Strange Shapes - Slow Sound/Mild Doubt (2011)

Bandcamp

9.0

/Alternative pop/rock, Art rock, Jangle pop, Indie rock/

Comment: mere 2 track-single by a quartet of Brooklynites. Especially the first of them, Slow Sound, is greatly bound up in harmony process and bubblegum cadences. These singles are surrounded by a touch somehow reminiscent of the aesthetics of the 70`s English new wave/art rock/post-punk bands (Echo & Bunnymen; Durutti Column, Teardrop Explodes). Somehow nostalgic and permanently elegant in its path. By the way, these notches were firstly recorded for the Japanese version of their EP.

Lovegrenade - Lovegrenade (2011)

Jamendo

Af-music
Bandcamp
Lastfm

8.5

/Garage rock, Alternative rock, Fuzz rock, Psychedelic rock, Rockabilly, Psych-rock/

Comment: three musicians from Tel Aviv reconvened in the rehearsal room to complete the debut album just in a 24 hour live session. However, the process seems to be succeeded in the very planned way. Dynamical garage rock base is embellished with some rockabilly touch, never to be functioning boring somehow. At times it reminds of Sonic Youth.

Sledding With Tigers - The Hill Sheep (2010)

Bandcamp
Mediafire
Lastfm

8.7

/Crossover, Punk rock, Country, Bluegrass, Folk, Vaudeville/

Comment: when this 8-track album was issued at the end of 2010, it consisted of two members only - Dan Faughnder (guitar, banjo, mandolin, vocals), and Sam Juneman (violin, vocals). Although the album/combo is already compared with Andrew Jackson Jihad, Bright Eyes, and Defiance Ohio, this issue with short-running tracks takes on a brutally amusing crossbreeding of Southern-rooted styles (country, bluegrass, vaudeville folk) and on the other side, punk rock/easycore. And the coverprint is impressive. Spectacular.

Without Time – Trap (2011)

Dystopiaq

8.8

/Post-rock, Epic, Alternative pop/rock, Post-metal, Crososver, Experimental rock/

Comment: Without Time are Sasha Kondrashov and Yan Kolomytsky from Grodno, Belorussia who offer one, 6-minute track Trap. Posture-filled majestic rock/metal drive is ornamented with melancholic piano-headed frames and enjoyable guitar warbles in the midst of the track. And of course, the coverprint is nice.

JLA - Lobotomy (EP MIX)

Sam Gas Can - Summer Of Sam (2011)

Sam Gas Can
Free Music Archive

9.0

/Primitive music, Lo-fi, DIY, Experimentalism, Noise, Sound collage, Free folk, New Weird Belorussia, Improvised music, Freeformfreakout, Psych-music/

Comment: Sam Gas Sam is an eccentric sound creator from Belorussia who has headed the label Faux-Pas Industries. (And making mistakes since 1986!). Actually such sorts of rough approaches has always had huge impact on me, more detailly, using amusing samples, abstract buzzes and sheer noise, rusty anti-folk-ish twanging, free improvised unplugged record sessions and...and of course, a shitloads of "errors". Furthermore, all the soundscape is heavily lopsided, sharing lots of hints right and left, up and down. Its madness used to veer from Einstürzende Neubauten to Vierivä Viiksiportieri. These 11 tracks constitute an enjoyable whole which is part of the New Weird Europe scene. Viva la free spirit!

The Nightchild - Some Stories And Thoughts (2011)

Jamendo
Afmusic
Lastfm

7.8

/Gothic rock, Electro-rock, Synth rock, Post-punk, Alternative rock/

Comment: a pathetic dark pop/rock combo from Ukraine, consisting of Alexey Nightchild A (vocals, guitars, keyboard, programming) and Olga "Holy Cat" (bass guitar). Rigid bass/drums-driven progressions are the base for such kinds of explorations veering from gothic post-punk to brooding electro-rock to more Nightwish-esque pompous symphonic metal approach. Business as usual, yet, seems a little bit weary.