1/15/2012
Exihibition Poland and the Helmut Orchestra - Like All The Leaders (2011)
Paragrafo
9.1
9.1
/Avant-garde, Martial industrial, Spoken word, Experimentalism, Dark ambient, Illbient, Neoclassical, Chamber music, Ambient drone, Musique concrète/
Comment: as so characteristic instance due to the aesthetical platform of the Italy-based Paragrafo Records, this issue comprises deliberately vanguard-ish progressions made up of the snippets of spoken word (more concretely, Parts of Speech), martial industrial-relied brooding epicness, glooming but dirty ambient droning, chamber-soaked or even jazz-esque bits and minutiae, however, all these tendencies are infiltrated with naturalistic shades and dust. Indeed, despite of many elements within it the issue is solidly produced, having neither shortfalls nor deficiences.
B.R.O - Etudes EP (2008)
B.R.O
9.5
9.5
/Nu jazz, Free jazz, Acid jazz, Cool jazz, Crossover, Experimental, Improvised music/
Comment: B.R.O is a Polish musical group which appeared to the world in 2008 by releasing Etudes, their 6-track debut issue. More detailly, by any means, the release is highly intriguing because of blending old and modern, burbly and soothing - traditional jazz standards/the whiffs of Miles-esque trumpet are enlaced with acid jazz-indueced programmed beats and noise-inflected glimpses in between. The enterprise will be ended up with an exertion based on the ridges of afrobeat/funk - once again, it is obviously the best solution for finishing the issue. All in all, the album is astonishing at any angles. It enters top 10 regarding the favourite jazz albums of mine.
1/14/2012
Younnat - Duct (2007)
/Poptronica, Easy Listening, Electronic pop, Retrodelica, Organic electronica, Lounge pop, Alternative, Chill out, Electro-indie/
Comment: if you are intended to search for poignant kind of loung/easy listening then Oleg Serdyuk aka Younnat`s music is one of the most reliable candidates for it. Duct was Serdyuk`s debut release (before he was known as the keyboard player in the line-up of Lюk (or Lyuk) from Kharkiv, Ukraine) issued both on Bump Foot, and Planear Records. More profoundly, you can enjoy enormously catchy surfing on retrodelic harmonies and frequent rotation of motives which at times resemble another slavic group, Messer Für Frau Müller, though, Younnat used to be unprovided with black humor. Anyway, the concluding track Djedai Arkadyi seems to exploit Los Kjarkas`s Llorando se fue (which was popularized by a cover of Kaoma, called Lambada).
The Gifted Children - Montgomery Blue Ash (2011)
Comment: The Gifted Children, a Buffalo/Rochester-rooted project. combines literate art rock, profound soft pop and catchy dance vibes and grooves on a 4-track EP. Recently there was reviewed a TGC`s Christmas compilation at RMH which was truly compelling and ethralling, however, displaying the band`s ability to manipulate with an vast array of different genres and enormous conciseness. Though, it is not surprising for an ensemble at all who has issued 5 long players and approximately 15 EPs during a period of 16 years. They need much more to be sung.
Pretty Ugly - Wine Cellar Elephants (2011)
9.2
/Experimental electronica, Indietronica, Experimental indie, Alternative, Leftfield/
Comment: Pretty Ugly is a project from Calgary, Alberta, Canada who offers up a pair of tracks. The self-titled opening is to have showed up clumsy beats tightly enlaced with the undercurrents (or is it above it?) of skipping electronica. The darling of mine is another notch, called Enrutcon, which observes a type of dashing indie music through broken electro glasses. The extraordinary element from within it are undulating radiowaves fluttering incessantly back and forth. Suggestive and eminent undoubtedly.
1/13/2012
Telafonica - Morpheme EP (2006)
/Electro-indie, Leftfield, Alternative, Indietronica, Experimental indie/
Comment: behind Sydney, Australia-based Telafonica are Adrian Elmer, David Hughes, and Marcella Hughes. (Adrian Elmer, for instance, is at the moment more known as a prolific reviewer at Cyclic Defrost, one of the coolest webzines all around the world). However, 6 years ago Telafonica functioned as a combo mixing up bouncy yet mesmerizing electro beats with slowly evolving indie scaffolds which are infiltrated with somewhat sound, hirsuit layers. After many laps on it you can admit all these 5 tracks are on the ball. A classic (whose longer version is available at Bandcamp).
Crimewaves - Eighteenth (2010)
Bandcamp
8.8
8.8
/Chillwave, Glo-fi, Dreamwave, Alternative, Post-pop, Poptronica, Electronic pop/
Comment: at first, it is said that Crimewaves is the result of a mixture of boredom, musical desire, and an obsession with sonic textures. Indeed, it may be that the most optimal place to enjoy the Las Vegas-based project would be siiting in armchair. Such a lazy yet blissed-out soundscape outreaches the boundaries of styles and genres, running across the fields of dreams and fiction. More detailly, these 6 notches are made up of the exploitation of reverie-soaked guitars, beatific keyboards, and some clicking in-between waking up and bringing the listener back to the real world.
Yeyo Moroder - Yeyo Moroder (2006)
Umor Rex
9.4
9.4
/Krautrock, Lo-fi, Psychedelia, Crossover, Avant-rock, Experimental indie, Experimental rock, Psych-folk/
Comment: The Mexican Gerardo Monsivais aka Yeyo Moroder`s 9-piece album is about how motorik can be twined with lo-fi-tinged folk and indie music in excellent way. More profoundly, all these offbeat repetitions, chopped-up effects, noisy yet spatial feedbacks are set up in a way to create a lopsided whirlpool involving the legacy of the likes of CAN, and Faust (though, the traces of the latter may be perceived even more). Furthermore, the listener can be a part of the fingerpicking of American Primitivism and shoegaze music. All in all, the result is excellent. The issue was released in 2006 on Umor Rex, an Mexican imprint.
1/12/2012
Babungus - Knuckle Chunder (2011)
/Breakcore, Downtempo, Nu jazz, Drill and bass, Sampledelic, Crossover, Sound collage/
Comment: Babungus is a hard-bitten producer who already started off in the mid of 90`s. His latest issue is about 18 notches which, by any means, offer a smorgasbord of intense paces and moods and currents. More profoundly, more or less rigid beats (jungle, downtempo, breakbeat, big beat) are tightly intertwined with bubbling electronica, smoky nu jazz-esque vibes, and sublime atmospherical layers above it. Now and then it reminds more of a case brought out from the sound collage/plunderphonics scene or is an instance of drill and bass music. In a word, a dizzy merry-go-round is set up here.
Assault Squad Safety Scissors - Tapes Have A Way of Holding Things Together (2008)
/Indie, Singer-songwriter, Indie folk, Folk indie, Lo-fi/
Comment: Andre Allingham, a resident from Fredericksburg, Virginia, is the person behind this funny entitled project. The 8-piece album is a part of the glorious CLLCT scene, though, initially released on Best Kept Secret Tapes, a small indie label. These tracks take on lush guitar twangs, dreamy vocal manner. However, ultimately you can admit it is a decent indie release due to its flourishing turns and warm progressions. By the way, Allingham`s aesthetics is approved by Jarvis Cocker. Jarvis cannot be wrong!
Cultus Sabbati - Woden`s Galder (2011)
9.4
/Illbient, Noise, Avant-garde, Power electronics, Dark ambient, Witch noise/
Comment: noise music can have lots of faces and facets, one of which, furthermore, one of the best ones is provided by Cultus Sabbati. Intense yet lush brown noise is variegated with signal-based undercurrents and epic, martial industrial progressions. At times CS`s noiseful soundscape used to get more involved in rhythmic, even dance-appealed undertakings (Twigs). Though the 4-piece issue is an intense one you can detect a highly mental approach and touch oozing out from within it. Cultus Sabbati`s sound is somewhat similar to the likes of NON, Grunt, Edgeist, Maurizio Bianchi, Marc Broude, Subterrestrial. An impressive outlet which is way too malignant for all sort of pop-related stuff.
1/11/2012
Mr. Dee & Ms. Dee - Rain EP (2011)
Bump Foot
9.2
/Techno, Club dance, Deep techno, Remixes/
9.2
/Techno, Club dance, Deep techno, Remixes/
Comment: a single accomplished with a pair of remixes. Gloomy, glacial glow-alike techno music which, on the other side, provides a bouncy, crispy feeling. While it sounds almost like an instance of the vibes of dance club-centered deep techno it outreaches the boundaries of it due to dystopic seeds within it.
God Pollutes - Introverted Kosmonaut (2011)
Comment: this is an experimental rock-relied looming from Macedonia. At times it takes on a more usual song structured compositions, at times it gets stuck in the undulation of hazy guitar-driven progressions - being amplified, developed and therefore freezed for the rest of time. It reminds of Mogwai`s (best yet impudently underrated album) Come On Die Young (1999). For instance, Leaving Praha is charmingly monotonous and as dark as onyx used to be. On the other side, Sjw (Please Work) provides longing moments. Out With the Headphones rings like you are standing under waterfall - such a massive while lofty rock monolith. Or Introvert which is a bristled, noise-infiltrated incantation. In a nutshell, you should more look at the post-rock scene in Macedonia - there are represented artists really worth to be discovered for.
The Air Was Thick - Prototype 1.0 (2011)
Comment: Damian Hughes, Andrey Pavlovic, and Tom Peden from Wakefield, UK established TAWT after the demise of their old project Candid Squash, and Lover Octave. Indeed, it is their debut album where 32 minutes are spreaded out over 8 tracks and issued on the Japanese label Cnata Records. By and large, the trio combines glowering guitar lines with heavily stomping drums. The group can be compared with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, This Lonely Crowd, Inverness, and Ride.
1/10/2012
Acquired Syphilis - Big Titty Babe Begs For Orgasm (2010)
/Goregrind, Porngrind, Grindcore, Experimental metal, Brutal metal/
Comment: as you have already figured out this album is about earthquake-esque goregrind and slobbery porn. 12 very short extreme metal blowups are introduced with the snippets from porn videos. However, the album makes a huge impact on the listener because of ferocious energy pouring out from every bits and slots.
Cosmos Laguna - Karma Cleaner (2011)
/Industrial electro, EBM, Industrial trance, Synth industrial, Alternative, Dark synth/
Comment: Cosmos Laguna is a brooding industrial electro act with apparent dodges by the side of trance and dark wave/synth music. Of course, the reference of mine must not be misunderstood. The album has nothing to do with the kind of cheesy trance acrobatics, though, some tracks show up weird dance-appealed vibes. Otherwise massively piercing beats and drilling electro forays are surrounded by wraith-alike veil and tight murky vapour. Behind this idiosyncratic project is Alari Keskla, a 33-year-old producer from Estonia. The album is released on the Estonian underground (CD-R) label Trash Can Dance.
elektrolandmusik - automat (2010)
/Electro-acoustic, Experimental electronica, Acousmatics, Avant-garde, Toytronica/
Comment: elektrolandmusik provides a handful of compositions, made up of natural, repetitive xylophone-alike cuts and sequences wrapped up in loose electro-acoustic environments. Indeed, at times it rings like an explorative act on toytronic music based on the sounds of a modular synthesizer. The musician`s experiments resemble of the Finnish project Thuoom`s first album.
Dadala - Dreams (2006)
/Improvised music, Noise, Experimentalism, Avant-garde, Weird pop, Post-industrial, No Wave/
Comment: RDunlop is an avant-garde musician who has been active since the mid of 80`s exploring the boundaries and realms of experimental music. On Dreams he takes on a wide array of genres and sounds, veering out both natural and synthetic, running across both sparse and overloaded ambiences. However, I am wondering how he is able to change those patterns permanently and seamlessly, being sometimes very relaxing through mellow jazz/downbeat standards and, on the other side, get involved in noiseful, soil-engorging mayhems. Or how he used to mix up pitchbent layers with found sounds or being obviously subjected to improvisatory algorithms. In between those extremities you can be a witness to the No Wave-alike explorations (reminding of Tuxedomoon, for instance) and malignant ambient.
The Brand New Heavies - Dunk Your Trunk (2011)
/Afrobeat, Nu jazz, Acid jazz, Electronic pop, Psychedelic, P-funk/
Comment: TBNH is an ensemble which needs not be introduced actually. The legends of acid jazz/nu jazz, and house for almost three decades have came back with an album made up of the samples of library music. However, in the first place, these 14 tracks do have a catchy impetus throughout all the course involving the rhythms of jazz, P-funk, Afrobeat/funk. Indeed, mostly it provides dance-appealed paces, sometimes soothing moments as well.
Holiday Friends Christmas Treasury Volume III (2011)
Holiday
9.3
/Alternative rock, Indie rock, Conceptual/
9.3
/Alternative rock, Indie rock, Conceptual/
Comment: let`s continue with the Christmas theme (the previous week The Gifted Children`s Christmas album was reviewed at RMH). There are 8 enthralling indie ditties by artists related to Holiday Records, one of the best indie labels all around the world. Acorn Boys, Greater Varsa, Palms On Fire, Saints & Children, Historical Society, The Arctic Flow, Church Library, and Francis of Nome are proudly represented there.
1/07/2012
Kid A - In A Dream House EP (2010)
/Poptronica, Eelectronic pop, Alternative pop, Leftfield, Electro-rock/
Comment: Anni T is a musician from Virginia who has collaborated with such luminaries as Daedelus, Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, and Agoria, for instance. Indeed, by listening to this 4-track issue I shall have to admit her very talented musical side which is made up of arty, orchestrated poptronica, tumultuous electronic pop and intense, piercing electro-indie. More profoundly, gloomy beats are tightly intertwined with mellow singing manner of her. And of course, you can sense lots of magic permanently oozing out of the slots of song structures. All in all, you can be sure that the EP is getting grow with each listening time.
Edgeist - Landscapes (2011)
/Power electronics, Ambient noise, Rhythmic noise, Experimental, Ritual noise, Avant-garde, Industrial techno/
Comment: Edgeist is an industrial/noise solo project started off in 2005 in Lyon, France. He has issued a shitloads of releases (mainly EPs) under various labels (Clinical Archives; Amduscias Records; Picomedia) where you can perceive compelling rhythmic noise, piercing power electronica, and oddly undulating ambient noise above it. More concretely, by listening to Edgeist`s brand new one, indeed, it chimes very danceable on its own. Like a sort of techno music thought for proponents of black metal or something like that. This 5-piece publication is highly charming and inspiring indeed. As if the shamans were traded their drums to electronic devices in order to make the music of their own in the 21th century.
Darkhorse - Mannequin (2009)
Bandcamp
9.2
9.2
/Fusion, Dark folk, Neofolk, Art rock, Improvised music, Dub rock, Psychedelic rock, Post-rock, Alternative rock/
Comment: it is an intriguing and compelling album by Darkhorse, a musician out of Boston, Massachussets, USA. He uses (supposedly) a huge melting pot to to put into it murky dark folk/neofolk-tinged guitar strums, fusion/jazz guitar-based riffs and improvised streaming, some post-rock-alike glimpses, and slight psychedelic revs tightly surrounding all of that compound. The ending notch Paradigm Shifts functions as a progression on thrilling trip-hop beats. However, the favorite of mine is an enthralling blending of dub-inflected bass handling and psychedelia-soaked fusion guitars at Persephone reminding a little of Vanishing Point (1997, Creation) by Primal Scream. If you are searching for kindred souls you can draw parallels upon such artists as Darkwood, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Moses Luster, and Jeff Beck.
Fuck Yuo I Am a Robot - Unleashed (2011)
/Electro, Club dance, Experimental electronica, Hardcore electro, Kraut-electro, Industrial electro/
Comment: FYIAR is an Estonian electronic music/club dance duo who started off in the mid of 00`s. They have released 2 albums on their own Mutasone label. This is their sophomore issue, a follow-up to Compensator for the Accelerator (2007). Though these 11 tracks do have entered into the realm of vibe/groove units and bits, however, first of all their main characteristics are describable in terms of rigid yet complex, machine-alike electro cadences, harking even back to the tradition of krautrock and industrial music. More concretely, it sounds like a bastard of the elements of Dopplereffekt, Techno Animal, and Autechre. Indeed, it is thought for your soul and for your body and for your mind.
1/06/2012
AFFEN - Like Life Easily Ended (2011)
BFW Recordings
Lastfm
9.2
/Alternative pop/rock, Soft rock, Pomp rock/
Lastfm
9.2
/Alternative pop/rock, Soft rock, Pomp rock/
Comment: AFFEN does mean Anatomy For Fabulous Emergency Noise and is a quintet from Bandung, Indonesia, an Asian country so well-known due to its outstanding indie scene. Their 4-minute single can only be described in positive way. Indeed, they deserve their name partly - Next to embraced Coldplay aesthetics (mellow, dreamy singing manner, shadowed guitar chords) there you can enjoy massive, even punching guitar washes in the part of refrain. In a nutshell, this single can be compared with an intense sort of firework where you can experience different kinds of shapes and patterns, making people somehow happy and jubilant.
bryyn - Les Alpettes (2011)
/Alternative pop/rock, Alt-folk, Electronic pop, Dream pop, Singer-songwriter/
Comment: here are up 41 minutes of convincing sort of pop music spreaded out over 13 tracks. Similarly to his previous issues Bryn Martin aka bryyn aka pinkle takes on electronic-drenched alt-folk approach, though, you can hear more mainstream-appealed turns and bows in his soundscape. At times it resembles such groups as The Killers, and Coldplay (About Anything), at times it used to be more buried into reveries (Let It Go). However, the favorites of mine are Suzanna, and Quiet. The latter is a suggestive example of electronic pop (those glacial glow-alike synth gears are truly outasight).
1/05/2012
Invisible Elephant - The Lights Go Out (2010)
/Post-rock, Singer-songwriter, Alt-folk, Shoegaze, Crossover, Dream folk/
Comment: Invisible Elephant is a singer-songwriter from UK, who used to record home exploiting guitars, electronics, samples, concrete sounds, vocals, and percussion. The Lights Go Out was his debut album providing an example of how shoegaze, dream pop, singer-songwriter-ism/folk, post-rock meet one another in a decent way. This issue of 7 notches has managed to got quite restraint in its dreaminess throughout the course, however, enabling to enter into a kind of no-man`s land filled in with majestic noise foray sometimess. The most exclusive moment is decidedly related to Wind-Up Bird which offers the ethnic-tinged singing in chorus.
Sea Office - Freon (2011)
/Psycho-acoustic, Acousmatics, Improvised music, Freak folk, Sound collage, Lobit, Weird, Experimentalism/
Comment: there are up five barely distinguishable outlets by Sea Office (also known as Lockbox) a 17-year-old native from Denver mixing up concrete sounds, accidental spoken word snippets, dirty kind of ambient, and a shitloads of sampled minutiae. Above the intertwined stuff you can hear either piano chords or guitar twangs overdriving it. In a nutshell, it is a spontaneous and clouded psychotic output which, furthermore, can be considered as a gap between improvised music and plain arrangements (of course, in the experimental sense of this word). If to compare it with someone I recommend to listen to Uberlulu (indeed, their only album under 20kbps), or some stuff in the list of the cult Bob Chaos Records.
Carmelo Amenta - L'erba Cattiva (2010)
8.7
/Progressive rock, Art rock, Glam pop, Alternative pop/rock, Pomp pop, Crossover/
Comment: Carmelo Amenta is a quintet from Italy taking on an idiosyncratic, spectacular patchwork of sensitive art rock, high-flying glam pop, progressive rock-tinged gliding, and some unexpected jazz and tango standards in-between. It may seem a little bit weird but it is soothing and propulsive simultaneously, at times it is longing, at times highly cheerful. This 10-piece track is released on an Italian cult label, Barbie Noja (this is a home for Barbagallo, Les Dix-Huit Secondes, The Last Merendina and many other quaint projects mostly coming out of Sicily). By the way, all the songs are sung in Italian.
1/04/2012
Convex Mancave - Atomic Blonde In E (2011)
Tavern Eightieth
Bandcamp
Lastfm
9.1
Bandcamp
Lastfm
9.1
/Guitar ambient, Post-rock, Space rock, Epic, Ambient noise, Minimalism, Avant-garde, Experimentalism/
Comment: this album (actually just one track turning off at the length of 21 minutes) provides at the first sight brutal kind of noise-infiltrated, dirty ambient or, on the other hand, a spatial yet bristled post-rock outlet (as you wish it to be categorized for). Behind those deliberately hiss-laden layers you can hear microscopic yet impressive changes in harmonies, almost invisible shades of melodies (indeed, at a time your imagination starts to work). In a word, the release is about permanent pulsations, ghastly phases and their modulations. Convex Mancave is the collaboration act of Matthew Collings, Chris Tenz, and Greyhound Out Of Mainline.
Comment: this album (actually just one track turning off at the length of 21 minutes) provides at the first sight brutal kind of noise-infiltrated, dirty ambient or, on the other hand, a spatial yet bristled post-rock outlet (as you wish it to be categorized for). Behind those deliberately hiss-laden layers you can hear microscopic yet impressive changes in harmonies, almost invisible shades of melodies (indeed, at a time your imagination starts to work). In a word, the release is about permanent pulsations, ghastly phases and their modulations. Convex Mancave is the collaboration act of Matthew Collings, Chris Tenz, and Greyhound Out Of Mainline.
The Gifted Children - Christmas 2011 (2011)
/Indie rock, Psychedelia, Alternative pop/rock, Noise rock, Experimental indie, Conceptual/
Comment: it might be I am being a little bit late with this set of 14 songs because the Christmas time is already over (though, for the members of the Russian Orthodox Church it is up to begin soon after the next week). Indeed, you can not be wrong - indie meets the Christmas songs produced by a prolific US-based indie rock combo who has been active since the mid of 90`s and produced approximately 1300 ditties. However, the miscellany hides within itself a handful of enthralling, poignant gems, however, extending from whimsical electronic developments and suggestive psychedelia to monumental noise rock and even medieval-tinged folk indie. May it be these songs will be widely accepted in 2050, for instance? Or sooner?
Delmore fx - No Ideas (2011)
FMA
8.6
8.6
/Avant-garde, Freak folk, Weird folk, DIY, Improvised music, Lo-fi, Experimentalism, New Weird America/
Comment: these 7 short-running tracks used to take ona kind of improvised music made up of miniature folk-alike twangs and some drum forays. Yet, its intention seems to be a little bit more to be classified as a part of the New Weird America scene only. Its pop direction is heavily covered up with a sort of shamanic experimental crust. You can draw parallels upon Thuoom, Pilesar, and Gang Gang Dance (it chimes like a little brother of this famous yet off-kilter combo). Altogether, let`s call it just bedroom tribalism.
1/03/2012
lack of Eoins - Sudden Death Mode (2012)
Seksound
9.4
9.4
/Indie rock, Remixes, Dream pop, Glo-fi, Art pop, Shoegazetronica, Electronic pop, Alternative rock, Doomgaze/
Comment: the Estonian leading indie (rock) label Seksound has issued the new single Sudden Death Mode by lack of Eoins, a Viljandi-based alternative rock trio. The single is a solid example of how arty, riff-charged guitar drive meets subtle synth brass sections as if the synth progression were borrowed from a track of Dreamphish, a label-related Estonian indie juggernaut (the latter element will be brought out in remixes either). Additionally, the one is accompanied by the set of 3 remixes by Tallinn Daggers, Wolfredt, and Imandra Lake - indeed, apiece of them is successfully accomplished, however, extending from acidic, bubblegum-ish riding and beatific shoegaze looming to gloomy blend of doom folk/rock, shoegaze and dream pop, respectively. The favorite of mine is Wolfredt`s version because of strongly reminding of all those old indie glimpses and bits coming out of the memories of the 90`s. Essentially nostalgic. In a nutshell, the single is a very felicitous choice to start out a new year.
2muchachos - Summer Vacation EP (2010)
/Dream pop, Chillwave, Organcore, Experimental indie, Alternative, Organic electronica, Glo-fi, Avant-pop/
Comment: the Russian project 2muchachos` EP Teplaja was one of the best releases in the previous year. Here is another EP, Summer Vacation, issued already in 2010. It is a blissful journey where the main basin is made up by using undulating analog keyboards (Formant Mini; Alisa-1387) and where Cocteau Twins-esque guitar-based magic bits chime in now and then. But not only - the last track Careless Calm starts out like a sunburned vision by Dead Can Dance. However, you can be sure this 4-piece issue used to sound truly organic and natural. If you wish you can call it charming boredom or irresistible laziness. Still one of the best ensembles all around the world.
2GI - mio figlio egoista EP (2005)
/Electro pop, Techno, Club dance, Electroclash, Lo-fi, DIY, Industrial techno/
Comment: here is represented a set of 4 tracks which used to pierce and bore. It is quite complicated to categorize it somehow. It veers away punk-alike/DIY electro pop/electroclash and hirsuit mix of electro and techno, on the other side it offers more cagey, atmospherical moments (Audio Piercing, a little bit ironically, though). The favorite of mine is Yoyo-b-raw which takes on a mould of rusty drill`n techno. The notch is a truly intense one (containing a gloomy, threatening backdrop of industrial music).
1/02/2012
Alpha Couple - Edna Pontellier (2010)
/Psych-folk, Indie folk, Avant-folk, Drone folk, Cover, Dream folk, Folk indie, Experimental/
Comment: Alpha Couple is a psych-folk duo (with female singing) from Canada, providing a pair of tracks, which used to differentiate from each other to a large extent. The first of them, the title notch, is a beatific, contemplative siren looming which buzzes and dilates throughout its course. The second track No Children (originally The Mountain Goats` song) used to break all the mirrors around itself turning into a mad, hysterical vista like harpies trying to adopt the string-based music for yourselves. A solid single indeed.
Chromelodeon - The Final Recordings (2007/2008)
iimusic
9.3
9.3
/Psychedelia, Alternative, Progressive rock, Avant-rock, Experimental rock, Electronic, Electro-rock, Fusion/
Comment: Chromelodeon was a frantic, 8-piece instrumental music group from Philadelphia which by their vanguard-ish intention and vision could be compared with the likes of Black Moth Super Rainbow, and The Octopus Project. More concretely, as the title of the album refers it is their final album which, by the way, was recorded live in 2005. Heavily acidic synthesizer-driven notches are fringed with intense, hysteric sort of drumming. At times the listener can hear sparse, 8-bit alike electronic bits below those massive, psychedelic synth washes and overdriving synthetic effects, which, however, is not surprising because the combo was known for covering video game themes. Indeed, it is their swan song, though, a very decorous one.
M A S & Travis McAlister - The Fade Out Room (2011)
9.5
/Hauntology, Sampledelic, Avant-garde, Electro-acoustic, Ambient, Musique concrète, Experimentalism, Cut and paste, Sound collage, Acousmatics, Spoken word/
Comment: haunting samples and somehow blissed-out milieus surrounding...haunting samples and blissed-out milieus. Those old school, the 1920/30`s swinging pieces are intertwined with organic street sounds and weird, creepy electronic and atmospherical progressions now and then. Anyway, this 8-track album is similar to the ones of their label mates Gutta Percha, and the Caretaker (of course) who is the biggest name on this genre. Aa s result it is a hypnotic experience passing through the different eras of (experimental) music searching for elusive redemption and vast synergy. Behind the project are M A S (aka Makram Abu-Shakra), and Travis McAlister, two experienced sound creators, who used to play in various improvisation groups together during the early 90's in Southern California.
12/31/2011
Leah Rosier - Irie rmx EP (2011)
Dubbhism
Soundcloud
9.2
Soundcloud
9.2
/Dub, Crossover, Remix, Pop, Dancehall, Reggae/
Comment: this is an amusing 6-track remix album comprising the Caribbean rhythms and ambiances and on the other side within these Jamaica-relied elements you can clearly perceive how the pop intentions by Leah Rosier, a singer from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, have been maintained to seep optimal dose out of it. So the EP can be called a sort of crossover release where a type of catchy mainstream-inflected pop example is intertwined with dub/dancehall cadences. The music of Leah Rosier is remixed by Bruno Tanmateos, Monolow, Digikal Roots, Peter Speakah, Caballo & Neki Stranac, and Not Easy At All. Ultimately, it is an enjoyable and charming music in any sense of these adjectives.
[Compilation] 8081 - va006 (2011)
8081
8.6
8.6
/Tracker music, 8bit, Bitpop, Chipbreak, Chiptune, Experimental electronica/
Comment: 8081 is a label from Russia dedicated for consecrating the chiptune/bitpop/tracker music/8-bit pop, however, a kind of music considered to be a precedessor of the nowadays electronic music scene (by the way, allegedly the deceased Malcolm McLaren was truly fascinated with such sort of music at the ending period of 90s/beginning of 00s having a talk about it as a new version of punk music) This is a 11-track miscellany providing quite usual understanding of the aforementioned styles. On the other side, there are some exceptions as well. The first track offers up an angry, rave-inflected vista; the favorite of mine, the seventh notch is up here to display a tough conglomeration between tracker music and jungle undercurrents. Here are represented the artists such as Good Chemistry, Moaner, Light Elf, Den Derty, AlexOrge, <3an, vefiretiwina, Max Tailord, BOB The Builder!, spacecosmic, and fakediscoclub.
Skala Collective - Black Constellation (2011)
/Krautrock, Post-rock, Avant-rock, Ambient rock, Instrumental rock, Psychedelic rock, Free jazz, Avant-industrial, Space rock, Experimental rock, Dub rock, Electronic, Improvised music/
Comment: Skala Collective, a trio out there provides a mesmerizing blend of post-rock, electronica, free jazz/improvised music, space rock, ambient. At times it is gloomy and contemplative on its propulsive post-metal/doom metal and illbient/dark ambient-esque run, at times thoroughly acute due to its krautrock-ish progressions. On the other side, however, the most off-beat tendency is that the trio (Roger; Maya; GBart) fuses the structures of post-rock with the steps of dub rock balancing between majestic and soothing. In any cases, you can draw parallels upon the likes of Cul De Sac, and Tortoise, Jessamine, and Bardo Pond, Melting Clouds, and Gastr Del Sol. All in all, it is an outstanding (rock) album for sure.
A Happy New Year!
Dear musicians, music activists, bloggers, melomans and listeners!
The year 2011 will be over soon and 2012 will be starting thereafter. It was a prolific year, for musicians, for labels and for writers. I guess I will not be wrong just saying that there are not being around such a year with so many issues and truly qualitative music. While I have listened to enormous quantity of releases, however, a countless more time of albums was not to be listened to and waiting to be shed light upon in 2012, 2013, and so on.
However, I am going to point out some artists who did have huge impact by their impressive aesthetics on me. Mirabilia, Clinker, Nick Rivera, Woodworkings, The Hirundu, Possimiste, slept., Lee Noble, Brian Eno (on Warp), Ermine Coat, EDASI, Saito Koji, Bing Satellites, 2muchachos, Derek Clegg, Wonder Wheel, ~▲†▲~, Wreck And Reference, plusplus, Sejdman, The Womb, The Wreck Up, The Bilinda Butchers, Nick Rivera, fydhws, bryyn (previously Pinkle), VIYA, Gutta Percha, Super Random Knowledge Porridge, Valery & The Greedies, Cold Womb Descent, Bear Mountain, The Hatsune Mikus, Bob Ostertag, Starfire Connective Sound, Doug Sharp, Speculativism.
Unfortunately there were some unpleasant moments and tendencies as well. While lots of new websites and blogs appeared on the free music blogosphere, Free Music Galore, Peter`s Blog, and Netlabels Revue - very eminent blogs - decided to end up their activity. Another aspect is closely related to the possible pressure on free issued music and culture. As you know it is no surprise that some instances are intended to smother this movement. Let`s recall Bradford Cox case at the end of 2010 and this year they tried their "fortune" at Recent Music Heroes. I was really surprised how arbitrarily and absurdly these processes used to happen (for instance, blaming someone without the author`s approval who otherwise used to share this content legally at Bandcamp). Of course, don`t forget the SOPA case being relevant to it running on at the moment. I hope the common sense of the US representatives will win ultimately.
In a nutshell, we need even more blogs and websites to cover all the amount of free music as a kind of the expression of free people`s free will. God bless you. A Happy New Year in 2012.
The year 2011 will be over soon and 2012 will be starting thereafter. It was a prolific year, for musicians, for labels and for writers. I guess I will not be wrong just saying that there are not being around such a year with so many issues and truly qualitative music. While I have listened to enormous quantity of releases, however, a countless more time of albums was not to be listened to and waiting to be shed light upon in 2012, 2013, and so on.
However, I am going to point out some artists who did have huge impact by their impressive aesthetics on me. Mirabilia, Clinker, Nick Rivera, Woodworkings, The Hirundu, Possimiste, slept., Lee Noble, Brian Eno (on Warp), Ermine Coat, EDASI, Saito Koji, Bing Satellites, 2muchachos, Derek Clegg, Wonder Wheel, ~▲†▲~, Wreck And Reference, plusplus, Sejdman, The Womb, The Wreck Up, The Bilinda Butchers, Nick Rivera, fydhws, bryyn (previously Pinkle), VIYA, Gutta Percha, Super Random Knowledge Porridge, Valery & The Greedies, Cold Womb Descent, Bear Mountain, The Hatsune Mikus, Bob Ostertag, Starfire Connective Sound, Doug Sharp, Speculativism.
Unfortunately there were some unpleasant moments and tendencies as well. While lots of new websites and blogs appeared on the free music blogosphere, Free Music Galore, Peter`s Blog, and Netlabels Revue - very eminent blogs - decided to end up their activity. Another aspect is closely related to the possible pressure on free issued music and culture. As you know it is no surprise that some instances are intended to smother this movement. Let`s recall Bradford Cox case at the end of 2010 and this year they tried their "fortune" at Recent Music Heroes. I was really surprised how arbitrarily and absurdly these processes used to happen (for instance, blaming someone without the author`s approval who otherwise used to share this content legally at Bandcamp). Of course, don`t forget the SOPA case being relevant to it running on at the moment. I hope the common sense of the US representatives will win ultimately.
In a nutshell, we need even more blogs and websites to cover all the amount of free music as a kind of the expression of free people`s free will. God bless you. A Happy New Year in 2012.
12/29/2011
Derek Clegg - Across Town (2011)
/Alt-folk, Folk indie, Singer-songwriter, Indie folk, Alt-country, Americana/
Comment: Derek Clegg is a troubadour from Chicago, Illinois, USA who has issued three albums in 2011. Across Town is a follow-up to the albums Here Comes Your Fate, Quick Duck, and Beautiful World. I can say only superlative words about this 12-notch album. All the elements of the album are craftily unisoned with each other, offering up a remembering worth listening experience. Mostly it is folk, less it is country, however, all of that is made up of high-flown, majestic Americana. More profoundly, the velvety, accentuated singing manner is counterbalanced with lofty synthesized strings and numerous chord changes in a big manner. On the other side, Beautiful World pays tribute to John Fahey and other representatives of the American Primitivism scene. Anyway, you can admit to have parallels with Wilco, Alexi Murdoch, Josh Woodward, and Brian Borcherdt as well. An outstanding album indeed (I have yet not listened to his previous albums, though).
Subterrestrial - Map of the Interior World (2010/2011)
/IDM, Experimental electronica, Chiptune, Lo-fi, DIY, Folktronica/
Comment: it is said on the blogspot/homesite of Subterrestrial that Map of the Interior World was available on a specially packaged 3.5" floppy disk from Diskette Etikette Rekords, catalog number DER008. It was originally issued on July 27, 2010 and limited to 35 copies. However, now is the EP issued on a label, Diskette Etikette Net. The 4-track publication consists of intimately chiming short-running developments, incorporating the elements of lo-fi electronica, chiptune-resembling shades, and art-tronica/IDM-tinged spawns. The favorite of mine is the closing notch interior_world4.map which is an elusive vista based on glockenspiel/laptop folk-determined sequences and glitches.
Annorkoth - Voids EP (2011)
/Glam rock, Dark pop, Dark wave, Alternative, Lo-fi, DIY, Neoclassical/
Comment: it is said that Annorkoth is an atmospheric depressive black metal band from Podolsk, Russia. But wait for a moment! This EP of 24 minutes spreading out over 7 tracks chimes at least like a light-weighted or steam-rolled version of brutal metal. Indeed, it is murky, at times embellished with martial-induced paces and sometimes offering up slightly bleak visions (as similar as the coverprint of it used to be) but on the other side it is conducted by the melancholic drops of piano chords, fast tempo progressions and breezy structural dodges. Altogether, it seems more restraint glam than black or more dark wave than black metal. And it is absolutely the sort of instrumental music. Visit Annorkoth`s self-titled website/blogspot where are uploaded shitloads of albums, EPs, splits/collaborations.
12/28/2011
Cold Womb Descent - Cold Womb Descent (2011)
Comment: Cold Womb Descent is a collaborative act between the Polish sound creator Risen (Mealann; Risen v0id; Distorted Perception; Dead Girl Radiation), and Tabique (Vozrozhdeniya), a producer from Mexico. This is their 8-track debut album which functions as a wide panoramic vision of dystopic ambient, ghastly noir, and on the other side more hopeful vistas regarding the upcoming times. Indeed, the album can be considered as an endless journey in the Outer Space, however, being truly suggestive and profound in its glacial glow-alike drifts and movements toward the giant red stars. Colony of the Remnants chimes like a sort of futuristic symphony music. For the melomans and possible musicians, however, the album conveys lots of viable modalities regarding the kind of sphere-drenched/ambient music in the first place. Very strong manifesto indeed.
Zuhurbelea - Zeru ta Lurretako Mirakulugarri Ahoak, NO alcohol, alkolgabeko musika (2011)
Lastfm
8.9
8.9
/Avant-industrial, Post-punk, Cold wave, Avant-garde, Post-punk/
Comment: Zuhurbelea (wise crow, in Basque) is a project by Bertrand Escaffre, a French-based musician. The title of the album means approximately "through the miraculous voice of sky and earth", which is a cue to the fact that this 3-track EP is a modified example (and mainly the second version) of the Zeru ta Lur-alike style (Escaffre`s another project) - in a simplier and fluider way. By using a more specific language, however, this instrumental EP is filled in with cold-hearted paces and (and less cold) throbs, industrial-soaked hum and reverberations. By the author it is a try to continue Joy Division`s ultimate idea. In fact, he will not be wrong with this assumption, yet, on the other side, by its aesthetical frame it may share more traits with the early Cabaret Voltaire, Nurse With Wound, Throbbing Gristle and other old school industrial acts.
Ermine Coat - Ermine Coat (2011)
Mediafire
9.4
9.4
/Anti-folk, Singer-songwriter, Noise rock, DIY, Experimental rock, Lo-fi, Garage rock, Rockabilly/
Comment: Ermine Coat is a Perth, Australia-based project (it is self-described as bedroom moron pop band). If you are keen on Wavves, Phil Reavis, Adrian Aardvark, Five Star Debauchery and other such kind of artists this 16-track is exactly thought for you. Garage-tinged rough folk and rockabilly is crossbreeded with acute psychedelia and now and then it is intertwined with witty electronic ruffles and face-hitting noise forays. However, the more I listen to it the better it gets. Probably the reason is hidden in a fact that harmonies and melodies are optimally balanced with vivid experiments. At the first glance it is simple but very impressive. Indeed, "moron" should be defined as frenetically good in this context.
12/27/2011
Asian Women On The Telephone - Freedom as mama told me (2011)
/Psych-rock, Krautrock, Experimental rock, Improvised music, Avant-rock, Experimentalism, Psychedelia, Avant-garde, Ritual music, Space rock/
Comment: at the first glance it might be the biggest failure related to this album is its long duration and diverse content. There are represented 12 tracks, some of them shutting down at the length of 17 minutes. Fortunately the album is lopsided in a way to get enough benefited from it. The notches are improvised, providing krautrock-esque progressions, either being more keen on kraut-funk grooves so characteristical to CAN since Soon Over Babaluma (1974), or more Faust-esque metronomic psych-feedback-based wall rock. On the other side, it does not deny a part of improvised free jazz-laden noise music, firstly reminiscent of Borbetomagus, the forefathers of this genre. The first track (the self-titled one) embarks on with the repetition of shamanic verses and drum parts. If to have a word about the kindred souls of AWOTT you can draw parallels upon artists such as Magical Unicellular Music, Acid Mothers Temple, Ester Poland, Joxfield ProjeX, Kospel Zeithorn. AWOTT (the line-up consists of Brown Polizei, Good Enough Freundin, Oriental Yid, Lewd Primat, Mutter Land) launched in Moscow in 2007 and known due to their frantic stage shows and no using overdubbing and mixing in the recording process. Great band by any means!
Gazebo in a Lake - Hydra (2011)
/DIY, Primitive music, Electronic pop, Glo-fi, Weird pop, Electro, Lo-fi/
Comment: I tried to find out some info about Gazebo in a Lake but figured out he has hidden himself jelaously. Only a handful of albums are uploaded at Lastfm and upon it is added the sentence that Gazebo in a Lake is exactly where he will end up living if he quits his day job. By listening to this 9-track publication I got aware of ideas and patterns about the approach of him. In the first place, he creates a sort of primitive music using low-end techniques (for instance, you can detect the rhythms of a tiny Casio Tonebank), conjuring up clumsy beats and bits and at times blunt manner of singing. Yet, these aforementioned lines must not be misunderstood because his concept delineates the principle that less is more. For example, listen to the track The Retainer which fuses rough DIY tendencies with hypnagogic glimpses and shimmering electro surfaces. Or House of Plenty, a long-running opus filled with pop potential. Why it is sympathetic? It can be seen as opposed to the sort of sterile, hermetic and hence unsurprising (restricted) studio-based production displaying other modalities for recording either.
Mogadiscio Ensemble - Super Bone Bionde (2011)
Paragrafo
8.8
8.8
/Techno, Experimental techno, Industrial techno, Noise, Avant-electronica/
Comment: Mogadiscio Ensemble is a collective from Italy formed by Riccardo Nava (synths and noise effects in My Silver Booster and § as solo), and Riccardo Canta (keyboards and sax in Il Cubo di Rubik Monocromo, and Gonzo Caravan). They issued the debut issue Afro Affairs under the Karuso label in 2010. However, the duo`s brand new heavy comprises a pair of tracks which are imbued with defaced chopped-up breaks, dirty reversed loops, and gloomy layers above it. Noise-infiltrated compositions. All in all, the release is hirsute and bouncing, it is a sort of techno music, yet, thought for night clubs and chill out venues. Instead of it you can hark back to the traces of machines and the brothers Russolo`s legacy on it.
Tellimine:
Postitused (Atom)