The Burning Of Eterna City - And Onward They March With Broken Legs (2011)

Cherry Blossom Dog

8.8

/Grindcore, Experimental metal, Cybergrind, Neoprogressive, Crrossover, Chiptune, Electronic pop, Kitsch pop, Anti-metal/

Comment: Wow, this 13-pieced album seems to be essentially provoking and possibly mocking...for all those orthodox metalheads and other serious lads-gals who used to perceive some music styles through restricted vistas. Massive/majestic metal and grindcore (and at times goregrind elements as well) structures are quaked with pathetic neoprogressive/and symphonic metal and hair rock/metal-ish synth gears and electro-metal (this is gentler version of metal father`s killing). The strong one construes a metal mayhem unprecedentedly melting Katyusha-inflected kitsch pop, cheesy, farting eurobeat “disco”, easy listening synthesized interludes, robot pop and 8-bit/chiptune (the band itself describes it as “nintendocore”) into the amusing pulp. Personally, it is a highly enjoyable set probably crisscrossing the energy barrier of a listener.

Candy Claws - Catherine In The Sky

Episode 20 - Catherine in the Sky from Candy Claws on Vimeo.

Superficial Random Knowledge Porridge - Satan And His Army (2011)

SRKP

9.5

/Shoegazetronica, Post-pychedelic electronica, Remixes, Post-rock, Electronic pop, Alternative dance, Dream pop, Crossover/

Comment: Superficial Random Knowledge Porridge is a trio from Sankt Peterburg (Saint Petersburg), the northern capital of the Russian Federation, which applies to as one the most important musical and cultural centres (if not the overriding one) in Russia either (Kino, Akvarium, DDT, Sergey Kuryokhin and Pop Mekhanika, Shnur, Messer Chups/ Messer Für Frau Müller etc). However, the album consists of one track and a handful of remixes on it (backed up by Slow, Wols, DZA, and Tarass 3000). All I can say about it is fairly good. It veers from a kind of urban tribalism/post-psychedelic electronica (a la Gang Gang Dance) and recherche, vibraphone-driven post-rock (a la the early Mice Parade and The Dylan Group) to otherwise viewable electronic-related shoegaze music and exultant dream pop on it. An amazing outcome indeed (one of the best albums in 2011 so far). However, I feel myself really lucky as I will visit them performing at the Uue Ajastu Festival in Põlva (Estonia) the next week. All in all, the expectations of mine are potently brought forth because of the remix album and their fantastical gig exactly in the same place one year ago (I can remember for their drummer who was really worth seeing on its own!). By the way, there are also represented Moscow-based post-rock luminary Mooncake, Vaiko Eplik, Imandra Lake, 3 Pead, Mimicry and many others from Estonia. (NB! Thanks to my wife Merike as well for giving a hint at the album).

Younnat - Bioelectronica (2011)

Bump Foot
Lastfm

8.8

/Experimental electronica, Poptronica, Synth pop, Bitpop, Crossover, Electronic pop/

Comment: Oleg Serdyuk, a stubborn musician from Ukraine has issued a handful of releases on Kahvi, and Bump Foot Records. While his previous albums were essentially light-hearted, trilling and easily listenable, those ones did not allude to any sort of casualness or unpretentiousness (the negativity/positivity of the last mentioned concept depends on a certain context, though). In fact, all is very fine on it. However, Bioelectronica tends to chug on toward a more broad aesthetic approach, incorporating abrasive, even slaughtering glares of electronica, and chiptune-esque bits and bleeps and churned jungle and techno pop beats meanwhile or in the midst of the concept.

Hipster Youth - Teenage Elders (2010)

Bandcamp
Long Lost

9.0

/Chiptune, Lo-fi, Primitive pop, Crossover, Experimental indie, Electro pop, Psychedelic, Electronic pop, Alternative, DIY/

Comment: Behind Hipster Youth is Aidan Wall, a 21-years-old Irish musician who previously was known as Porn On Vinyl, and porn.exe. His previous album Hearse Road Trip (2009, Rack And Ruin – issued on the same label which happened to be the starting platform for Dylan Ettinger either, a famous indie/lo-fi musician now) was a rare masterpiece of the indie/shoegaze/experimental folk scene by the aesthetical point of view – more concretely, mixing up shoegaze-ish tunes and jubilant free folk with chiptune-ish borderlines and swings. It might be Teenage Elders, a follow-up, used to have obtained slightly less glaring colours, seamless curves and serpent line-alike trajectories, yet, this is an enjoyable one (the more I listen to it the less convinced I will be). More concretely, besides his previous tricks he has added some new ones to have this time much in common with his previous label mate Testicular Manslaughter, and Ariel Pink (those slightly tortured yet sublime vocals and seemingly easy yet warped electronic pop tunes). And of course, Thursay nights rocks your dirty (or clean) socks off.

Aphilas - Lifelong Fiction

The Very Most - ePop017 (2011)

Eardrums Pop

9.5

/Indie pop, Experimental indie, Alternative pop/rock, Jangle pop/

Comment: The Very Most, a sextet (being active since 2002) coming from Boise, Idaho, USA (as well as the hometown for the mesmerizing ambient/drone/experimental electronica project Eluder and downtempo collective ElectricWest (also as Electricwest), both overseen by Patrick Benolkin). However, this three-pieced set is a powerful and noble example of indie music merging various elements with each other derived from different epochs. Trilling jangle pop like the McCarthy; space pop and electronically patterned developments like Stereolab; hippie/junkie folk-naiveness a la Polyphonic Spree; the last track If Monday`d Never Come (a cover of the Brilliant At Breakfast`s track) is a galant cha-cha-cha-inflected independent outlook. Listen to and enjoy it.