Jay Curry - CheetahPrintRose$ (2011)

Mediafire
Bandcamp

9.2

/Cinematic, Hip-hop, Urban sound, Trip-hop, Spoken word, Sampledelic, Funk, Mood music, Cut and paste, Plunderphonics, Sound collage/

Comment: there are represented 9 amusing and uplifting ditties by Jay Curry, a producer from Long Beach & Coachella Valley, Los Angeles, USA. The album is a follow-up to Vanity issued in 2010. Similarly to Rimar, Phaseone, htrspltn, Ears, and Max Tannone (though he is not a mash-up activist in the first sense), he uses a sort of recycling approach to create new songs. More profoundly, trip-hop beats are seamlessly set below sunshiny, blissed-out layers of The US-based urban-approved music (digi funk, hip-hop, trip-hop) and lofty bossa nova floatation. In the ending track Web Surf Jay Curry is assisted by the Estonian superb trio Music For Your Plants. Ultimately, let`s invent a new genre name (cinemawave) for such music because the album makes your day.

Cave Bears - Jazz Hands (2011)

Free Music Archive

9.0

/Improvised music, Non-music, Noise, Avant-garde, Psych-music, Freeformfreakout, New Weird America, Primitivism, Psycho-acoustic, Experimentalism/

Comment: it is said that Cave Bears is the incredibly bizarre, noise-drenched, brain-damaged sound exploration project of pre-school teacher Nick Williams, Carrie Bren & friends. Indeed, I can only agree with the statement. The issue embarks on with noiseful, angst-loaded screaming forays which are backed up with the blurred electro-acoustic dust and digital crackles and hiss in the background. Moreover, at times it used to run on primitivistic mode. In the second track it is sampled a sober melody from very far past which soon gets conquered and displaced with the destructive landscape. All in all, this 3 long-track album is an improvisational freakout act, reminding of some Finnish free improvisational combos (Kemialliset Ystävät; Hipsu Jänis; Vierivä Viiksiportieeri) or the Brazil-based nu wave noise acts (Keroøàcidu Suäväk; LFC) or the Portugal-based traveller Xarhope or the Estonian combos Kreatiivmootor, Tuljak, Autharktos, EDASI.

Marc Broude - Maladaptive Daydreaming

3 Way Split - Trifarious Assault (2011)

Torn Flesh

9.0

/Grindcore, Noise, Brutal metal, Cybergrind, Crust punk, Post-metal; Doom metal/

Comment: I love this split recorded by three artists and issued on Torn Flesh Records. Indeed, it is ill-natured and a little bit sick, yet, offering up much energy which pours out from the walls of grindcore and doom-veiled anxiousness and angriness. Their posture while gourmandizing the mire assisted by ultra heavy guitars and permanently punching drums and "throat singing" is truly impressive. In true, there are up three artists - What Makes a Time Bomb Tick; Dog Snot; Skull Incision - who convey the brutal forays of metal, and demented punk (or just call this combination grindcore-ish as I mentioned it already above). However, Skull Incision displays more electronic visions differentiated with the help of pure, digital noise-inflected strikes and slaps. An intense yet matter-of-fact listening.

The Never Years - Beko_98 (2011)

Beko DSL
Lastfm

9.2

/Chillwave, Glo-fi, Electronic pop, Poptronica, Dreamwave, Experimental indie, Alternative/

Comment: behind this project is none else than Jamie Long who was previously known writing electronic-soaked pop music under his own name. Now he is back with a handful of tracks running on the verge and soaring over the plateaus of chillwave/glo-fi plateaus. There are represented blissed-out and lucid ones appearing like the episodes of an unforgettable dream. Let`s call it just panoramic pop which used to gluttonize the stars.

Simon Bird - V (2011)

Bandcamp

9.3

/Poptronica, Post-psychedelic electronica, DIY, Epic, Shoegazetronica, Electronic pop, Experimental indie/

Comment: Simon himself sent me this album and he did it f..king rightly indeed. He is a young composer from Dublin, Ireland who makes an astonishing sound comprising the elements of solemn-angled shoegaze, sober post-psychedelic electronica, DIY-ish "wastelands" and "junkyards" backed up with the "disaffected" rhythms of big beat and downtempo. You could call it urban tribalism if you wish. While you can see the traces drawn upon the likes of Fuck Buttons, M83, and Seefeel, yet, his sound seems to be even more variable thus being more powerful and sympathetic (except Seefeel). Unlike M83 Bird`s sound is not heavily soaked in sugar or so monotonously running regarding vis-à-vis with Fuck Buttons. His project can also be compared with Superficial Random Knowledge Porridge, a mesmerizing Sankt Peterburg, Russia-based duo. However, for instance, listen to Bird`s track Baphomet Vs. The Great Winged Horse II and you can probably see the dubliner does have a huge potential to be discovered and approved. A great output of 5 tracks for sure.

Shelby Sifers - The Food Pyramid