempo, World music, Electronic pop, Synth pop, Alternative pop, New Age/

Comment: Kyoto Connection is a quartet from Argentina, interweaving synthesized harmonies with bracing melodies running incessantly over the listener`s head. Natural instruments are finely balanced with electronic devices and small machines. The band obviously gets huge inspiration and signs from the 80`s synth pop, world fusion, new age, and electronic pop a la Pet Shop Boys. At times it does enter into more contemporary, dream pop-like milieus. On the other side, as you already know there is a big difference between new age and new age, chill out and chill out music. And KC makes difference for their own advantage for sure. Furthermore, KC`s sound used to appeal everywhere - to bigger crowds and more requiring circuits. By any means, Kyoto Connection is one of the best combos settled down at Jamendo.

Tim Chaplin - Honesty (2011)

Bandcamp

9.3

/Art folk, New Weird Europe, Experimental folk, Psych-folk, Avant-folk, Baroque folk, Singer-songwriter, Alt-folk/

Comment: Tim Chaplin aka Luminous is one of those unsung art rockers/indie experimentalists waiting to get more appreciated for they deserve by full right. He started already it the end of 90`s, since having created uncompromising ditties and idiosyncratic compositions. He is also part of Factory Kids (with Christina Marie). These 12 songs are settled in the billowy junkyard of cracks and hisses creating a contrasty folder for twanging guitars and zestful vocal lines. All what was described is just a hint at the dominating template. He is supported by many collaborators, who used to play theremin, Hammond organ, and different kinds of strings. Pertaining of that Chaplin is the sort of genius it is showcased through such songs as So She Says, and Your Top Ten (the last one resembles a little of Have You Seen Her Lately, the Pulp`s classic one.

tHÖAm - Eye shadow (2011)

Nowaki Music

9.0

/Downtempo, Ambient, Experimental electronica, Chill out, Modern classical, Crossover/

Comment: in principle, it is a pleasant shift between racous beat-induced (from downtempo to more aggressive, breakbeat-like developments) appearances and more atmospherically/and hauntingly designed bows. Indeed, being in such a crossbreed-ish situation the artist`s sound used to evoke and delete memory snippets from your very consciousness. At times it reaches the highest parametres of beauty (Opaque). Of course, this 13-track album is a quite demanding one needing more for profound listening times. If to regard the possible kindred souls of tHÖÄm, however, I recommend listen to the likes of Mank, ElectricWest, David Schomber, Naono. However, you can perceive some similarities with James Leyland Kirby`s oeuvres as well.

Paolo Pavan & Pasqualino Ubaldini - Second (Live)

Random Article - Valley Sessions 'Unwebbed', May-July 2011 (2011)

Archive.org

9.0

/Psych-folk, Improvised music, Experimental folk, New Weird Europe, Trance folk/

Comment: 13 tracks for saz, bass, violin, voice and percussion, recorded at a cottage in the Broad Oak Valley, near Canterbury (UK) during May-July 2011. Behind these honestly cultivated acoustic improvisations are Tom, Miriam, Matthew, and assisted by Paul (playing drums sometimes), related to the Exeter-based Children Of The Drone collective and its subsidiaries (in principle, it is quite hard to draw the distinction line between them). This session is highly warbling and vitally organic in its magical hypnotism. By the way, all the titles are chosen accidentally. The Valley Session as usual - it has been their brand of quality.

Crash City Saints - I'm Only Looking EP (2011)

Bandcamp

8.8

/Shoegaze, Alternative rock, Post-punk, Fuzz rock/

Comment: above all, this 3-track EP is up here to constitute shoegaze, shoegaze, and - once again - shoegaze-ish graphs. In fact, the first and third notch represent a clear-cut tribute to My Bloody Valentine, it might be the second track only is an instance of more mainstream-induced and post-punk-ish attempts (somewhere inbetween JAMC, and Franz Ferdinand). More concretely, massive guitar walls will evolve into quasi-orchestrated outputs. And this is really fine.

The Slides (2008)

Mimonot

8.7

/Blues rock, Pop punk, Alternative pop/rock, Post-punk/

Comment: By any means, this is an eminent alternative pop/rock album. Firstly, it is irresistibly loaded with the galvanized sauce of infiltrated post-punk and blues rock influences including lots of guitar-based high-bow hooks and elating changes in song structures, secondly it is sung in Russian. The lyrics of the EP are about the disillusionment of ideals, considering some existential approaches either. The Slides, a quartet comes out from Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a city locating in the Far East part of Russia (residing in Moscow now). By the way, a big part of musical groups publicated on the Mimonot label, does have their roots related to the Siberian cities.

EARLY TO BED & SCHLOCK! - WEATHERVANE (unrated)

EARLY TO BED & SCHLOCK! - WEATHERVANE (unrated) from EardrumsPop, the label on Vimeo.

Memotone – Bad Panda EP (2011)

Bad Panda
Free Music Archive
Lastfm

9.2

/Post-rock, Organic electronica, Experimental electronica, Art pop, Crossover, Sampledelic, Post-psychedelic, Experimental indie/

Comment: this 4-track EP offers a smorgasboard of synthesized breaks, colourful whiffs and instantaneous awakenings arching broadly over it (made up of chiming synths, piano snippets and circinately clanking xylophones). Recommended for fans of DJ Shadow, Four Tet, and Mice Parade. Music is made by William Yates, a solo perfomer/multi-instrumentalist from England being active since the mid of 00`s.

The Golf Sunshine Company - The Leper's Colony Has Drifted Away (2011)

Bandcamp

8.3

/Hip-hop, DIY, Lo-fi, Psych-hop, Avant-hop, Urban music/

Comment: a frenzied psych/lo-fi/hip-hop issue from Oregon, USA. It obviously seems to be a nihilistic, rusty, and abrasive, and amusing trip taken to come over to the unidentified realms of DIY. It is at times noodling, at times stuttering, at times being based on catchy loops and repetitions.

Richard There - If the world calls, please leave a message (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.0

/Singer-songwriter, Dada music, Weird folk, Alt-folk, Spoken word, Experimentalism, Avant-folk, Neofolk/

Comment: no problems with locations. Richard comes from there, actually from There. Very simple indeed. As "simple" as his soundscape used to be. He is a part of the avant-garde group/movement Apskraft, representing proudly its off-the-kilter ideology and peripheral attitude. More concretely, he is an idiosyncratic singer-songwriter in his eccentrity, loving to bake from introspective fingerpicked acoustic folk to electronic buzz-laden guitar music to dada-ish spoken word snippets to experimental robo pop a la Kraftwerk to darkwave/neofolk a la Lycia or Death In June. In a more "usual" approach, his script reminds of the likes of Bill Callahan and John Fahey. Above all of that can be figured out for some off-the-kilter cover songs. In the first place, these are just some vague comparisons to be for. Do not forget about that!

Yutaka Hirasaka - Colors (2011)

Totokoko

8.8

/Folktronica, Organic electronica, Musique concrète, Experimental folk, Laptop folk/

Comment: a nice folktronic album from Japan. Reversed loops, melodica-relied snippets, half symphony-loaded backgrounds, and floating water around there. At times it will evolve into a highly lofty one (for instance the track number 6).

Voyageurs - Freak Cave (2011)

Free Music Archive
Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.0

/Psych-rock, Blues, Garage rock, Psychobilly, Alternative rock/

Comment: Voyageurs is a combo coming from Fayateville, Arizona, offering already their fourth album. Actually it is the vast quantity for the band embarked on in 2010. More concretely, Freak Cave is a highly synergic amalgamation of psych-rock and rock and roll, psychobilly and abrasive garage noodling, slight whiffs of space rock and blues. In comparison with their earlier albums it seems to be a bit less psychedelic and spatial, though. However, it is an eminent accomplishment indeed.

Cocolixe - A Day of Happiness

Cocolixe - A Day of Happiness from Cocolixe on Vimeo.

Big City Orchestra - Live at Anarchy Village 13 Part 2

[praw] - From The Valley To The Sea (2009)

Mine All Mine

9.3

/Ambient, Post-rock, Minimalism, Microsound, Drone, Ambient drone/

Comment: the yearning pulsations of austere ambient progressions, as if coming from very remote distances and vast plateaus, exerting huge leverage on the listener. However, less is more, a byword, applies very exactly to the case. All of that is housed into the 21-minute track. In addition to that I recommend to listen to the likes of .slept, Radere, docks, the late-period Slowdive, The Post Riot Era, and Loscil. By the way, now [praw] is known as John Praw, by the musician`s proper name.

Rec_Overflow - Grow_ep (2011)

Brusio

8.9

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

Comment: it is an interesting, 5-piece issue which starts out with thudding breaks embellished with the intricate guitar handling (shoegaze-ish guitar whiffs). The second track Wonky Hash shows up keeping pace with the Orb-alike atmospherical dub steps. Onwards can be detected there for the ragged conceptions of slightly murky gleaming dub, hypnotic tech-house, wonky techno, chopped-up electronica. This EP is thought for listening and for dancing thus showcasing all-round efficiency.

Satanic Butcher - Anti-Human Theory (2011)

Torn Flesh

9.2

/Brutal metal, Death metal, Deathcore, Brutal metal, Black metal, Hardcore punk/

Comment: this 11-track issue comes out from Mexico and is a sheer foray of brutal death metal which is mixed up with black metal and goregrind, and even hardcore punk-esque mist at times. By its artistical approach it is an impressive output, having lots bits of cogent angriness an frenetic despair. By the ideological standpoint Beast Butcher (the man behind the drum programming, vocals and guitars of the album) does rise up against the Western-sided hypocrisy and demagogy, material gulosity and moral decay. This is an instance of nowadays punk rock. Malcolm McLaren would have liked it.

Uppsala Solemne – A Fúria do Vento (2011)

Sinewave

9.3

/Sampledelic, Modern classical, Experimental electronica, IDM, Folktronica, Organic electronica, Experimentalism, Sound collage/

Comment: Cristiane Miranda and Leonardo Fleck aka Uppsala Solemne`s new EP proves to be a crafty cake - highly exhilarating in its diverse ways and swerves. More closely, there can be detected for IDM-esque impetus and imagery, elfin-induced folk incantations, trumpet-induced yearning passages/sampledelics/jazz-based delicate whiffs, vibraphone-driven organicness, all of that is seamlessly interwoven into a potent fist. Minor key-relied interludes on a piano used to evoke a thought about that Fleck`s Blanched-related post-rock approach is still in-flight. Indeed, it is a decent follow-up to Afecto EP.

Fescal - F*ck New York

Lyndsie Alguire - Suspended In Light (2011)

Camomille

Bandcamp

8.8

/Modern classical, Organic electronica, Experimental electronica, Chamber music, Musique concrète, Crossover, IDM/

Comment: lone piano-driven (modern) classical/chamber music chords (with arpeggiated arrays sometimes) are varied with IDM-cadences and turbulent, lopsided electronics. Moreover, Montrèal, Quebec-based composer Lyndsie Alguire`s 15-piece debut issue is nicely balanced between concrete and composed sounds, between synthetic and organic segments, shifting between "closed" and "opened" environments. First of all, it is recommended for the fans of Max Richter, Muhr, Non Dolet, Bosques de mi Mente, adamned.age. Of course, for those people either who just intend to listen to beautiful yet slightly melancholic music.

Bing Satellites - Twilight Sessions Volume Eight (2011)

Free Floating Music
Bandcamp

9.4

/Ambient, Shoegazetronica, Crossover, Modern classical, Soundscape, Minimal, Ambient drone/

Comment: wow, once again, you are not allowed to get disappointed of Brin Coleman aka Bing Satellites`s music, by a musician and label header (BFW Recordings) from Manchester, UK. It is related to spherical music, i.e from wavy, very large-scaled ambient-relied progressions to sublime shoegaze-ish infiltrations and rare modern classical-drenched instants. It pretends to be an instance of imperative beauty to be laid out everyhwere setting you free. It used to happen in this way when indie guys and gals are involved in experimental enterprises.

Cankun + Holy Strays - Beko_91 (2011)

Beko DSL
Lastfm

9.0

/Psychedelic, Post-psychedelic electronica, DIY, Hypnagogic, Lo-fi, Experimental indie, Avant-pop, Glo-fi, Bedroom pop, Electronic pop, Chillwave/

Comment: two Gallian artists-bedroom musicians do appear herein who have previously recorded on the legendary Not Not Fun label. The keywords are obviously zeitgeist and stylistic borderlessness in the bubble of lo-fi/DIY music.

Vladee Divacc - Technical Foul EP (2010)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.4

/Experimentalism, Noise, Psychedelia, Avant-garde, DIY, Freeformfreakout, Post-psychedelic electronica/

Comment: this EP is frenetic and great...by its concept and sounds, respectively. Being entitled after the legendary Yugoslavian/Serbian centre Vlade Divac, and all the song titles named after the NBA basketball heroes, it is not a rap/hip-hop issue at all (of course, you may have supposed it). However, undulating psychedelic noise makes there highly sense being fringed with spoken word samples and vowel experiments meanwhile. Burning feedbacks - it is just mesmerizing. It sounds like Animal Collective on glue. Yet, Christian Filardo (formerly known as Panda steps in chocolate; Orioles) used to call it as dunkwave. Why not? Definitely yes.

Autonomicon - Holy upper-intermediate holocaust quest failure

FuturNari - Another Unlikely Hero II (2011)

Pxl-Bot
Bandcamp

8.9

/Psychedelic electronica, Nintendocore, Chiptune, Acid, Chipbreak, Tracker, Bitpop, Experimental electronica/

Comment: this 5-track issue is a sequel to the New Zealand-relied FuturNari`s Another Unlikely Hero. It provides an acidic fuel for the hearts of robots, permanently gritty, and at times killingly catchy. It might be a sort of dance club in future, yet, having no idea where the future is supposed to be. In reality the console-drenched sounds are conquering the world. That`s all. Just enjoy it.

Takeshi Nakamura - Ordinary Days (2006)

Zymogen
Lastfm

8.7

/Experimental techno, Experimental electronica, Dystopbient, Glitchtronica, Abstract techno, Avant-electronica/

Comment: lots of murky glimmer, lots of devouring beats, lots of dystopic, industrial-inflected landscapes, lots of vibrant floatation and on the contrary filled in with chopped electronica, all of that established by Takeshi Nakamura, a Japanese electronic musician on the legendary Zymogen label. Thereby, more concretely, it seems to be part of the experimental techno scene, on the other side, it leaves itself to be quite remote of all, of any scenes. If to regard Nakamura`s dissipation into restraint moaning effects it can be considered a sort of zombie techno either. It is a quite depressive yet interesting album.

The Falling Floors - The Falling Floors (2008)

Daydream Generation/Quixodelic
CLLCT

8.8

/Psychedelia, Psychedelic folk, Folk rock, Indie folk, Folk indie/

Comment: The Falling Floors comes out from the Daydream Generation/Quixodelic Records block. Similarly to the Bloomington-based CLLCT, and the Exeter-based Children Of The Drone-related groups this foundation embodies the most free-spirited moments in pop music. However, Falling Floors plays nice psychedelia-infused pop folk where are presented sublime motives and harmonies, at times it takes on oriental (including drone folk instruments), at times conjuring 60`s hippie stuff. The last track rings out like a tribute to Procol Harum.