Lowlands - Beko_85 (2011)

Beko DSL
Bandcamp
Lastfm

8.6

/Alternative rock, Indie, Jangle pop, Post-punk, Fuzz rock/

Comment: Behind Lowlands is Tobias Brockie (aka Rhinoceros Brave) from Wellington, the New Zealand. This 3-track issue is about windy jangle pop with some influences of post-punk and fuzzed-out/feedback-backed guitar gears (plus some bombastic progressions). The tracks are running from fast paces to slow tempo-ness. Simple but masterfully treated.

Gongue - Blurred (2011)

Dracula Horse
Bandcamp

8.8

/New Weird Europe, DIY, Anti-folk, Experimental folk, Avant-folk, Alt-folk/

Comment: Dracula Horse is first of all known as the home label for Coolrunnings, though it does offer little corners for the other artists, including The Foggy Albion-relied Gongue either. What references does Gongue`s sound have exactly? It is profoundly made with the attitude of the nowadays DIY patchwork-ism - simple anti-folk-ish guitar strums (and more complex alt-folk adventures) are variegated with no-so-light electronic slopes (which at times do chime as if the examples coming from the Kraftwerk`s albums (particularly from Radio-Activity), dance funk and weird pop moments (electro-acoustic overthrows, "unstable" sonic snippets-effects). Indeed, it is the issue which is made out with obvious care and dedication.

Mobdividual - Movement V Live

Spheruleus - Forgotten Outland (2011)

Resting Bell

9.2

/Ambient, Drone folk, Dream folk, Minimal, Found sound, Field Recording, Sound-art/

Comment: By having the course on slowly rolling and progressing snippets, behind those subtly manipulated sounds dedicated to the wastelands in your soul is the British grand master Harry Towell (also known as Audio Gourmet, and Eyes Flutter Beneath) who has released over 15 issues (under such labels as Earth Mantra, Test Tube, Audio Gourmet, Under The Spire) in a last few years. This is a case based on three tracks where atmospheric sounds are mixed up with contemplative string chords, slightly heardable found sound-relied cracks, subsequently, all those parts are wrapped up in intimate synergy. Especially mesmerizing is listen to it while the sun goes down. Very often this otherworldly concept of drone-folk-ish enterprise resembles of the French legends Natural Snow Buildings.

Monster Rally - Coral LP (2011)

Bandcamp

8.9

/Sampledelic, Exotic pop, Electronic pop, Avant-pop, Post-pop, Tropical pop, Glo-fi, Chillwave, Easy listening/

Comment: No doubt, the name of Monster Rally is probably quite well-known in the friendships of nowadays music, especially amongst the glo-fi/chillwave music admirers. A handful of releases having been issued by Moster Rally so far. The first two tracks are strongly in the vein of Stereolab, however, a little later the other influences starting to come out too. Step by step, indeed, there can be figured out the fact that this project may be more toward the past, or placing itself out as a retrofuturistic combo. In detail, it runs in front of you like set of exotic glimpses on the sampledelic method. And doing it really joyfully out (some samples laid here can be classified as a genuine classic spot. For instance, the tracks like Cuban Velvet, and A Voice/Big Sur)

Blues for spacegirl – Arezzo (2011)

Blues for spacegirl
Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.4

/Dark ambient, Dystopbient, Soundscape, Drone, Ambient noise, Ambient drone, Minimal, Epic/

Comment: Profound, dense, wide - all in all, it is very expressive indeed. Only in this way could the Belgian musician`s album be described for. Moreover, during a three year lapse he has released 6 albums, and it is one of the most suggestive of them, for sure. In fact, this one-track one (29 minutes) is an extended version of the Fibroma split EP`s closure track. By the formal side he used to push a listener into a seemingly bottomless labyrinth of dark ambient, drone, and ambient. Lots of abstract yet beatless (vibrating) rhythms come directly from the structures of the tracks, all the higher spheres are filled in with the flashes of angels and demons at times. It might be that this one is worth even for some higher rates, still let`s hold those points for his future albums. By the way, the outer sleeve is really magnificient either.

Henrik Josè - Pinpointing The Problem