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

Rollin Hunt - Dear People Of The World (2008)

Lost Frog

8.6

/Primitive pop, Lo-fi, Outsider pop, Singer-songwriter, DIY/

Comment: Chicago, Illinois-based artist Rollin Hunt began recording Dear People of the World in his Chicago bedroom using a karaoke machine with a keyboard, drum machine, guitar and microphone. It is an intimate, funest 15-track recording because of doing it at the evening of the death of his father in 2002. By its primitivistic approach, however, the whole reminds of the deeds by Jandek at times.

The Hirundu - The Return To Swill Mountain (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.5

/Dark ambient, Experimental electronica, Ambient noise, Sound-art, Ambient drone, Noise, Microtonalism, Minimal, Avant-garde, Experimentalism/

Comment: The Return To Swill Mountain was the first album released by Johnny Crewdson in 2011. More detailly, it is a massive exploration on droning snippets, minimal yet englutting brown noises and microtonal thudding, often surrounded by ghastly (dark) ambient mist which at times is "illuminated" with the glimpses of ancient human voice samples or more "recognized" electronic music (electronica) and shimmering electro-acoustic facades. By the main intention this 8-track publication can have common parts with the likes of Pan Sonic, Caustic Reverie, slept., Frank Bretschneider, The Vitrines, Morgen Mittag, and Marc Broude. An eminent album by any means.

Phantom Vibration - Growing EP (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

8.9

/Dream pop, Americana, Alternative, Baroque pop, Tropical pop, Psychedelic pop, Experimental indie, Sunshine pop, Post-pop/

Comment: honestly, Phantom Vibration`s (Daniel Clinton-McCausland, Henry Mackaman, and Gunnar Kauth) debut issue Kids EP offered an amazing listening experience, more concretely, which was forged off into the blend of organ-driven dream pop and americana-based sensibility. The follow-up Growing EP continues running on a similar sunshine pop-fringed path, though, having more air and glockenspiel exercises within it. In a nutshell, while the debut album was more appealing, the sophomore one is worth enough to be given a try. Let`s wait for their planned third EP in a row. The trio is certainly worth to be much more recognized.

Knyaz Mishkin - Live in Soligorsk

Jelani - Wait, You Can Rap?!?! (2008)

Notherground Music
Archive.org
Lastfm

8.8

/Hip-hop,  Cinematic, Urban music, Funk, Soul, Rap/

Comment: Jelani, a hip-hop musician from the Big Apple has been a part of Notherground Music (the fine platform for a circle of DIY hip-hop artists). However, this is certainly of the the strongest albums within it. 12 tracks do demonstrate catchy rhyme settings and enthralling orchestrations (with psychedelic, acid-soaked synths here nad there) and danceable funky beats and blissed-out soul touches in the background. He is assisted by label mates 6th Sense, and Wildabeast, and Mike Maven used to feature in some tracks.

Rainier Lericolais - Adagio Ma Non Tanto (2007)

Tripostal
Lastfm

9.4

/Electro-acoustic, Psycho-acoustic, Film noir, Modern classical, Chamber music, Acousmatic, Organic electronica, Experimentalism, Spoken word, Avant-garde, Sound-art, Noise/

Comment: an eminent 5-track leap by the French electroacoustic/avant-garde musician/sound-artist Rainier Lericolais. Indeed, organic sonic tissue meets the haunting waves of blurred electronica and film noir-patterned curtains which in turn are interwoven with japanese spoken word snippets and vowel effects. Chamber music? Indeed. Ultimately it makes out as an instance of otherworldly experience. I am not sure that those elves possibly audible above there would be well-intentioned on its own...or maybe not. All in all, it is a monumental masterpiece and it does make difference. Beausty-full.

Five Star Debauchery - Five Star Debauchery (2011)

Kill Mommy
Lastfm

8.8

/Punk rock, Alternative pop/rock, Fuzz rock, Blues, Folk rock, Singer-songwriter/

Comment: only good words can I say about this Kentucky-rooted musician`s debut album. These 20 relatively short-running tracks are played up with the help of twanging and fuzzy guitars, harmonica-relied whiffs, and appealingly striking voice (actually you can clearly perceive how he used to love his enterprise). Taylor stands at the crossroad of American roots music (blues, folk and rock`n`roll) and punk respectively. While the release is created with the bunch of ordinary rock instruments Taylor is able to churn lots of modalities and accents on it. Inspite of conjuring up either dreamy jitters or making more straightforward drive sometime, however, his concept is highly enjoyable and hitting all the time. Rock and roll must go on.

Pasqualino Ubaldini - Metissage (2011)

Jamendo

9.0

/Free folk, Drone folk, Easy listening, Chill out, Crossover, World music, Jazz, Improvised music/

Comment: the Italian experimentalist/improvisation artist Pasqualino Ubaldini is back with his brand new one. Here are 8 strong tracks which are set up to follow three separate tendencies on its own - the first of them is hypnotic, truly shimmering folk droning resembling of the doings by the Exeter-based collective Children Of The Drone and its subsidiaries. However, the second one follows the restraint jazz-soaked improvisations and standards from different areas. The third one is biased toward soothing mood music - suddenly ascending whiffs of flutes, wistful orchestrations, ethnic motives (if you are the fan - of course you are! - of Ennio Morricone then these glitches are thought for you). In a nutshell, the release is complete, profound, introspective, on the other side, it is enough tempered and filled in with solar rays and cosmic power.

▼□■□■□■ - CDR (2010)

Mediafire
Lastfm

9.2

/Drag, Witch house, Hauntology, Trianglecore, Post-industrial, Experimental electronica, Lo-fi/

Comment: after a while I am back again with a release by a drag/witch house/trianglecore artist. I love ▼□■□■□■ (pronounce it Mourning Star)`s approach which goes beyond the supposed borders of drag sound because of having the apparent signs of hauntology/ancient sound-based sound collage. Here are represented 6 tracks at the length of 21 minutes. More profoundly, indeed, it is creepy, ghastly, roughly thudding, however, intended to heavily slap your ass and brain. Those warped vocal lines are really impressive. Almost perfect in its imperfectness.

Monotronaut - star.soaked.sea (2011)

Bandcamp

8.8

/Downtempo, Shoegazetronica, Post-rock, Modern classical, Crossover/

Comment: an instrumental crossover set of shoegaze-ish rays, post-rock-ish ascensions, and somber modern classical introspections which is driven by the paces of big beat, downtempo, and more rock resembling beats. It veers away such celebrities as My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, Durutti Column, Death In Vegas, Bosques de mi Mente and obviously many more.

Ixtlan - We Both had Motocycles

Amitron_7 - Try For Next Stage Free (2011)

EnoughRecords
Lastfm

9.3

/Ambient dub, Cinematic, Avant-garde, Dubtronica, Cosmic fusion, Electronic pop, Organic electronica, Sampledelic, Sound collage, Progressive, Crossover, Experimental rock, Experimental electronica/

Comment: no doubt, Amitron_7`s The Anton Phase Electro Clockwork Menagerie was one of the top notches in 2009. More profoundly, ultramodern prog meets space rock meets atmospherical dub paces. The Englishman continues his way in a similar mode - the crunchy bits of mostly slowed down electronica is obtained by floating through dub filters, which is embellished with the layers of overdriving cinematic electronica, on the other side, the elements of progressive rock are more subdued, yet, at times appearing like the solar rays amongst the highly concentrated mist. Furthermore, Amitron_7 used to employ lots of spoken word pieces to colour it with clockwork, twisting sonic effects in the background, thus making up somehow sampledelic touch for the listener. Even (open content) folk glimpses can be seen at times (Everything Is Orange Now). However, this 12-track album is excellent and challenging at the same time.

Chamberlain - The Wild And The Innocent EP (2010)

Hujan! Rekords

8.4

/Pomp pop, Alternative pop/rock, Soft rock/

Comment: melodramatic and lovelorn and bombastic yet convincing alternative rock/soft pop from Bandung, Indonesia. Just four tracks are represented there including an instrumental introspection either. Music is issued on Hujan! Rekords and being an example of flourishing pop rock scene in Indonesia.

Beko DSL - Skrotup (2011)

Beko DSL
Lastfm

9.1

/Lo-fi, DIY, Experimental rock, Electro-rock, Post-industrial, Weird pop, Experimental metal/

Comment: rough and brutal yet excellent shit... . Here are uploaded artists who provide heavily effect-charged lo-fi/DIY music which apparently gets inspiration from the compartments of 70`s nihilistic industrial progressions, electro-rock and the hype of witch house/drag music. Yet, you can listen to dub-influenced angst rock, warped metal progressions, straightforwardly punching guitar dashes and much more. Here are represented the likes of Endless Endless Endless, Heroin In Tahiti, Braindamage, Portable Morla, Loopgoat, and many others. The more you listen to the miscellany the more it opens up. The sign of quality indeed. By the way, all these artists are related to the Copenhagen`s experimental label Skrot Up.

Romantic States - The Fourth

DJ Nerd42 - Deltron 3742 (2011)

Bandcamp

9.3

/Mash-up, Plunderphonics, Cut and paste, Sampledelic, Urban music, Hip-hop, Sound collage, Experimental hip-hop, Avant-hop/

Comment: future-hop? Sci-fi-hop? Dystop-hop? First of all, it is a gem of great beats (made from sampling Final Fantasy VII soundtrack), tense milieus and stoned yet hypnotizing lyrics (by Deltron 3030). Indeed, aliens come over to conquer the streets. Or are these people to mask and fight their eternal war forward? In fact, the future is now.

Ielangir - planet's end, planet's elegy (2011)

Tsukimachi
Bandcamp

9.5

/J-pop, Shibuya-kei, Dream pop, Toytronica, Easy listening, Nu-jazz, Experimental indie/

Comment: wow, it is undoubtedly a crafty set of 4 tracks. More concretely, it mostly balances between jazz-alike standards and amusingly infantile shibuya-kei-ish gliding. It chimes and twists incessantly. Like a dream having no possibility to be matched in your brain and glias. In conclusion, such soundscape could make your day...and your tomorrows as well. And improves you to be reborn and get a better person too. Seriously.

Polyvinyl - Sampler (2011)

Polyvinyl

8.0

/Indie pop, Experimental indie, Alternative pop/rock, Art pop, Shoegaze/

Comment: Polyvinyl has been the home place for many important indie artists. The label celebrated its 15-year anniversary this year. Here are represented the likes of Deerhoof, Of Montreal, Xiu Xiu, Architecture In Helsinki, Asobi Seksu, Japandroids and many others. Indeed, enjoy and pay tribute to Polyvinyl either.

Lizard Kisses - Pinch

Matt Stevens - Relic (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.3

/Experimental rock, Art-rock, Post-rock, Math rock, Progressive rock, Experimental electronica/

Comment: if someone would be able to have a bird`s-eye view upon this 10-track albumthen this would just be entitled as post-rock. Actually it has much more to be hidden for the tight sight above and below the layers. For instance, flamenco-infected guitar arpeggios are merged with sublime dance-appealed cadences which in turn are blurred with lofty advance making to be transmitted to progressive rock/and math rock now and then. Futhermore, it incorporates the concepts of biting wave-edit techniques/digital noise. However, the Londoner Matt Stevens`s approach resembles a bit of the doings by the Mancunian Vini Reilly (Durutti Column) - could you remember for those easy, flyaway guitar chords conjuring up the whiffs of magic and free spirited grits around the listener. A potent result undoubtedly.

Wolfredt - Wolfredt (2011)

Bandcamp

8.8

/Shoegazetronica, Post-rock, Indietronica, Experimental indie, Alternative, Leftfield/

Comment: behind Wolfredt hides himself Margus Voolpriit (born in 1973) who has been known as the drummer in some eminent Estonian indie combos (Dreamphish; Pia Fraus) throughout 90`s and 00`s. Regarding Wolfredt he has traded drums and kits to guitars and electronic devices. He makes his vista up with the help of rising, atmospherical guitars, pulsating electronics, a few sonic effects, which ultimately provides enough aesthetical joy and relaxing ambience. Stylistically it mostly veers away indietronica, post-rock, and electronic shoegaze. The last track is a cover version of a track of Picnic, an indie group consisting of a couple of the previous members of Dreamphish (indeed, the issue needs more for such sort of lush (female) vocal lines provided by Marju Taukar aka Marjusass).

Sun Deers - Shaman Colours EP (2011)

Bandcamp
Native Flowers Recordings
Lastfm

9.0

/Free folk, Chillwave, Exotica pop, Poptronica, Tropical pop, Electronic pop, Glo-fi, Dream pop, Alternative/

Comment: actually I cannot agree with one site suggesting that this album is far away from the best because of having no goal. What does it mean having the goal at all? Actually the album can successfully exist of having no visible goal. For instance, these 6 tracks conjure up chillwave-ish running mixed up with the frames of exotica pop, thus resembling of Monster Rally, for instance. Furthermore, it provides free folk-ish ecstasy and tropical pop-loaded mist either. Great work!

▼□■□■□■ Mourning Star - Ghostdrone