Colony - This Machine Never Sleeps (2007)

Archive.org
Bandcamp

9.3

/Experimental techno, Deep techno, Synth pop, Chill out/

Comment: a kind of the legacy of Kraftwerk surfaced in 2007 in Verona, Italy. Dreamy, glacial glow-alike blissful tracks yet including a little bit pessimistic echoes regarding human-related future. The robots may conquer and annihilate the mankind. On the other side, this album can be classified as glo-tech, i.e being a combination of pulsating New Wave/synth pop and crispy Warp-esque intellectual techno/kosmische techno. However, the influences by Kraftwerk are still relevant and the design of the coverprint is impressive.

Happiness In Aeroplanes - A History Of Water (2011)

Bandcamp

8.8

/Post-rock, Modern classical, Experimentalism, Experimental electronica, DIY, Lo-fi, Avant-garde, Experimental electronica, Chamber music/

Comment: behind this one-man project hides himself Eddie J Palmer from Brooklyn. The Brooklynite provides a set of 12 notches which used to vary on the large scale of pop music. While it follows DIY/lo-fi aesthetics (the soundscape is relatively rough and thus pleasantly vulnerable) these songs are not punk/indie pop-related ones. It is rather a sort of post-rock/modern classical/chamber music undermined with twisted electronic modalities below it. Palmer`s previous, considerably more electronic-soaked albums are replaced with more organic, nature-faced visions.

Our Bad: A Michael Jackson Tribute Compilation (2009)

CLLCT

8.4

/Covers, Conceptual, Singer-songwriter, Alternative pop, Alt-folk, Electronic/

Comment: all this caboodle what was going around the death of Michael Jackson recently was far away from being normal and forced to avoid reading the media. This 13-track miscellany was compiled during the legend`s lifetime. I`ll Be There, Billie Jean, We Are The World and other classic ones are covered here by iron like nylon, Patrick Ripoll, tinyfolk, shelby sifers, James Eric (and his side project garden on a trampoline) and other CLLCT-related eminent musicians.

Starfire Connective Sounds - They Call Her One Eye

Kanin Krusete - Like A Thing (2009)

Twilight Luggage

9.4

/Noise, Harsh noise, Psycho-acoustic, Noise rock, Non-music, Avant-garde, Experimentalism/

Comment: an obsessive, freaked out noise (or extreme noise rock) punch by Shea Alterio aka Kanin Krusete. By listening to it you can feel yourself like standing under the waterfall or being stabbed with cathartic noise bursts and "caressing" with crafty phase changes while surrounded by lunatics and zombies.

Craig Chordman - Destiny (2011)

Jamendo

9.4

/Mood music, Glo-fi, Synth rock, Electronic pop, Fusion, Alternative, Progressive synth/

Comment: I reviewed Chordman`s last release (single) Beacon Of Dreams which was an eminent effort. By the way, he has issued the singles only so far. However, his brand new one is certainly bigger and brighter mixing up burbly yet blissed-out synth gears with fusion/jazz rock-alike chords. It reminds a little of the Latvian legend Zodiac. The more you listen to it the better it gets. Huge! Let`s wait for Chordman`s first album. Or is our destiny not to be part of it.

Riga - Escapism (2011)

Chew-Z
Bandcamp

9.1

/Glitch techno, IDM, Experimental techno, Glitch ambient/

Comment: firstly, it is techno music with balls from Italy. These 11 tracks do take on sizzling, smithereens-filled cadences which do pierce behind the gleaming, atmospherical veil of synth layers. Industrial visions at the club stage.