Colony - This Machine Never Sleeps (2007)

Archive.org
Bandcamp

9.3

/Experimental techno, Deep techno, Synth pop, Chill out/

Comment: a kind of the legacy of Kraftwerk surfaced in 2007 in Verona, Italy. Dreamy, glacial glow-alike blissful tracks yet including a little bit pessimistic echoes regarding human-related future. The robots may conquer and annihilate the mankind. On the other side, this album can be classified as glo-tech, i.e being a combination of pulsating New Wave/synth pop and crispy Warp-esque intellectual techno/kosmische techno. However, the influences by Kraftwerk are still relevant and the design of the coverprint is impressive.

Happiness In Aeroplanes - A History Of Water (2011)

Bandcamp

8.8

/Post-rock, Modern classical, Experimentalism, Experimental electronica, DIY, Lo-fi, Avant-garde, Experimental electronica, Chamber music/

Comment: behind this one-man project hides himself Eddie J Palmer from Brooklyn. The Brooklynite provides a set of 12 notches which used to vary on the large scale of pop music. While it follows DIY/lo-fi aesthetics (the soundscape is relatively rough and thus pleasantly vulnerable) these songs are not punk/indie pop-related ones. It is rather a sort of post-rock/modern classical/chamber music undermined with twisted electronic modalities below it. Palmer`s previous, considerably more electronic-soaked albums are replaced with more organic, nature-faced visions.

Our Bad: A Michael Jackson Tribute Compilation (2009)

CLLCT

8.4

/Covers, Conceptual, Singer-songwriter, Alternative pop, Alt-folk, Electronic/

Comment: all this caboodle what was going around the death of Michael Jackson recently was far away from being normal and forced to avoid reading the media. This 13-track miscellany was compiled during the legend`s lifetime. I`ll Be There, Billie Jean, We Are The World and other classic ones are covered here by iron like nylon, Patrick Ripoll, tinyfolk, shelby sifers, James Eric (and his side project garden on a trampoline) and other CLLCT-related eminent musicians.

Starfire Connective Sounds - They Call Her One Eye

Kanin Krusete - Like A Thing (2009)

Twilight Luggage

9.4

/Noise, Harsh noise, Psycho-acoustic, Noise rock, Non-music, Avant-garde, Experimentalism/

Comment: an obsessive, freaked out noise (or extreme noise rock) punch by Shea Alterio aka Kanin Krusete. By listening to it you can feel yourself like standing under the waterfall or being stabbed with cathartic noise bursts and "caressing" with crafty phase changes while surrounded by lunatics and zombies.

Craig Chordman - Destiny (2011)

Jamendo

9.4

/Mood music, Glo-fi, Synth rock, Electronic pop, Fusion, Alternative, Progressive synth/

Comment: I reviewed Chordman`s last release (single) Beacon Of Dreams which was an eminent effort. By the way, he has issued the singles only so far. However, his brand new one is certainly bigger and brighter mixing up burbly yet blissed-out synth gears with fusion/jazz rock-alike chords. It reminds a little of the Latvian legend Zodiac. The more you listen to it the better it gets. Huge! Let`s wait for Chordman`s first album. Or is our destiny not to be part of it.

Riga - Escapism (2011)

Chew-Z
Bandcamp

9.1

/Glitch techno, IDM, Experimental techno, Glitch ambient/

Comment: firstly, it is techno music with balls from Italy. These 11 tracks do take on sizzling, smithereens-filled cadences which do pierce behind the gleaming, atmospherical veil of synth layers. Industrial visions at the club stage.

Shan A Shan - Dub Creation Vol. 1 (2011)

Jamendo

8.3

/Dub, Reggae/

Comment: 10 instrumental dub and (less) reggae-inflected episodes which are backed up with simplistic throbbing and being almost remarkably infected with classical music undercurrents/and other cues sometimes. The project comes out not from Jamaica, but from France.

Ram Hoss - PrixQuills (2011)

23 Seconds
Lastfm

8.6

/Lo-fi, Poptronica, Chillwave, Glo-fi, Electronic pop, Hip-hop, Experimental indie/

Comment: first of all, Copx is an eminent pop song reflecting upon essentially nowadays tendencies - angular lo-fi drum loops, blissed-out synth layers and heavenly vocal manner. Furthermore, other 6 tracks do comprise whimsical hip-hop-esque wambling, atmospherical Prince-drenched postures. Ram Hoss is a duo coming out from Calgary, Alberta, Canada being through the line-up closely related with Azeda Booth.

Barthol Lo Mejor - I S2 U - [Vj Kri eye candy]

M1hk3l - Pattern Box (2011)

XLR

8.8

/House, Techno, Tekno, Psytrance, Drum and bass, Tech-house, Club dance, Dub-tech/

Comment: this 11-track album comes out from XLR, an little Estonian label. These long-running notches do merge together brooding techno and tekno. At times it is a sort of suffocating club/dance, sometimes inflected enough to run on dreamy, deep techno rails. Of course, there can be met some exceptions as well. The Pattern Of Chaos functions to bounce through drum and bass and dub-inflected reflections. Or Carpet Chill which is a light-hearted house sequence which onward gets involved in kind of psytrance undulation. Smooth Mod does display joyous bubblegum-ish beats shimmered with cosmic beats and a little pitchbent electronica behind it. An intricate release indeed.

s o u L O f m y S h o E s - EP (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.1

/Alt-folk, Folktronica, Experimental folk, Lo-fi, Organic electronica, Indie folk, Folk indie/

Comment: at first blush simple, lovely folk progressions effortlessly floating out of a bedroom in Torino, Italy are actually not so straightforward ones at all. Feeling-loaded guitar strings are interlaced with organic electronic-filled undercurrents thus some tracks can be considered more alt-folk/indie folk-ish and other ones more folktronic outputs respectively. Moreover, the first track kicks off with blissed-out brass sounds. Elsewhere you can detect for some lo-fi touches and glimpses either. Majority of the ditties are sung in English, a few of them in Italian. You should go into for it. This project can be compared with such (Italian) projects as Ballpen, Nick Rivera, Barbagallo, Artwood, and Elisa Luu.

Gondowanland School of Subcutaneous Noise Infraction - Bobby OddSocks in the land of the NoChiefs (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

8.8

/Thrill`n`bass, Freeformfreakout, Experimentalism, Avant-garde, Noise/

Comment: if you are a cagey person by your nature and you accidentally meet some releases of artists somehow related with Apskraft, then you should watch out. Apskraft is a platform for outsider musicians worldwide releasing diverse yet innovative sound. GSSNI is one of such projects searching for redemption while sloshing in the swamp of gritty noise and thrill`n´bass and more generally freakout music. Here are up 6 episodes which are outsider yet eminent ones.

Fuck Yuo I Am A Robot - Hydraulic

Gel-Sol - Gel-Sol's Adventures Beyond the Plunderworld (2009)

Gel-Sol

9.2

/Plunderphonics, Sound collage, Conceptual, Cut and paste, Humour, Experimentalism, Spoken word, Non-music/

Comment: there is just one, 27-minute progression of...music? spoken word? radio play? Never mind, what ever it could be but it is intricate in its intense turn of samples and snippets which is filled with blue jokes, amusing bits from ancient movies, farting, kung fu fighting, fit of angers and immense using of foul language (keep it listening far away from children!). Andrew Reichel created this publication with over 7 years of collected samples. Of course, such kind of release was not the first composition and will not be the last one undoubtedly. If to check it out toward the past I can remember for Cassetteboy`s adventures either.

Tears On My Pillow: Part II (2011)

Cactus-Mouth

9.0

/Covers, Experimental indie, Psychedelic pop, Rockabilly, Conceptual, Indie pop, Fuzz pop, Glo-fi, DIY/

Comment: this 12-track I discovered thanks to the listening of Lizard Kisses` cover version of the Drifters` Please Stay. Beside this heartbreaking effort you can enjoy other solid versions of the ditties of pop juggernauts either. School Knights, My Parasol, Holytigress, Shimmering Stars, Acid Glasses, High Pop, Filardo, Ba Babes, Cloud Nothings, Guitars, and Kid Counselor do their work completely.

~▲†▲~ - ~▲††▲~ (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.5

/Witch house, Avant-garde, Lo-fi, Trianglecore, Synth noir, Electronic pop, Noirwave, Dark wave, Hauntology, Drag/

Comment: I am very glad that this avant-electronica project from Moscow, Russia has dominated as the most popular group at Recent Music Heroes approximately for a year. ~▲†▲~`s sophomore issue continues in the similar vein searching for lofty crossroads between haunting electronica, mesmerizing ambient, dark wave. It might be that shoegaze influences are a little bit reduced if to compare it with the first, self-titled album (except the avant-gaze anthem Stickweed Houses, which was also represented on the previous issue). On the other side, Vague I used to take on an organic electronica/musique concrète-soaked "light" approach. At times the release chimes like a demented sort of M83 (doing much better in this way). Indeed, the project is continually my favourite witch house/drag/trianglecore ensemble.

Sobria Ebrietas - Esion (part 1)

Nordbeck - Önnestad (2011)

Sediment

9.2

/Modern classical, Musique concrète, Dark ambient, Acousmatics, Experimentalism, Organic electronica, Ambient, Conceptual/

Comment: Martin Norbeck`s 5-track publication based on (prepared) guitars and pianos is inclined to let the listener in a condition as if they were drowned in deep oblivion. His conception can be compared with another Swede Oskar Hallbert who used to exploit lots of surrounding sonic mist to lay more organic approach over his progressions. Yet, on the other side, Nordbeck (who runs the Sediment label as well). Yet, Nordbeck`s soundscapes are more dark ambient and modern classical-tinged oeuvres where certain sounds are heavily amplified in reverb and delay effects being craftily accentuated. Especially eminent is gitarr 2.

The Dreams+Delacave - Beko_99 (2011)

Beko DSL
Lastfm

9.2

/No Wave, Angst pop, Experimental indie, Lo-fi, Primitive pop, Dark pop, Avant-rock, Electronic pop/

Comment: it is nice to meet the Dreams again, a French duo taking on impassioned lo-fi approach blended with existential, moan-soaked singing. This time they are joined by another Gallian combo Delacave, offering up as similarly as the Dreams three tracks of glowering, angst-drenched drones, creepy guitars, haunting vocal lines and monotonous paces buried below it. On the other side, the last track Funeral Party reflects upon a more primitivistic shape.

Adam Bohman, Adrian Northover – Granite, Silk & Soldering - Solo And Duo Recordings 2010-2011 (2011)

Audition

8.9

/Free jazz, Improvised music, Electroacoustic, Crossover, Experimentalism, Drone/

Comment: in the course of 15 notches the listener can concentrate on tight electro-acoustic rustles spiced up with jazzy whiffs and sharp shards or on the other side, mixed up with some chords, which are more treated, stretched, and gleamingly droning. In true, this album can be viewed as if free jazz/improvised music were wrapped up in a sort of abrasive ambience. Yet, the release shall have to be listened carefully because of containing more layers and progressions you are able to follow at the first sight. Adam Bohman takes care of the prepared strings, and Adrian Northover plays two diverse kinds of saxophones on the album being issued by a label publishing very intricate music from the past and today.

Tëal - Arxitt EP (2011)

17 Sons
Bandcamp

9.2

/Experimental techno, Abstract techno, Minimal techno, Noise, Avant-electronica/

Comment: first of all, it is an eminent effort for your body and mind centre. Indeed, it is a truly angular, chrome-coated and shade-filled set of a handful of obsessive tracks. Experimental, creepy, pitch-bent, mostly monotonous techno shapes are interlaced with witty noise vapour as if were introduced to broadcast signals between the muscles of robots and the neuroglias of human brain. Anyway, this is music for man-machines and its clones which occurs to seem quite horrifying sometimes. You could compare it with Autechre, very compulsive Autechre, though.

The Notes - Fearless (2011)

Bandcamp

9.1

/Indie pop, Noise rock, Alternative pop/rock, Shoegaze, Twee pop, Fuzz pop, Lo-fi/

Comment: these 10 tracks are pleasant indie pop appearances obviously influenced by punk-ish straightforwardness, Sonic Youth-esque feedback admiration, shoegaze-ish sound massives, blonde hairy indie, C86, and the artists on Sarah Records and Slumberland. While the album can be considered more past than present it is a nice listening though. Moreover, many melomans do think that old school music (indie) allows more hedonistic units than nowadays combos.

Retro Retry Sonic Youth - EVOL (2005)

Narrominded
Lastfm

9.0

/Covers, Noise rock, Conceptual, Alternative pop/rock, Indie rock/

Comment: 10 Dutch rock groups do cover Sonic Youth`s classical album EVOL and manage it very well. Noisedelic and whimsical. New forms are offered by The Hitmachine, Franco Formica, Gone Bald, Fine China Superbone, Pfaff and others.

Bus Stop Dreams - Anything

Juanitos - Ooh La La Boogaloo

Tristeza Orange - Monochrome EP (2010)

Acustronica
Lastfm

9.2

/Film noir, Experimental rock, Avant-rock, No Wave, Psychedelic, Experimentalism, Alternative dance/

Comment: here are represented 4 solid explorations being quite characteristic experimental notches on their own. The issue kicks off with a droning film noir-charged soundscape, the second track The Stars, They Burn My Eyes, My Hands resembles of the interplay between Michael Karoli`s screeching guitar and Irmin Schmidt`s synth layers while proceeding CAN`s Tago Mago album. Two last, short tracks do constitue slightly more dance-appealed rock/No Wave notches- funky bass gears and bouncing electronic bits are begirded by different kinds of minutiae (there can be used adjectives like "droning", "shouting", "soothing", "joyous").

Herwig Holzmann - Has your anger really disappeared or have you just buried it so deep (2011)

Camomille
Bandcamp

9.4

/Modern classical, Organic electronica, Film noir, Mood music, Soundscape, Chamber music/

Comment: a legendary electronic musician (also known as Das Gritli Moser, and Macon Tights), from Graz, Austria provides a bewitching, 5-piece release of orchestrated fascination blended with discrete, organically loaded electronic undercurrents, chiming as a soundtrack for an imaginable film somewhere outside of perceptible reality. It is filled with highly doleful harmonies and more gleaming and murky shimmer to soothe your pain and desperation.

Sky Picnic - The Unknown Regions EP (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.1

/Indie rock, Slowcore, Alternative rock, Psychedelic rock, Experimental indie/

Comment: seemingly squelched indie progressions with accidental, restraint storms above it. The mellow chords of guitars and synths prone to orchestrations and vocalise-based skies are mixed up with more murky bits and beats. The aesthetics of this Brooklyn-based duo reminds of Low, and Galaxy 500, and even borrowing from the distant past of acid/psych folk.

Chester Chicken - Clucking The Classics (2011)

Happy Puppy

9.0

/Conceptual, Humour, Covers/

Comment: good idea, good humour, good accomplishment. Indeed, 50,000,000 chickens will not be wrong - let`s have spot upon song titles - Omletes Keep Fallin` On My Head, Hard Egg`s Night, Egg-White Christmas, You Don`t Bring Me Feathers, Can`t Cluck Without You, and one song and dance remix more yet.

X-Structure - The Future (2011)

Bushmen
Lastfm

9.0

/Downtempo, Psyambient, Electronic pop, World music, Chillout, Mood music/

Comment: X-Structure, a quartet from the Republic of South Africa is back with their brand new one. Similarly to their previous album (The Past) it is drawn upon the time category and used to shimmer like an iceberg in the sunshine or brown, sunburned landscape. By being massive, and a little bit mystical, the album represents the vision of electronic Africa, because of below those soothing, mostly majestic synth layers are deeply buried different shapes and patterns of the Black continent. Chill and alert.

Kent State - Polly

Echoes - Echoes (2009)

Lastfm
Bandcamp

9.5

/Post-rock, Ambient rock, Ambient, Crossover, Experimental rock/

Comment: a gritty set of instrumental post-rock compositions from St Louis, Missouri, USA. Furthermore, epic, monumental guitar works (which include lots of changes in timbre texture and dynamics or providing lofy, dark-hued droning below the other layers) are sometimes mixed up with airy found sounds and the telling oscillations of hum to create a lush vision of rock music or on the other side constitue an interim compartment to bridge post-rock and ambient into a new path and bewitching ambience. Indeed, it is far away from being just a sequent (boring) post-rock publication. In a word, it is one of the best guitar-based releases ever heard.

Sara Santos - Vacu Sessions 20 ( 2011)

Vacu Sessions

9.3

/Guitar ambient, Sound art, Experimental rock, Experimentalism, Avant-garde, Noise/

Comment: massive, abrasive guitar seaways and slapping drums are up here to dominate throughout the 37-minute session. Crashing, ingurgitating and crushing noise enlightened with some atmospherical layers coming out from it/revolving around it. In fact, having no certain idea how to entitle it exactly - is it sound art or a sort of cutting edge noise rock a la the Lightning Bolt? Never mind, first of all, Sara Santos` work reminds of Tore Elgarøy`s whilom opus The Sound Of The Sun (2001, Rune Grammofon) and Glenn Branca`s guitar noise-drenched symphonies. And it makes you smile tonight.

slept. - on a bright day (2011)

Test Tube

Lastfm

9.7

/Ambient, Ambient noise, Microsound, Guitar ambient, Abstract electronica, Avant-electronica, Soundscapes, Electro-acoustic, Dystopbient, Glitch ambient, Minimalism/

Comment: I can remember exactly for my first experience related with Lukasz Wegrzyn`s music (self-titled EP) happened in approximately 2 years ago. In the meantime LW has issued 2 releases (Torpor EP; Feather EP) in addition to it. This 7-track album is a masterpiece and one of the albums in 2011 for sure. It consists of minimal, restraint and blissed-out ingredients as if re-creating hidden memories to experience bittersweet perceptions and visions. Majestic ambient monoliths are set at a distance while sharp glitch shards are positioned to move on along the front line. By running on sparse, remote wastelands you can perceive some noisy yet somehow laid-back maelstroms, buzzing drones, effortless chord changes. In any cases, the album can be considered as an ideal vision of ambient music.

Joxfield ProjeX - Silent Night Night Silence Pt 2

Joseph Volmer and Eric Fourman - The Transcription of Organ Music (2011)

AudioTong

9.6

/Drone rock, Conceptual, Ambient, Drone, Guitar ambient, Experimental rock, Epic, Post-rock, Avant-rock/

Comment: a stunning, well-balanced drone rock/glacial glow-ish post-rock suite passing along the panoramic flight based on toy piano, guitar, piano, and toy flute. First of all, this 12-minute soundscape is dominated by gleaming guitar hum and orchestrated vectors moving up and down. When it is time to rise up, however, those peaks and crests do chime truly monumental and majestic. An epic result which Angus Maclise would have loved, I guess.

White Candles - Flowers for Delia (2009)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.3

/Psychedelia, Acid pop, Experimental indie, Electro-indie, Alternative, DIY/

Comment: this EP consists of an ebullient bunch of 5 pieces which are heavily synth-driven twists spiced up with autotuned vocal lines and volatile, Morricone-esque motifs. At times it takes on to be burbly, sometimes yearning and melancholic, on the other side, it is essentially retrodelic for most of its time. More exactly, you can for the shadows of the Beatles (and chemical Beatles), The Doors, and Silver Apples. In a nutshell, it is a classic issue built on classic ones. Indeed, Flowers for psyche-Delia.

Lady Vallens - Double Mirror (2008)

Second Family

9.2

/Industrial rock, Angst rock, Electro-rock, Post-punk, Experimental rock, Avant-rock, Gothic rock/

Comment: this Parma, Italy-based experimental rock combo provides 12 songs which are filled in with bitter anxious perceptions, obscure gothic shards, rigid but massively stomping post-punk-ish drum machines, and electro/synth pop-esque undercurrents. Furthermore, even dance-appealed funky bass choppiness and math/prog/metal vapour is proudly up here.

Hox Vox - LaGuardia 3:00 AM

beko DSL - beko_killshaman (2011)

Beko DSL
Lastfm

9.3

/Post-punk, Psychedelia, Avant-garde, Primitive electronca, Post-psychedelic electronica, Experimentalism, Art rock, Alternative pop/rock/

Comment: this compilation reflects upon - let`s just say - industrial/urban tribalism. Lots of variable hooks and enthralling trash are chosen over here, however, veering out from the Fall-alike manifesting post-punk-ish shimmer and 80`s Sonic Youth-afforded bristled yet dream-filled guitar works to off-kilter shamanic oscillation/post-psychedelic tilts and somehow statically flowing guitar-induced experimentalism and stuttering primitivism. Here are represented the likes of GeR^^aN, Hiking, Turrks, GeRmAn ArMy, Night Control, and Healthcare, all those bands seem to related with one location - Oakland, California.

Limbo Deluxe - Rodeo (2011)

Jamendo

8.9

/Psychedelic rock, Ska, Surf pop, Brass pop, Alternative pop/rock, Latin pop/

Comment: Limbo Deluxe is a side-project by Juan Naveira, who has been residing in France. However, Naveira aka mrjuan is chiefly known thanks to his Juanitos project (since 1991) within he has satisfied his versatile ambitions mixing densely up surf pop, World music, Latin pop, brass pop, psychedelia, rockabilly with each other. In any cases, this 6-piece unit borders on the characteristics of Limbo Deluxe, drawing the line with more rocking, slightly ska-based sound to detach them. Catchy strums, dashing motifs, and dusty reed organs are excellently represented at La Luz Interior. The songs are performed in Spain and in English. All in all, I am waiting for those times when mrjunan`s music will be played in advertising because of being highly calisthenic.

Stefan Tretau – Yesterday You Said Tomorrow (2011)

Broque
Lastfm

9.0

/Tech-house, Dub-tech, Dub-house, Club dance, Crossover/

Comment: this is a solid trip by an experienced producer from Germany who this time kicks off at a crossroad of house, dub and techno. The album`s quaintness is brought forth due to acoustic (string) lines which are interlaced with dreamy, versatile paces in crafty way. However, the coverprint is pleasant in its organic way, demonstrating apparently the tendencies of this 7-track issue. Thought not only for hours around the midnight.

Zloty Dawai - Jazz Nazis Must Die!

Meanwhile Project.ltd - The Sober EP (2011)

WM Recordings
Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.3

/Noirscape, Musique concrète, Psychedelia, Covers, Experimentalism, Modern classical /

Comment: a peculiar (just trying to avoid describing it as "macabre") shit which contains musique concrète-hued mourning classical music and essentially obsessive noirscapes, by the way including a cover version of the Pink Floyd`s coolest song Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, and a version of the Twin Peaks theme composed by Angelo Badalamenti. The EP is issued on WM Recordings, a great label from the Netherlands (Phil Reavis, R Stevie Moore, Chenard Walcker, Happy Elf, Spheriot, Roy Chicky Arad, Keshco and many other ones)

Jakim - To Bleep Or Not To Bleep (2011)

Jamendo
Lastfm

8.8

/Chiptune, Chipbreak, Chilltronica, Psychedelic electronica, 8-bit, Tracker music, Electronic pop/

Comment: Jakim (20-year-old Mateusz Szymànski from Poland) provides a 15-track set (turns to the end at the length of 29 minutes!) of lush, psychedelic electronica (catchy motifs and upbeat progressions). More profoundly, it is somewhat jazzy (fusion) and funk-tuned, yet, in the first place it is played up with the help of the sawtooth-shaped beats and buzzing noise of 8-bit/tracker music, chiptune. Indeed, it is chill and brain-eating at the same time.

Virgin Of The Birds - Fugitive Works (2011)

Abandoned Love
Lastfm

8.8

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

Comment: five suggestive folk-drenched indie pop songs composed by Jon Rooney. At times the ditties will turn into more introspective ones reminding of baroque pop with those subtle strumming and orchestrations, yet, most of the course they used to exploit a more burbly approach. Listen to it and you will not get disappointed.

Hypermagic - Lasso

Oskar Hallbert - Promenader & Utflykter (2011)

Resting Bell

9.2

/Dream folk, Avant-folk, Musique concrète, Drone folk, Organic electronica, Microtonal, Experimental folk/

Comment: Oskar Hallbert is a Swedish musican who allegedly lives in the middle of the forest massives somewhere in the countryside (at least it was a preterit legend about him). However, Hallbert continues the similar path he used to exploit on his previous releases on Resting Bell, Rain, and Zymogen. More profoundly, here are represented little, restraint miniature compositions consisting of some lofty drones, sparse string fingerpicking, mellotron`s vibraphone glimpses which are effortlessly penetrating through thick mist-and-natural sound blend. It may be these elusive and otherworldly vibes are made by fairy creatures.

I Buried Paul - The 633 EP (2009)

Sinewave
Lastfm

8.5

/Sampledelic, Glitchtronica, Sound-art, Sound collage, Dark ambient, Avant-garde, Noirwave/

Comment: this release can be considered as a somehow white crow amongst the issues on Sinewave, a Brazilian post-rock label. Why? Because guitars are replaced with sampledelic trash veering out from punching noir-filled beats to bright-scaled sunshiny visions, from noiseful glitchtronica to more or less electro-acoustic explorations. You can enjoy heavily effect-loaded notches, flying hooks to the left and right. At times it seems that the soundscape could be dedicated to those few days before lifting of the veil.

Starfire Connective Sound - Starfire Connective Sound EP (2011)

Bandcamp

9.7

/Big Beat, Noise rock, Psychedelia, Avant-rock, Dance rock, Experimental rock, Shoegaze, Industrial rock/

Comment: it is amazing! Simply amazing... . You should more watch out for Brazil, a new location for avant-garde/shoegaze/experimental rock bands today. Starfire Connective Sound is truly eargasmic mixing up boundless, dance-appealed psychedelic drive with massive shoegaze washes, heavily stomping big beats and somehow industrial rock. More concretely, if you are searching for the total concept of pop music, this could be one of the best candidates regarding its incessantly revolving glacial-go-round throwing sharp hooks and shards around its frenzied axis and ploughing its topsoil deeply up either. Imagine Silver Apples meets Sereena Maneesh meets Death In Vegas meets Superficial Random Knowledge Porridge meets Primal Scream meets Acid Mother Temple yet providing a sort of idiosyncratic psyche-core.

In A Sleeping Mood - Draft

VİYA - Huzur İsyanda EP (2011)

Clinical Archives

9.4

/Balkan brass, Improvised music, Chamber music, World music, Psychedelic, Mood music/

Comment: this is a great 3-track issue by a quintet from Turkey, played up mainly with the help of monumentally ascending, heartbreaking (Balkan) brass twists and chiming string-based magic dust and melodica solos. More concretely, it is a dynamical, picturesque orchestration-soaked chamber music which at times is deeply melancholic but very blissed-out either. The kick-off Huzur ósyanda and the finishing Oyuncaklar Ülkesi does include the impassioned singing manner by Barış Demirel (who is playing trumpet, melodica, and bass guitar either), who is recording his brand new one at the moment. This album is especially thought for all of those who used to admire the music of Goran Bregović, Bark Cat Bark, Beirut, Molotow Brass Orkestar and other such kind of bands or watch the films produced by Emil Kusturica.

Sonic Clams - Sonic Clams (1986)

Bob Chaos

9.1

/Weird pop, Avant-garde, Non-music, Experimentalism, Improvised music, Psychedelia, Psych-music, Sound collage, Found sound/

Comment: approximately 2 years ago I reviewed Phil Reavis` amazing album The Reagan Years, which was issued on WM Recordings in 2008. Before it Phil Reavis played in some Muncie/Bloomington, Indiana-related bands which in turn were related to Bob Chaos Records, a avant-garde cassette label having had the lifespan from 1984 to 1988. Anyway, Sonic Clams represents an album of 18 tracks which can be deemed to be one of the precursors of nowadays lo-fi/DIY/tape music culture (the label needs to be discovered by a wider audience yet). More profoundly, all is revolving (or revolting) around those hazy soundscapes which are loaded with deliberate tape hisses, spoken word samples, found sound additions, somewhat majestic organ drones or on the other side filled in with angry, obsessed prepared guitar shards and noise. However, at times this album seems to be a chain between R Stevie Moore, and The Residents, for instance. It also borders upon the early doings by John Crewdson aka the Hirundu and Halloween-induced compilatons.

Windom Earle All Stars - A Series of Minor Personal Tragedies (2006)

Polygon Network
Windom Earle

9.4

/Electro-punk, Chip punk, Prog-indie, Avant-punk, Synth pop, Experimental rock, Art rock, Dance rock, Electronic pop/

Comment: what the heck, this is an experienced, frenetic combo of 6 musicians from Halifax, Canada offering up 14 electro, primitive electro/8-bit/chiptune and prog-drenched punk ditties (even hardcore and shoutcore-loaded songs are up here). Clever lyrics, huge feeze, intricate compositions - in a word, all what shall have to be presumed to create a gritty pop album on its own. For instance, you must listen to Potato Potato, a breathtaking notch with gleaming, blissed-out electro groove. More profoundly, if you are searching for some kindred souls, I recommend listen to Xiu Xiu, Ooberman, Deerhof, A Sunny Day In Glasgow, Clinic, and Hipster Youth.

Klever - Trip#5

Fragmenti - Музика за Плашење Деца и Нервирање Возрасни (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.0

/Dark ambient, Organic electronica, Dark wave, Musique concrète, Minimalism, Experimentalism, Conceptual, Avant-garde/

Comment: Fragmenti is a musician from Macedonia, who used to come from the same nest wherefrom artists such as Sferi, and fydhws came forth (a group named as NGC 147). Just one, 27-minute track is represented here which relies on the loop of a bass line incessantly throbbing onward being backed up by organic electronica-hued yet ghastly backdrops and minimal changes throughout the c(o)urse. In conclusion, you can see the references drawing upon the minimal drone works by La Monte Young and Angus Maclise, and on the other side, tributing the views of darkwavers and obscure ambient musicians. It is said that the issue is compiled of a kind of music to scare children and annoy adults.

The Sundog Project – The Sky Moved Overhead (2009)

Xynthetic

8.7

/Martial music, Neoclassical, Experimental electronica, Remixes, Dark pop, IDM/

Comment: Ian Johnson aka The Sundog Project from Cheltenham, UK offers up one original track of him and thereafter remixing of a pair of tracks by Creepy Candles. There can be detected for a tendency to mix up electronica and IDM-esque paces with piano chord carved footstalls which are wrapped up by neoclassical, even martial feeling.

Días de Septiembre - Días de Septiembre (2011)

Clinical Archives
Subwise
Lastfm

8.5

/Post-rock, Epic, Experimental rock, Indie rock, Alternative pop/rock/

Comment: a massive and winsome rock blowup from Caracas, Venezuela. As regarding the concept of die-hard post-rock whenever you may admit that it is business as usual because of being compiled of a bunch of guitar layers, penetrating guitar gears, punching drums, which is spiced up with some electronica inbetween it. Let`s take a ride from the slope of a mountain over to the peak of the mountain and thereafter let`s do contrariwise. Indeed, some guitars are bigger than others.

Nice Age - No Wrong No Right

Dad Lipsticks - Awakening 2007-2010 (2011)

Umor Rex

8.7

/Primitive pop, Primitronica, 8-bit, Folktronica, Chiptune, Crososver, DIY, Hip-hop, Experimental electronica, Sampledelic, Musique concrète, Lo-fi, Electronic pop/

Comment: on the Myspace site of Dad Lipsticks the soundscape of him is described as idiots kissing. If these are about kissing then they are essentially very short kisses (37 notches in all). The tracks do chime almost as angular and low bit-ish as chiptune music used to do. In fact, electro pop is mixed up with chiptune numbers at times. I would entitle it as a sort of clockwork electronica where cannot be overrated the factor of original sounds. Onward, weird bonds with hip-hop, power-drenched electronica, folk and more dream-filled layers, however, it displays its indecisiveness because of having had no certain direction to be chosen. Yet, the ultimate result of it seems to be intricate and pleasant simultaneously.

Johan Reinhold - Shoot Me Down (2011)

Soundcloud

7.7

/Pop rock, Electro-rock, Pomp rock/

Comment: it is a single by Johan Reinhold, a Swedish Grammy nominated indie electro pop artist who is influenced by Gayngs, Nikki and the Dove, Miike Snow and Portishead. The notch is produced and arranged by Astma & Rocwell, and onward Lasse Mortén took care of post-production and engineering. Shoot Me Down is a bombastic effort with hard rock guitar riffs, mellow backdrops and cloying footstalls, and some shamanic vowel effects in the ending part. Unfortunately, it is way too predictable and without any vulnerable (read: intricate) corners within it.

Tobias Borelius - Du känner mig för väl, farväl (2011)

23 Seconds
Bandcamp
Jamendo
Lastfm

8.7

/Indie pop, Indietronica, Poptronica, Electronic pop, Singer-songwriter, Acid pop, Lo-fi/

Comment: this is a relatively short-running, in Swedish sung album. At these 8 tracks may be detected for two tendencies. Sprawling acoustic pop is imbued with a slight touch of electronica, and on the other side it is created with the intention for more electronic-driven ditties. At times it used to be more restraint, sometimes more sunshiny and charming, however, exploiting symphonic keyboards, New Wave-ish synth thudding and effects. At Smaragdgröna Parker is exploited 8-bit/tracker music-alike cadences as if falling to a numerous of dull-coloured smithereens. The favorite of mine is Arkitekten (featuring Lotta Wenglèn), a gloomy gem.

MATER SUSPIRIA VISION - Seduction of the Armageddon Witches

MATER SUSPIRIA VISION - Seduction of the Armageddon Witches {2011} from Diego Barrera on Vimeo.

Apache O'Raspi - Not Phony (2011)

Bandcamp

9.4

/Alt-folk, Folk indie, Dream folk, Singer-songwriter, Free folk, New Weird Mexico, Lo-fi, Experimental folk, DIY, Baroque pop, Electronic, Indie folk, Psych-folk/

Comment: Apache O`Raspi comes out from Mexico providing a fascinating set of idiosyncratic pop songs. There can be detected for a pair dominating lines of influences - first of all, it is instrospective, dream-filled, psychedelic folk and local Latin appearances with die-hard lo-fi/DIY touch and on the other side the album cannot be without making the hints at tropicalia pop/rock a la Os Mutantes and so-called saccharine underground/baroque pop a la Lee Hazlewood. There is one exception either - Frantic Dance takes on more tight flirtation with lustful electronic trickery. The album is sung in English, and Spain respectively. By the way, these 9 tracks are mixed by Benjamin Z, aka Volumina, another awesome folktronic musician from Mexico. In conclusion, you can grab lots of truly elusive harmonies and melodies from out of here (Cereal Mermelada; Junto a ti; Come Up Again; Little Lady). Great!