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!

Impaled Peach - Impaled Beach (2011)

Quixodelic
Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.2

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

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

Iqtu - Embarrasing Triangle (2008)

iimusic
Bandcamp
Lastfm

8.7

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

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

Taiunta - Odiuibo

Glass Candy - Love Love Love (2002)

Free Music Archive
Troubleman Unlimited
Lastfm

8.7

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

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

Big City Orchestra - Submission Trax (2005)

Betasound

9.2

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

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

Randomajestiq - Evidence Of Utopia (2002)

Subsource
Subsource
Lastfm

9.0

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

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

High Park - Keys To My...

Esplim - Re-EP (2009)

Sinewave

7.6

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

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

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

Skeksis

8.8

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

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

Dublicator - Chord Center (2008)

Deep In Dub
Lastfm

8.9

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

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

Monster Rally - Siberian Girls

Various Artists - Pop Massacre 2 (2011)

FoF
Bandcamp

7.7

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

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

The TheBritneyspears - IG Farben (2011)

Purple Cat
Lastfm

9.3

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

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

Canon Blue (FreeIndie.com)

FreeIndie.com

9.3

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

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

| сИстра | - Tiny Boat (live)

2muchachos - Teplaja EP (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.8

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

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

Thuoom - re:EP (2011)

Textural Healing

9.5

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

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

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

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.1

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

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

Joy and Revolution - The Center Stage

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

Taiunta - Suoraan Kohti (2010)

Oletustila
Lastfm

9.5

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

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

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

Noise Horror

9.8

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

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

The Peach Tree - Revel (2008)

Tribal Dancing Kid
Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.0

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

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

Huzur Isyanda - TRT Haber - Hayat+

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

Nice Age - Anything Nice (2011)

Bandcamp

9.4

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

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