Yellobelly - GM01 (2004)

Giant Manilow
Mediafire
Lastfm

8.6

/Instrumental rock, Post-rock, Experimental rock, Epic, Alternative rock/

Comment: The friend of mine told me once that all he used to need from pop music is just a good rhythm and melody. This 4-track single/EP by a Birmingham quartet (at the moment they are re-formed being known as Echo Lake and residing in London) was the first release of the Giant Manilow imprint and still being my favorite one under it so far. It is instrumental-only post-rock characterized by the epic ridges of guitar and repeated gears of this style, on the other side by the catchy harmonies and impetus of indie rock. Is there represented all of that do you need for yourself from pop music actually?

ただ何となく我々は放置されている - NOISEorDIE (2011)

Toyoneu

9.2

/Punk rock, Hardcore, Noise rock, Crustcore, Art-rock, Psychobilly, Experimental punk/

Comment: This miscellany of 7 tracks plays up a screwing course of essentially frenzied punk rock (coming from Japan, of course). In fact, it can be considered as punk on the macroscopic level, on the other side it forges the elements of psychobilly, noise, crustcore, hardcore and some minutiae of experimental electronica (by mixing it up with the punk-ish main line, however it resembles of the aesthetics of such legends as the Screamers, for instance). A manifesto of pure energy/close to the best punk rock appearances.

Plaens - Cabin (2011)

Bandcamp
Soundcloud

8.8

/Post-psychedelic, Chillwave, Krautrock, Dreamwave, Tape music, Glo-fi, Avant-pop, Post-pop, Dream synth, Experimental pop/

Comment: This publication (rooted in Atlanta, USA) consists of one notch only. On the other side, you have possibility to think out your thoughts profoundly because of the longitude of the track reaching the 40 minutes, though. However, the issue confronts (post-)psychedelic/krautrock-ish repetitiveness and glo-fi/dreamwave-ish/chillwave-ish beatificness. All the whole rings out really organic as if were made out in the midst of nature. However, it is an example of how cutting edge-y yet highly enjoyable (pop) music has surpassed the aesthetical and stylistical borders for its own sake.

The Ghost Dance Project - The Ghost Dance Project (2007/2011)

OM HA SVA HA KSHA MA LA VA RA YAM
Free Music Archive

8.6

/Improvised music, Jam sessions, Experimental folk, Psychedelic, Drone folk, Live session, Avant-folk/

Comment: Such sound used to be called "deep" indeed. The Finnish forest folk/drone ambient stalwart Uton is jamming with a German-based hippie couple and an Australian guitarist in an island of Diu, Gujarat, India. The dropping rhythms of tablas and frame drums, sensible guitar fingerpickings and shamanic vowel experiments (just throat vocalisation) are the basic instruments for conjuring up a magical soundscape consisting of silentfully fluttering drone-ish key changes searching relentlessly for an optimal state of mind. During those 34 minutes, however, it has been found many of times either.

Arnoldrecords - Echo Mike crashed and died burnt in horrible sufferings (2011)

Jamendo

8.0

/Chillout, Modern classical, Crossover, Soundtrack, Easy listening, Electronic pop/

Comment: Arnoldrecords is not a record company but an artist from France, offering laid-back electronica mixed up with angular piano chords, guitar snippets, and programmed beats on this issue. At times it gets evolved into the soundtrack-esque milieu, at times incorporating some elements from the spaghetti westerns and offering noir-drenched overthrows. This is an album which builds up the kind of safe continuation on sound and style, having succeeded to avoid any interruption throughout it.

Thousand Needles – Thousand Needles (2011)

Lepork

8.1

/Happy punk, Melodic punk, Easycore, Pop punk/

Comment: Four melodic punksters from Jakarta, Indonesia playing up the dynamical chords of guitar-based music sung in English and Indonesian (adding lots of excitement and exoticness to the whole). Though the 7-track release seems artistically to be unpretentious, the most important aspect is that their sound is organized in a high-energized, catchy way. The last track on it offers a surprising glimpse through the recruitment of march rhythms. Compare this band`s oeuvre to Shortcut To Last`s one, a Canadian band recently reviewed on this blog either.

Subterrestrial - The Goddess of Atvatabar (2011)

Subterrestrial
Lastfm

8.6

/Avant-industrial, Experimentalism, Ritualistic industrial, Sound-art, Minimalism, Experimental electronica, Avant-garde, Acousmatics, Electro-acoustic/

Comment: Call it either ritualistic drum music, grey-ish electro-acoustic/acousmatic workout, sonically diminished sound-art attempt, or creeping industrial elaboration respectively. More concretely, there can be detected for elliptically looping samples accomplished with the profound pulsating progressions of algorithms, abstract-stretched weird soundscapes, and heavily pounding drums in the backdrop of moaning shamanistic vowel experiments. Indeed, the album showcases different faces on its own. The set of 7 tracks comes nearby San Francisco, USA being primarily inspired by a novel by William R. Bradshaw.