Bark Cat Bark - Á Lífi (2009)

Povlja
Lastfm

8.8

/Chamber pop, Art-pop, New Age, Experimental indie, Post-rock, Modern classical, Crossover, Classical music/

Comment: Bark Cat Bark was Josh Todd`s solo project, being in action from 2004 to 2009. He had released a handful of albums. Á Lífi was one of his last issues. Soothing orchestrations, enthralling transitions from one fragment to another, some New Age-ish voyages, lone piano-driven reverberations and majestic post-rock-ish ascensions. And of course, accordion-based Paris street music makes always sense. By the way, shortly after he ended up with the activity some yobbos accused him of stealing other people`s oeuvre. Of course, it turned out to be a ridiculous and completely false case. In fact, there may be found out some similarities with Yann Tiersen, and Beirut, for instance, yet, could there be just one person who is able to abandon the legacy of the previous and contemporary eras to introduce his/her absolutely idiosyncratic experience onward? Inevitably not. One cultural layer was pulled out from the previous ones and thereafter heaped up on other ones.

Esperi - My Tear Dissolved The View

Rollin Hunt - Dear People Of The World (2008)

Lost Frog

8.6

/Primitive pop, Lo-fi, Outsider pop, Singer-songwriter, DIY/

Comment: Chicago, Illinois-based artist Rollin Hunt began recording Dear People of the World in his Chicago bedroom using a karaoke machine with a keyboard, drum machine, guitar and microphone. It is an intimate, funest 15-track recording because of doing it at the evening of the death of his father in 2002. By its primitivistic approach, however, the whole reminds of the deeds by Jandek at times.

The Hirundu - The Return To Swill Mountain (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.5

/Dark ambient, Experimental electronica, Ambient noise, Sound-art, Ambient drone, Noise, Microtonalism, Minimal, Avant-garde, Experimentalism/

Comment: The Return To Swill Mountain was the first album released by Johnny Crewdson in 2011. More detailly, it is a massive exploration on droning snippets, minimal yet englutting brown noises and microtonal thudding, often surrounded by ghastly (dark) ambient mist which at times is "illuminated" with the glimpses of ancient human voice samples or more "recognized" electronic music (electronica) and shimmering electro-acoustic facades. By the main intention this 8-track publication can have common parts with the likes of Pan Sonic, Caustic Reverie, slept., Frank Bretschneider, The Vitrines, Morgen Mittag, and Marc Broude. An eminent album by any means.

Phantom Vibration - Growing EP (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

8.9

/Dream pop, Americana, Alternative, Baroque pop, Tropical pop, Psychedelic pop, Experimental indie, Sunshine pop, Post-pop/

Comment: honestly, Phantom Vibration`s (Daniel Clinton-McCausland, Henry Mackaman, and Gunnar Kauth) debut issue Kids EP offered an amazing listening experience, more concretely, which was forged off into the blend of organ-driven dream pop and americana-based sensibility. The follow-up Growing EP continues running on a similar sunshine pop-fringed path, though, having more air and glockenspiel exercises within it. In a nutshell, while the debut album was more appealing, the sophomore one is worth enough to be given a try. Let`s wait for their planned third EP in a row. The trio is certainly worth to be much more recognized.

Knyaz Mishkin - Live in Soligorsk

Jelani - Wait, You Can Rap?!?! (2008)

Notherground Music
Archive.org
Lastfm

8.8

/Hip-hop,  Cinematic, Urban music, Funk, Soul, Rap/

Comment: Jelani, a hip-hop musician from the Big Apple has been a part of Notherground Music (the fine platform for a circle of DIY hip-hop artists). However, this is certainly of the the strongest albums within it. 12 tracks do demonstrate catchy rhyme settings and enthralling orchestrations (with psychedelic, acid-soaked synths here nad there) and danceable funky beats and blissed-out soul touches in the background. He is assisted by label mates 6th Sense, and Wildabeast, and Mike Maven used to feature in some tracks.