Alexandre Bilodeau - Veins-tu (2006)

Epsilonlab

9.3

/Deep house, Dub house, Tech-house, Club dance, Electro/

Comment: This release is a truly classic one even if it is not unsung to it yet. Coming out from Montrèal, Quebec, Canada, it shows up the chunky beats and drilling-ness of electro, bubblegum-ism, hypnotic repetition-relied house rhythm patterns - veering from dubbed house to deep house, and over to tech-house. The value of the issue is universal, i.e being hidden in its ambivalence - it is thought for the stages of the music clubs and for listening in the cozy ambience in the late night hour somewhere. In any cases, it coils your very mood up.

Thomas Truax - Lost On The Moon In June (2011)

Bandcamp

9.0

/Synth pop, Experimental indie, Baroque pop, Chamber pop, Electronic pop, Alternative, Singer-songwriter/

Comment: This is another notch of the annual array of 2011 by this US-based singer-songwriter who used to be armed with a loads of weird custom-mastered instruments. In comparison with his previous single Free As Fireflies In May, this time guitars (or at least similarly chiming instruments) are replaced with the electronic approach. More concretely, it is a very nice song orchestrated and embellished with breaking sounds and crooning vocal lines.

Keroøàcidu Suäväk - Keroøàcidu Suäväk (2010)

Bandcamp

7.6

/New Weird Brazil, Free folk, Improvised music, Weird folk, Freeformfreakout, Experimental folk, Primitive music/

Comment: Those five long-running improvisations come from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Primitivistically freaked out, at times giddy, at times high-tempered folk-based experiments do chart the extremities of pop music, reminiscent of such artists as Hipsu Jänis, Vierivä Viiksiportieeri, and Xarhope. "Lyrics" consists of unusual symbols, some of them having nothing to do with the phonetic syllabies.

Dirtblonde - The Hangmen

Northcape - Alluvial EP (2011)

Elpa
Lastfm

9.2

/IDM, Electronic pop, Ambient, Experimental indie, Shoegazetronica, Soundscape, Crossover, Dream pop/

Comment: Arghh, it is simply filled in with beauty. Indeed, it is highly intricate by its concept and ouput. It starts out as a buffer zone between soothing electronic pop and IDM-esque shadows, which soon will be evolving into another zone, getting running on dream-alike soundscapes and electronic-drenched shoegaze music similar to Bing Satellites, Northern Picture Library or M83 having its run on restraint mode. The EP consisting of 4 tracks and issued on the Latvian label Elpa can be considered a classical one. First of all, it is recommended for all those old indie guys and gals having acquired their favorite music experiences during the 80s and 90s, and for those people as well who just used to love beautiful music on its own.

Dublin Duck Dispensary - Be Happy

kirameki - exercises in style (2009)

Rack & Ruin

8.6

/Sampledelica, Sound collage, Experimentalism, Samplecore, Weird pop, Avant-garde/

Comment: Rack And Ruin was a shrewd label enriching the DIY-based musical scene from 2008 to 2010. By headed up by Dean Birkett, the label issued the kinds of idiosyncratic sound veering from anti-folk and the New Weird America to lo-fi indie and sampledelica, from primitive electronica and sound-art conceptions to dizzy conceptions of psych-rock and of-kilter psychedelia and much more else. Dylan Ettinger, starstarstar, Hungry Owl, Dublin Duck Dispensary, Testicular Manslaughter and many others were parts of the R & R`s roster. However, this album is a confronting act between the domestic Japanese artist _ and The British artist *. As the album title suggests, this case is compiled of sampling parts just following to each other. The most important characteristic is that between a loads of aspects can be perceived for refreshing synergy played astutely out, obviously thanks to different kind of elements snatched from metal music, chamber music, film scores, urban futurism. Heavily pounding rhythmic vistas are variegated with more subtle downbeat paces, industrial and electro-based motorik electronics, ordinary classical music snippets, suggestively vibrating harmonies and all of that mostly wrapped up in the sort of stealthy ambience.

Tracing Arcs - Eye See You (2010)

ID.Eology

9.5

/Trip-hop, Electronic pop, Film noir, Cinematic pop, Nu jazz, Chamber music, Urban music/

Comment: It was not much time ago when this album of 7 tracks was remixed by a bunch of various artists under the title Eye See You Too (issued on the 23 Seconds records). Tracing Arcs is a British duo consisting of Fran Kapelle (vocal/lyrics) and Paul H. Addie (synths/programming) who started out the project in the mid of 90`s. In fact, their musical characteristics revealing itself as coming forth from this time either. Their soundscape used to be profoundly smoky, more detailly Bristolian trip-hop beats-backed, their purple-hued chamber music backdrops are mixed up with Kapelle`s highly sensual, seductive vocal ramblings. At times Addie does add cinematic orchestrations and nu jazz-y parcels and spacious noir minutiae. By listening to the album you will get evidenced that the duo`s ideological elements descend somehow from indie music (having similarities with Pulp, and Ian Brown) and more straightforwardly from 4 Heroes seminal album Two Pages as well. All you can do is just to soak it up. It is really worth to do it. Unfortunately for the band, first of all, this album should have been recorded approximately 15 years ago.

Children of the Drone - St. Mary Arches, 04/05/11 (2011)

Children Of The Drone
Children Of The Drone

9.4

/Psych-folk, Avant-folk, Improvised music, Chamber folk, Ambient, Experimental folk, Downbeat, Drone folk, New Weird England, Dream folk/

Comment: Every new (and voluminous) appearance of this Foggy Albion-based combo (with some core members and loads of occasional members for every session) does have worth enough to pay huge attention to it. However, throughout the appearances on the two last albums/sessions (including the recent one which is recorded in a church) COTD has somewhat completed their obvious raga/ drone folk-based concept with some new sonic additions. For instance, the Exeterians` soundscape is evolved into more synthetic, exploiting more electronic devices (sampling units and low-end synths) for it and on the other side playing up jazz-hued (those saxophone-relied cool passages) and downbeat improvisations. The change is welcomed in any cases, moreover, as the combo have previously managed to maintain their profound approach for the progressions into the kinds of transcendental state of minds.

Ocaixi - Niku

Yellobelly - GM01 (2004)

Giant Manilow
Mediafire
Lastfm

8.6

/Instrumental rock, Post-rock, Experimental rock, Epic, Alternative rock/

Comment: The friend of mine told me once that all he used to need from pop music is just a good rhythm and melody. This 4-track single/EP by a Birmingham quartet (at the moment they are re-formed being known as Echo Lake and residing in London) was the first release of the Giant Manilow imprint and still being my favorite one under it so far. It is instrumental-only post-rock characterized by the epic ridges of guitar and repeated gears of this style, on the other side by the catchy harmonies and impetus of indie rock. Is there represented all of that do you need for yourself from pop music actually?

ただ何となく我々は放置されている - NOISEorDIE (2011)

Toyoneu

9.2

/Punk rock, Hardcore, Noise rock, Crustcore, Art-rock, Psychobilly, Experimental punk/

Comment: This miscellany of 7 tracks plays up a screwing course of essentially frenzied punk rock (coming from Japan, of course). In fact, it can be considered as punk on the macroscopic level, on the other side it forges the elements of psychobilly, noise, crustcore, hardcore and some minutiae of experimental electronica (by mixing it up with the punk-ish main line, however it resembles of the aesthetics of such legends as the Screamers, for instance). A manifesto of pure energy/close to the best punk rock appearances.

Plaens - Cabin (2011)

Bandcamp
Soundcloud

8.8

/Post-psychedelic, Chillwave, Krautrock, Dreamwave, Tape music, Glo-fi, Avant-pop, Post-pop, Dream synth, Experimental pop/

Comment: This publication (rooted in Atlanta, USA) consists of one notch only. On the other side, you have possibility to think out your thoughts profoundly because of the longitude of the track reaching the 40 minutes, though. However, the issue confronts (post-)psychedelic/krautrock-ish repetitiveness and glo-fi/dreamwave-ish/chillwave-ish beatificness. All the whole rings out really organic as if were made out in the midst of nature. However, it is an example of how cutting edge-y yet highly enjoyable (pop) music has surpassed the aesthetical and stylistical borders for its own sake.

The Ghost Dance Project - The Ghost Dance Project (2007/2011)

OM HA SVA HA KSHA MA LA VA RA YAM
Free Music Archive

8.6

/Improvised music, Jam sessions, Experimental folk, Psychedelic, Drone folk, Live session, Avant-folk/

Comment: Such sound used to be called "deep" indeed. The Finnish forest folk/drone ambient stalwart Uton is jamming with a German-based hippie couple and an Australian guitarist in an island of Diu, Gujarat, India. The dropping rhythms of tablas and frame drums, sensible guitar fingerpickings and shamanic vowel experiments (just throat vocalisation) are the basic instruments for conjuring up a magical soundscape consisting of silentfully fluttering drone-ish key changes searching relentlessly for an optimal state of mind. During those 34 minutes, however, it has been found many of times either.

Arnoldrecords - Echo Mike crashed and died burnt in horrible sufferings (2011)

Jamendo

8.0

/Chillout, Modern classical, Crossover, Soundtrack, Easy listening, Electronic pop/

Comment: Arnoldrecords is not a record company but an artist from France, offering laid-back electronica mixed up with angular piano chords, guitar snippets, and programmed beats on this issue. At times it gets evolved into the soundtrack-esque milieu, at times incorporating some elements from the spaghetti westerns and offering noir-drenched overthrows. This is an album which builds up the kind of safe continuation on sound and style, having succeeded to avoid any interruption throughout it.

Thousand Needles – Thousand Needles (2011)

Lepork

8.1

/Happy punk, Melodic punk, Easycore, Pop punk/

Comment: Four melodic punksters from Jakarta, Indonesia playing up the dynamical chords of guitar-based music sung in English and Indonesian (adding lots of excitement and exoticness to the whole). Though the 7-track release seems artistically to be unpretentious, the most important aspect is that their sound is organized in a high-energized, catchy way. The last track on it offers a surprising glimpse through the recruitment of march rhythms. Compare this band`s oeuvre to Shortcut To Last`s one, a Canadian band recently reviewed on this blog either.

Subterrestrial - The Goddess of Atvatabar (2011)

Subterrestrial
Lastfm

8.6

/Avant-industrial, Experimentalism, Ritualistic industrial, Sound-art, Minimalism, Experimental electronica, Avant-garde, Acousmatics, Electro-acoustic/

Comment: Call it either ritualistic drum music, grey-ish electro-acoustic/acousmatic workout, sonically diminished sound-art attempt, or creeping industrial elaboration respectively. More concretely, there can be detected for elliptically looping samples accomplished with the profound pulsating progressions of algorithms, abstract-stretched weird soundscapes, and heavily pounding drums in the backdrop of moaning shamanistic vowel experiments. Indeed, the album showcases different faces on its own. The set of 7 tracks comes nearby San Francisco, USA being primarily inspired by a novel by William R. Bradshaw.

Sobria Ebrietas - The Secret Chord (2009)

Abyssa
Abyssa
Myspace

8.8

/Dark ambient, Martial music, Ambient noise, Experimentalism, Soundscape, Dystopbient, Avant-garde, Minimalism/

Comment: Sobria Ebrietas was born around 1995-96 in France as a side-project to such band as Absolutely Curtains. Since then SE has been a profilic plodder, developing his vista about murky and noiseful soundscapes. Here is one album being released under the cult label Abyssa (now being defunct one already). Indeed, The Secret Chord used to "talk" about an almostly omnipotent merge of lush noise, epic dark ambient/dystopbient, "shouting" lopsided soundscapes, exorcized minimal and microtonal music, threatening echoes of martial fields, and reverberating spoken word ghosts. A profound set indeed.

Fake Plastic Heads - keeping an eye on the ones who deserve it (2011)

Clinical Archives
Fake Plastic Heads

9.3

/Avant-industrial, Experimentalism, Avant-garde, Power electronica, Psych-acoustics, Spoken word, Noise, Non-music, Avant-electronica/

Comment: 37-years-old Charles S. Kozmanovic aka the c aka lee01 can be considered a singer-songwriter, yet he is a very peculiar kind of singer-songwriter from Germany. Those 15 notches which are dominantly wraith-embraced ones showing up the darkest corners of the consciousness of a human being. All is wrapped up in a high-resoluting yet "soothing" forge of noise and industrial sound, it is like Freddy Krueger who used to told his "subtle" lullabies to the rest of the world. By a more historical side, falling into an array of the predecessors, it can be compared to Coil and the madness of Einstürzende Neubauten drifting between the destructivism and constructivism. Yet, keeping an eye on the ones who deserve it is an original one demonstrating a potent merge of spoken word and sonic palette - it is the kind of grower. For all the noise music lovers, power electronica and avant-industrial adorers, however, this issue is an obligatory one. And search for the man`s previous albums drone_iv, and ldf1st (at Jamendo) either.

OS TRASNOS DE MOSCOSO - Casa da Joaquina (2011)

Aregueifa

8.0

/Trip-hop, Hip-hop, Experimental electronica, Rap,Urban music/

Comment: This set of 2 short-running tracks starts out from the jungle of an electronic mess, evolving further into the trip-hop-relied rhythm structure. The second track is an example of whimsical hip-hop with a vast amount of energy rapped in Galegian/Spanish language.

Noosfera - IX (2011)

Jamendo
Noosfera

7.8

/Blues rock, Hard rock, Improvised music, Singer-songwriter/

Comment: Noosfera is Gildardo Ràbago, a musician from Mexico, who has issued a solid load of releases at Jamendo. However, his methodology seems to have respect toward old and new - toward the vintage era blues music-based roughness/dryness and linearity/monophonic-ness which is saturated with hard rock riff-drenched jammingness and embellished with psychedelic keyboard interludes and at times even groove-appealed rhythms.

Fixture Records Compilation No.2 (2011)

Fixture Records

8.8

/Experimental indie, Alternative, DIY, Psychedelic, Space pop, Post-pop, Avant-pop, Dreamwave, Nugaze/

Comment: Similarly to the compilations of Hobo Cult, Eardrum Pop, Beko DSL, Holiday Records and many other similar kind of labels, this miscellany of 21 tracks on Fixture Records reflects upon the situation of nowadays innovative indie music. It is mostly made in the vein of DIY aesthetics, dreamwave, nugaze, and psychedelia. Here are represented Dirty Beaches, Lantern, Sequin Kit, Jef Barbara, Cresting, Chevalier Avant Garde, Mavo, Silver Dapple, Brave Radar, Freelove Fenner, Sheer Agony, Omma Cobba, and Telephone Callers. My favorite track is Sheer Agony`s Caitlin And Peter And George Harrison, a kind of doo wop-drenched easy listening.

Clinker - So We Say

Cygnet Wings - Cygnet Wings EP (2011)

Bandcamp

8.9

/Baroque pop, Chamber music, Avant-folk, Dream folk, Vaudeville folk, Singer-songwriter, Alt-folk, Americana/

Comment: Dan Hall`s sonic templates are as blissful as the same used to be essentially melancholic at times. I just mean full of beauty with some infiltrated sense of bitterness. Moreover, the steps of progressions on it do hit into your feeling centre, especially if to regard those epic growings getting out of restraint chamber-drenched sequences into a sort of breathtaking Americana pop.

Doctrine - Beko Digital Single # 90 (2011)

Beko DSL
Bandcamp

9.0

/Hypnagogic pop, Post-pop, Glo-fi, Synth pop, Chillwave, Electronic pop, Poptronica/

Comment: Doctrine is a combo from France (Douglas Donovan & Holden Brahms) offering a single consisting of two tracks. The first of them is English-sung, the other is just instrumental. The first rings out like a mesmerizing sign of already starting summer time (using cloudless synths an a drum machine), the other laces some brooding synth chords with the progressions into dream-coated electronica/hypnagogic pop. In any cases, all is pleasant.

Nocturn Deambulation - The Grand Opening (2011)

Wildness

Wildness

8.7

/Black metal, Progressive rock, Death metal, Brutal metal, Epic, Crossover, Art-metal/

Comment: I am listening and listening to... this is a permanently changing mix of progressive rock guitar riffs and electronic keyboards, brutal noodling on guitars, black metal influenced vocal threatening, hammering machine-alike drums do make up lots of impression. The introducing track Waltz of men in white is a dizzy yet epic entrance on the basis of whimsically played synths. Indeed, Frèdèric Modine aka Nocturn Deambulation from France has done it offering to the world a murky yet convincing manifesto of him.

Baristik Mi Gostembil Project - Gostembil Sessions (2011)

Clinical Archives

9.2

/Art-pop, Experimental pop, Crossover, Improvised music, Chamber pop, Avant-garde, Jazz, Oriental, Trip-hop, Toytronica/

Comment: The Uskudar/Istanbul-based trio headed by Baris Demirel does bridge the Western musical experience with the Oriental-relied ones. Indeed, it is a subtle patchwork/crossover publication of a vast range of sounds and appearances - from Gainsbourg-esque sensual pop to the most intimate moments on trumpets regarding the music by Miles Davis. Furthermore, threatening programmed beats accomplished with a suggestive lead motive seems to fluttering toward Bristol and thereafter moving on to create a mix based on the sounding of toys, the chords of melodica and street sounds. The first track Sessiz Cumbus sounds as if a Turkish version of chamber pop music (or an equivalent for Penguin Cafe Orchestra). Indeed, Gostembil Sessions is a wondrous set of 7 tracks.

Henrik José – Photo Album (2011)

Jammerdosa

9.6

/Dream pop, Electronic pop, Art-pop, Ethereal pop, Experimental indie, Alternative/

Comment: Henrik Josè from Sweden started out his musical actions very early, at the age of 15, in the mid of 90`s. As known under the pseudonym Bliss he was then known as part of the 8-bit/bitpop/tracker music/chiptune scene, blending those genres with shimmering soulful tunes. If to juxtapose his then-experience with the nowadays one, however, you can see some huge differences for sure. Though, Josè`s experiences are still bridgeable with each other. If the first track used to go far away, quite close to the glacial yet dream-filled soundscape of Sigur Ròs (on the other side, at times it resembles of the superb album Cafè de Flor by the Estonian group Bizarre), the second track is wrapped up with glossy electronics whose starting part resembles (more or less) paradoxically of Steve Reich`s Drumming. One of the best successes from the recent year.

Kristin Hersh - Speedbath (working) (2009/2011)

CASH Music
Free Music Archive

9.3

/Alternative pop, Indie rock, Singer-songwriter, Chamber rock, Epic, Dream pop, Art-rock, Power rock, Alt-folk/

Comment: Despite the years already passed since the creating act of Throwing Muses, Kristin Hersh does lack no power hinting at how to conjure up great rock songs nowadays. As one of the biggest (female) indie stars throughout the 80`s and 90`s, she used to sound previously excellent to date. All those 12 songs represented here are solid ones enough - stylistically veering from folk-ish interpretation to dream pop-like introspections, from subtle infiltrated guitar layers and angry guitar strums to progressive orchestrated guitar pop and powerful but majestic grazing. Thank You, Kristin.

Josh Woodward - Flypaper

LFC & FCao - Mesinha (2011)

pCloud

8.7

/Psychedelia, Avant-rock, Improvised music, Doom rock, Black metal, Experimental rock, Space rock/

Comment: This is an almost omnipotent striving toward different sort of psychedelic heaven - massive abrasive guitars pannels (at times with strong doom-ish angles or mid-points), relaxing reed organ lines, or some solemn seepings on church organ, heavily moaning vocals will be merged into peculiar and dizzy evolvements pretending to be quite genuine on its own. No doubt, the closure track Symphonic Vagina is an instance of the apoteosic revelation of psychedelia.

The Post Riot Era - It`s Already Tomorrow in China

Decktonic - Dance Machine (2011)

Decktonic
Bandcamp
Lastfm

8.8

/Electro pop, House, Electro-house, Club dance, Rave music, Bubblegum techno, Tekno, 8-bit, Bitpop, Chiptune/

Comment: A set of 11 tracks by Christian Montoya, a DJ and electronic musician from the Big
Apple, did start off to sympathize from the very first second, pointing it out through the filter-subordinated neon-lighted house music, serotonine-releasing electro-house sequences which are at times replaced with bubblegum techno/tekno beats, buzzing and drilling electro drones and even the "corroded" break echoes of 8-bit/chiptune/tracker music. Sometimes the frequency of beats will be thickening upon the level of rave-shaped twists. By the way, Dance Machine is a Korg DS10-determined issue (with some exceptions, though). Indeed, it rocks your electro-socks off.

Astrowind - Zhitkur

Kreatiivmootor - Claudia

Crook'd Finger vs. Harlan vs. D.Rhythm:O (2011)

Vuzh Music

8.5/9.6

/Dystopic techno, Neoclassical, Dub, Avant-techno, Industrial techno, Remixes, Experimental techno/

Comment: C. Reider is a unsung hero of darkly brooding electronic music who has been involved in music for about two decades, being very profilic as solo artist (under his own name; Luster; Crook`d Finger), having loads of collaborations and split albums, and having participated in such collective as Drone Forest. He has worked as musical reviewer and headed up a label titled as Vuzh Music. However, the initial release of this remastered version was issued 11 years ago. Someone called as Finger (ha-ha) has re-worked the versions of such artists as Harlan and D. Rhythm:O, respectively. The first side of the album (or the first side of the cassette release initially) is a bit more joyous industrial-based appearance mixing it up with latin breaks and heavily stomping cadences and riffs. The flip side of it, however, it will be revolving around the axis of ominously sounding industrial techno, profound dystopic reverberations and murky dub progressions. For instance, if you are deeply get involved in music of Justin Broadrick`s projects or the similar kind, this album must be heard at least as well.

Nikea Bustla vs Good Natured Threat – Ma Vie Tragique (2011)

Kosmo

9.2

/Soul, House, Club dance/

Comment: The Canadian duo Lara & Mark Hjorthoy`s debut issue Short Stories (2011, Melodica) did generate a lot of vast suggestion via catchy beats searching for balance between club dance and brain-relied satisfaction. In liaison with the German artist Nikea Bustla, they are back now with a single, called as Ma Vie Tragique. By its stylistical characteristics, however, it can be considered a fluttering soul-hued house music output elegantly veiled with purple tones and some acid-fried synth appearances. Indeed, through these aspects and highly sensual female singing and catchy repetitive loops it is the sort of pychedelic music, indeed. All in all, it is a beautiful single for sure.

Shortcut To Last - Two Minutes in Heaven (2011)

SmileCore Nation
Lastfm

7.8

/Happy punk, Pop punk, Pop rock, Pomp rock, Easycore/

Comment: It was in the early or in the mid of 90`s when Green Day was blamed in attemptions of the commercializing of punk music. Of course, the indictment was but ridiculous if to regard the bleak fact that the kick-off point of this style related to the Sex Pistols was just one of the business projects by deceased Malcolm McLaren. So nothing in their face, though. The Canadian quartet Shortcut To Last from Windsor continues to plod in the vein of happy punk/pop punk/easycore, resembling of such bands as Green Day, Blink-182, Sum 41, Simple Plan and many others. In a more concrete language, those bombastic high-energized guitar riffs, massive singalong choruses, variegated with interesting backing in drumming are the main ingredients of the album. All is properly produced and thereby possibly ready to conquer the higher levels of the Billboard.

Williamson - A-

Vassily K. & Girilal Baars live at GES 21

Ave Eva - Self Titled EP (2011)

Dracula Horse
Soundcloud

9.5

/Dream folk, Repetitronica, Psychedelia, Exprimental folk, Post-psychedelic, Toytronica, Sound art, Microtonal, Freak folk, Abstract electronica, Soundscape, Ambient/

Comment: The result is vastly bigger than the total sum of the issue`s particles would afford to expect it for, though. Indeed, it is essentially sparse by its formative angle - only some tickling drum loops, separated string chords and metallophone-backed minutiae, ghostly spreading miraculous atmospheric texture can be met left and right. The main point is that the soundscape does change its colour/tonality and intention through a relentless array of modified sonic (pitch) effects. As the final effort, it stretches itself out from dream-alike repetitronica and subtle microtonal-relied sound-art to astonishing dream-folk and toytronica notches. The more you listen to it the more you getting fall into the sort of post-psychedelic depth (which is psychedelic on its own, though). The parallels can be drawn upon the workouts by Oskar Hallbert, and Thuoom/Thuuooom, both of them coming from the Scandinavian Peninsula.

Jonas Kocher - solo (2011)

Insubordinations

8.8

/Improvised music, Microtonal, Minimal, Avant-garde, Electro-acoustic, Experimentalism, Live session, Live recording, Conceptual/

Comment: Insubordinations is a label known as a platform for improvised music based mainly on jazz music and electro-acoustic ambiences. Jonas Kocher is an accordionist who had performed this set of 36 minutes at the zoom festival in Bern. Using only his main musical instrument (and objects in addition to it), however, his sound is actually much more than just an instance of the squiffer-based sound as general. By its main characteristics it is rather an electro-acoustic outtake where silence is hybridized or variegated with loader (drone) tones and brooding sometimes even threatening progressions coming from one phase to over another one. Indeed, it is not an accidental arty-farty spasmic set instead offering carefully treated phenomena which makes much impression and sense.

Sight Follows Sound - Supply Lines (2009)

Dog Eared

8.9

/Experimentalism, Trance-music, World music, Noise, Crossover, Space rock, Dark ambient, Synth music, Musique concrète, Electro-acoustic, Avant-garde, Sound-art, Acousmatics/

Comment: Dog-Eared is a solid experimental music label from Mexico which has been on hiatus for the last two years, though. More concretely, it has been an umbrella label for sound-art, dark ambient, art rock, and much more else. The concrete album of 3 long-spanning tracks comes from Birmingham, Alabama, USA which used to be not a easy case to be categorized for, for instance. It veers from sound-art-y minimal yet sheer soundscapes to dark ambient, from live recorded (ethnic) drumming to improvised noise jams, from sampling of found sounds to synth pop-like interventions , from space rock/space noir snippets to a kind of exorcized ambient vision. Indeed, it is a potent ghost from the near-past.

ne:o - direkt (2011)

Aaahh

9.0

/Post-rock, Fusion, Psychedelic, Improvised music, Progressive rock, Kosmische Musik, Art-rock, Live session/

Comment: A gig by this quintet from Dresden was recorded in 2009 in theatre somewhere and thereafter formed into the fourth album. More concretely, it is an artful attempt to cross shitloads of genres - vital post-rock, jazzy electronics, dance-appealed Kosmische Musik, cinematic fusion, prog-rock, purple-hued vibes and effortless dynamic impetus into the awesome whole. The result is masterfully realized and thereby highly recommended. More detailly, it might be described as an instance of ringing out somewhat in-between Tortoise, King Crimson, danceable krautrock and funk-y no wave bands.

Fig Mints (of Your Imagination) - We Love You EP (2010)

CLLCT
The Fig Mints
Quixodelic

8.8

/Singer-songwriter, Anti-folk, DIY, Art-rock, Noise rock, Post-punk, Alternative rock, Experimental indie/

Comment: Here are represented 4 tracks which used to sway between tough and mellow, between dynamics and introspectiveness. It does start out with heavily stomping-abrasive post-punk-ish drums and feedback-based chaos reminiscent of JAMC and Primal Scream and Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine. Later it gets slowed down thereby getting closer to mellow and catchy indie pop tunes which are embellished with glockenspiel-relied snippets. This issue is an example of how the kind of great music can be created with a sparse array of elements.

Tracing Arcs - Eye See You Too (Remixes & Forbidden Fruit) (2011)

23 Seconds

9.2

/Trip-hop, Electronic pop, Remixes, Nu jazz, Down-tempo, Chillout, Big beat, Drum and bass/

Comment: This is a remix album of the issue Eye See You by the English duo Fran Kapelle & Paul H. Addie released on iD.EOLOGY in 2010. Indeed, you can discover yourself through 9 mostly mesmerizing remixes from here, veering from blissful slow-tempo (at times laid-back) electronica and nu jazz ripples to majestic big beat and other solid breaks-backed developments, from soothing ones to whimsical bounces. Those velvet-like and sometimes even seductive milieus around the rhythm sequences do have the value on its own for sure.

GNs Compilation - Break Asymmetry

pous - case study of a drone (2011)

NoEcho

9.3

/Hip-hop, Leftfield, Avant-garde, Experimentalism, No-hop, Noise-hop/

Comment: Welcome to the future, motherfuckers... . It is a frenzied instance of leftfield/avant-garde hip-hop which is crumpled with noise-filled undercurrents or ripping explosions, off-kilter electronics/cacophonic/near-glitch minimalism, in any cases, with seemingly all of that which seems to be out of the slippery middle points and central focuses. Omnipotently destructive madman alongside with re-constructive impression - this would be a slogan for that issue. Altogether, this is a genuine example of radical hip-hop (if something would sound really radical in this post shit era of the post-modernism).

Sofa Club - Ruby Red (2011)

Bandcamp

9.6

/Synth pop, Alternative pop, New Wave, Electronic pop, Alternative dance/

Comment: A fantastic mix of New Romanticism and New Wave, which more concretely does hint at lacing of catchy synth harmonics with uplifting dance-appealed cadences and all-round colourful luster. Yet, it might hide more than you are able to figure out at the first sight. There can be detected for some similarities with the timeless aestethics of Ariel Pink, for instance. All in all, it is one of the best keyboard-based albums during the last years. Indeed, it pretends to sound like dance music in the discotheque of a flying spaceship in the future sometime. Really retrofuturistic - the future is actually now.

The Sunshine Factory - Sugar (2011)

BFW Recordings

8.7

/Shoegaze, Alternative rock, Noise rock, Fuzz pop, Psychedelia, Dream pop/

Comment: Honestly, after the first listening time this publication of 10 tracks did not satisfy me - it seemed to be way too superficial and easy and at times incomprehensibly strange with those unexpectedly cutted off songs showcasing itself like a sort of demo-like songs. However, I decided to listen to it further and general perspective of the album started to better with each time. Beyond the incorporating of dizzy guitar noise impetuses similar to Isn`t Anything and Loveless respectively, the album starts out to fall into convincing psychedelia via noiseful walls spiced up with a handful of electronic sentiments and danceable rhythms. Indeed, it is a strong output from Alabama, USA.

Sturqen - Episode 07 (2011)

Radius

9.0

/Noise, Minimal, Experimental electronica, Drone noise, Abstract electronica, Microtonal, Avant-garde, Conceptual, Sound-art/

Comment: Cèsar Rodrigues and David Arantes do conjure up machine-determined sonic shamanism where abstract droning/drilling noise meets somewhat monotonically stomping cadences at times. Lots of shards of noise, hisses and shades can be met around there. By a more conceptual aspect, Portugese radio transmissions were exploited as initial source material for the track which was created separately of each other. Those 18 minutes can be compared either to Pan Sonic or Autechre, or both of the legends of electronic music.

Rodzmatos – Untimely Music (2011)

PandaFuzz

7.4

/Improvised music, Jazz, Cool jazz/

Comment: This silentfully rolling set of 5 long-running (or very long-running) tracks resembles of the workouts by Miles Davis from the ending part of 60`s (his collaboration with Gil Evans) except as if the trumpets were replaced with string instruments and cool jams. At times beautiful, at times a little bit boring and predictable, during most of its course it is consistent yet - such kind of salon music.

Thomas Truax - Free As Fireflies In May (2011)

Bandcamp

9.0

/Experimental indie, Indie pop, Alternative pop, Singer-songwriter/

Comment: I fell in love with this velvet-like and harmonic-loaded single. This rings out like a crossroad between mellow Sonic Youth and jangle pop glimpses. Thomas Truax is an experimental indie musician who started off in 90`s. First of all, he is known through loads of self-mastered instruments like Sister Spinster, Mary Poppins (sic!), Mini Sister Spinsters, Mother Superior and some other ones. By the way, during this year he has released one single per month via Bandcamp. So please stay tuned on this cult musician.

Wingclipper – Recursion (2010)

Share Free Music

8.7

/Instrumental hip-hop, Trip-hop, Lo-fi, Sound collage, Crossover/

Comment: This 8-track issue is a patchwork of diverse styles - from instrumental hip-hop and trip-hop, down-tempo-backed rhythms to witty samples, mutanted sonic effects and arid lo-fi attitude. Sometimes it used to be hypnotically floating, at times nervously stomping and abrasive. It reminds of the workouts by the Canadian label Neferiu Records. By the way, the coverprint reminds in a funny way of the sleeve of Love`s Forever Changes (1967). However, the album seems to be the kind of grower.

Frame - Visions (2009)

Enough Records
Lastfm

8.6

/Psyambient, Electronic pop, Big beat, Crossover, Goa trance, Chillout, IDM/

Comment: Although the album kicks off with dark-hued, spaced-out electronics, it later develops into mainly chill-y mid-tempo electronic pop, which is embellished with glossy IDM and brooding psybient/Goa trance and thudding big beat-relied rhythm characteristics or containing the elements of all of them at once. A solid set of 10 tracks from Portugal.

Mythomaniacs Are Right - There Is No Such Thing As Death, Life Is Only A Dream And We Are The Imagination Of Ourselves (2011)

Bandcamp

8.5

/Noise, Avant-garde, Spoken word, Experimentalism, Sound collage, Cut and paste/

Comment: Mythomaniacs Are Right is a musical project from Chile making an apparent attempt for a very sort of cutting edge music. Massive digital noise plateaus, through the backbone drilling cacophony, divergent strums, ticking (quasi-)beats, loosely running-dropping bleak bleeps (regarding this aspect, it does sound quite similar to Mùm, an Icelandic post-rock/electronica group), weird-contexted outtakes (sampling the Voice, for instance), spoken word snippets, and at times absurd-like/very funny song titles. And the album title says much about us. This is not pop music during most of its course at all - rather it is a try to re-create a kind of new metaphysics (sound can be considered much stronger argument than any combination of words).

Beyond The Dune Sea - The Dune Sea

Clark Nova Portable - Birds fly out of the trees like dust beaten from an old sofa (2010)

Luvsound
Bandcamp

8.8

/Experimental electronica, Minimal, Sound-art, Ambient, Chamber music, Microtonal, Soundscape/

Comment: This is a single by the Oslo resident Rudi Simmons. It rings out vastly foggy, restrainted and wraith-like. Moreover, it is hardly audible. This is like a lone stake standing on the crossroad of ambient, chamber music, experimental electronica, and sound-art. It must be listened to loads of times to get a intuition and possible intention below it.

Quadrilles - {​[​(​Q​)​]​} (2010)

Bandcamp

7.8

/Indie rock, Alternative pop, Post-punk, Math rock, Dance rock, Crossover/

Comment: Quadrilles is a trio from the Foggy Albion mixing up indie rock with the elements of danceable post-punk ( a la Gang Of Four; or somewhat restrainted The Pop Group) and math-rock. Indeed, just a guitar, bass and drums (played by a gal, by the way). The Turks Are Restless is the most outstanding one on it.

Dinosaur Youth - Stone Ages (2011)

Ethno Indigo

8.4

/Ambient noise, Ambient drone, IDM, Post-rock, Noise, Experimental electronica, Crossover/

Comment: By reading firstly the description of this album at Archive.org and while listening to it this makes out somewhat an interesting gap. Indeed, it might be and at times it is about noisy postrock songs. On the other side, it seems to be a re-definition of the abovementioned style as well. First of all, through those 8 tracks are represented noisy ambient, skipping ambient drone, murky atmospheric sound, unconventional blurred/hurted/noisy IDM-esque overthrows, and masterfully subdued guitar noise levels. You can find out even some parallels with Sonic Youth`s most conceptual and experimental workouts herein. An intricate outset for sure.

Muhr - Everything Is Ok, We're Still Standing (2011)

Camomille

8.8

/Post-rock, Modern classical, Ambient, Drone, Chamber music, Avant-garde/

Comment: Two tracks by the Montrèal-based legend Vincent Fugère for whom Muhr used to be just one of his many musical practices. Yet, the abovementioned nom du plume used to be the most well-known of them so far. Threatening drones, epic alternations in tones, shimmering string-relied magic, soundtrack-alike orchestrations, slowly evoking and progressing soundscapes in light and dark. All in all, a sequent masterpiece by Muhr.

Keijo & Uton - Alun Ääniä (2009/2011)

Om Ha Sva Ha Ksha Ma La Va Ra Yam
Free Music Archive

8.5

/Forest folk, Free folk, Psych-folk, Avant-folk, Experimental folk, Drone folk, Improvised music, Psychedelia, Krautrock, New Weird Finland, New Weird Europe/

Comment: The Finnish underground folk does have much to say for all of us. For instance, Laulu Laakson Kukista (2008, Fonal) was the best album of 00`s or Kemialliset Ystävät`s album Ullakkopalo (Fonal) was one of the best album of 2010. However, Keijo Virtanen and Jani Hirvonen, two legends from the Finnish psych-folk/forest folk scene representing their stream of sub-consciousness, i.e potent vision via shamanic rhythm sections, off-kilter blues chords, psychedelic bottomlessness and shivering krautrock-esque mysticism. Improvised jam sessions which are built on repetitive loops, quasi-ethnic drumming, at times reverb-loaded singing, restrainted yet electrified strings and droning hiss. And as customary to the forest folk scene the reflections through silence are proudly represented here. A great event indeed.