Recent Music Heroes

Comment: undoubtedly it is a fabulous 8-notch ghost from the past from the mid-00s when electronic underground music was still set up in the way to stand against the mainstream pop. There were up axial record labels like Mille Plateaux and Morr Music of which purpose was to disseminate IDM and glitched-out music and they succeeded in that. This album can be considered the magnum opus by Andy Kirk, because one could not find out other issues by the artist. The result is mind-blowing, catchy and just beautiful and thereof it used to evoke those cute memories which had existed 10-15 years ago while I was listening to artists who used to dwell between electronica, indie and glitchy beats. Furthermore, it reminds of advertising flashes at night while blinking and casting the light and neon shadows around and upon you. At times Andy Kirk's music sounds a bit infantile though it is obviously an affirmative moment by showing up the artist's ability to laugh at himself and drift more loosely in disparate ways. The issue contains a bunch of tracks which would throne the pop charts in an ideal world. Indeed, I like the kind of idealism which is presented in the artist's music. In fact, it is quite weird to experience such sort of a feeling as if you are foretold the future while you are listening to an issue from the past. The more you listen to it the more it opens up new angles and dimensions, at times one can feel it quite unfathomable. In a word, it is a mandatory listening for anyone who considers himself/herself to be a music fan. The issue is a part of the discography of Earth Monkey Productions.

Asher – Perpetuals (2015)

Conv

Piano music
Modern classical
Avant-garde
Minimalism
Ambient
Art music
Crossover

Comment: there is a little bit to talk about this 12-track issue because the basins of these compositions are the same – it is made up of the chords of a worn piano being wrapped up by tight hiss. Emotionally it chimes like the listener has stepped into a time travel ship, or listening to an example of vintage piano music on vinyl. Secondly, it is fairly sympathetic to listen to those gently floating chords, which might seem almost like the swimming ones. Today is the last day of a year and it is a chilled-out experience to listen to this flickering and smouldering piano music of veering away between ambient and modern classical. Its slightly formal imperfection changes this short-running issue into a perfect appearance because of avoiding to be a hermetic and lifeless product. The issue is a part of the discography of the Conv. By kindred souls I recommend listen to such artists as Lubomyr Melnyk, Nils Frahm, Bosque de mi Mente, Oskar Hallbert and Hauschka, for example.

Eli Las – A Planet Full Of Motels (2004)

Birdsong

Indie folk
Lo-fi
DIY
Singer-songwriter
Improvised music
Folk indie
New Weird Israel
Psychedelic
Alternative rock

Comment: I guess Eli Las' planet could be a nice place with good weather, intense sunshine and nice and naked women to meet with and populate the planet. As in the Bible it is said your duty is to multiply and to exist in masses. Eli Las' duty was to increase the discography of the Israeli imprint Birdsong. It is an interesting issue mirroring on the movement of the New Weird and DIY in the 00s. As much as my cerebral focus could remember for it was a very enthusiastic time with great hopes and an immense amount of solid music from artists' bedrooms. Then such great artists of a new generation as Animal Collective, and Ariel Pink started to appear through the underground music to build up a new narrative in the indie/alternative pop scene. By the way, the latter of them is Jewish. Eli Las sings in (new) Hebrew and in English and manipulates with different styles (including grunge, coldwave and shoegaze elements) and exploits more and less electr(on)ic instruments to create something psychedelically tickling and inferiorly abrasive. In a word, it is an enjoyable legacy for the passed time.

Eloi Brunelle – Psychotonic EP (2005)

Epsilonlab

House
Electro-house
Electro
Alternative dance
Club dance
Robot pop
Italo disco

Comment: that's cool that there are up some issues under Montrèal-based imprint Epsilonlab waiting to be listened in my mp3 player. One of them, Eloi Brunelle's 4-track outing is already here to be enjoyed and analyzed. If you are enjoying club dance in the vein of house and electro then the recent issue and the imprint are thought to you. It is fairly tickling to listen to these slightly nervous electro propulsions being dynamic and mind-blowing at the same time. Secondly, this is a plateau to cross poppy vibrations with robotic, technical dance. More profoundly, one can hear almost unremarkably slippy developments to come from one phase for to splice with the next one. Indeed, these are up magic moments to say us we are just human beings who are searching for a medium to connect one's inner space to God's power. For instance, listen to Perfect, the Italo disco killer. It is thoroughly transcendental due to the shamanic iteration on tinny bass rhythms. It involves transaction, it involves transmission, it involves love, it involves even more love. That's perfect. With regard to each case, with regard to it as a whole.

12/29/2016

Anitek -ShiHo (2016)

Free Music Archive

Jamendo

Bandcamp

Nu jazz
Chill out
Hip-hop
Mood music
Sampledelic
Breaks
Poptronica
Trip-hop
Electronic pop
Dub
Acid jazz

Comment: this is not the first appearance of Morristown, New Jersey, US-based artist Anitek at Recent Music Heroes. More profoundly, I have commented such issues as Sae Yeon, and Calm & Collect Vol. 1 though the artist has been truly prolific over the years. ShiHo is a massive delivery of 41 compositions where the artist demonstrates his ability to create for a listener's soul and body. Despite this tremendous load of tracks it makes you feel not tired and bored at all. It is an event on its own because Anitek can adeptly play with different genres being very close to such genres as jazz, hip-hop, chill out, and electronica. Electronica in that case does mean both club dance inflected rhythms and progressions in timbre and effects. In fact, Anitek showcases and develops and crosses subgenres of the aforementioned styles in a profound and crafty way. Ultimately it can be admitted the issue is worthy enough to be added to the rack of the best albums of 2016.

12/28/2016

Black Wanderer – 67P (2016)

earthMANTRA

Drone
Ambient
Avant-garde
Epic
Minimalism
Experimentalism
Ambient drone
Post-rock
Dark ambient

Comment: I have found for myself that there is up two directions in music which used to move me emotionally thoroughly. One of them is old (indie) music which frequently is associated with certain events and memories. The Smiths, My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, Kraftwerk, CAN. Indeed, back to an old house. On the other side, since I met with the music of Mark Nelson aka Pan American (Quiet City, 2004, Kranky), and early works of Tim Hecker I have been getting eargasmic experiences by such sort of music which might seem way too serious and solemn at the first sight. More profoundly, Black Wanderer is Daniil Kazantsev, an artist from Russia, previously being known to his other project _Algol_ and Stuzha. Undoubtedly it is one of the most impressive issues I have heard from the ending year. The first time I was listening to it was today's morning while I was walking down the frozen street surrounded by half-darkness and trees without the leaves. There were up some cars and human beings only to create a proper visual backdrop for Daniil's music. It was ghastly and exalting at the same time. One can imagine lonely chords of the bass guitar, and a Korg synth vamped up by the high-spirited space of surrounding it tightly. The way how an initial impulse get dissolved throughout the course carries on a mesmerising effect for your brain and soul. In spite of it, it is the sort of ambient music with muscles. It is partly dark ambient/dystopbient. Some tracks used to reach the longitude of more than 20 minutes yet these meandering courses seem to be much shorter. The issue is a part of the discography of Earth Mantra, headed up by another excellent musician Scott Lawlor. In a word, these four ones are spiritualised fantasies and descriptions of them thereafter per excellence.

12/27/2016

Joseph Young – In A Shetland Landscape (2016)

Green Field Recordings

Field recording
Musique concrète
Conceptual
Non-music
Avant-garde
Experimentalism

Comment: there exist different views on field recording. Some people say it's purpose is to conjure up exactly the same feeling one could get from a natural environment while listening to an issue. For me, it is not true because our perception of the nature could not consist of one perceptive kind only. Of course, the hearing simulation is important but not the only sort of. On the other side, such sort of albums are something very special which arouse the listener to go out from his/her stressful and inferior civilised environment and step into something to be genuine and pure and authentic. Indeed, we once came from it which deserves to be protected and unharmed. Our Earth is gifted to us with purpose that we could demonstrate our thankfulness, moderateness and wisdom. Do we deserve the name of God's animals or are we just jerks who are there to fuck up everything laying around us? In fact, there is no choice in a longer perspective. Thirdly, Joseph Young as a sonic documentalist's purpose is to seek and showcase consistency and harmony between the human being and nature, to reflect on the living of a certain rural area being traditional and modern through permanent changes within a community. The fourth point is something very specific, to depict and record some sounds in the way that they could chime as (minimal) music (at Barbara's Music). There is up music, it is set up in rhythm, it is the author's presence a little bit more than just as a sound designer. Furthermore, in general, he as an artist takes all these authentic pieces to manipulate with them, to serialise and align them in different sequences. It is a sense of such a sort of work. Let's think of all of that while listening to this 14-track issue which reflects upon the ennobling beauty. The issue is a bit of the discography of Green Field Recordings.

Art Sonic – Roadside Sketches (2012)

Acustronica

Jamendo

No-Source

Bandcamp

Folktronica
Folk indie
Americana
Alt-folk
Indie folk
Ambient
Art folk
Musique concrète
Tex-Mex

Comment: this 13-notch issue is created by a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, Richard Lisaj whose music sounds like a palette of sketches recorded by driving across highways in southern part of the USA. Indeed, it was recorded while he was travelling from Canada to the US states (Utah, Colorado, New Mexico). By listening to it one can discern Tex-Mex details within it. Musically it is based on pastel guitar jangling, some harmonica whiffs and exquisite electronic progressions and roundabouts which together are grandiloquent and rustic at the same time. Frequently these moods are imbued with the chirping of birds and some other concrete sounds, at times it might even remind of some tracks of David Bowie's albums from his Berlin period (for instance, at Garden of the Gods). However, the music is Americana and it is very welcome to meet it with unexpected dodges within the mix. In a word, it is a fabulous listening experience being released under Acustronica, Bandcamp, and Jamendo.

Aunt Sis – BG082/9 Tracks (2014)

Bleeding Gold

Americana
Indie rock
Art rock
Alternative rock
Krautrock
Noise rock
Experimental pop
Lo-fi
Drone pop
Electronic

Comment: Aunt Sis is a collective from Asheville, USA and their music can be categorised as Americana on its very core. On the other hand, the collective provides many dodges and twists throughout the 9-notch outing being released on Bleeding Gold. I would like to say Aunt Sis does have a similar relationship to Americana as Wilco used to have been having. Maybe it would be more righteous to admit Americana is just the most suitable term to generalise Justin Morris and his companies` songs. From thoughtful lo-fi guitar twangs to expansive and majestic (indie) pop mannerism, from emotional singing and sensual chants to the explosive temper of chemical hippies. The combo surprises at Dr. Dahl which is a bow to Neu! through Stereolab and The High Llamas. In any cases, it is fairly freeing for a listener to drift between the aforementioned shifts. Dortch is the final piece of the issue where a modern version of Krautrock meets doo wop and acidic harmonica chords. It is truly elegant to finish off an album in such a way.

12/26/2016

V.A – Codex Internum (2016)

Breathe Compilations

Archive.org

Dub techno
Space music
Deep techno
Minimal techno
Post-industrial
Experimentalism
Avant-garde
Ambient
Synthwave
Electronic music
Soundscape
Kosmische Musik
Post-classical
Dreamwave
Electro pop
Techno pop
House
Minimalism
IDM

Comment: this enormous set of 19 compositions reflects on good taste by Breathe Compilations. Musically it is a fancy patchwork of styles – in the first section one can enjoy more ambient drenched distensions and dilatations, then it will be changing into a dub and house and techno blended miscellany and artsy electro/techno/IDM inflected pop and then post-industrial and avant-garde elements come in to predominate the mix. Of course, the description of mine is somewhat contingent because frequently there are up different elements within one track and within one pigeonhole. That's cool that the picture of it being so varicoloured and diverse. For example, ambient music could be expressed both in terms of changeable synthwave/Kosmische Musik and beatific concrete music and abstract classical music/post-classical and through majestic soundtracks for space rockets and sun-exhausted daydreaming. One of such descriptions can be ascribed to Marco Lucchi and Glenn Sogge's Towards And Within which reaches a 24-minute though it is thoroughly blissful and immersive in its minimal approach from start to finish. Those minimal changes do ameliorate the consistency of the track. Additionally to the aforementioned artists there are represented such artists as Zoran, In Vitro, Elypixa, Esoteric Sob, Capisconne, Ray Garrido, Ohuican, Eckul, Vate, Substak, Solef, Twin Peetz and Moolsaasa, Lezet, Jimmy Watt, Nulix, Lingua Lustra, Ivan Black, and AxBx. Indeed, it is an excellent example of the compilation music from 2016.

Jackpoote – Jackpoote LP (2008)

Improvised music
Avant-garde
Psychedelic music
Lo-fi
DIY
Experimentalism
Freeformfreakout

Comment: I guess it had happened approximately 6-7 years ago when I was listening to Xarope's sound quite frequently. Later on, the artist would be lost on my radar unfortunately. It is even more surprising because the artist's free range aesthetic and artsy approach is fairly appealing. For example, listen to this 13-notch of psychedelic music, melodica based improvisations, uncanny and rough chants which are studded with some concrete music slots and frantic drumming here and there to afford you an entry into a purgatorial DIY world. Recently the most of pop music is lead by totally controlled beats of digital kind and vocoder-drenched vocals so I do not have any idea is the result of this sort of music actually good or a little inferior on its own. At least it is obviously common and mostly derivative and unoriginal. So yeah, listen to Xarope's music as a counterpoint to it. It redeems you for sure. It is something being produced by a forest Jesus. By listening to the first composition Ethanol it is something truly stoned and jackass, it broadens one's perception and diminishes his/her burden of stress. It is absolutely free and freeing through his shouts and shrieking. He is accompanied by 11 musicians and a bunch of more and less conventional instruments (horns, flutes, didgeridoos, darbuka, djambe, low fi untuned crappy sounding viola, double bass, tuba). In a nutshell, take care of you through this issue (a part of the discography XS Records).

12/21/2016

Monster Jinx – Payday Vol.01 (2016)

Monster Jinx

Downtempo
Hip-hop
Urban music
Alternative dance
Rnb
Mood music
Chilltronica
Yacht pop
Electronic pop
Sampledelic

Comment: Monster Jinx is a Portuguese imprint which has been releasing music since 2009. The current one embraces 10 compositions which could loosely be categorised as urban music – from softened hip-hop and moody electro vibes to synthesised yacht pop and chemical rnb and restrained downtempo and careless sampledelic chugging. However, there are up more poignant and incisive and more tense moments as well which used to counterbalance the compilation's caressing nature. In a word, this is a crosscut of the imprint. It's sure anybody can find out something intriguing and relaxing for himself/herself. The more you listen to it the more it expands and the more it gets better. There are up such artists as Stray, J-K, Pulso, Taseh, OSEB, DarkSunn, Ghost Wavvves, NO FUTURE, pretochines, and dgtldrmr. Get it!

Moses Luster and the Hollywood Lights – The Hangman`s Door (2015)

Bandcamp

Americana
Goth pop
Art rock
Alternative rock
Indie rock

Comment: the Hollywood, California, US-based artist Moses Luster continues to create something stunning both lyrically and musically on his third issue. Of course, he is well-known due to his powerful baritone singing though it always has been adeptly supported by a solid musical accompaniment of murky and bombastic orchestrations, roots and Americana music, sublime electronic breezes and organ-based drones. At Dirt his voice is accompanied by a seductive female vox. It is arousing. Thematically he continues to roll along the themes of the previous two albums, more profoundly, about drunks, losers, love, trouble and death. And hopefully Bob Dylan will have not sell cars during Super Bowl anymore after getting the Nobel Prize (Sold Out). In a word, it is a great album by any standards. Fuck you/but I am not fuckable (The Distance From Me To You).

12/18/2016

Bouwakanja – Incantation (2016)

Pavillion36 Recordings

Free Music Archive

Dub
Electronic music
Experimental electronica
Electro
Breakcore
Alternative dance
Wonky
Ambient techno
Hip-hop
Urban music

Comment: in the first track there are up occult, wonky Jamaican dub rhythms which later will be complemented by more Western elements though it is still disputable by its nature. However, it is a bit of voodoo/witch man stuff anyway where the witches prepare their audio systems in the way to have an addictive impact on the listener. It involves many different vibes and cadences and thereby this 15-notch outing can be considered the sort of breakcore issue. More profoundly, from dub and electro to post-dubstep and skidding synthesised frequencies and uncanny electronic propulsions to noisy interludes and undulating wonky vibrations. At Rhino one can experience being sustained by a deep/ambient plateau being backed up by crunching, needle-shaped rhythms. That's very epic and dynamical and narcotic simultaneously. It is followed up by Potemkin, the spacey electro hip-hop per excellence. Indeed, the listener undergoes many metamorphoses though some of them are microscopic ones and used to succeed in a logical order to one another. So yeah, there are represented both change and homogeneity/consistency. The issue is a part of the discography of Pavillion36 Recordings. It is the French artist under the French imprint. In a word, it is a solid French case.

Nick Yulman – Warsaw Machines & Songs (2012)

Bandcamp

Indie folk
Alt-folk
Singer-songwriter
Art pop
Electronic
Folk indie
Avant-pop
Post-pop
Music Hall
Vaudeville music
Americana

Comment: I can remember for an excellent album, Twitches issued by Nick Yulman aka Bone Conductors in 2008 being one notch in the compartment of Outstanding Music at Recent Music Heroes. That's was great. That's was great to listen to this new sort of American Dream in sounds. In fact, Warsaw Machines & Songs used to continue in a similar manner though the accents are slightly different throughout these compositions. You can hear a contemporary music hall and vaudeville music metamorphosis within it. It is especially staggering at Things Are Other Things. It is so. It is so.... . It is so damned beatific and beautiful. Similarly as Sufjan Stevens used to do. Ten for Ten is an abstract clockwork composition yet arousing some warm sensations inside you. It is artsy and affectionate at the same time where a field recording and goofy laughing chord are set up to loop and then they are traded for a gentle machine-like flicker to interplay with hazy guitar chords. True craftsmanship. The same could be said about Island Is Gone. It is a top tier in the contemporary Americana. The point of it is not related to these formal elements only it is also about the relationship between them. At Head Strings Yulman sings in the silent zone we stand alone and spend the afternoon on their own. Usually it might be a quite simple phrase but how it is ached for it makes blatantly sense. Bloody loneliness yet which is highly needed to conjure up great aesthetics. That's organic synergy and because of that it is so appealing either. Killer in a soft way.

The Gifted Children – Autumn Ghosts (2010)

The Gifted Children

Indie rock
Alternative rock
Jangle pop

Comment: this handful of compositions is a very short case by an American group who has issued enough beautiful indie/alternative pop issues since the previous decade. Indeed, it can be considered as such one though because of short span of it this chimes like one track only. Jangly guitars are accompanied by beatific synthesised progressions and wondrous orchestrations and compelling piano taps and cozy male vocals thereby ultimately reminding of the Christmas coming soon. Indeed, it is ennobling and solemn. At the moment it is the Advent to still go further for one week. So cast off autumnal ghosts from yourself and be ready for the beginning of the winter on the 22nd of December. In a word, it is very pro by any means.

12/15/2016

[Teaser of the day] Our Subatomic Earth - Sublimity

Post-metal
Screamo
Ambient rock
Crossover
Experimental metal
Post-hardcore

Artist: Our Subatomic Earth

Release: Aesthetics

Label: Self-released/Bandcamp

Year: 2010

[Teaser of the day] Chenard Walcker - Polpetta

Free Sample Zone

Plunderphonics
Sound collage
Afrobeat
Avant-pop
Funk
Afrofuturism
Sampledelic
Alternative dance
Psychedelic
Afrofunk
World music

Artist: Chenard Walcker

Release: Echolalie

Label: Free Sample Zone

Year: 2004

The Bourgeois – The Bourgeois (2015)

Jamendo

Punk rock
Indie rock
Alternative rock
Garage rock
Noise rock
Ska

Comment: this handful of tracks is a strong appearance of energy of blues and rock and roll heritage which in turn is converted into a contemporary garage and alternative rock slam. The name of the musical group used to ironically refer to our our every day's life I suppose. I reminds me of McCarthy's ditty We Are All Bourgeois Now which was covered by Manic Street Preachers, the faux-communist/leftfield group a kind of whom Joseph Stalin called for useful idiots. Of course, the punks are cool but untrustworthy by their nature who used to demonstrate their stubbornness in principles yet who are ready to betray their principles for money or a bottle of alcohol. And the effect and scope of their aesthetic is way too flimsy to could have had a long-running intriguing impact. On the other side, for instance, the stances of the post-punks are more sustainable and intriguing because of having the impulse of changeability within it thereby reflecting upon the life in a more trustworthy way. Of course, the energy of punk rock within other styles is frequently something really enjoyable and staggering. For instance, the US-based duo The Bourgeois (Zach Mobley, and Ty Clark) dissolves it in different directions from Sonic Youth-esque psyched-up noise rock (Be Your Own Machine) to skidding ska numbers (Electric Shock Value). It is really pleasant to follow the singer's timbral formations from one tone to another, from mind-blowing madness to more sedative moments. For example, at Perverting The American Dream one can hear him singing almost in Tim Burgess-like style and tonality at the beginning but later it will be fleshed out due to more powerful appearance with variegated shades within it. All in all, get it and will be the dog of it.

12/14/2016

[Teaser of the day] Juanjo Palacios - Pantalàn

Audiotalaia

Dark ambient
Soundscape
Neoclassical
Avant-garde
Musique concrète
Post-classical
Sound art
Experimentalism
Field recording

Artist: Juanjo Palacios

Release: Portuario

Label: Audiotalaia

Year: 2011

[Teaser of the day] Slutever - So Prone

Punk rock
Riot Grrrl
Fuzz rock
Alternative rock
Indie rock
Shitgaze
Garage rock

Artist: Slutever

Release: Pretend To Be Nice

Label: Self-released/Bandcamp

Year: 2011

The Star Pillow vs Tacet Tacet Tacet – Concurrence (2016)

Laverna

Ambient
Space rock
Doom rock
Avant-rock
Improvised music
Trance rock
Experimental rock
Avant-garde
Ambient rock
Krautrock

Comment: in truth, the talented musicians need no rehearsal time to cake a delicious food. There is up such a case where three musicians met each other for the first time and decided to improvise a set at the studio. More profoundly, Paolo Monti (The Star Pillow), Francesco Zedde (Tacet Tacet Tacet), and Angelo Rondine (The Swan) provide a set of three compositions which is saturated with clouded synthesisers, murky guitars and stomping yet infrequent drums to drift somewhere between doom-laden rock, krautrock, and ambient (rock). At times it is just a state of mind as if the soundscape used to stand still and hover at one point. Indeed, it is a blissful daydreaming on its own. In general, these magic moments used to move in and out or just changing places with more moving progressions. The listener can discern aesthetically evoked tensions within the trio`s soundscape of being both aesthetical/mental and physical kind. It is also a battle field for an impulsive power and the inertia. By kindred souls there can be drawn parallels upon the likes of Slowdive`s Pygmalion, Labradford, Silber Records-related artists, Flying Saucer Attack, Saito Koji, Glenn Branca, for instance. It is one of the issues in 2016 and being a part of the roster of Laverna.

12/13/2016

[Teaser of the day] Monster Rally - Moondog

Exotica pop
Alternative
Breaks
Cinematic
Mood music
Post-pop
Electronic music
Hip-hop
Chilltronica
Sampledelic

Artist: Monster Rally

Release: Mystery Cove LP

Label: Self-released/Bandcamp

Year: 2016

[Teaser of the day] Airless Project - The Ghosts In Your Mind Are Not Afraid (Of You)

Avant-rock
Experimental rock
Electronic
Krautrock
Space rock
Noise rock

Artist: Airless Project

Release: Drowning In Mist

Label: Self-released/Bandcamp

Year: 2013

Decktonic – Unbox Me (2016)

Bandcamp

Electronic pop
Alternative pop
Poptronica
Alternative dance
Electro pop
Acid electro
Synth pop

Comment: New Yorker, US-native Christian Montoya is a tough guy with regard to his previous doings within the electronic and dance pop world. Although he has not reached to be known worldwide the quality of his music deserves it already. For instance, listen to his pseudonymous Miami Slice's Brooklyn 2 Brooklyn (2014, Hairdu), and Disco Cuts EP (2013, self-released/Soundcloud). The recent 5-track issue is an amalgamation of acidic electro pop propulsions, blinking synthesised pop gears and light-hearted electronica and danceable vibrations. Maybe it is not obviously visible but the aforementioned elements are profoundly imbued with club dance (house, techno) elements. You can catch a glimpse of it but there are not represented any of these elements in the pure stylistic way. Start Up is retrodelic by its nature because of reminding of Pet Shop Boys due to those bombastic hooks and majestic blasts therefore inducing charm and an inner chugging to the composition. Montoya exploits female vocals which is an always functional way to such sort of music. The favourite of mine is Out Of Space where the light yet mind-blowing rhythm is accompanied by spacious synthesised hovers and flickers. In fact, the same could be said about the subsequent (and final) piece as well. At times he is helped with vocals by Daniel Davis, and someone denoted as kitty. And that's enough for to constitute something very stunning. In a nutshell, the result is a top gear.

12/12/2016

[Teaser of the day] 2muchachos - Fruity Journey

Chillwave
Dreamwave
Hypnagogic pop
Indie pop
Glo-fi
Dream pop
Alternative

Artist: 2muchachos

Release: Summer Vacation EP

Label: Self-released/Bandcamp

Year: 2010

[Teaser of the day] H Stewart - Dear Empty Ears

Clinical Archives

Avant-garde
Experimentalism
Sound poetry
Experimental electronica
Sound art
Electronic music
Noise music
Leftfield

Artist: H Stewart

Release: De La Souffrance

Label: Clinical Archives

Year: 2007

Chravis Phranklin – Loosened Cheap (2016)

Bandcamp

Synth-rock
Electro-rock
Alternative rock
Indie rock
Post-punk
Crossover
Dance rock
Screamo
Post-hardcore
Alternative dance
Indie dance

Comment: I like this bunch of 7 compositions by a US-based artist, called Chravis Phranklin. By the way, this is not a first appearance by Travis Franklin at RMH but under this nom de plume it is the first appearance here indeed. Although those earlier appearances (as a part of YALL, and gummy) were also good enough to be praised this album hits you at a greater extent with catchy hooks, resigned and scarred vocals and noisy feedbacks where an electro (and even chiptune-ish flickers), grunge, post-hardcore, screamo and post-punk blended cast is set up to catch a bigger fish into the net. His ability to set out great songs is obviously showcased here. For example, listen to Drumset, a stunningly hedonistic indie dance/pop song with post-punkish roots. It is like a tiny wave which used to progress rapidly into an overwhelming avalanche of involving many disparate elements to fling them to the shore with one intention within it, though. What's next? I guess the artist is going to elaborate the recent concept though at Error the first chords may foretell his further plans to abandon a rock-based template and enter into the dance and electronic music scene like many post-punk musicians did once or more recently Kevin Parker of Tame Impala did it (Tame Impala's Currents is a stunning bastard from the previous year though at first I did not get into it). At least he seems to be talented in this regard as well. All in all, the result is fairly good and deserves a notch in the list of the best albums of the year of 2016 at RMH.

12/11/2016

[Teaser of the day] Blues For Spacegirl - Glacier Spins

Jamendo

Ambient
Kosmische Musik
Alternative
Soundscape
Epic
Crossover
Electronic music
Post-rock

Artist: Blues For Spacegirl

Release: Alice Springs

Label: Jamendo

Year: 2009

[Teaser of the day] Amitron_7 - Atonal Blues and the Brain Factory

Free Music Archive

Electronic music
Sampledelic
Art pop
Chilltronica
Spoken word
Indietronica
Ambient pop
Post-pop
Mood music
Alternative
Experimental pop

Artist: Amitron_7

Release: Come Ye Sinners to the Gospel Feast

Label: Enoughrecords/Jamendo/Archive.org

Year: 2014

Scott Lawlor – Experiments In Isolation One (2016)

CerebralRift

Minimalism
Avant-garde
Non-music
Soundscape
Experimentalism
Drone
Conceptual
Abstract
Microtonal
Experimental electronica

Comment: first of all, during the first minutes of listening to this 78-minute long issue by Texas-based artist I had to take into account noise of the TV coming from a neighbouring room. Because of that I put on earphones to dive into a delicate universe of Scott Lawlor. Furthermore, it was quite surprising to discover that the US-based artist's concept resonated with the behaviour of mine. Given that his idea is to dig into the realm of sensory deprivation (aka perceptual isolation) and because of that being the area of study in psychology. Indeed, I am here to be as a guinea pig for this awe-inspiring soundscape. It can be admitted it is more a physical rather than a psychological and mental experience. At least at first glance I think. For sure, its psychological effect comes in a bit later because the effect of this droning lobotomy is something refreshing and detersive. Maybe it is comparable with the effect of antidepressants making a person feel himself/herself dull and torpid. Moreover, such an effect makes me unable to perceive the nuances of the recent soundscape – is it running at one pace only or does the artist provide some microscopic changes and phase shifts within it? I do not know. Additionally, there is a little to talk about in aesthetic terms altogether. Because the intention of these 78 minutes is something different. Let's continue in psychological terms – let's guess I am perceiving some odds and ends within it but could I be sure I have right at all? It might be my consciousness has already started to play tricks. However, at a 54-minute I am sure I heard/discerned a new layer to be added to the blend. All in all, it is better to follow the artist's initial idea and lost himself/herself under this sly and overwhelming avalanche. In truth, it did have healing effect upon me (I have had a shitty mood today). The outing is the first part of the trilogy of releases and a bit of the discography of CerebralAudio/CerebralRift.

12/10/2016

[Teaser of the day] Lambchop - Directions to the Can (live at Hopscotch 2016)

Nyctaper

Electronic pop
Alternative pop
Autotune
Art pop
Lounge pop
Live session
Soul
Mood music
Indietronica

Artist: Lambchop

Release: September 8, 2016 Hopscotch Music Festival (Raleigh, NC)

Label: Nyctaper

Year: 2016

[Teaser of the day] Faust - Jennifer

Free Music Archive

Krautrock
Experimental rock
Art rock
Live session
Psychedelic
Alternative rock
Avant-rock
Noise rock
Proto-indie

Artist: Faust

Release: Live at WFMU Fest, Oct 1 2009

Label: WFMU/Free Music Archive

Year: 2009

The Fucked Up Beat – Researches Ghostwaves and the Midnight Mysteries of Rhode Island (2016)

Bandcamp

Free Music Archive

Avant-garde
Sampledelic
Plunderphonics
Experimentalism
Leftfield
Breaks
Latin music
Electronic music
Hauntology
Mood music
Trip-hop
Downtempo
Psychedelic

Comment: it is always great pleasure to meet with Brett Zehner and Eddie Palmer's new works and it is permitted at least twice a year. Musically their task has been to reflect upon some conspiracy theories mostly related to extraterrestrial beings and unknown flying objects. And aesthetically it could be described – always different always the same. Mammoth (a 48-minute monolith), one of the duo's albums released in 2016 was named very "indifferently" in comparison to the New York-based duo's previous works and also musically it involved new tendencies and patterns additionally to the already known ones (haunting cadences, buried speech transmissions, Latin music coloured timbres in an old-fashioned way, intriguing sample snippets). More profoundly, low and austere bass rhythms used to move on in an unstable yet elegant way therefore showcasing more experimental and minimal approach in comparison to their previous works. The recent 10-track outing seems to run more in a previous vein because of consisting of the samples of desperate accusations due to the government of hiding an information, for instance. These fabulous speech samples are accompanied by sharply soul-scratching, highly longing Latin oldies and loosely throbbing rhythms, and gleaming electronic ghosts. Additionally, one can hear tanpura drones, brass outbursts and manually played drums. The soundscape of the issue is highly dynamic, ghastly volatile and at the same time providing many parallel lines and notches. There are even represented some moments which come quite nearby to danceable music (at The Rouge Terror of Narragansett Bay/ Parks At Night Are Always Dangerous). Indeed, the song titles of the project deserve to be focused on additionally. In a word, I could not resist to the appeal of The Fucked Up Beat. Why should I do it at all? Let's go tripping back to the past because the right answer is this release is time machine. Every wave is new until it breaks even if it has been ancient and dust-eaten before (paraphrasing Neil Young – Rap id Tran sit). Similarly to Mammoth it is an excellent issue from the year of 2016. The more you listen to it the more you are getting lost within, the more you are getting out of here. By the way, recently they issued a brand new one, called Records Vanishing Crop Circles and Occult Rituals in the Future Age of Paranoia.

Andrea – Bedtime Stories EP (2012)

Bad Panda

Archive.org

Free Music Archive

Bandcamp

Soundcloud

Design pop
Electronic pop
Remixes
Alternative pop
Post-dubstep
Poptronica
Synthwave

Comment: Paris, France-based artist Andrea`s (or AndreaLo) 7-track issue involves 2 original compositions and 5 remixes of a track, Work the Middle. With regard to the song titles and some voluptuous sighs within it this does have implicit suggestions at oral sex (Work the Middle, Going Down) and I guess the remixes depict a stage when a human being is inflected with a human papilloma virus and prone to different types of head and neck cancer. If to let that black humour aside I have to admit I like it. The album I mean, of course. I enjoy it though I am quite suspicious about the so-called design pop (which often embraces post-dubstep vibes within it) being very predominant today. You know one could produce it in his/her cellphone very easily and mostly is excessively polished and artificial. At times it lacks soul and spirit. Fortunately this case is mostly spirited and enjoyable to live up to one`s expectations. One is sure Andrea is indifferent toward post-dubstep neither substantially nor formally (at Bandcamp you can find out his version of James Blake`s I Never Learnt To Share). Work the Middle is remixed by such artists/producers as Kodak To Graph, Kyson, Real, Grobbie, and Splinter. The issue is a bit in the discography of Bad Panda.

12/09/2016

[Teaser of the day] DRGS - Arz

Hippocamp

Mood music
Poptronica
Lo-fi
Sampledelic
Electronic pop
DIY

Artist: DRGS

Release: A Load Of Old Drugs

Label: Hippocamp

Year: -

[Teaser of the day] Stealing Orchestra - The Darkside Of A Travesti

Free Music Archive

Electronic music
Brass pop
Alternative
Sound collage
Sampledelic
Big band
Art music

Artist: Stealing Orchestra

Release: The Incredible Shrinking Band

Label: You Are Not Stealing/Free Music Archive

Year: 2003/2012

12/08/2016

[Teaser of the day] Cherushii - Rudy`s Party

House
Club dance
Electronic music
Alternative dance

Artist: Cherushii

Release: Manic EP

Label: Self-released/Bandcamp

Year: 2016

[Teaser of the day] Wave Temples - Visual Dream Guide to Telepathic Time Travel

Alternative
Electronic music
Avant-garde
Dreamwave
Synthwave

Artist: Wave Temples

Release: Spring Ritual

Label: Self-released/Bandcamp

Year: 2015

Roswell Conspiracy – Les Fragments Anodins (2007)

Abyssa

Electronic music
Kosmische Musik
Synthwave
Alternative
Space music
Ambient
Post-rock
Indietronica
Krautrock

Comment: this 8-track issue was released 9 years ago but its actuality could be even a bit more brought forth today than many years ago. Recently artists within the indie/alternative music exploit electronic devices as a main instrument to express their aesthetic and artistic ambitions. I am quite sure that soon such a sort of ambient music as represented here will be tagged as indie. However, it should not be surprising at all because history used to repeat itself. Its spiral curve was presented many decades ago with the appearance of krautrock with regard to its inner logic of development, from guitars to be left for synthesizers and for poignant electronic manipulation until it would have changed for a new beginning with other accents. It is partly movement, it is partly the consolidation of an old tradition, and the rejection of it. And sometime this pattern gets forgotten while the repetition is again thinkable. Throughout these 8 pieces one can follow these air and elemental part laden layers full of ennobling emotions and lofty sensations. In fact, its sophisticated technical side does not burn out emotions within it because it is artistically finely balanced. This awesome outing is a bit of the discography of Abyssa.

[Teaser of the day] Motionfield - Falling In Stillness

Autoplate

Synthwave
Kosmische Musik
Soundscapes
Ambient
Electronic music

Artist: Motionfield

Release: Music for Pictures

Label: Autoplate

Year: 2005

[Teaser of the day] The Fig Mints (Of Your Imagination) - Get Out, Stay Out

Psych-rock
Garage rock
Trance rock
Indie rock
Alternative rock

Artist: The Fig Mints (Of Your Imagination)

Release: Bad Choice Brigade

Label: Self-released/Bandcamp

Year: 2005

12/07/2016

Vernon LeNoir – Balkan Spezialitaeten (2006)

WM Recordings

Sampledelic
Electronic music
World music
Alternative
Conceptual
Plunderphonics
Sound collage
Avant-garde

Comment: these 20 minutes are as diversified and manifold as the chart of the Balkan peninsula used to be in front of our eyes at the globe. Indeed, in English the word "balkanization" refers to something hostile and excessively divided. In the context of this issue the meaning of the word would be exploited positively. It is based on samples being either adjusted with each other or superimposed upon. Musically it contains mainly the vivid rhythms of Gypsy music though one can hear Slavic languages and hints at them either. Indeed, the outing is not arbitrarily lopsided. There are also represented spoken word snippets in English and...ABBA additionally. Those light-hearted upper layers and predominant motifs are backed up by thudding basses beneath. In a nutshell, the artist gets right to create a carnival-alike milieu throughout the course. By kindred souls it reminds me of a little bit Russian projects Messer Chups, and Messer Für Frau Müller by its exuberant madness. By artistic side the inspiration for LeNoir were the poetry of Igor Dithyrambescu and the surreal interpretations of Tizian paintings by Anushka Hamedalidbegovic. The issue is a part of the discography of WM Recordings.

[Teaser of the day] Bockholt - The District

Jamendo

Chilltronica
Electronic pop
Electro pop
Alternative
Mood music
Synth pop

Artist: Bockholt

Release: 2009

Label: Jamendo

Year: 2009

[Teaser of the day] Weldroid - Shanghai Madmen

Tracker music
Chiptune
Alternative
Electro pop
8-bit
Alternative dance
Electronic music

Artist: Weldroid

Release: Silicate Garden

Label: Self-released/Bandcamp

Year: 2014

12/06/2016

Elvis Bordello – Harmony Beijing (2014)

King Of The Glitch

Electro-indie
Leftfield
Alternative
Electronic
Experimental pop
Krautrock
Leftfield
Indie
Drone pop

Comment: this bunch of 10 tracks is somehow oppressive and relieving at the same time. Mostly it consists of rigid electro(nica) and austere drones, almost industrial music-alike sonic elements providing somehow dance-appealed seeds within it. The point, however, is it is not a sort of danceable music for the human being. It rather describes robots to shake their clanging hands and rattling fingers in the rhythm of these vibrations. On the other side, these spasmodic and awkward robots seem to have acquired some human characteristics to be gentle and kind in their own terms. It is a remarkable characteristic throughout the album. It can be concluded that the humanism is allowed to exist without the human beings themselves on this occasion. The more you listen to it the more it is getting softened stepwise the more it will absorb and deny its hirsute nature. It is like living under such a star which used to bomb its subjects with tickling electromagnetic flows and arousing particles. All in all, it is the outstanding result of a mind-blowing idea. The artist is promoting his 11 albums through his own blog (King Of The Glitch) of whom Harmony Beijing is the latest one. Undoubtedly we are going to arrive at it sometime.

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Melomans