Blogiarhiiv

5/05/2016

Berthelot – Halieutique de la griotte (2015)



  • Field recording 
  • Electro-acoustic 
  • Glitchtronica 
  • Experimental electronica 
  • Abstract 
  • Acousmatic music 
  • Avant-garde 
  • Sound art 
  • Experimentalism 
  • Dark ambient


Comment: Berthelot`s 12-track issue is a quite peculiar one because each composition on it has been a part of compilations worldwide. Now when it is gathered together it demonstrates different appearances across one pathway. For sure, musically it is an intriguing listening because the form-based composition of glitched-out music, bleak field recording, acousmatic music is variegated with more moody though ill-omened ones running in the form of dark ambient. However, the emotions are predominantly subdued to free place for sheer sonic experiments and effects. In a word, the mission is successfully completed. The issue is a part of the imprint Murmure Intemporel.                                    

5/04/2016

[Teaser of the day] Geometrie Variabili - Coastline


  • Improvised music
  • Art music
  • Experimental music
  • Avant-garde

Release: The Breath
Label: La bèl
Year. 2013

Alternative links:

The Dreams – Morbido (2012)



  • Art punk 
  • Lo-fi 
  • Post-punk 
  • Experimental rock 
  • No Wave 
  • Alternative rock 
  • Psych-rock 
  • Neo-psychedelia 
  • Avant-rock 
  • Acid rock


Comment: My first impression about the Strasbourg, French duo The Dreams was spawned approximately 6-7 years ago when they released an EP or was it a single under the French imprint Beko DSL. By hearing the first chords by them I knew it would be a favourite one within the discography of the imprint. Armelle Oberle, and Emmanuel Satti`s long-running issue is something very special because of getting power from different sources, however, nonetheless staying a stark rock and roll instance. For example, the issue starts off like a shamanic whirlpool with darkened rhythms, spacey organs and stoned guitars, which later will be shuffled and ordered otherwise. Their power emerges from a psychedelic music tradition though this might say nothing because the psychedelic pigeonhole is truly voluminous embracing an enormous number of movements and tendencies. However, they are not an usual exemplar because their organs are frequently amplified to a maximum and the Armelle Oberle`s voice and singing manner is exalted and ecstatic accompanied by low-end yet challenging cadences and always loud and resounding guitars. Furthermore, the duo used to chime obsessively similarly to Suicide, for instance. In general, one could discern similarity with other No Wave artists either. The Dreams shows us clearly it hides very future for rock music to get on with being not lame and cliché-filled. In a word, it is a swarm of excellent leftfield compositions.                      

5/03/2016

[Teaser of the day] Sa Zobud - Krajinou Leta


  • Chilltronic
  • Alternative
  • Indietronica
  • Crossover
  • Epic
  • Big beat
  • Ambient pop
  • Electronic
  • Mood music

Artist: Sa Zobud
Release: Sa Zobud
Label: Tachyon
Year: 2010

Ryanosaurus – Kaleidosaur (2011)



  • Psytance 
  • Breakcore 
  • Tekno 
  • Electro 
  • Alternative dance


Comment: Ryanosaurus is a musician from Sydney, Australia whose 5-tracks outing is based on crisp rhythmic patterns that relentlessly used to change within each track and throughout the course. On the other side, those variegating paces are spiced up with sustaining delays and agile synthesizer threads thereby constituting the dense psychedelic trance, electro and tekno-tinged issue. However, the last composition Plibt (featuring Poseidon & Forrest) involves firstly intriguing adjacent motives flicking in and out of the centre and then it is followed by a piano-driven part.  Added Additional Extra includes a catchy (neo-) krautrock-alike synthesised motive in the first half, which makes me fairly aroused. It could be said Ryanosaurus knows very well what he is doing – a carnival of colour saturated rhythms and rhythms.                  

5/02/2016

[Teaser of the day] Hanging Freud - The South



  • Alternative pop
  • Art pop
  • Shoegaze
  • Chamber pop
  • Indie pop
  • Ethereal Wave
  • Drone pop

Artist: Hanging Freud
Release: Motherland
Label: Self-released/Bandcamp
Year: 2016

Various Artists - Interplanetary Materials (2004)




  • Alternative rock 
  • Art pop 
  • Experimental pop 
  • Leftfield 
  • Avant-garde 
  • Space age pop 
  • Indie 
  • Psych-pop
  • Parody 
  • Space pop 
  • Drone pop 
  • Electronic 
  • Exotica pop 
  • Post-classical 
  • Indie rock 
  • Sampledelic 
  • Deep house 
  • Spoken world
  • Mood music


Comment: Ladies and gentlemen! We are floating in space! Ehh…where exactly is that place we are going to fly and maybe even conquer. There exists inner space additionally to Outer Space, which are seamlessly related to each other – the first one is subjugated to the latter or at least being a minor, intangible part of it. The musicians around the world have explored and tried to chart the inner limits of our more or less subliminal psyche at different times. Furthermore, the term “space” is being frequently related to something, which could be described as “with-it, cutting-edge” because the human being has had not enough power to date to reach more distant cosmic objects and bigger distances in Outer Universe though the desire to do it existed already long ago. However, the legendary imprint Comfort Stand Recordings put it into practice through music, through a set of 2 hours and 35 minutes that it is a blissful blend of diverse styles that works out like a tremendous maelstrom, which in turn involves an innumerable amount of special universes in the nexus of it. And so on until one’s brain will explode. More profoundly, those sonorous seeds within it are witty, clever, arousing, grandeur, at times very funny and even buffoonish, blissful and…otherworldly. Because of that I feel by myself the whole fairly dignifies me and inspires respect against people, beasts and the Almighty Creator. And of course, it is culturally and narratively important because of embracing many hints at essential space-related things. Last but not least there are represented such artists as big celestrial orchestre, Full Load Of King, R Stevie Moore, Ton Rückert, Gulag Picture Radio, Fortyone, Laze, Atton Paul, Lungbutter, Howard Ambient, Archbishop Jason Polland, The Pan-Galactic All Stars, sciflyer, Astrochimp, Weirdomusic, komafuzz, Lee Rosevere, Jan Turkenberg, AP3S, The Apartment, Nova Social, Dana Countryman, Bruce Lenkei, Wild Acoustic Chamber Orchestra, Mr. Fab, Eddie the Rat, LowLiFi, Jack Fetterman and the in Hi-Fi Music Direction, Seksu Roba, The Vivisectors, Lullabelle, Sascha Müller, The Lounge King Meets Monsieur Max, Inzah, and B.C Sterret w/Janae Olson.                                    

5/01/2016

[Teaser of the day] Santosh - Quasar


  • Electronic
  • Art pop
  • Indietronica
  • Space pop
  • Avant-pop
  • Leftfield pop
  • Alternative

Artist: Santosh
Release: The Book Of Moron  
Label: Peppermill
Year: 2007

Alternative links:

Mircanto – Esercizi di Statica (2011)




  • Alt-folk 
  • Indie folk 
  • Slowcore 
  • Folk indie 
  • Sadcore


Comment: for me, to listening to Bergamo, Italy-based trio Mircanto`s 9-track issue obligates me to draw parallels with cooking. Thereafter you have figured out the idea of a food and you have gathered relevant ingredients to accomplish it then you will prepare it stepwise by adding one ingredient followed by another. By doing it you have to be patient and concentrated. Their music is slowly meandering between the walls of doleful, melancholic singing obviously imbued with singing (unfortunately I have no idea they are singing about because of doing it in Italian) and softened guitar and piano playing. Yet throughout the course the result is getting growing and growing by either adding some odds and ends to the mix or slightly changing the course of the compositions (for instance, by adding some melodica and harmonica sounds and found sounds to the blend). I guess if I would not have the idea that behind the album is a trio I would have been thinking it is a singer-songwriter case. Today is Sunday and vividly shiny weather and Mircanto`s music together arouse idyllic sensations inside me. In a word, the result is a solid and delightful one and can be added to a list of other succeeded Italian artists like Nick Rivera, Il nostro Tempo Violenta, Nick Rivera; Goldaline, My Dear, Barbagallo. On the other side, the result can be compared with certain Americana artists like Bon Iver, and Okkervil River.       

4/30/2016

Slimm - Marvelous Silence of Brokilon

[Teaser of the day] AP3S - God Morgon


  • Space pop
  • Electronic
  • Alternative
  • Robot pop
  • Indietronica
  • Mood music
  • Art pop
  • Exotica pop
  • Space age music
  • Glitch pop
  • Post-pop
  • Leftfield pop

Artist: AP3S
Year: 2004

Alternative links:

[Teaser of the day] Someday and Shine - Sendiri Padam


  • New Weird Indonesia
  • Free folk
  • DIY
  • Psych-folk
  • Singer-songwriter
  • Dream folk
  • Lo-fi
  • Weird folk
  • Art folk

Release: Random
Label: No Source
Year: 2011 

[Teaser of the day] Ziv Shachar - Shoot For the Stars



  • Avant-hop
  • Industrial-hop
  • Experimental hip-hop
  • Urban music
  • Leftfield
  • Noise-hop
  • Hip-hop
  • Post-dubstep
  • Sampledelic

Artist: Ziv Shachar
Release: Nice Day 
Label: Self-released/Bandcamp 
Year: 2016

[Teaser of the day] Barometric - Kynokephalos, Live!

  • Freak folk
  • Weird folk
  • Art folk
  • DIY
  • New Weird America
  • Experimental folk
  • Free folk
  • Electronic
  • Avant-folk
  • Acid folk

Artist: Barometric
Release: Kynokephalos
Label: Bandcamp/Self-released
Year: 2016 

Sawi Lieu – Fluorescence (2012)




  • Noise 
  • Post-rock 
  • Crust punk 
  • Rhythmic noise 
  • Experimental rock 
  • Dreamwave 
  • Avant-rock 
  • Ambient 


Comment: the Indonesian music scene continues to surprise me. My earlier experiences were hooked up with the Indonesian indie scene, and an one-man-project called Cortical whose issue Entropy EP (2015, Yes No Wave) was a fabulous insight into the cutting-edge progressive rock/RIO world. However, Sawi Lieu`s issue Fluorescence deserves its name because of radiating vivid rays of light on different frequencies and in different directions. At times the issue is calmed down drifting somewhere between ambient and blissful chillwave/dreamwave landscapes (Crystal Vibration). Indeed, the piece chimes like an ambient music composition being produced and subjugated to exotica pop/tiki music ideology. However, the track is in stark contrast to the next piece I-ON, which is a downright attack through the torrents of blasting drum rhythms, zombie vocals and signal-alike electronic sounds and synthesised overdrives and flickering bold bass waves. However, the ending synthesiser passage unites these two compositions together. In a word, it is the atmospheric crust punk. It is followed by Lifetime Imaging, the short-running track wherein atmospheric layers are propelled by tectonic, noisy blasts. The same could be admitted about a track named Absorpsi though the latter involves ill-omened hisses and loops nearby. Resonansi will end this 7-notch issue with ovoid-shaped guitar echoes cranking up loudness until it becomes resonate. All in all, the whole is a tumultuous journey, which makes the listener to get aroused. It is a very fine issue being a part of the discography of Experia Net Label.                            


4/29/2016

Mais Valia – Mais Valia (2015)



  • Stoner rock 
  • Hard rock 
  • Post-rock 
  • Math rock 
  • Post-metal


Comment: the Brazilian trio of Ricardo Cezario, Alexandre Palàcio, and Vitor Martins used to play quite straightforward yet impressive rock music which purpose is to conjure up powerful chords from their basses, drums and guitars, cross them deliberately and then lay off something special from the mix. There is also another possibility to understand the Brazilian trio’s music. Their 7-track (clocking in at a 37 minute) album might be limited with a certain amount of chord combinations for to get shuffled with each other endlessly until the issue will be over. In that sense their aesthetic could loosely be considered a part of minimalism though played with the usual combination of the instruments in rock music. However, the listener could discover new shades and penumbras to be added with each new track. I like the idea that spawned in my head while listening to their longest track called Metropolis that the trio started off from a muddy, bedimmed soil to rave up their inner engines and then raise to heaven with a monumental trajectory. Last not least – how many cows are depicted on the cover print? The issue is a part of the discography of the Brazilian imprint Sinewave whose grateful purpose over the years has been to release new abrasive rock, noise and metal music from their country. NB! Today will come in Walpurgis Night so it is highly suitable to listen to this issue either. Hail to all witches

[Teaser of the day] Anadel - The Well


  • Americana
  • Alternative pop/rock
  • Indie pop/rock
  • Chamber pop
  • Art rock
  • Baroque pop

Artist: Anadel
Label: Noisetrade
Year: - 

[Teaser of the day] Years of Rice and Salt - (Rearranging) Deckchairs


  • Post-rock
  • Chamber rock
  • Experimental rock
  • Alt-country
  • Post-folk
  • Epic
  • Crossover

Release: Service Bell EP
Label: Jamendo 
Year: 2010

[Teaser of the day] Bruno Susio - Here We Are


  • Reggae
  • Mood music
  • Soul
  • Ska
  • Brass pop
  • Pop

Artist: Bruno Susio
Label: Jamendo
Year: 2015

[Teaser of the day] Tostador - 04


  • Noise
  • Abstract
  • Drone
  • Avant-garde
  • Minimalism
  • Space noise
  • Ambient noise
  • Experimentalism
  • Psycho-acoustic

Artist: Tostador
Release: Moon
Label: Truco
Year: 2016

Alternative links:

[Teaser of the day] OUDEIS - Harm


  • Post-industrial
  • Avant-garde
  • Abstract
  • Electro-acoustic
  • Neoclassical
  • Dystopbient
  • Experimentalism
  • Dark ambient
  • Industrial illbient

Artist: OUDEIS
Release: Abused
Year: 2016

Alternative links:

Morpheus – Alkemiisto (2003/2008/2009)




  • Dark Wave 
  • Dark ambient 
  • Art music 
  • Interpreted music 
  • Neoclassical 
  • Avant-garde 
  • Post-classical


Comment: Morpheus` 14-track issue Alkemiisto is an intriguing issue because the artist’s original music is variegated with his own versions of such classical composers/musicians as Bach, Corelli, Vangelis, Abeni, Vildsvin, Chopin and additionally some video game numbers. It sounds interesting, isn’t? In stylistic and temporal terms it does mean Stanislav Rubyteno has opened possibilities to either unite or juxtapose old, baroque music with blackened ambient and neoclassical tunes. The general mood is resolutely murky and damp thereby allowing few chances to shed light upon in the middle of shadowplay. More concretely, hammering piano chords and solemn organ droning are unwound with yarning orchestrated passages and ominous, expressive ambient glimpses. Undoubtedly Rubyteno`s melancholy is beautiful and dignifying therefore bolstering the issue with quality. Get it.          

Amit Buium – Void (2016)




  • Shoegazetronica 
  • New Wave
  • Synth pop 
  • Epic 
  • Dream pop 
  • Electro-rock 
  • Ambient rock
  • Post-rock 
  • Indietronica 
  • Fusion 
  • Ambient pop 
  • Alternative pop/rock 
  • Synth rock

Comment: Amit Buium is a young and talented artist from Israel who has obviously been loving the 80s for a while with regard to listening to her first proper outing. Those influences come out either directly or circuitously depending on each track. By using a plentiful of more or less hazy synthesiser-based hanky panky and electronic drums and being sacrificed the guitar-based sounds she has produced this 6-notch issue for our pleasure. However, her influences seem to come from the epoch while many (post-) punk musicians changed their sound more toward synthesizer-driven and dance-appealed sound (New Order, Killing Joke, The Cure, A Certain Ratio etc). For instance, at Cheated the listener could perceive her voice to unveil obvious, minor chord similarities and singing manner with Tanita Tikaram while her voice is backed up by intensely whirling synthesizer chords, and New Age-y motives. The young musician surprises me at Landscapes, which conjures up blistery longing on the base of playing in the vein of jazzy/fusion guitar patterns which will turn into a melodic post-rock weave.  On the other side, the title track, Rain, and Homesickness (the favourite of mine!) are expertly soaked in reveries and being relentless in progressing to majestic, almost hymn-alike chords. The album is retrospective in a good sense because of creating something idiosyncratic on the base of the older music. At the moment the debut album by Amit Buium is a definitive candidate to be appeared in the list of the best issues in 2016.                             

4/28/2016

[Teaser of the day] x.y.r. - Sunset Dive



  • Dreamwave
  • Alternative
  • Chillwave
  • Organic electronica
  • Synthwave

Artist: x.y.r
Label: Jeunesse Cosmique
Year: 2016

[Teaser of the day] Staraya Derevnya - Kadita



  • New Weird Israel
  • Psych-folk
  • Free folk
  • Acid folk
  • Space folk
  • World music
  • Weird folk
  • Improvised music
  • Experimental folk

Release: Kadita Sessions
Label: Weakie Discs
Year: 2016

Alternative links:

[Teaser of the day] Schemawound - Self-Surgery Manual



  • Experimental techno
  • Avant-techno
  • Industrial techno
  • Tech-electro
  • Minimal techno

Artist: Schemawound
Label: Bandcamp/Self-released
Year: 2016

[Teaser of the day] Wochtzchèe - Luodosesostot



  • Ambient
  • Experimental electronica
  • Post-industrial
  • Crossover
  • Experimentalism
  • Avant-garde
  • Experimental techno

Artist: Wochtzchèe
Label: Bandcamp/Self-released
Year: 2006

[Teaser of the day] Aleksi Eeben - Avaruusmiehen toinen matka (Spaceman's Second Expedition)


  • Electro pop
  • Electronic pop
  • Naive pop
  • Robot pop
  • Alternative
  • Synth pop

Artist: Aleksi Eeben
Label: Monotonik
Year: 2006

Alternative links:

Apache Dropout – Half of the Apache Dropout LP (2011)




  • Blues 
  • Alternative rock
  • Indie rock 
  • Americana 
  • Psychedelic rock


Comment: Firstly, Apache Dropout as a combo could be considered an archetypical American combo because of trudging across the landscapes of twanging guitar driven blues rock, dusty organ drenched psychedelic sweeps and always refreshing blackened rock and roll hubbles. Secondly, the Yankees have always had enough craftsmanship and gustiness to bring their endeavours to the fore in an unmarred way. Apache Dropout`s vibe is charmingly rebellious and exquisitely negligent even if it could be understood retrospectively. For instance, let’s listen to Sam Phillips Rising where one could enjoy ecstatic, sensual screaming in the middle of chorus singing, rough guitar chords and overdriven riffs. Indeed, it is all about a chaotic environment but it is controlled and thereby managed and channelized more effectively than it would be done haphazardly. In fact, thanks to it all the minor elements included are masterfully magnified to surface them in front of the listener. In a nutshell, it is a spellbinding outing where you could draw parallels with such artists as Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, Captain Beefheart, Nirvana, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Royal Trux, and Elvis Presley. The recent version involves 6 tracks but the Bandcamp-based one includes five more compositions.         

4/27/2016

Les Poissons Autistes – Mal Foutu (2007)



  • Ambient noise 
  • Ambient 
  • Epic 
  • Shoegazetronica 
  • Abstract 
  • Post-rock
  • Alternative
  • Ambient rock 
  • Leftfield
  • Experimental rock
  • Avant-rock


Comment: one can use these 7 tracks either to blast off or calm down. For me, it is a sort of ideal pop music where ambient music used to change into majestic symphonic music and even into abstract appearances and post-rock and shoegaze panoramas are propelled by dance-appealed rhythms to enter into next “post” formations. The flanges of the compositions are frayed and the centre of the compositions is permanently movable in and out of focus once in a while. In spite of it, at Les Mains Plates the artist exploits the aesthetic of minimal music in a fairly elegant way. In general, one can feel the sounds that are cranked up yet subjugated to more hypnotic algorithms. The issue contains a bunch of minor details that are expertly refined to make difference either by standing alone or integrated into a track. By kindred souls there can be drawn parallels by the likes of Pan American, Slowdive`s Pygmalion, Flying Saucer Attack, Labradford, Ou Où, and many artists related to Silber Records. Top tier.

4/26/2016

Project Hypoxia – Disfigured Tales (2015)




  • Downtempo 
  • Trip-hop 
  • Art pop
  • Electronic music 
  • Breaks 
  • Alternative


Comment: Project Hypoxia comes out from Kaliningrad, Russia and Disfigured Tales is the fourth issue under the Japanese imprint Bump Foot. Unfortunately I have not listened to the first three albums yet but it should be done at least on the base of goodness of the current outing. More profoundly, this 8-notch issue is imbued with bold, crisp tectonic rhythms and velvety-dark synthesisers full of different semitones and tickling sonorous shades, there are up many samples from different eras and places worldwide (hints at bhangra and ancient Slavic music). In principle, it is trip-hop and downtempo music by stylistic definitions that does mean it is lurking in mood and labyrinthine in its compositions though its dream-drenched progressions are the best part of the issue. There are some intriguing dodges additionally – for instance, Mirror Mask that chimes like a more thoughtful Cocteau Twins. In a word, the result is fabulous throughout the course with some very special monumental glimpses.

4/24/2016

Mountain Cloth – Instant Peasant/A Cantaloupe Garden (2015)




  • Pub rock
  • Alternative rock
  • Indie rock 
  • Noise rock
  • DIY

Comment: Giant Manilow is a little imprint based in Birmingham, the UK that is a platform mostly for clamorous alternative pop/indie pop/DIY collectives. Of course, other indie music related genres can be found under the umbrella. Mountain Cloth is one of those groups being represented with a couple of pieces in the matter of the recent issue. It is very delightful to hear the band drifting between exquisite harmonious odds and ends and providing noisy rising in sound. At times a remarkable amount of pub rock roughness emits from within the whole. In a nutshell, the result is simple but salient. If I had a chance to lead the radio show I would play it in the afternoon. 

Superbells – Parallel Lives (2016)




  • Ambient pop
  • Synthwave 
  • Soundscape 
  • Electronic music
  • Post-rock
  • Chamber rock
  • Epic 
  • Crossover
  • Drone pop

Comment: The Frenchman David Teboul's recent issue comprises fourteen episodes (which are differentiated as tracks, of course). I can remember for that the artist's many previous issues under the name Linear Bells were frequently produced in the way to consist of just one track. However, these compositions mostly clocked in at more than 30 minutes. Musically the recent one is a fabulous melange of ambient pop, pure ambient, synthesizer-based glimpses, post-rock (in truth, David Teboul exploits the guitars and cellos within it). However, stylistically it is even much broader and imbued with more nuances than described above. Furthermore, the aforementioned elements are at times interwoven with each other to synthesise new vivid forms (for instance, at His Last Major Tragedies). Sometimes one might think the artist is a little bit influenced by the French compatriot M83 though producing more evocative music. One is sure - the synthesisers are Teboul's biggest love with regard to the recent outing (let's listen to Meditation On The Nature of Love). The Merchant of Venice is an exception because of involving surprisingly singing. Emotionally the whole is overwhelming due to its epic convolutions and accentuated comprehensiveness (let's listen to The Sonnets, the amazing ambient pillar with solemn cathedral organ drones). In a word, it is an instance of great music that could be pop music in the year of 2116, for example). However, at the moment it has been the most impressive issues in 2016 so far.

Obasquiat and Dancing Deadlips in Free Sonic Explorations – Urban Astronauts (2016)




  • Improvised music
  • Space rock 
  • Avant-garde
  •  Noise 
  • Experimentalism 
  • Ambient


Comment: The collaborative act between Obasquiat, and Dancing Deadlips has spawned two compositions. Every Time, All the Time is long-running and by its nature it is fairly oneiric based on otherworldly hypnotic vowel effects which in turn are amplified by sublime yet reverberating echoes and occasional sounds of the shakers; thereafter it starts off again, this time with the plucking of strings which in turn are reverb-drenched again which are accompanied by even more hypnotic vowel effects. The composition is besieged by the short spans of silence. Maurice Unraveled (what a quip!) is remarkably shorter and more acute because the piece starts off with more turbulent progressions involving rusty loops and a strident improvised noise snippet. The chaos might be mother of the order to prompt the artists to finish in the roundabout manner (more profoundly, finishing off with the aforementioned corroded loops). The result is bewildering and obviously compelling the listener to come back and enter its threshold once again. All in all, it is a great listening time. 

4/23/2016

Martin Rach – Late Autumn Quartets (2016)




  • Avant-garde 
  • Experimentalism 
  • Improvised noise 
  • New Weird Lithuania 
  • Electro-acoustic 
  • Ambient 
  • Drone 
  • Electronic music


Comment: As the title suggests explicitly the whole consists of 4 compositions. It is a notch in a series of seasonal quartets. It's a peculiar issue where different and intriguing facets and methods in music are juxtaposed against each other. Martin Rach, the artist from Lithuania uses various instruments (metalophone, zither, kalimba, bongos, Korg Volca bass) and at times special treatments for those ones. More profoundly, improvised noise, droning scalloping and ambient hisses are the follow-ups to lone string plucking the outing started with in fact. Furthermore, there are represented a bunch of grey, superimposed areas of sound thereby providing two folded sonic appearances. The issue comprises some definitive turns – from exquisite stringed and glockenspiel-tinged arrangements (at least they used to sound in that way) to rough and strident synthesiser-based shows (at Raving Threads); from new weird-esque folk tunes to pummelling yet variegated noise beams to ear piercing droning (at Root Architecture). In spite of it throughout the course the listener can perceive the determined direction on these diverse elements. Indeed, it is not chaotic it is expertly built up. It is a pre-eminent issue indeed.

Kria Brekkan – 2008-09-16 Lutheran Church (2008)




  • New Weird Iceland 
  • Avant-pop 
  • Abstract, 
  • Dream pop 
  • Live session 
  • Post-pop
  • Singer-songwriter 
  • Experimental pop
  • Art pop
  • Folktronica


Comment: Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir aka Kria Brekkan was previously known as a member of Icelandic combo Mùm of which first albums Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today Is OK (2000, Morr Music) and Finally We Are No One (2002, FatCat) are pure gold to listen for sure - it is a hypnotic blend of folk, electronic/glitch music and post-rock. These two ones are the issues showing no sign of aging even today. So get these albums for yourselves immediately if you do not have it yet. Roughly one year before this gig Kria Brekkan and her then-husband Dave Portner aka Avey Tare (Animal Collective) released an issue called Pullhair Rubeye on Paw Tracks for which they composed music to turn it upside down therefore. This time Kria does not get involved in such sort of capers. The result is a fairy-alike one in which one could hear her to chirp as if it were channelized through the mist being conjured up either by glass celesta or watery harmonium. At times one could track down more dynamic and cinematic bridges on the austere chords to create something astonishing and staggering. In a word, this session of a half hour is a truly interesting listening span.

Astma – Moscow / Istanbul (2011)




  • Live session
  • Noise
  • Electro-acoustic
  • Electronic music
  • Freeformfreakout
  • Noise rock
  • Avant-garde
  • Psych-rock
  • Improvised music
  • No Wave
  • Experimentalism
  • Non-music
  • Crust punk

Comment: The presocratic Greek philosopher Heraclitus said once that there is no possibility to step into the one and the same river twice. All around us and within us used to be in permanent flux, all is changing around and within us consistently. I guess the same can be said about the Russian duo Astma consisting of Alexei Borisov (also known from such groups as Volga, Notshoi Prospekt and many other projects and collaborations), and Olga Nosova (Motherfathers). Indeed, there are up some similar points between the two live gigs in their native Moscow and Istanbul but in general in the form these sessions are built up slightly in different ways. However, both of them involve interesting experiments with noise music, improvised music, rock-oriented music, voices and electro-acoustic chips. There are up some very intriguing sonic effects as if coming out from unknown or at least extraordinary sources. The both gigs used to progress gradually and being directed in the way to unleash catharsis punctually and poignantly. There one could draw parallels with diverse movements such as free jazz, noise rock, No Wave, crust punk, electronic music. In a word, let's listen to these mind-boggling sessions from different places worldwide.

The Day Of Extinction – Mutually Assured Destruction (2010)




  • Black metal
  • Symphonic black metal
  • Trash metal
  • Funeral metal

Comment: First of all, by seeing the title of this 3-track issue the first thought of mine was it was either a case of blackened metal or goregrind because having hints at misanthropy and destruction. Indeed, the opening track Black Sunrise in the mp3 player of mine is based on the fast churning of instruments supported by massive symphonic synthesisers and hissing feedback. The base used to be appealingly iterative just providing one loop from start to finish. It could be said it transcends its stylistic borders in an elegant way. The following track is In Loving Memory... where the tempo is decelerated and accelerated in different layers at the same time. Furthermore, later on, the composition will be adorned with bold yet slowed-down piano chords and an exquisite orchestrated whiff. The final piece is the self-titled one similarly to the first track being fast running yet demonstrating some tones lowered downward and on the other side there are up massively bumpy riffs and ridges thereby coming into trash metal altogether. In a word, it is a fabulous issue by any metal and conceptual standards.

The Shining Men – Interlude Music EP (2010)




  • Techno
  • Lo-fi
  • Electro
  • Tech-house

Comment: Undoubtedly it is a challenging outing because of representing some styles with unconventional sonorous appearances and corroded sonic frequencies. More profoundly, electro, techno and tech-house vibes have been emerged by exploiting low-end bits and rough, bumpy rhythmic patterns. It is fairly impressive to hear obsessive mood in some tracks  (Girl Passion, for instance). At times the artist follows cues of the minimalism though doing it in a small scale (Goodbye Birds). Despite its unconventional appearance the result used to be on the top by its quality. 

Artifact of Skulls - Artifact of Skulls - I (2016)




  • Speed metal
  • Death metal
  • Hardcore
  • Crust punk

Comment: Oh yeah, it's great delight to listen to such a sort of metal music wherein exuberant, dark hued energy through the interplay of bumpy guitars and bass and jolting drums will result in pummelling against your bourgeois mentality to get it out of your rotten, decayed head. Stylistically it is an amusing blend of death metal, crust punk, and speed metal. The more you listen to this bunch of five tracks the more you could perceive it like it was thought to be a tribute to deceased Lemmy Kilmister. The more you listen to it the more it seems to be spatially appealing in addition to some groovy elements. With regard to Lemmy the issue chimes like a Hawkwind without synthesisers. On the other side, it is very sympathetic to see the minimal aesthetic of the combo (the track titles are denoted with the Rome numbers only; the cover print is depicted as black-white). The issue is a part of the discography of Torn Flesh Records. Great and purging work for sure.

4/16/2016

Chuzausen – Dump Garden (2015)



  • Electro pop
  • 8-bit
  • Ambient trance
  • Breakcore
  • Electronic pop
  • Mood music
  • Tracker music
  • Alternative 

Comment: this 11-notch album chimes like a rusty mood music issue where low-end, 8-bit frequency based rhythms do vary with more bold and thudding rhythmic patterns. All these cadences are adorned with catchy melody and harmony threads where one could perceive even the 80s electro disco and house vibes (at Not House, for instance). Not House is followed by Out Smarted which is a fabulous blend of folk, hip-hop and 70s electro pop a la a late Kraftwerk. The next track People is about catchy warped synth lines and heavily stomping electro rhythms which are imbued with exquisite sonic debris and a vowel iteration. The opening tracks Are We Digital, and Duck+Cover remind a little bit of the Orb`s ambient trance opus Orblivion (1997, Island) which makes me immediately psyched. The more you listen to this issue by the Madrid, Spain-based mastermind Chuzausen the more you perceive his poppy yet not self-indulgent potential which could be a case of ideal pop in certain circumstances. The whole is organic and witty – all these elements which are treated over there are the delicate ones and they are expertly mixed up with each other. Fairly great indeed.

4/14/2016

[Teaser of the day] Ivan Black - Waves Of Insomnia


  • Ambient
  • Soundscape
  • Electronic music
  • Space music
  • Epic
  • Ambient drone

Artist: Ivan Black
Release: The Stillness
Label: Petroglyph
Year: 2016

[Teaser of the day] Florian Wahl - Just Like That

  • Hip-hop
  • Screwed & Chopped
  • Conceptual
  • Breaks
  • Sampledelic
  • Urban music
  • Rap

Artist: Florian Wahl
Release: Miley Matrix
Label: Self-released/Bandcamp
Year: 2013

|sistra| - All My Friends Were Dead (2011)



  • Indie pop/rock
  • Electronic
  • Alternative pop/rock
  • Dream pop
  • Live
  • Art rock

Comment: there are represented three pieces altogether By Russian combo |sistra| which used to reveal the ensemble`s exquisite manner to produce sounds – sparse yet poignant instrumentation is bound to high-pitched singing which emotionally provide a pre-eminent dagger ultimately. Indeed, the singing is a very amusing element within it providing different threads due to exploiting female-male mixed dreamy voices with a slightly elliptic trajectory which used to chime and chirp in an unconventional manner. Because of this it sounds in a familiar and unknown way this creates a welcome tension in the listener. Because of this one could enjoy indie music which does not follow an average indie pop formula. There are the guitars to be represented but they seem somehow to be treated or pulled out of the blend sometimes. It is very ok for this case. One could even say it is an example of dream pop produced and rehearsed in vacuum. By the way, one of those songs Tiny Boat is performed live. In a word, it is a solid indie glimpse under BFW Recordings. 

4/13/2016

Shinobu – 10 Thermidor (2015)




  • Power pop
  • Alternative pop/rock
  • College rock
  • Indie pop/rock
  • Art rock

Comment: The Californian, US-based Shinobu is a meritorious quintet whose 11-track issue used to mostly drift between college rock and power pop elements which frequently are superimposed or blended into each other. More profoundly, it does mean their song structures are built up quite straightforwardly and the combo`s lyrics is about anxiety, haunting past, and warped reality. The favourite tracks of mine are those where the band decided to abandon usual verse-chorus form and develop into extraordinary ways. For instance, at Hell Screens the track starts off with hirsute, thrusting guitars being quite similar to an angular, math rock exploration. And it is very sympathetic to listen to the somehow elliptical and swaying chorus at the rear part of the song. Jokes is a great punk song with appropriate, nihilistic energy which always used to make sense. The most favourite of mine is Melbourne Cup which embarks on by reminding of Albarn & Coxon`s (Blur) songwriting but which will finish off being awash with permanent echo and delay effects thereby magnifying the whole effect. In a word, the album as a whole experience is solid and enjoyable.

4/12/2016

[Teaser of the day] Decktonic - BGM



  • Electronic music
  • Robot pop
  • Breaks
  • Synthwave
  • Electro pop
  • Alternative

Artist: Decktonic
Release: Marble Life/BGM
Label: Self-released/Bandcamp
Year: 2016

Yo La Tengo – 2015-10-10 Kings Theatre (2015)




  • Indie pop/rock
  • Alternative pop/rock
  • Slowcore
  • Covers
  • Americana
  • Sadcore
  • Live session

Comment: by listening to this 24-track live gig by legendary Hoboken, US-based indie purveyors Yo La Tengo I would like to share some moments which emerge from their conception and music. Firstly, YLT is a thoroughly American combo which used to play principally country music though with a different, introverted posture. They are indie nerds who not dare to present their music loudly. However, it seems to be the protective pose of theirs which eventually contributes to their idiosyncratic image. Of course, these words could only be said about their live sessions which are absent with studio trickery and synthesised and psychedelic sound creation. Secondly, they prove again to be champions of the cover songs. There they convey their own versions of songs by the likes of The Cure, Minutemen, Lovin` Spoonful, Gene Clark, Special Pillow, The Scene Is Now, and Cat Stevens. In a word, their session is highly relaxing and enjoyable.

4/11/2016

[Teaser of the day] Big City Orchestra - Moya Drone


  • Micronoise
  • Avant-garde
  • Acousmatic music
  • Sound art
  • Glitchtronica
  • Ambient
  • Experimentalism
  • Ambient noise
  • Psychoacoustic
  • Ambient drone

Year: 2005

Flying Species – The Second Flight (2015)




  • Tekno
  • Psytrance
  • Electronic music
  • Big beat

Comment: my first impression was not affirmative altogether to this 10-track issue because I did not get it – it seemed to be an average, even lacklustre (psy)trance, tekno and big beat tinged assortment. Later on, however, those groovy synths, darker droning undercurrents and pummelling rhythms started to swirl in my head throughout. It needs to get obsessively focused upon that one could notice all those catchy odds and ends which in fact provide additional points and extra value to the whole. Eventually one could admit he/she feels himself/herself as if either having gathered in the middle of a dance floor or searching for a cosy seat in his/her living room. It could be compared with an obscure textbook which one needs to read many times to finally understand it. The coverprint is truly nice. I guess it might be one of the most poppy issues under the experimental imprint Murmure Intemporel.

4/10/2016

[Teaser of the day] Cocteau Twins - Circling Girl


  • Alternative pop/rock
  • Indie pop/rock
  • Art pop
  • Post-punk
  • Dream pop

Artist: Cocteau Twins
Release: Circling Girl
Year: 1996

Helen Austin – A Few Songs of The Week (2011)




  • Indie folk
  • Singer-songwriter
  • DIY
  • Folk indie
  • Americana

Comment: Helen Austin decided to produce one song weekly since April 2009. After producing 51 tracks altogether she picked up twice a portion of tracks to release them on a CD, called Song Of The Week, and for new mixes, respectively. Thereafter Lee Rosevere chose 11 compositions for Free Music Archive from the rest of the whole. I have been listening to the issue for the last three hours to have only good words to say about this portion because of being so light-hearted, bucolic and pristine by its nature. All of that is principally created by using only gentle guitar twanging and mild singing where the artist craftily creates enchanting harmonies and chord sequences. Furthermore, one could perceive even cinematic flow within the tracks. Lyrically it is about to surface themes with a positive sense of life. Fairly nice.

4/09/2016

[Teaser of the day] Cortical - Chain Reaction



  • RIO
  • Avant-prog
  • Progressive metal
  • Progressive rock
  • Math rock
  • Ambient
  • Technical metal
  • Art rock

Artist: Cortical
Release: Entropy EP
Label: Yes No Wave
Year: 2015

4/08/2016

Dead Gum – Ghost Wise (2011)




  • Ambient
  • Drone 
  • Noise rock
  • Experimentalism
  • Post-rock
  • Noise
  • Drone rock
  • Ambient rock
  • Ambient noise
  • Avant-garde

Comment: these 20 minutes within just one composition reveal quite different angles and facets throughout the course. It starts off with low-end, buried frequencies to evolve into more masculine and labyrinthine, noise-drenched droning where guitars are being set up to be either static or ready to render its undulations in a minimal manner. I guess it is not the most primary case to puzzle out is it either more about experimental rock or ambient kind of music. I guess the borders between the styles started to blur stepwise after outings by the likes of Labradford, Slowdive, Flying Saucer Attack, Lycia, My Bloody Valentine. Later on, of course, Montrèal, Canadian ambient/drone/micronoise juggernaut Tim Hecker loaned some of the peripheral rock influences from these artists and synthesised them into his own work. Dead Gum`s Ghost Wise is like a clockwork which has been managed in the way to rev up with every minute. Indeed, in the middle part of the whole an abrasive, chord-changing guitar and Oriental-alike vowel effects alongside will begin to build on mind-boggling phantasmagorical threads and noisy terrains which almost chime like a converse, “minus-signed” symphonic work. Indeed, its influence is twofold – it is both aesthetically overwhelming and physically loud to stimulate one`s forehead and brain. In a word, it must be heard and shared being created by the Greek Panagiotis Spoulos. 

[Teaser of the day] Alexei Rafiev & Alexei Borisov - Solntse i luna


  • Avant-garde
  • Dark wave
  • Spoken word
  • Glitchtronica
  • Microtonal
  • Experimentalism

Year: 2009

[Teaser of the day] Kevin Bryce - One Day In Spain


  • Downtempo
  • Chilltronica
  • Folktronica
  • Electronic music
  • Mood music

Artist: Kevin Bryce
Release: Strange Mosaics
Year: 2016