The Hatsune Mikus - Go Manchester!!! (2011)

Canata
Lastfm

9.5

/Dream pop, Baggy, Shoegaze, Madchester, Dance rock, Alternative pop/rock, J-pop, Indie pop/

Comment: I have always been into such groups as Happy Mondays, The Soup Dragons, Darkside, Flowered Up, Northside, The Mock Turtles, The Wordsmiths and other such kind of groups who used to fuse indie guitars with dance-appealed beats. By listening to this 5-track issue I can only perceive very strong bittersweet feeling because of including elements which do build up an enthralling whole. Japanese female vocal driven songs are backed up by suggestive wah guitars, beatific mandolin chords and amusing orchestrations, and loose drum pads. Onwards, the result can be measured in astonishing harmonies and melodies either. In fact, the album`s title should have named as Go Madchester!!! (just a little joke!). However, imagine as if Happy Mondays were met with Richard Hawley, and Asobi Seksu, and Flipper`s Guitar, and Ride. One of the pop albums in 2011.

goto80 - Ter4

Hox Vox - Undead (2011)

Bandcamp

9.3

/Electronic pop, Progressive rock, RIO, Avant-prog, Weird pop, Experimental/

Comment: Hox Vox is Gianluca Missero, a native from Venice (or Venezia as you wish) who has covered lots of stylistic curiosities and thus has been a steadfast torchbearer for nowadays RIO (rock in opposition) movement or at least its uncompromising traditions. Matter of fact is that he is now more involved in the doings of such groups as Turbogrind Terrorizers, The Blasted Muffins, and The Wreck Up, yet, here is the awesome single Undead which, however, demonstrates Missero`s idiosyncratic sonic calligraphy and ability for dramatic explorations. More concretely, it includes the elements of different kind of breaks, the growling of werewolves, ethereal vowel layers. The most appealing fact is that the moods around it are peculiarly shifting and changeable. I would delineate it for myself as a psychedelic experience at least.

Betamaxx - Wild Foxes (2011)

Bandcamp
Lastfm

9.3

/Chillwave, Glo-fi, Synth pop, Electronic pop, Lo-fi, DIY/

Comment: a heavy blend of nowadays and past tendencies mixed into a stunning whole by any means. The 70`s disco oscillations and lush synth pop glimpses are interlaced with nowadays bedroom production a la early Ariel Pink. Truly retrodelic. Tom Reah and Euan Lynn are a Newcastle, UK-based duo whom should be checked out in the future as well. Most of us are not so talented just to take on such superb sound and intentions.

Enki Enlil - Acid Monkey Strikes Again (2010)

Archive.org

9.5

/Hauntology, Synth noir, Psyambient, Electronic pop, Avant-electronica, Experimentalism, Drone pop, DIY/

Comment: actually it involves much more elements than just by the sentence that hip-hop beats meet acid ambience. Furthermore, those aforementioned stylistic elements are quite vague on it. It is deeply haunting sounding like a track from within a compilation of halloween being deliberately mixed up with nowadays DIY/lo-fi aesthetics. All those dusty, droning analogue keyboards are set up to provide lush vibrations and suggestive rhythms or at times being replaced with more introverted electronic explorations. Even psychedelic chill out/psyambient-esque patterns and shamanic incantations are represented here. And all of that sounds truly great. In a nutshell, a gem indeed.

2muchachos - Long Time Ago

Mood Rings - Sweater Weather Forever (2011)

Mediafire

Bandcamp

9.2

/Indie pop, Alternative pop, Shoegaze, Dream pop/

Comment: a handful of solid indie songs by Allen Taylor, a Atlanta, Georgia-based native. The chiming touches of delay-filled pop progressions are spiced up by some more penetrating shoegaze-esque guitar riffs now and then. In fact, the last track Washer abandons all the dreams to come over for fording in the swamp of more straightforward indie rock/shoegaze-ish tunes. Ultimately, you can draw the parallels upon the visions and intention of those combos ever issued on Slumberland Records and Holiday Records. Of course, the reverberations by Deerhunter, and Atlas Sound are also represented on it. However, this release was the first one issued in 2011. Taylor has been truly prolific since this moment (7 publications upon it at Bandcamp).