Impaled Peach - Impaled Beach (2011)

Quixodelic
Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.2

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

Comment: reportedly Impaled Peach was inspired by visiting the dentist. Is it true or not, however, the fact is that Edward Alan Bartholomew has issued approximately a dozen of albums on CLLCT and Daydream Generation/Quixodelic records to date. Furthermore, he is an unsung musician who deserves much more acclaim for sure. For example, let`s listen to this, 17-piece album. This can be considered a sort of folk release, yet, being quite far from functioning and running alongside the usual frontiers of folk music. More profoundly, by its approach it is minimal guitar-driven folk (or folk indie), yet, below the stringed layers can be heard shitloads of electronically treated and buzzing noise effects. As the whole , however, it used to amplify the listener`s emotions up to. If you are intended for searching of Bartholomew`s kindred souls, you could recognize Wilco`s impact on it. At any rate, Impaled Peach is an outstanding album.

Iqtu - Embarrasing Triangle (2008)

iimusic
Bandcamp
Lastfm

8.7

/Electronic pop, Experimental electronica, IDM, Glo-fi, Mood music/

Comment: these 13 tracks take on warm, IDM-tinged electronica and electronic pop respectively. It is instrumental and mostly mid-tempo. Such sort of simple and unpretentious explorations used to have impact on you while running on it the background and step by step raising your spirit. Now and then it disjoints from its usual core, offering up more blissed-out progressions. For instance, the self-titled track. That`s very great. Iqtu is James Zdrowski, a producer from Boulder, Colorado, who had been active in the second half of 00`s. He is also known as Ontagon.

Taiunta - Odiuibo

Glass Candy - Love Love Love (2002)

Free Music Archive
Troubleman Unlimited
Lastfm

8.7

/Post-punk, Dance rock, Electro-rock, No Wave, Alternative pop/rock/

Comment: this was Glass Candy`s debut issue firstly released on Troubleman Unlimited in 2001. The duo being line-upped by Ida No, and Johnny Jewel (and Ginger Peach then either) offered up angular, no wave-ish post-punk guitars churned with slight dance vibes and jarred, pissed-off voices. All of that happened at a time when a new wave of punk rock made its revival. Anyway, some people consider it to be the best album by Glass Candy to date. Indeed, you are getting to love it.

Big City Orchestra - Submission Trax (2005)

Betasound

9.2

/Avant-garde, Experimentalism, Psych-folk, Weird pop, Poptronica, Experimental electronica, Sound-art, Acousmatics/

Comment: BCO has is a legendary avant-garde/art project from Los Angeles, California which embarked on in 1979. They have publicated about 130 hour-long releases and being an important chain in the cassette culture movement of the previous decades. They jumped out from the same nest as did other famous Californian cutting edge groups such as The Residents, and Negativeland, for instance. Their music has swerved in countless directions, veering from sound art and dada experiments and psycho-acoustic explorations to off-kilter electronica and sophisticated noise and acousmatic "folk" music. This set of handful of tracks (trax) consists of affected vowel experiments and electro-(acoustic) folk a la CocoRosie, loop-dominated deranged ambient music, and bristled conditional psych-folk music.

Randomajestiq - Evidence Of Utopia (2002)

Subsource
Subsource
Lastfm

9.0

/Deep techno, Ambient dub, Ambient techno, Experimental electronica, IDM, Dub-tech/

Comment: Vladimir Hropov (born 1976) aka Randomajestiq is a producer from Gomel who used to be one of the most eminent electronic musicians from Belarus today (with Buben, and Alexander Martovsky). Just 2 tracks, though, very long ones (both of them more than 20 minutes) both of which are divided into small chapters. More detailly, ethereal dub waves are fringed with spaced-out techno rhythms and subtle IDM vibes. On the other side, there can be detected for some New Age-ish influences. In fact, the second part of the album rings out as if The Orb were mixed up with the last named elements.

High Park - Keys To My...

Esplim - Re-EP (2009)

Sinewave

7.6

/Post-rock, Experimental rock, Epic, Spoken word, Electronic, Trip-hop/

Comment: Esplim (Romulo Michaelsen) offers up a bunch of post-rock-related tracks - first of all, it functions to have drive and accents on overdriving, resonating guitar paths which are variegated with silentful, electronic, trip-hop-drenched beats. Elsewhere it incorporates spoken word snippets and even baby`s babble. The only problem is that it used to flake out in the ending part, having no clear-cut intention and expressive shape.

Skeksis - Vol.12: Spirits of Summer II (2011)

Skeksis

8.8

/Alternative pop/rock, Indie, Compilation, Jangle pop, Dark pop, Singer-songwriter, Alt-folk, Ambient/

Comment: at the first sight it seems to be a somewhat peculiar compilation which veers out from discrete piano pop and borderless ambient pop to the ditties of indie and jangle pop made up with more joyful energy. On the other side, the joint compartment of those 10 tracks is brought forth in dark-hued undercurrents. Jim Guittard, Orange Crush, Ben Woods, I Said Yes and others are related to the one.

Dublicator - Chord Center (2008)

Deep In Dub
Lastfm

8.9

/Dub techno, Minimal, Dubtronica, Deep house, Dub house/

Comment: Tamás Olejnik, a electronic music producer from Hungary had issued his first, classical album in 2008 on the Italian label Deep In Dub. More concretely, it is profound, it is dub, it is enthralling, it is techno, it does have some (deep) house vibrations. At any rate, those hypnotical paces maintain its majestic shape, permanently floating within the farctate yet cinematic ambience. At times it is more minimal, at times it is more lush. A well-balanced dubtronic one indeed.

Monster Rally - Siberian Girls

Various Artists - Pop Massacre 2 (2011)

FoF
Bandcamp

7.7

/Urban music, Covers, Conceptual, Hip-hop, R`n`b, Soul, Funk/

Comment: this is a miscellany of new versions of the songs by a fistful of popular artists (The Beatles, Sade, The Smiths, The Cure, Christina Aguilera, Ginuwine, Rihanna and many other ones). Mostly to the original versions are given urban music-induced intention and touch (hip-hop, grime, r`n`b, soul, funk). The favorite of mine are Chico Mann`s variant of the Cure`s Close To Me, and Salva`s spaced-out one of That Girl by Pharrell ft. Snoop Dogg. In conclusion, while you can find out other solid versions on it as well, however, the compilation seems to be a litlte bit shortcoming to get illustrated with the word "massacre".

The TheBritneyspears - IG Farben (2011)

Purple Cat
Lastfm

9.3

/Dada music, Noise, Minimal, Post-psychedelic electronica, Non-music, Avant-garde, Psych-music, Experimentalism, Improvised music/

Comment: Britney Spears..., sorry, The TheBritneyspears provides an exorcized set of repetitive noise`n`tronica, dadaistic jamming, the idiosyncratic vision of bossa nova/samba. Barbra Stress and... relies on whimsical vowel loops embellished with loudly driving harmonica`s whiffs set to the fore. By its conceptual standpoint and formal accomplishment it reminds of the Brazilian avant-garde combo LFC (Lucas Pastina`s project). Or on the other side, it can be handled as a surrealistic response to Animal Collective.

Canon Blue (FreeIndie.com)

FreeIndie.com

9.3

/Chamber pop, Baroque pop, Experimental indie, Singer-songwriter, Alt-folk, Americana, Alternative pop/

Comment: Canon Blue is a chamber/baroque pop/Americana act by Daniel James, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. He recently recorded an acclaimed album, called as Rumspringa (Temporary Residence Limited). James as a versifier bases on orchestration-loaded concept, the gospel of mellow, enthralling strings. By the aesthetical standpoint, however, Canon Blue used to share some similarities with Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Oh No Ono.

| сИстра | - Tiny Boat (live)

2muchachos - Teplaja EP (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.8

/Post-psychedelic electronica, Folktronica, IDM, Musique concrète, Organic electronica, Poptronica, Organcore, Post-rock, Dream pop, Post-folk, Experimental indie, Art pop, Post-pop/

Comment: heartbreaking/groundbreaking but innovative. 2muchachos comes out from Cherepovets, Russia, conveying to us a handful of uplifting songs. Those subtle drones, dulcet electronica and epic effects do manifest about a fact that beauty in music can probably never be ended (or ended up). The synthesized layers are interlaced with organic approach (those natural crackles!) and enthralling motifs. At times it resembles of Oskar Hallbert and Princeton, sometimes Paavoharju, Thompost, and mùm. Godspeed. One of the best releases in 2011 so far.

Thuoom - re:EP (2011)

Textural Healing

9.5

/Abstract techno, Minimal, Noise, Experimentalism, Avant-garde, Forest folk, Experimental electronica, Post-psychedelic electronica/

Comment: first of all, it is a big event that Tuomo, A Finnish musician arrived at us after a while. If you have listened to his previous soundscapes on his own Textural Healing label then you are aware of the high quality of his oeuvre and became ready for new, innovative expectations. At the time he offers up a cluster of 4 tracks, made up with the assistance of 4-string acoustic guitar, digital camera (Samsung Digimax A7), electric guitar, music box. Moreover, he exploits digital reverb, pitch bending, even distortion, on the other side his sound is highly elusive and faery. Indeed, you can generalize it as elfin noise, brownie techno, or something like that. In a word, it stands outside the recognized places of our world, reflecting upon the hypnagogic statuses of the human being.

Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - Mercerism (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.1

/Post-metal, Drone rock, Drone metal, Avant-metal, Black metal, Noise drone, Avant-rock, Experimental rock/

Comment: Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said are a droning noise trio formed in Stirling, Scotland in 2011. The combo consists of Tom James Simpson (Anthrocite), Neil Morrison (The Colours Will Erase Us, Word or Object), and Euan Meikle (The Radiation Line, The Cosmic Dead). Mercerism talks by three long-running tracks, using just sparse but solemn language because of featuring heavily hirsute guitars and now and then a sort of abstract noise either. The album can be compared with Vibracathedral Orchestra, Nadja, and Interlard either.

Joy and Revolution - The Center Stage

Joy and Revolution/ Center stage from Tropical Junkie on Vimeo.

Taiunta - Suoraan Kohti (2010)

Oletustila
Lastfm

9.5

/Hip-hop, Psych-hop, Abstract, Avant-hop, Avant-funk, Experimental hip-hop/

Comment: Taiunta is a project by Henry Vistbacka, an idiosyncratic hip-hop musician from Finland. The debut album Korkeammalle was released in February 2007, the sophomore issue Suoraan Kohti in September 2010. In any cases, the last named album is one of the best hip-hop wholes I have ever heard because of not being hip-hop music in usual sense at all. Vistbacka is shooting incessantly rhymes which are supplemented with the veils of dark ambient, the cutting shards of witch house, obscure kind of club dance, and bent funk music. Taiunta continues the best traditions of vanguard-ish Finnish music (Pan Sonic, Erkki Kurenniemi, Paavoharju, Kimmo Pohjonen, Pekka Airaksinen, Kemialliset Ystävät, Kospel Zeithorn etc). A beautiful shit.

Dream Love - Love Juice (feat. Raw Thrills) (2011)

Noise Horror

9.8

/Space disco, Electro rock, Synth pop, Synth fusion, Glo-fi/

Comment: first of all, this 2-track release reminds me of some notches from the Latvian space disco/electro pop/synth rock/cosmic fusion combo Zodiac`s album Disco Alliance (1980, Melodija), one of the best Soviet pop albums (and more general too) ever. Those gurgitating synths are bucking with marvellous dash, however, displaying its retrodelic core and offering up futuristic possibilities as well. In a word, the past is the present is the future. The future was hidden under the veil of the past. By the way, the title track features Raw Thrills, one of the nowadays USA-related underground stalwarts. The publisher is Noise Horror, an outstanding platform for cassette music and singles. A God`s touch indeed.

The Peach Tree - Revel (2008)

Tribal Dancing Kid
Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.0

/Techno pop, DIY, Electronic pop, Industrial rock, Singer-songwriter, Synth pop, Folk noir, Electro pop, Neofolk, Crossover/

Comment: Angus Maiden, an artist from Melbourne, Australia, has issued approximately a dozen of albums on his own Tribal Dancing Kid. This set of 13 tracks is about acidic techno pop, high-tempered electro beats, galvanic industrial dashes, dark-hued folk noir/singer-songwriter-ism, and stroking synth pop. In a nutshell, it is sympathetic in its DIY madness.

Huzur Isyanda - TRT Haber - Hayat+

Huzur isyanda - TRT Haber - Hayat+ from Viya on Vimeo.

Nice Age - Anything Nice (2011)

Bandcamp

9.4

/Punk, Noise rock, Psych-rock, Surf rock, Garage rock, Alternative rock, Fuzz rock/

Comment: the more I listen to Nice Age, a Denmark-rooted quartet the more it gets imposed on me. Why? Because of having pumped the simple concept of punk rock with enormous energy amount of garage rock/psych rock/surf rock energy wherein guitar feedback dims and hell-ish noise kinks (for instance, at the starting point!) figure out to function as really hitting. However, let`s stop here for this time. Punk is not dead as yet indeed.

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).

The Otot Zafrol Duo! - Little Blue Car

Ears - Sea Legs (2011)

*export
lastfm

8.8

/Sound collage, Lounge pop, Easy listening, Chill out, Sampledelic, Mood music, Cut and paste/

Comment: behind Ears hides himself the Aussie Daniel O`Toole who conveys an array of 14 tracks wherein gurgitating synth bits and slow tempo-induced beats function to create an effortless whole. Of course, you can not forgot about cinematic jazz and lounge-charged whiffs running above and around it. This is music/muzak for everyone to pump up your mind with serotonine.

Last Romantic - Find Your Machine (2009)

Burnthenation
Love Torture
Lastfm

9.0

/Post-metal, Shoegaze, Trip-hop, Big beat, Alternative rock, Crossover, Experimental rock/

Comment: this is an example of nowadays enthralling guitar-based embodiment which consists of monumental guitars, galvanic riffs and its furry overdrives, and heavily stomping rhythm patterns. Behind the project is Dan Stone, a musician from the Foggy Albion who soon changed the project`s name (he is known as Masske now). It extends over the realms of shoegaze, and (post-)metal, and on the other side it veers away the influences of trip-hop, and big-beat at the lowest level. In conclusion, while Stone at times calms down the most of the time the concept is filled in with a huge amount of energy and electricity thus offering up an outstanding experience.

Azwarm - A Morning ´s Work (2010)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.3

/Dark ambient, Minimalism, Soundscape, Dystopbient, Drone, Ambient drone, Avant-garde, Experimentalism, Post-industrial/

Comment: Azwarm used to be one of those countless projects by J.C Thorne, a wonderman from Seattle who has been involved in music for many decades. Here are represented two very long tracks (both of them do have the length for a little more than 22 minutes). Indeed, it is a testimony about the hybridization of experimental music made up with the carcasses and touch of minimalism, drone, and (dark) ambient. More concretely, the album does have the glacial glimmer around its axis which allows for the light to penetrate into its core at times. An elusive effort indeed.

Vernon LeNoir - Another Glass Of Melonade

Various Artists [Chinstrap Music] - Sounds to Come (2011)

Chinstrap
Free Music Archive

9.4

/Soundtrack, Avant-garde, Hauntology, Sound collage, Film noir, Experimentalism, Cut and paste, Conceptual/

Comment: Sounds to Come is the second installment of a series on Chinstrap of music and sound-design cut from public-domain horror and science-fiction films from 1940-1970 offering up an amusing 6-track blend of haunting and joyful sounds. Lots of ghastly monologues which are supplemented with glass shattering explosions, mechanical sonic effects and otherworldly displayed big band orchestrations. Ergo Phizmiz-approved compilation is very thrilling indeed. The excerpts are taken from such films as The Man Who Changed His Mind, Svengali, The Phantom Ship, Attack of the Giant Leeches, Horrors of Spider Island, Teenagers Battle The Thing (all under the CC licence at Archive.org).

Romantic States - Soft Fest 2010-10-24 (2010)

Mediafire

8.8

/Organcore, Dream pop, Drone pop, Experimental indie, Live recording, Post-psychedelic/

Comment: a set of 5 tracks being performed at a stage by Jim Triplett, and Ilenia Madelaire. Just played up with the help of a guitar and a synth (and reverb-loaded vocal turbulences). The gig was shot at the 2nd annual Soft Fest in 2010. By listening to it, however, I can only admit that Romantic States seems to be a solid live combo either. By the way, there is one video evidence (One Way Is Right) about it at Youtube too.

P.asha S. - 3 Winds (2011)

Pocket Fields

9.1

/Ambient, Soundscapes, Epic, Musique Concrète, Ambient noise, Minimal/

Comment: yesterday I reviewed Shinobu Nemoto`s album Tetsuo which used to run on austere and bleak digital processing and modulation. In fact, Tallinn, Estonia-based artist Pavel Semenov (Semjonov) used to exploit similar shapes and patterns, though, being more involved in a sort of musique concrète touch (bird songs, wind dashes, street sounds, the sea). Semenov`s soundscapes used to rise and fall (down), swell and diminish, however, thereby constituting the epic ambiance in your ears.

Five Star Debauchery - Salt (2011)

Jacob 2-2 - Gifted Child EP (2010)

Bandcamp

9.0

/Electro, Electronic pop, Downtempo, Club dance, Experimental electronica/

Comment: an artist from Brooklyn, NY, USA who aims to bind pop appeal with bouncing electro and flowing mid-tempo electronica/downtempo and even inducing cinematic fusion-alike overdrives. The form-related tendencies of today are swathed by the glimmer of analogue technology. Sometimes it reminds even of one legendary quartet from Dusseldorf, Germany (Daryl`s Room). However, if you used to love the sound of Arpanet, or Dopplereffekt, I guess, you like it as well. A crafty effort indeed.

Bomb The Music Industry! - Vacation (2011)

Quote Unquote
Lastfm

8.9

/Psychedelia, Pop punk, Alternative pop/rock, Brass pop, Baroque pop, Art rock/

Comment: pop punk/happy punk/easycore is obviously not the first choice of mine. Yet, Bomb The Music Industry!`s Vacation is an issue I used to love to. Why? Because of those trivial and straightforward rock hooks which are mixed up with the acute form of psychedelia, dream-soaked appearances, infectious brass pop whiffs and even art rock-ish splashing. For instance, the favorite of mine is The Shit That You Hate which in its baroqueness reminds of High Llamas, and Flaming Lips. The shit what we like.

Shinobu Nemoto - Tetsuo (2011)

Resting Bell

9.3

/Minimalism, Drone, Ambient noise, Ambient drone, Soundscape/

Comment: a bunch of 3 tracks by the Japanese ambient hero Shinobu Nemoto. His musical approach is truly minimal - just a bleak, hiss-loaded drone universe, yet, on the other side these appearances are potently dream-filled and shakingly elusive. If you want to search for the kindred souls of him I recommend to check out for the slept.`s doings.

Schaua - Remove Protective Film (2011)

Laridae

9.0

/Experimental electronica, IDM, Indietronica/

Comment: Stefan Schauer aka Schaua aka Phonomat has been very active since the mid-00`s. A set of countless albums have carried the torch for this release`s sake. While these 9 track do often ring a bell they are whimsical and tricky at the same time. Intense and noisy, even drilling electronic worms are creeping along the crunchy paths of rhythms. More generally, the album is a drift between IDM, indie and electro.

Greg Bird & Flamingo Flame - Statuette/Fire & Horses (2011)

Giant Manilow
Lastfm

10.0

/Experimental indie, Dance rock, Alternative pop,Post-punk, Chillwave, Shoegazetronica, Indie dance, Glo-fi/

Comment: a thrilling 2-track miracle by Greg Bird & Flamingo Flame. In fact, I do have no words to convey the proper sense of it over to you. It is somehow related to shoegazing/and post-punk-ish propulsive aesthetics and on the other side showcasing blissed-out whiffs. What else? The vocal lines are highly soul-soaked in its dance-centered catchiness. Pure gold indeed!

Zack Kouns - Mount Of Olives

Monster Rally - Crystal Ball (2011)

Bandcamp

9.2

/Chillwave, Lounge pop, Exotica pop, Glo-fi, Sampledelic, Psychedelic pop, Cut and paste/

Comment: Monster Rally is back with his new album, yet, the formula is continuously same. Blissed-out sample-driven psychedelic/lounge pop where glo-fi meets exotica pop. 17 short-running glimpses will pop out from the recycle bin of pop music making up an uplifting, hitting touch in this way. Indeed, Monster Rally is still the one and only and his muzak schemes used to work perfectly. La Kooka is the favorite of mine.

Katechontico - Avantgarding Christmas (2007)

Bellagioia

9.3

/Noise, Experimentalism, Electro-acoustic, Avant-industrial, Minimal, Microtonal, Avant-garde/

Comment: Christmas music? Music for holidays? Why not. Especially if it happens to be vanguard-ish. Restraint yet lush noiseful scapes which are filled in with the fresh breath of air and electro-acoustic coat a times. Now and then it gets quite symphonic or psychedelic parameters or even microscopic dance-appealed oscillation. Crafty and well sublimely balanced. Behind Katechontico and Bellagioia label is Roberto Maldoror Manfredini, an outstanding Italian noisenik.

Vziel Projet - Rotten Music: The Legacy (2011)

Popsakal

8.4

/Black folk, Experimental folk, Neofolk, Avant-folk, Improvised music/

Comment: yelling, highly desperate vocal lines above dark-hued folk strumming. Just one track a little more than for 18 minutes. The sung language is not decipherable. From Ukraine.

Mister M - Soundtracks Vol1 (2011)

Jamendo

8.8

/Post-rock, Soundtrack, Dark pop, Neoclassical, Crossover, Classical/

Comment: a smorgasboard of sonic layers and pieces...from crescent rock-ish appearances to dreamy or more malignant (neo)classical symphonies, from punching piano-driven chords to colourful slow tempo electro(nica) at times resembling of the soundtrack for a funest movie. For instance, if you like Yann Tiersen, then this 12-track issue does have perspective to enter into your mind.

Stendek - Blouf (2010)

NoEcho

9.2

/Experimental electronica, Psychedelic dance, Techno, IDM, Dubstep/

Comment: Stendek comes out from Poland. He offers a set of different kind of beats mixed up with atmospherical vistas and psychedelic clouds set farctately around it. At times it reminds of the outputs by the Estonian electronic music composer Sven Grünberg. A lucid revelation indeed.

Richard There - Musical Rapes (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

8.7

/Neofolk, Avant-garde, Folk noir, Covers, Experimentalism, Singer-songwriter/

Comment: it is said that there are represented Nirvana, Lydia Lunch, Alien Sex Fiend, The Flaming Lips, Syd Barret, The Goodluck Boys, Daniel Johnston, Frank Sinatra, Donovan, Leonard Cohen and Luna !!! All together in a musical orgy with Richard There!!! Indeed, all is mixed up in this way. While these songs can partially be considered as cover songs, however, it does have very strong touch by There, offering peculiar and surrealistic visions, all of that wrapped up by nihilistic dark-hued folk spasms. And finally, don`t forget, you should not support the musical industry who is intended to poison our minds, destroy our dignity and manipulate with our money. Rather support the Palestinian children who shall have to cope with their everyday life.

The Wind Whistles - Turtle

Ocaixi - Jove Carn Japonesa (2006)

Hamsterloco
Lastfm

8.8

/J-pop, Breakcore, Experimental electronica, Lo-fi, Noise/

Comment: breaks, breakx, breakx... . Off-kilter and blurred visions. Lo-fi experimentalism and noisy forays. Catalonia, Japan... . Karaoke folk? A naivistic yet desperate disco dancer. Distorted yet witty techno. Hamsterloco. For more quotations you shall have to listen to this 16-track album.

Kent State - Challenger B​/​W 2814 (2011)

Bandcamp

9.2

/Fuzz pop, Noise rock, Post-punk, Sheogaze, Alternative rock/

Comment: a combo from Baltimore, Maryland. Cellophane-coated guitars and roughly stomping drums coming out from the compartment of shoegaze and post-punk music. In a word, two noiseful ditties which seem to be quite unusual. Awesome indeed.

Due Samoani - Saturae Cubiculae (2011)

Paragrafo

9.4

/Experimental rock, Art rock, Avant-blues, Experimental indie, Avant-rock, Noise rock, Post-industrial/

Comment: this is a classy sequel to Samoani`s masterpiece Early Tapes (2011, Paragrafo). If Early Tapes did have concentration more on krautrock-ish and wicked rock explorations then this new one used to gather both grits of experimental rock and innovative indie touch. Of course, there are represented much more as well (Captain Beefheart-esque abrasive blues rock, noisy art rock). By the way, all these instrumental notches are entitled with the names of famous basketball players worldwide.

Turrks - Bisbee (2011)

Beko DSL
Lastfm

9.3

/Psych-rock, Experimental rock, Psychedelia, Alternative rock, Noise rock/

Comment: heavily reverb-loaded psych-rock/psychedelia from Oakland, California. A shitloads of massive guitar washes and arrogant, manifesting vocal lines a la Mark E Smith (The Fall) which ultimately makes out an excellent result.

The Forced Oscillations - Doomed

Worst - Light? (2011)

Jamendo

8.8

/Noise, Ambient noise, Harsh noise, Psycho-acoustic, Dystopbient, Experimentalism, Avant-garde/

Comment: Worst is Juan Rodriguez aka S.S aka DJ Virus Maker coming out from the southern hemisphere (Santa Elena, Argentina). These 5 tracks are deeply soaked with different sorts of noise - from digitally harsh, malignant kinds of signal-relied pulsations to massively thudding plateaus (which in turn are encompassed with the high frequencies of crackles) to more expressive, atmosphere-loaded or even symphony-biased intakes. For instance, Cancer Kisses (Nightmare 04) is a superb track. Thematically the issue is inspired by lesbians, nightmares, and coma.

Chiptots - Chip Goes Pop (2008)

Chederrecords
Lastfm

9.0

/Chiptune, Electronic pop, Covers, Bitpop, 8-bit, Tracker music, Nintendocore/

Comment: actually the title used to say all. Older and newer pop songs (by Jackson 5; Katy Perry; Ben E. King; A-Ha; Cyndi Lauper; Spice Girls) are mixed up and designed into a sawtooth-shaped monstrums in a good way. Highly energetic and creepily nostalgic, however.

Bark Cat Bark - Á Lífi (2009)

Povlja
Lastfm

8.8

/Chamber pop, Art-pop, New Age, Experimental indie, Post-rock, Modern classical, Crossover, Classical music/

Comment: Bark Cat Bark was Josh Todd`s solo project, being in action from 2004 to 2009. He had released a handful of albums. Á Lífi was one of his last issues. Soothing orchestrations, enthralling transitions from one fragment to another, some New Age-ish voyages, lone piano-driven reverberations and majestic post-rock-ish ascensions. And of course, accordion-based Paris street music makes always sense. By the way, shortly after he ended up with the activity some yobbos accused him of stealing other people`s oeuvre. Of course, it turned out to be a ridiculous and completely false case. In fact, there may be found out some similarities with Yann Tiersen, and Beirut, for instance, yet, could there be just one person who is able to abandon the legacy of the previous and contemporary eras to introduce his/her absolutely idiosyncratic experience onward? Inevitably not. One cultural layer was pulled out from the previous ones and thereafter heaped up on other ones.

Esperi - My Tear Dissolved The View