Recent Music Heroes

8/21/2014

Beastplague – Beastplague (2014)

Torn Flesh

Brutal metal
Grindcore
Extreme metal
Powerviolence
Hardcore punk

Comment: one of the most significant and prolific extreme metal platforms worldwide Torn Flesh Records provides an extremely short-running issue of 10 tracks produced by Beastplague. The longest track exceeds a little bit at 1 minute, the shortest one finishes off at 29 seconds. Nevertheless these total 8 minutes are highly intense imbued with heavily bashing drum series and cascades, outstretched bare-faced angriness in vocal layers and boosting guitar noodling. Stylistically Beastplague`s album has its place somewhere between hardcore punk, powerviolence, and grindcore. Moreover, the titles are pointing and meaningful – Ruined, Castration, No Future, No Past, An Evolution Of Violence, Glorified Rottendom. The coverprint is also great - is it Robert Smith with the mummy?

God Hates Sunday - Go To The Pure Land (2013)

Tachyon

Neoclassical
Darkwave
Neofolk
Ambient
Ambient folk

Comment: this 8-track outing is predominantly melancholic and restrained providing hyper-realistic atmosphere and slowly ascending and descending guitar arpeggios or hypnotically repeated chords here and there; there are presented some lyrics from ancient writings (Bodhidharma, for instance) and an exclusive remake of Tim Buckley´s Song To The Siren. Despite there is no action over there the result is suggestive and striking. In the first place, the album is meant to be submitted to the fans of neofolk/neoclassical, and ambient music

8/20/2014

[Teaser of the day] The Easton Ellises - Artificial Joy

Dance rock
Alternative dance
New Rave
Electro-indie

[Teaser of the day] Pumajaw - Horseshoe Nail

Lastfm

Noir folk
Avant-folk
New Weird Britain
Neofolk
Art folk

Endless Melancholy - November

8/19/2014

Damaged Tapes – Entoptic Visions (2013)

Bandcamp

Alternative pop
Electro pop
Seapunk
Electronic pop
Synth pop
Chilltronica

Comment: Matt Comegy`s 8-track output is basically inspired by the wild mountains of Japan where he had been residing in 2006 and 2007. Formally, his music is electronic and pop-influenced obviously getting inspiration from the 80s TV serial soundtracks and a bit warped, sultry new wave and New Age music. Indeed, behind those clear-cut and apparently soothing synth lines (ok, there are presented some dreamy guitar patterns too). The listener can detect for some disquieted seeds and boisterous spots thereby having an intersection point with the representatives of the so-called seapunk either. The album can be compared with the likes of Ducktails, and x.y.r, for instance.

Stoned On Gold – Get-Got Hot-Head (2009)

Deep White Sound

Experimentalism
Drone
Improvised music
Avant-electronica
Minimalism

Comment: this 11-track issue is an uncanny mix of warped sounds haunting and hovering atop throughout. It is described as a collection of spatial experimentations using minimal drone and vocal re-renderings. Maybe it is way too minimal because of sloshing through monochrome sonic experiments, digital echoes and very similarly repeated patterns without affording compromises and efficacious dodges. Nevertheless, there are out some exceptions where reversed vowel effects used to more flourish and do not give a hoot to the listener.

Ujjaya – Master Of Crossroads (2011)

Clinical Archives

Ambient
Ambient drone
Post-industrial
Soundscape
Abstract
Epic
Experimentalism
Avant-garde
Ambient techno
World music
Crossover
Ethnotronica
Avant-garde
Experimentalism
Tribal ambient

Comment: this 6-track issue is a mighty, highly fluttering ambient issue produced by Madagascar-rooted French musician Randriambololona Hery. More concretely, Ujjaya`s very broad yet subtle ambient and drone-blended soundscapes are mixed up with ethnic segments – Orient-singing and vowel echoes, didgeridoo-induced hypnosis and ethnic drum and gamelan-based incantations, and on the other side providing some mild techno vibes, bubbling electronic fabrics, spoken word snippets and adding some concrete music elements to the mix. Sometimes his music sounds more amusingly, sometimes more in an abstract way, the milieu is at times brighter, at times starkly desolate. It can be said, the artist has gathered the best elements from the aforementioned genres to create his own idiosyncratic result. By the way, the album was played for a ballet made by Vanessa Villain, called Subliminal, telling how the man exploit the Earth and how in return nature take her revenge. Mandatory.

Hassan K. – Birds (2012)

Darling Dada

Bandcamp

Alternative
Surf pop
Electronic pop
Big beat
World music
Sampledelic
Crossover

Comment: typified by abrupt changes of mood from track to track this 13-track pastiche constitutes an uncanny combination of surf guitars riffs, mid-tempo glowering electronica, more accelerated electro and big beat loaded breaks, and Orient-inspired sampledelic progressions (tanpura drones and singing). However, some tracks are way too short therefore to be considered as snippets or outtakes rather than full-fledged compositions. Quite frequently Hassan K`s electronic explorations come quite close to Dave Keifer aka Cagey House`s haunting, otherworldly chiming chamber electronica. Once again, those surf guitars and oriental chants used to undulate in a great way.

Kodak To Graph – Viso`l EP (2011)

Bad Panda

FMA

Post-dubstep
Sampledelic
Downtempo
Art pop
Electronic pop
Cinematic
Crossover

Comment: this handful of pieces demonstrate different tendencies within modern club music and pop electronica inspired sonic world. The rhythms are induced at times by post-dubstep frequencies, at times offering up more downtempo-alike feeling. Kodak To Graph likes to scatter diverse elements to mix them into one whole thereafter. For instance, the listener can enjoy samples coming out of the soundtracks of the Bollywood scene and orchestrated beauties or taken from concrete/organic music and sacral music. Very amusing.

Figures In Motion – Confusion Will Pass (2014)

Figures In Motion

Bandcamp

Jamendo

Art pop
Baroque pop
Alternative pop
Synth pop
Electronic pop
Indie rock
Modern classical

Comment: this 10-track issue is an eclectic issue reflecting mostly upon contemporary pop music tendencies. Actually the artist provides at first sight lots of extremities segued seamlessly into each other or presented nearby. For instance, the project shows up propensity for Japan or early Talk Talk-alike synth/electro pop glamour, lush orchestrated pop brooding, minimal piano-led intuitions and Athletes and Radiohead-alike experimental/glitch rock developments (getting inspiration apparently from Kid A). Indeed, all those sonic effects used to make difference.

Makhno – Silo Thinking (2012)

Archive.org

Post-punk
Psych-rock
Avant-rock
Experimental rock
Art punk
Electro-punk
No Wave
Krautrock

Comment: prolific Paolo Cantu aka Makhno`s Silo Thinking is a mysterious whole which seems to be inspired by Faust-inspired avant-garde rock, and CAN`s danceable improvisations – full of unexpected dodges and paranoid yet hypnotic jamming, and hyper minimalist grooves. On the other side, it can be considered a volatile post-punk group which in turn is inspired by…Krautrock. More concretely, the listener gets drowned into the pool of rhythmic repetitions, rigid synth tentacles, abrasive guitar hooks, superficial noises, and incisive, a little neurotic grooves. The outstanding edge of this entity is its laconic and ornamented facets represented entangledly (could you remember for the Fall`s Perverted By Language?). This is also reason why music may be the highest form of art.

L-Rai - Songs About Soccer (2014)

Fwonk

Bandcamp

Thrill and bass
Sampledelic
Alternative dance
Drum and bass
Jungle
Conceptual
Chilltronica

Comment: indeed, this handful of tracks used to reflect upon soccer inspired obviously by the World Championship hosted in Brazil in summer of this year. More profoundly, the artist follows a formula blending well-known soccer motives and anthems and crowd noise with harsh, intensely slamming rhythms (mostly jungle-related beats). However, at times the intenseness is variegated with more relaxing, hovering intuitions atop. The best title is Gary Neville`s Orgasm Song (it is a fucked-up shit). And David Moyes gets whipped in another composition. In a word, the beat meets soccer player`s brain

feeel - Music For Uneasy Times

Samsa

Noise rock
Improvised music
No Wave
Avant-rock
Experimental rock
Alternative dance

Comment: I can say it is not a pop album actually, though it contains some elements of pop music. For instance, the last track Everybody's Talking About the End of the World starts off with dance-appealed rhythms but soon it will be loaded with noise loaded hooks and bug-filled shimmer. It sounds like an issue of the 21th century inspired by the No Wave movement. In fact, it is it. The rest of two tracks are long-running compositions keen slightly more to improvised music, however, involving the elements of Glenn Branca`s music and repeated motives. A punch on your nose.

Big City Orchestra – Nereids (2011)

Nostalgie De La Boue

Drone
Musique concrète
Electro-acoustic
Modern classical
Spoken word
Radiophonic art
Non-music
Sound art
Avant-garde
Experimentalism
Improvised music

Comment: The California-based Big City Orchestra is one of those groups whose impact needs to be re-discovered and re-evaluated regarding (in particular) experimental music history. Highly prolific, they embarked on at the end of the 70s with contributions to different avant-garde music genres and styles (industrial music, experimental electronica, sound-art, spoken word, radiophonic music). Furthermore, they had been an important figure regarding the tape music scene throughout the 80s (which flourishes at the moment once gain). However, regarding Nereids it can be said they used to be highly talented at the moment either because of moving from one genre to another with effortless easiness. More concretely, for instance, there is represented drone music which is placed somewhere in between contemporary exquisite drone pop (a la Lee Noble) and more experimental approach of the noted style. It is also worthy to dive into the collective`s weird approach pertaining of (modern) classical music mixed up with bare, glitch-y electronics, gloomy `talkative` experiments and much more sonic explorations which are not submitted to words anymore. Devastating from any angle of the view.

Laptop Hooligans - Playing with Nuns E.P 015

Archive.org

Post-industrial
Rhythmic noise
Avant-garde
Experimentalism
Power electronics

Comment: this issue includes 3 compositions, providing mostly trashy rhythms and glitch-y twisted layers atop. As if the bugs were over-amplified in it. Considering the finishing track Radiance Praise 10 Years Later there are added signal-alike impulses to the aforementioned elements. From another perspective, the track chimes like a hypnotic cycle or phase dissolving the listener within its borders. Furthermore, the title track is a representative of trancelike music, though, not thought to be used on the dance floor obviously. Catchy and charming. In a nutshell, not much silence, half-way mad, half-way sober.

Vonsuck - Enne Und (1999)

Bandcamp

Experimental electronica
Ulmetronica
Downtempo
Mood music
Sampledelic
IDM
Alternative dance
Electro house
World music

Comment: Vonsuck was Taavi Laatsit`s first project before he started his next (and the last hitherto) solo project Galaktlan (he is also known to be involved in such groups as Kismabande, Kulgurid, UNI, Galaktlan Group). However, Enne Und (before the sleep) is a wondrous issue of dreamy synth layers and crunchy rhythms (having hints at the vibes of IDM, downbeat/tempo electronica, electro house, deep/minimal techno, and even Hindustani`s nouveau dance music), however, predicting seamless collaboration with Henrik Luuk (UNI – the duo`s masterpiece Kosmikud would be released at the end of 1999). This 14-track issue is obviously inspired by motion pictures (for instance, taking samples from a children/cult movie, Arabella mereröövli tütar) dreams, sleeping, a bit hyper-realistic/vividly cloudless skies, and tenderness. In a word, it is a bit more than just an essential album regarding the contemporary Estonian electronic scene.

VYVCH - She's Not Home EP (2014)

BlocSonic

Bandcamp

Alternative pop
Shoegazetronica
Mood music
Trip-hop
Witch house
Alternative dance

Comment: actually I felt myself to be in a quandary while listening to this short-running album for the first time. Is it a witch house album embellished with spectral, shoegaze-y guitar hooks, glowering dance-appealed rhythms and exotica pop-alike orchestrations? Or is it just an up-to-date chill-out issue created by curious producers? Furthermore, is it more Seefeel inspired or on the contrary Salem spawned? Never mind. Despite discordant elements presented at the first view the outcome is a cozy fire. At last do make difference the likes of She`s Not Home, Smoking On The Shore, Something's Goin' To Happen.

SOL - And The Mouth Of Time Is Open (2013)

Drowning

Doom metal
Drone metal
Ambient
Sludge metal
Post-metal
Avant-metal
Trance metal
Screamo
Epic
Experimental metal

Comment: this 47-minute release is filled with heavy, actually banging drumming, apocalyptic cathedral-coated organs which are accentuated with deeply desperate, sludgy vocal lines hovering atop. At times the collective`s sound renders into a wry, trancelike psychedelic realm or ambient-near still life (particularly at This Realm Is Free And Remains Eternal). It is meta-metal, isn`t? The concept is arrantly epic and apocalyptic – regarding SOL`s music, titles, and - of course - result. If you are born to be a music fan being keen to new sonic challenges or just adore thrilling nouveau metal eposes then this 5-track colossus is very exactly thought for you. It is issued under an experimental metal label, Drowning.cc.

Sraczka Dziwaczka - Sraczka Dziwaczka (2014)

Weakie Discs

Post-dubstep
Psychedelic electronica
Electro-indie
Alternative dance
Breakbeat

Comment: this album is a sort of art music whimsy where (post-)dubstep and other styled glowering breaks are cahoots with post-rock/punk, jazz and indie electronic fringes. Some instances for you- at Mutant Małpy the listener can feel breakbeat rhythms intensely blended with slightly psychedelic reed organ drones; at Zicke!, and Fahròu dub-styled reverberations and sparsely used but hypnotic vocal samples are interlaced with post-punk/rock leaned bass thudding; Maryjuana provides a bouncy, good-time electro-dance feel; Bą deploys dreadful, broken electro ruins to develop them into a convincing result. However, in the meanwhile these elements are mixed up with a funny, humour loaded attitude. Great.

Travelling Wave – T-Wave (2013)

Bandcamp

Drone rock
Garage rock
Shoegaze
Trance rock
Psych-rock
Lo-fi
Alternative rock

Comment: The Brazilian collective Travelling Wave`s album consists mainly of plangent guitars, hypnotic drone-y chords and relieved progressions, however, providing hirsute lo-fi-inclined playing attitude and remotely resounding vocal entries hung at back of stage. Sometimes their sound will get into more electronic, motorik and danceable propulsions, however, being exempt totally from bleak and torpid outlooks. Their sound can be compared with legends like Spacemen 3, The Stooges, Neu!, My Bloody Valentine, Dub Sex, and more contemporaries likes of Serena Maneesh, Holy Motors, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The result is a kick-ass by any means.

Emerald Park - Black Box CC (2014)

23 Seconds

Jamendo

Alt-folk
Americana
Electro-indie
Soft rock
Alternative pop/rock
Drone pop

Comment: the Swedish combo Emerald Park`s 7-track issue is emotional and intense full of generally soft pop/rock inspired ditties. Furthermore, there are presented sultry droning, panoramic refrains, intimate piano chords and artsy folk/Americana progressions. One of the songs is obviously inspired by the James Bond legend (Never Again). Despite all the aforementioned aspects the album does sound in a modest way. I am very sure you can add some of these songs to the list of your favourite tracks.

7/17/2014

[Teaser of the day] Skeleton Zoo - Devil`s Lettuce

Sampledelic
Breaks
Trip-hop
Cinematic
Mood music
Alternative
Electronic pop

[Teaser of the day] Juliana Stein - My Jeans

Archive

Electro pop
Kitch pop
Poptronica
Acid pop
Electronic pop
Autotune
Camp pop

Cinchel - From the Rooftop through the Gutter

From the Rooftop through the Gutter from cinchel on Vimeo.

Krestovsky – The Partial (2013)

FMA

Americana
Indie folk
Singer-songwriter
Alt-folk
Folk indie

Comment: behind Krestovsky hides himself Andy Chrest, a native from Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He has created six restrained ditties with at first blush barely remarkable but finally efficacious, full-fledged changes. Chrest`s concept relies on roots music and Americana, however, interpreting it in a modern language - where slowly running expressive guitar chords are backed up by suggestive sing-songwriter-ism, up-to-date organ and brass sections. His sound can be compared with the ones of Wilco, Schultz And Forever, Frontier Ruckus, The Silver Jews. Less is more.

Centauri – Centauri (2014)

Lepers

Bandcamp

Noise rock
Acid rock
Avant-rock
Psych-rock
Art rock
Avant-glam
Art punk
Progressive rock

Comment: frantically expressed guitars, feedback-heavy noises and the manifesto of artsy ideas are means to an end regarding this 8-track issue. Imagine as if an early David Bowie were produced by some hairy nuts grown up in the garage somewhere. In detail, most of the compositions are presented in the sauce of acid fried noises and quirky glam, theatrical progressive and intense art rock/punk brooding. However, there are shown off some bombastic lad rock-alike progressions either, which chime like kitsch/camp pop examples regarding the relevant context. Fantasize as if Bowie, Magma, and Jesus And The Mary Chain were thrown in a vast maelstrom. Outstanding shit by any means. One of the best releases in 2014 so far.

Mr Duke – I Can`t Find My Keys (2007)

Earth Monkey Productions

Lastfm

American Primitivism
New Weird Wales
Weird folk
Post-folk
Free folk
Indie folk
Experimentalism
DIY
Anti-folk
Freak folk
Ambient folk
Psych-folk
Avant-garde
Electro-acoustic
Lo-fi

Comment: Mr Duke is a Welsh busker/musician Gwynfor Dafydd Edwards (born in 1983) who had previously played in a London-based prog band, Elysium Field, before he decided to embark on his solo project. His debut album under the excellent label Earth Monkey Production kicks off (Bikes Piss Past My Window) in the vein of so-called American Primitivism providing restrained guitar chords, simple countryside feeling and little changes in chords the long-running track throughout. However, the next compositions (with some exceptions) used to surprise with intense experimentalism and with-it feeling. More concretely, the tracks are filled with guitar chords and vocal lines turned inside out, schizoid stereophonic and reverb effects and uncanny noises and bleak ambient-tinged (or not) electronic/electro-acoustic coming out from both channels. Of course, Mr Duke stylistically seems to be related to the anti-folk and New Weird movements, though, his ideas might ideologically derive from the experimental concepts of krautrock either (for instance, reminding of Faust-esque sonic mayhem). Highly impressive. Finally, I do recommend to listen to such artists as Chad Golda, Felicia Atkinson, and Speculativism as well.

Moscow Club – Daisy Miller EP (2011)

Bandcamp

Moscow Club

Glo-fi
Hypnagogic pop
Psychedelic
Dream pop
Chillwave
Nugaze
Alternative pop

Comment: Moscow Club issued a pair of tracks in 2011 which was a highlight year for chillwave/glo-fi/hypnagogic pop artists. Indeed, an uncountable number of projects out there were formed during this year globally. The question was just about in which way one or another release was blended into the mix. The Japanese group`s release had been managed in a way to get into lush shoegaze-ish walls, suave psychedelic pop, and cloudless dream pop/dreamwave-ish glides. Similar to The Bilinda Butchers, Little Jungles, and Okinawa Lifestyle, for example.

The Japanese Girl - A Tea With Twiggy Kasumi

[Teaser of the day] Eureka Brown - Sketch

Lastfm

Neopsychedelia
Glo-fi
Alternative pop
Dream pop
Post-pop
Art pop
Tropical pop

[Teaser of the day] ALBUM - Después

Lastfm

Indietronica
Alternative pop
Electronic pop
Neokrautrock

7/15/2014

Kamikaze Deadboy - Ambassadors Of Mars

Fabrizio Cacciamali – When In A Crowd I Feel Lost (2007)

Noise-Joy

Electro-acoustic
Improvised music
Experimental electronica
Avant-garde
Glitchtronica
Dystopbient
Micronoise
Illbient

Comment: Cacciamali`s sound drifts along bleak labyrinths of electro-acoustic experiments, cacophonic impulses of glitch music, muffled noise explorations, however, all of that is wrapped up in illbient-filled vapour. Moreover, all of that described above used to subject to the formulae of improvised music. Pleasurable in its chirpiness.

Emanuele Muro – Brokenline (2007)

Noise-Joy

Glo-fi
Electronic pop
Organic electronica
Soul
Art music
New Age
Alternative

Comment: Muro`s 3-track issue is an organic blend of calm chill out/glo-fi/New New Age undulations, almost elusive electronic endeavours, and touching soulful singing. In a word, Muro`s sound is autarkic (i.e limited with the aforementioned stylistic elements for to be interlaced with each other in a tight-fitting way) and the ultimate goal is achieved (the listeners can feel themselves to be fulfilled completely).

Aden Ôhm - La Loi De Morphine (2014)

Aden Ôhm

Pavillon36 Recordings

Bandcamp

Lastfm

Industrial techno
Dark electro
Alternative dance
Raggamuffin
Crossover
Dubstep
Thrill and bass
Martial industrial
Experimentalism
Breakcore

Comment: Aden Ôhm is a prolific producer from Caen, France whose sound used to rely on industrial music, dub echoes and electronic experiments. Indeed, same can also be ascribed to this 8-track issue. More concretely, the album involves lots of contrast-y aspects extending from harsh industrial brooding, thrill and bass-relied rabidity, electro/industrial rock-like intensity, quirky experimental electronica and martial industrial overthrows to moody raggamuffin-alike dancing and more sedate dub-blended hovers. The issue contains lots of different rhythms, however, most of them abound in incisive and raspy sonic frequencies and patterns. Gloomy and flaming.

Panda Eyes – Dream Police (2014)

Soundcloud

Indie pop
Alternative rock
Experimental indie
Psychedelic pop
Power pop
Post-rock
Jazz rock
Soft rock
Art rock

Comment: Panda Eyes do present 8 tracks extending to its endpoint at 25.15. The first impression of mine was it is just a soothing and balmy issue involving drowsy vocal lines backed up by somnolent electric, organ and guitar keys. Indeed, the more the whole approaches its ending the more I approve my opinion. However, there are some exceptions (Sinister Dexter; I Wish) offering up some convincing examples toward electronic experimentation thereby reminding somewhat of the doings of Stereolab, American Analogue Set, Mice Parade, and Sea And The Cake, for instance (maybe it can be considered as a safer version of Sea And The Cake). Or Cry Like You Were Like A Man which used to contain artsy grunge and power pop progressions. In short, the Recife, Brazil-based quintet`s album provides a pleasurably tickling and dignifying listening for sure.

Útidúr - [BadPanda051] Útidúr (2010)

Bad Panda

Lastfm

Baroque pop
Chamber pop
Indie pop
Art pop
Balkan folk
Epic
Alternative pop

Comment: Útidúr is an Icelandic combo whose a pair of tracks are taken from the album This Mess We`ve Made (2010). More concretely, it is a spellbinding listening because of providing cinematic chamber/baroque/Balkan folk/pop waltzes and chirping male-female interactive singing (Fisherman´s Friend), and on the other side, diving deeply into subtle melancholy which is epic and lamentable simultaneously (Grasping for Thoughts). The group have hinted to be influenced by such artists as Angelo Badalamenti, Calexico, Beirut, Ennio Morricone, however, they have managed to add their own, northern touch to the aforementioned artists` sound.

Kensaye – Back To School (2014)

Bandcamp

Hip-hop
Rap
Mood music
Soul
Grime
Nu jazz
Urban music

Comment: having no idea what does it mean „back to school“ in this case. Maybe Kensaye provides a retrospective point of view because of having piled up lots of influences and added lots of layers of (old) hip-hop music, grime, soul, (nu) jazz and just mood music. More concretely, Kensaye`s grip used to grow weaker at times thus letting music to go beyond bombastic overstatements and the areas of gangsta rap and therefore outside the streets. Any track on this 10-track release involves features by various rappers-MCs and female vowel sounds who engage in to rap in English, Portuguese and Spanish. The mood is enjoyable and smoothly variable. Well done.

6/27/2014

SOL - As The World Burned

Recent Music Heroes: Mixtape #10 (28.06.2014)

Mediafire

Argo Vals - Oksüümoron (2014, Eesti Pops; single 24/Oksüümoron)

Motorama - Empty Bed (2011, Self-released; single Empty Bed)

AKA Gelbart - Ive seen Him Rising (2010, Bird Song; album Banjo Tapes)

Transmitters - Radio Studente (2006, You Are Not Stealing; album Count Your Blessings)

Bode/Dias/Rieger/Gibson - Alienacao e afastamento (2013, Mansarda; album
Síndrome de Burnout)

Eva On The Western Castle Island - Shaolin Punk (2013, EardrumsPop; EP The Wong Way)

Maciej Ramisz - Galaxy 2012 (2010, 23 Seconds; album towards. A)

Krestovsky - Plan To Catch (2010, Free Music Archive; EP SleE.P)