Summertime's End - Light And Colour (2012)

Bandcamp

8.9

/Chamber pop, Indie pop, Electronic pop, Baroque pop, Alternative pop/

Comment: these 10 pieces are moody revealations introduced with the chords of a piano and backed up with chiming synths, galvanized guitars and mellow vocal lines. It is a little melancholic and sad like the end of summertime, though, on the other side, having managed to be full of hopes and refreshing air. Throughout the course some tracks reveal themselves in a little bit simplistic, cheesy way, the other ones used to be more treated, sophisticated contemplations. However, the eminent tracks used to be Light And Colour, Airport Dreams, Until Blue Skies Return, and There`s Room On My Trolley For Two. 

Drugstore – Gaia EP (2012)

 Cicuta

8.8

/Psytrance, Acid techno, Electronic pop/

Comment: Drugstone`s album is an example of how psytrance-loaded thudding is successfully interlaced with the oscillations of electronic pop and angular techno vibes resembling of the ones having dominated in the beginning of the 90`s. Half of the whole is made up of remixes. In a word, it is interesting and intriguing.

Pilesar - Pilesar`s Ugly Children (2012)

Zeromoon

9.2

/Noise, Krautrock, DIY, Avant-garde, Sound collage, Avant-industrial, Experimentalism, Sampledelic, Psycho-acoustic, Acousmatics/

Comment: Pilesar is being known due to his lo-fi and primitivistic oeuvres for creating of which he used to exploit microphone, broken effects pedals, voice and some other instruments. He has issued a batch of releases under his own label, called Chameleon Dish Archives. This time he represents the brand of Zeromoon. This time his new album is filled in with 11 dazzling patchworks consisting of unbridled noises, dissonating cut-ups and lopsided rhythmic patterns. The whole veers away from obscure noise music and ghastly psycho-acoustic visions to more krautrock-loaded propulsions and early industrial vibes. Very exciting indeed.

[Teaser of the day] Welcome Back Sailors - Other Directions

Derek Clegg - Life Unfolds (2012)

  

Bandcamp

Lastfm

8.6

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

Comment: The Chicago-based musician Derek Clegg is back with his brand new one. Indie folk/alt-folk business as usual though including some exceptions. This 8-track album is built on lush guitar twangs and chirps and chiming yet dolefully mannered vocal undertaking which is turn are spiced up with some keyboard chords and half-orchestrated pictures.

Certain Death To Salamanders - Certain Death To Salamanders (2011)

SDTS

8.9

/Blues rock, Psychedelic rock, Instrumental rock/

Comment: this 4-piece issue is about instrumental blues-loaded rock and roll showing up its groovy muscles and cartilages. More concretely, it used to chase relentlessly upwards and downwards most of the time while being finely psychedelic. If you like The White Stripes, and The Black Keys, the bands who have paid tribute to the Black cultural tradition in the USA this band may be your choice either.

Somnium & Alenda - Split (2011)

 DNA Production

9.2 

/Dark ambient, Drone, Neoclassical music, Soundscapes, Dystopbient, Minimalism/

Comment: there are up 3 long-running tracks which take on murky ambient, rigid drone developments, dystopic soundscapes and silentful yet quite malignant sort of burning. Of course, it is masterfully produced, more profoundly, exploiting the templates of minimal music slowly growing and ascending thus ultimately acquiring the characteristics of neoclassical music. On the other side, although it is austerely treated it used to evoke more feelings than most of the instances of pop music are able to do.

[Teaser of the day] Zahir - Fuzz Salvation

Emmerichk - Periodic Waveforms (2011)

 Tropic

Bandcamp

9.3

/Tech-dub, Glitch techno, Minimal techno, Dubstep, Deep techno/

Comment: this album is represented through 4 long-running tracks each of them is longer than 10 minutes. These one used to explore the depth of dub layers and the width of glitch-based oscillations and the frequency of minimal techno beats. It is soft and warm yet somehow terrifying thus getting close to the territory of dubstep music. It won`t be wrong to say the issue is a subtle combination of maximal and minimal efforts and attitudes.

Christian Samuel - Shallow Bursts (2012)

Bandcamp

9.0

/Shoegazetronica, Indie dance, Electro-indie, Alternative pop, Electronic pop, Noise rock/

Comment: this batch of 10 notches does start off with psych-tinged guitar rolling which soon will be replaced and making a halt on electronic thudding and more massive, shoegaze-ish washes of guitars. Some moments on it are filled in with highly acute noise forays (Blip), and epic yet dreamy orchestrations (Latex Skin). In a nutshell, the release is full of intense washes of electronica and treated and amplified guitars. The project can be compared with the likes of Ulrich Schnauss, and the old peers like My Bloody Valentine, and Chapterhouse.

Between Cathedrals - Matriarch (2012)

141414
Lastfm 

9.1

 /Electronic pop, Poptronica, Krautrock, IDM, Mood music/

Comment: only good words can be said about this 10-piece instrumental album. More profoundly, it veers away from IDM-tinged moody electronic pop vibes to the full-electronic krautrock. Indeed, there can be drawn parallels upon the likes of Younnat and Zodiac to Harmonia and Cluster. It can make your day!

[Teaser of the day] Golgotha Communications Ltd. – Beata Pozniak

Viewgazer + Train SP Collective - kidnaping the noise

This Lonely Crowd - Doppeldanger And Other Delicious Secrets (2012)

Sinewave

Lastfm

9.3

/Shoegaze, Dream pop, Experimental rock, Ambient rock, Noise rock, Alternative rock, Covers, Post-rock, Indie rock, Psychedelic rock/

Comment: This Lonely Crowd, the combo from Curitiba, Brazil used to showcase their power and aesthetical strength in a way having never chimed so promisingly after their fabulous debut album An Endless Moment Everyday All The Time. Furthermore, their previous, third album Some Kind Of Pareidolia seemed to be lacking a little bit of sharp ideas and ever-winning propulsions. However, any next step is needful for something bigger or higher level achievable in the future. This time, more concretely, they do counterbalance massive, hirsute guitar riffs and eargasmic, orchestration-pitched noise walls and ingurgitating noise bits with silentful yet highly meaningful compositions. I have never perceived their oeuvre to be related to the post-rock scene somehow. Now they have done it due to epic frames and elusive visions. Very convincing and beautiful indeed. This is a way how rock music should be produced and transmitted. There are up 15 ditties, 2 of them are covers (Depeche Mode`s Everything Counts, and Napalm Death`s Lucid Fairytale). This Lonely Crowd are Humpty Dumpty, Jabberwock, Red Queen, Tweedledee, and Tweedledum.

Fanta Stika - 20L12G EP (2012)

Fanta Stika

8.4

/Hip-hop, Rap, Urban music/

Comment: these 9 hip-hop compositions chanted in Estonian used to take on fake musicians (fellow hip-hop dudes?), tough guys and braggarts, however, criticized in angry way. In a word, it is about stupidity and devastating mentality ruling in the community. On the other side, one notch which seems to be more neutral talks about massacres regarding the video games.

TV Girl - Our First 2 EPs (2011)

TV Girl

9.3

/Indie pop, Experimental indie, Glo-fi, Electronic pop, Alternative, Surf pop, Leftfield/

Comment: this batch of 8 tracks reveals an interesting and intriguing approach to indie pop mixing up The Avalanches-alike electronically driven propulsions with exotica pop-esque milieus and pieces which in turn are bruished against the surf and sunshine aesthetics of The Beach Boys.

Mixtape #1 (28-04-2012)

Mixtape

Tracklist:

Badass Yuki - Cherry Tree Bonanza
http://badassyuki.bandcamp.com/album/cherry-tree-bonanza

Maston - Strange Rituals
http://maston.bandcamp.com/album/voyages

Duncan Malashock - Lookin`Around (Positivity Mojo)
http://www.last.fm/music/Duncan+Malashock/Secret+Animals

Julies Moron - Trillion Sundays
http://brightside.ee/private/jm/mp3/

Ratkiller - Normal For Romans
http://edasi.bandcamp.com/album/estrange-tactics

2muchachos - Spring Breath
http://2muchachos.bandcamp.com/album/vesnywki-ep

Binärpilot - Bend
http://binaerpilot.no/

Children of Cain - Goodbye
http://www.jamendo.com/en/list/a88609/children-of-cain-night-loving-creatures-prepare-thyselves-for

Comment: all these tracks represented there are made for free download (or for donations or pay-what-you-want) and uploaded by the abovementioned artists themselves. The one and only purpose of mine regarding the mixtape is to promote and spread a word about their excellent music and exemplify it with some astonishing tracks waiting to be discovered in future.

[Teaser of the day] Paavoharju - Nuo Maisemat

Archive-org

prOphecy sun - Hopscotch

Tumblewoof - M ▲ J O R (2012)

Bandcamp

9.0

/Hip-hop, Indie-hop, Sampledelic, Mash-up, Sound collage, Cut and paste/

Comment: this is a mash-up album which does mean it is made up of the samples of other musicians and musical groups, though, having different intention and purpose. More concretely, it is wrapped up in hip-hop aesthetics, though having indie pop attitude now and then. It is intriguing because of having such elements as autotuned snippets, cinematic gliding, and crispy rhythms.

SALA - Jurmala Revisited-Breath (2012)

Audio Gourmet

8.8

/Ambient, Musique concrète, Modern classical, Field recording, Minimal, Crossover/ 

Comment: just a pair of long-running tracks which start off with lush sounds coming out directly from within the natural environment, however, soon getting slowly mixing up other sounds into it. Such sound can be considered as natural kind of ambient music where changes used to be minimal and laconic yet captivating ones thus reminding of the likes of Juanjo Palacious, and Oskar Hallbert. The project originates from Lithiania and is headed by Audrius Simkunas.

mnttaB - shiny stones and miracles (2010)

Bandcamp

Lastfm

9.3

/Art-punk, Post-punk, No Wave, Avant-rock, Noise rock, Experimental rock/

Comment: mnttaB is a frantic art-punk/post-punk group from Australia warming up old No Wave traditions a la The Screamers, and 80`s Sonic Youth with more angry and propulsive hints at British post-punk examples a la The Fall, where abrasive, angular guitar-induced noise wall is mixed up with the chords of violins, and manifesting vocal manner. In a nutshell, it is highly convincing due to its nihilistic approach.

[Teaser of the day] Sindrones - Race Around the Yellow Moon

prOphecy sun – Breaking Heat (2012)

 Ramshackle Day Parade

9.2

 /Abstract electronica, Avant-electronica, Experimental electronica, Experimentalism, Hauntology, Remixes/

Comment: just a pair of pieces (the original track and the remix version of it) which take on off-kilter compositions made up of minimal, a little haunting layers and vowel experiments covered with ghastly vapour. It is paradoxically contradictional because of consisting of blissful yet somehow hysterical compositions resembling of the doings of Curd Duca (his Elevator albums) under Mille Plateaux approximately 13-14 years ago. More profoundly, she is full of weird silence and disturbing coziness.

Maston - Voyages (2012)

Bandcamp

9.4

/Exotica pop, Avant-pop, Post-psychedelic electronica, Glo-fi, Alternative, Leftfield, Electronic pop/

Comment: this set of 6 notches pushes off with intensive yet uplifting synth and brass mixed sounds reminding a little bit of Morricone-loaded Stereolab. Indeed, Strange Rituals is one of the best birds popped out from 2012. However, the following tracks showcase the same traces, though, using more spacey guitar sounds and showing more Scott Walker-esque visions which in turn are blended with fine haunting electronica and vintage, dusty keyboards within it. At times it resembles of Space, the British indie combo from the 90`s who loved express themselves through buffoonish vocal lines, acidic synths and highly orchestrated frames. Furthermore, Maston used to take on gritty exotica pop throughout its course. In true, it is elusively strange and retrodelic at the same time. In a nutshell, the result is superb and highly convincing.

Le Bâtiment - Nathalie (2012)

Bandcamp

8.5  

/Alternative pop, Slowcore, Alt-folk/

Comment: there are represented 7 notches all of them are sung in French which veer away refrained ballad-based or even slowcore-ish alternative pop and more alt-country-alike endeavours on the other side. Some influences come out by the side of Wilco, and some by the side of Low. Indeed, the album chimes paradoxically like a French equivalent for the Americana movement.

[Teaser of the day] Malty Media – Hilbert Space

Eko_Fisk - Solid State (2012)

BFW Recordings

8.7

/Ambient techno, Psybient, Experimental electronica, New Age/

Comment: glacial glow-alike ambient propulsions have popped out to dominate on this 7-piece release. On the other side it is a little trance tinged or now and then embellished with blissful electronic looming or New Age and Morricone-esque soundtrack frames.

Sofia - Toe to Toe (2004)

Goodbye Cruel World

8.9

/Lo-fi, DIY, Weird pop, Anti-folk, Avant-garde, Experimentalism/

Comment: there are up 3 tracks spreaded out over 7-8 minutes. It is built on the DIY aesthetics and lo-fi drenched compositions, which more concretely consist of pitchbent guitar layers, melancholic motives, lopsided electronica, and odd sonic effects. Something like Beta Band or Penguin Cafe Orchestra bent heavily and profoundly. This ghost from the past chirps truly intriguing and exciting.

Collapse - A Mano Armata (2011)

Jamendo

8.8

/Hardcore, Math rock, Hard rock, Punk/

Comment: just 4 notches, which used to be a blend of thick, abrasive guitar layers or gliding guitar riffs, shouting vocals and heavy, at times machine-alike drumming, thereby drifting somewhere in between hardcore, punk, math and hard rock. Straightforwardly striking by the musical group originating from Italy. Solid punch.

[Teaser of the day] Death And Vanilla - The Unseeing Eye

Paradise Surfers - Ocean Dreams

Badass Yuki - Cherry Tree Bonanza (2012)

Bandcamp
Soundcloud
Mediafire

9.5

/Madchester, Leftfield, Indie dance, Electronic pop, Acid rock, Art rock, Experimental rock, Alternative pop/rock, Alternative dance, Experimental indie/

Comment: one of the shipheads of nowadays Estonian indie rock movement Badass Yuki is back with a pair of brand new tracks. Mart Avi, Paul Sild, and Aigar Vals together have always produced very good sound (including their side project Stones & Holes, though, without Vals), though, they have never chimed so mesmerizing way. The opening track Cherry Tree Bonanza takes on eddying grooves made up of the elements of Madchester, aching indie pop, and some honky-tonk piano gears as if Happy Mondays were met with Dallas, the indie juggernaut throughout the 90`s from Tallinn). White Glove Theme is a more obscure one due to its throbbing layers and fluttering and clockwork effects which is built on gloomy synth progressions and gong strikes.

Hydropneumothorax / Surgical Infection - Split (2010)

Dis-Organ-Ized

9.1

/Grindcore, Hardcore punk, Noise rock, Death metal, Crossover/

Comment: I am experiencing these two musical projects for the first time. They have hammered down 20 short-running tracks with the assistance massive, brutal guitar attacks, heavily punching percussion and suggestive moaning. Furthermore, the titles of their notches are worth to be checked out alluding to amputation, medical malpractice, chronic and malignant diseases etc. Stylistically and by its main accents the whole could be categorized as an instance of misanthropic grindcore-ish (hardcore) punk which involves the aspects of death metal and off-kilter samples (some orchestrated snippets, spoken word bits, silence). Though, fortunately I have not heard about medical malpractices here in Estonia, all what regards the soundscape of the split it is highly convincing and not ridiculous at all.

Acid Toys Club - Ba ba baby songs (2010)

Bandcamp

8.0

/Indie pop, Alternative rock, Lo-fi, DIY/

Comment: it is quite problematic to say many words about this set of 4 tracks which is contained, silentful, minimally treated and actually having no hints at Madchester at all (as it is suggested on the Italian group`s Bandcamp site). It is rather DIY-tinged indie pop based on chiming guitar chords and lo-fi drenched twangs and embellished with lofty glockenspiel layers and baby`s babble once.

[Teaser of the day] Ratkiller - Sword Justice

Projekt Luty - Monokl (2010)

Underpolen

9.0

/Punk, Weird pop, Avant-blues, Dada pop, Noise, DIY, Lo-fi, Non-music, Crossover, Freeformfreakout/

Comment: Projekt Luty (Jan Strach) provides a batch of stylistically loose notches which extend fromfrantic punk strikes and warped blues rock and intense dadaistic stuttering-mumbling and angst-induced shouts to lo-fi-tinged freeform freakouts, crackbrained mc-ing, defiant grindcore-ish moaning, beats-driven programmed mayhems and off-kilter ambient glimpses. The project is confident in Strach`s doings thereby laying out lots of energy coming out from these countless crevices. In a word, it used to be and not to be out of pop at the same time. Regarding this case, however, it is not contradiction at all. Horizont, and No
Escape are superb tracks.

Effendorf - Chemtrails Suite EP (2011)

Tachyon

8.8

/Experimental electronica, Krautrock, Psychedelic rock, Avant-rock, Experimental rock/

Comment: there are represented three tracks spreaded out over 31 minutes in all. Effendorf takes on brooding, undulating sonic effects and intriguing click-clacks permanently popping out from within the structure. Sometimes it displays a more "precise" kind of electronica, sometimes rocks off in its psychedelic frame thus respectively reminding a little bit of some German music compilations on cassettes in the 90`s and the enthralling sonic alchemistry by the primary and secondary krautrock-related echelon, more profoundly, veering away from the doings by Conrad Schnitzler to Neu!, and Harmonia. The album will be ended by more aggressive, heavily synth-driven chords.

Glander - Variations (2010)

Yuki Yaki
Lastfm

9.2

/Dub-tech, Minimal dub, Deep dub, Funk dub, Tech-dub/

Comment: if to trying to categorize it somehow this 6-track release can be tagged "funk(y) dub". And if it used to be funky it is sexy either. Refined grooves are seamlessly laced up with thick oscillations and uplifting vibes. Of course, as the title hints at it the album does not always flourish throughout its course in the abovementioned way, however, being rather charmingly subdued and minimal and profound. A smart sort of music for sure.

[Teaser of the day] Cocolixe - Lift Your Eyes

Archive.org

Momoko Pins - Runner-up

Drainbow - Drainbow (2011)

Bandcamp

9.4

/Psych-rock, Stoner rock, Avant-rock, Sludge metal, Experimental rock, Drone rock, Noise rock, Fuzz rock/

Comment: Drainbow is a trio (Nathan Leach, Jacob Howard, Brad Coupens) from Phoenix, Arizona who fuses hirsute fuzz rock, some glowering stoner metal aspects, powerfully grooving surf rock (especially at Kate) and some threatening sludge metal glimpses into a frantic undulation of psych-rock on their 4-track debut release. Watt & SK resembles of the best days by Sonic Youth at the end of the 80`s. A great instance of sunburned desert rock by any means. In a nutshell, it is what obviously used to be called contemporary rock and roll music.

No Loli-Gagging - The Floor Is Now Lava (2011)

Enough
Bandcamp
Lastfm

7.4

/Plunderphonics, Sound collage, Cut and paste, Breaks, Crossover, Freeformfreakout/

Comment: this album includes 15 (mostly) short-running notches which have been moulded by using cut and paste technique and approach, more concretely, mixing up a huge array of beats or so-called rhythm-based cores with shibuya-kei/J-pop vocal expressionism. On the other side it casts up good taste and more slicker attitudes. Indeed, at times it seems to be way too bulimic due to its high frequency at changing the sound pads and moods or just using very contrasty examples. I guess nobody is not ready to count the total result of samples exploited on the album. In a word, the floor is lava now.

Mequetrefe - Gobi (2012)

Bandcamp

9.2

/Shoegaze, Crossover, Indie dance, Alternative rock, Dance rock, Psychedelic rock, Space rock, Post-rock/

Comment: Mequetrefe, the Spanish-based quintet had released an excellent album called Play Off in 2010 which crossed shoegaze-ish guitar washes with post-rock and space rock shades. This time all these tendencies are still represented there, yet, being coalesced with catchy dance-appealed propulsions and hypnotic, electronically tinged oscillations. All these elements are wrapped up in the 10-minute composition, called Kill All The Indies (indeed, similarly to Primal Scream`s Kill All The Hippies). Moreover, if to trying to compare it with someone else, however, it reminds a little bit of Sereena Maneesh`s self-titled debut album (2005).

[Teaser of the day] Kyoto - Hasta la eternidad

The Womb - Hips

Nasienie - How To Say Goodbye (2012)

Webbed Hand
Lastfm

9.3

/Ambient noise, Minimal, Ambient drone, Ambient, Experimentalism, Drone, Soundscapes, Epic/

Comment: just one, 16-minute composition which takes on epic and majestic and on the other side on soothing and noiseful. Lots of contrasty moments and swirls are up there. During its course the notch evolves into the more brooding and intense final point. If to try to tag it, however, its centric fold can be considered "ambient", though, it can be compared rather to the symphonical aesthetics of Glenn Branca and borealic aesthetics of Tim Hecker than Brian Eno. In a word, intriguing and eminent.

Minehead - Transpose EP (2007)

Planear

8.8

/IDM, Experimental electronica/

Comment: these handful of tracks meet at a crossroad of glowering electronica and clockwork IDM progressions. Its masterplan used to be represented in a way that it flourishes from slots being previously subjected to more restrained frames and borders.

Glenn Liljestrand - Sandslott / Luftslott EP (2012)

23 Seconds
Lastfm

8.6

/Downtempo, New Age, Synth fusion, Mood music/

Comment: just a pair of tracks (the long-running ones, though) by a Swedish producer which rely on synth propulsions, though doing it partly in different ways. Sandslott is a more New Age-tinged/mood music outlet pushed off with Tangerine Dream-alike layers, and Luftslott based on synth guitar riffs and mellow synth soothing fuses New Age tendencies into a more brisk, fusion-alike cream. Both pieces are instrumental ones.

[Teaser of the day] Dan Masquelier - Wake Up

Zarach "Baal" Tharagh - Deadly Pale Face (2012)

Dipsomaniac

9.3

/Noise, Brutal metal, Crossover, Psychedelia, DIY, Avant-garde, Experimental metal, Avant-metal/

Comment: there are up 7 tracks crossing tightly noise and metal, nihilistic and black and essentially brutal. It involves massive noise washes, ominous moaning, some heavy guitar riffs and abrasive oscillation. Inspite of the abovementioned nihilistic endeavours the album can be considered a psychedelic one which recognizes the borders, though, consistently bringing them to test. This is a case how would have chimed Black Sabbath if they started today. In a word, it is thoroughly formidable in which the listener can be sure it is not about pop music or pop music in its positive sense at least. The negation of it is awesome.

Duncan Malashock - Secret Animals

Lastfm

9.2

/Avant-pop, Neokrautrock, Post-psychedelic electronica, Experimental rock, DIY, Experimental indie/

Comment: Duncan Malashock is a 30-year-old filmmaker, artist and musician from Brooklyn, USA who provides a handful of jubilant tracks veering out from electronic, motorik rock to carefully treated psychedelic plateaus. The ideas of Neu!, Faust, and even (early) Kraftwerk are finely represented there, though, these vistas might be brought forth through the influences of other musical groups. Furthermore, in addition to adequately measured dosages regarding sonic experiments Duncan Malashock gets benefited from creating crafty melodies and harmonic progressions (for instance, the best example is Non-Renewable Source Of Fun).

Logic Moon - Polygon Garden (2012)

Archaic Horizon
Lastfm

9.3

/Organic electronica, Epic, Experimental electronica, Crossover, Musique concrète, Experimental folk, Ambient/

Comment: in the first place, it is great pleasure to announce that the US-based Archaic Horizon, the record label is back again after a quite long timespan. There are up two releases, one of them is Tobias Lorsbach aka Logic Moon`s 4-track issue which takes on lofty folk music, undulating field recording terrains, and a prudent amount of electronically designed developments. There can be heard birds chirping, more or less moody throbbing, string-based plucking and single amplified chords. Its minimal concept is epic and beautiful.

[Teaser of the day] Raindeer - Apocalyptic Love

Richard There - If You Call Me

Void of Coil - Deadly Winter Snow (2008)

Archive.org
Ariel Chapuis

8.9

/Microtonal, Noise, Musique concrete, Organic electronica, Electro-acoustic, Minimalism, Dark ambient, Soundscapes, Avant-garde/

Comment: behind Void of Coil hides himself Ariel Chapuis (aka Ahcapap aka Playing With Nuns), a prolific Argentinian noisenik and off-kilter, peripheral sound producer. There are represented 8 tracks which used to function as the representatives of microtonal sounds. These soundscapes are almost inaudible, involving the aspects of haunting (dark) ambient, organic electro-acoustic, gritty microscopic noise, soothing minimalism, and some concrete sounds, all of them are tightly interlaced with each other.

Danubio Rodriguez - Ser espacial (2011)

Jamendo
Bandcamp

8.8

/Synth pop, Electro pop, Downtempo, Electronic pop, New Age/

Comment: there are up 3 tracks by Danubio Rodriguez, a musician from Uruguay who fuses guggling electro cadences and suggestive synth pop motives with some bombastic New Age and downtempo tendencies. In a nutshell, it is soothing, it is relaxing, it is simply fine music. Nothing more, nothing less. Just so. The more you listen to it the better it gets. It used to grow. And the coverprint is great.

Muuttuvat Kasvot - Muuttuvat Kasvot (2007)

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

9.2

/Forest folk, Free folk, New Weird Finland, Drone folk, Avant-garde, Experimentalism, Improvised music, New Weird Europe, Weird folk, Post-psychedelic electronica/

Comment: this 11-track takes on obscure yet charming reflections of an inner space which are made up of creeping raga-alike vistas, heavily droning psychedelia and loose compositions-improvisations. Jari Koho`s project comes out from Finland and can be compared to the likes of Vierivä Viiksiportieeri, Uton, Kemialliset Ystävät, and Keijo, all of them are Koho`s compatriots and part(s) of the so-called forest folk scene.

[Teaser of the day] Bigcolour - Nostalgic Ataraxy

Waskerley Way - Wind Shear (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.5

/Noise pop, Bedroom pop, Chillwave, New Weird Europe, Shoegazetronica, Experimental indie, Post-psychedelic electronica, Post-pop, Exotica pop/

Comment: Waskerley Way is the one-man-project from Newcastle, Great Britain who has issued a handful of releases over the last two years. Wind Shear involves three pieces which are heavily dubbed, noisefully but dreamily and psychedelically produced. Mikey`s oeuvre is essentially convincing, i.e stroking punching simultaneously thus showing up his ability to create astonishing tracks. All this stuff he has done so far it is not a common practice in Europe at all, more concretely, mixing up the elements of shoegaze, dream pop, exotica pop, chillwave, noise pop, weird folk, and bedroom pop he gets rather more close to the artists across the Atlantic. More profoundly, his music can be compared with the likes of Magicks, early Animal Collective, Chevalier Avant-garde, The Bilinda Butchers, Sekotis, Simon Bird, and Blackbird Blackbird.

Acre4 - Rockspeed EP (2005/2012)

Legoego
Bandcamp
Lastfm

8.9

/Experimental electronica, Crossover, Modern classical, Art pop, Organic electronica, Poptronica, Electronic pop, Experimental indie, Downtempo/

Comment: this 4-track album comes out from Nantes, France where downtempo-inspired electronica and broken beats are tightly interlaced with art pop and indie tendencies and sampling technology (different spoken word parts and insect`s buzz are up there). Acre4 is a duo which pushed off in the year of 2000 being influenced by such legends as My Bloody Valentine, Kraftwerk, Tortoise, Boards Of Canada, Mùm, and Sonic Youth. Indeed, Antoine, and David used to take on uplifting melodies and somewhat glowering progressions which in the first place get hint at Kraftwerk, and Boards Of Canada. Furthermore, now and then it reminds of Art Of Noise due to witty orchestrations and flourishing synth wave fused outlets either. It might be that the ending track Ping Pong (though Ultragain is quite similar to it) makes some difference from the rest of the whole thanks to its heavily sliced and thudding propulsions and melodica-driven motives (indeed, quite close to the early Mùm)

Tatlum - Subject (2011)

Format Noise
Lastfm

8.8

/Power electronics, Industrial techno, Avant-garde, Sampledelic, Cut and paste, Non-music, Rhythmic noise, Experimental electronica/

Comment: Tatlum is a project from Moscow, Russia which is driven by the intentions of noise music and power electronics. Max Zeelot aka Zilot aka Tatlum represents 10 pieces within it heavily distorted, noiseful tunes are interspersed with the tendencies of sampledelics/cut and paste/sound collage and spoken word bits and seamlessly overdriving sample chunks which are bent in a way to be funny (for instance, there can be perceived schlager-based cut-ups in one track). However, frequently the music is getting drifted toward more industrial(-techno)-carved shapes and patterns. Now and then his predominantly exulting music used to be more atmospherical, though, never being a relaxing kind of. In true, there are up few moments where the powerful flow of his sound is somewhat diminished or broken in (for instance, Drei). Such producers as Lebensjunge, Grunt, Edgeist, Interlard, Sick Seed are Tatlum`s kindred souls.

[Teaser of the day] Plastic Penguin - Neu!gativland

Ratkiller - Estrange Tactics (2011)

Bandcamp

9.4

/DIY, Experimental rock, Synth fusion, DIY, Avant-garde, Progressive, Weird pop, Primitive pop, Psychedelic rock/

Comment: Ratkiller is a project by Mihkel Kleis (34-year-old musician and artist from Estonia), previously known as the leader/keyboardist of the retrodelic fusion/prog rock act Luarvik Luarvik, and onward and partially at the same time he used to launch EDASI being a representative of obscure psychedelic music mixed up with the aspects of noise and black metal and lo-fi. This 9-piece album blends quite light-hearted, nostalgic fusion progressions with DIY/lo-fi tendencies (indeed, at times showcasing essentially primitivistic approach how to produce tracks). Partly such kind of music was widely produced at the time of the Moscow Olympics and the regatta in Tallinn. A fabulous and quite idiosyncratic listening by any means. Such tracks as Sword Justice, and Normal For Romans makes me feel very nostalgic.

Cyril M. - Démesure Du Vide (2012)

Sirona-Records
Lastfm

9.1

/Noise, Avant-garde, Experimentalism, Guitar ambient, Experimental rock, Experimental electronica, Avant-rock, Ambient, Acousmatics, Improvised music/

Comment: there are represented 8 tracks spreaded out over 43 minutes. In any cases, these minutes are highly enjoyable due to its variegating nature and frantic characteristics and masterful accomplishment. In particular, the issue rotates technically around guitars and sound processing and effect blocks - it veers away from arty, arpeggio-induced fingerpicking and improvised hirsute guitar riffs to very noiseful orchestrations a la Glenn Branca, and Tore Elgaroy and otherwise quite straightforward but ultra-heavy rock and roll outbursts and desperate shrieks. Furthermore, at times these sounds are embellished with dashing electronics and witty samples thus providing lots of pleasant dodges and alternate corners.

Arcade Island - Spring EP (2012)

Clinical Archives
Bandcamp

7.8

/Alternative pop, Poptronica, Pomp pop, Electronic pop, Glo-fi/

Comment: Arcade Island is the project by Alex Bew, an artist from Cumberland, Pennsylvania providing a handful of glimmering notches. However, stylistically it is a little startling because of mixing up a little bit mawkish boy band-alike vocal lines with more or less alternative pop/glo-fi-oriented sonic layers behind and around it. Theoretically it could reach the chart of the Billboard, or the stages of the Eurovision contest it would be welcomed to poison one of those seedbeds of mediocrity.

[Teaser of the day] Butterfly Tea - Magic Of The Seventh World

(o)†HERS & The Implicit Order - Bribery And Winning Ways (2012)

Bandcamp

8.8

/Hauntology, Freeformfreakout, Avant-garde, Noise, Experimentalism, Plunderphonics, Cut and paste, Acousmatics, Crossover, Sound collage, Non-music/

Comment: this collaboration act includes 8 tracks which are made up of the washes of gritty noise, snippets of vintage motion pictures, off-kilter experiments, heavily warped pop tunes, insect-alike drones and buzzes, and abstract, even haunting soundscapes. Sometimes these aspects are separated from each other, sometimes not. In a word, it contains an amount of irritating information. It can be compared with the albums by The Caretaker, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and the compilations of halloween music taken out from the 60`s.