8/19/2012
Troy Schafer – Supreme Happiness Forever (2012)
9.8
/Drone, Ambient drone, Epic, Chamber music, Modern classical, Experimental electronica, Avant-garde, Avant-electronica, Post-rock, Noise, Experimentalism, Crossover/
Comment: Troy Schafer (Madison, Wisconsin, USA) offers up a set of 3 pieces which is highly recommendable. More profoundly, his vanguard-ish, violin-led soundscapes are craftily tense, accentuated with different, massively droning keys thus getting close to such masters as Tony Conrad, and John Cale, though, he is idiosyncratic in his creative process (The Breath Of Life Is But A Kiss). Or on the other side, he is able to leave the academical tradition and to get involved in more poppy traditions (flirtations with Americana, noise and epic post-rock-ish seeds at Hail, True Body). TS`s soundscape is hell-ish and solemn at the same time. Apparition is an example of how classical tradition meets successfully modern days thereby establishing new frontiers and frameworks for the listener to understand music on a new level. In a word, it is a very fine crossover issue.
Automassage - Saxophone EP (2012)
9.4
/Doom rock, Covers, Acid rock, psychedelia, Experimental rock, Noise rock, Doomgaze, Fusion, Avant-rock, Experimental indie, Improvised music/
Comment: Automassage is a quartet which consists of Austrian and Slovenian musicians. Their 4-track album is issued on an Israeli label, entitled Birdsong. The compositions are made up of massive doom-ish guitar washes, buried a little threatening vocal layers, poignant drumming, and acidic synth whiffs, though, all these layers seem to be tied with each other in a loose way (it is OK anyway). More detailedly, if you like the following categorization, you would tag it "doomgaze" (though, it used to have reference points and hints at fusion, psychedelia/acid rock, and improvised deliberations either. Bardo Pond meets My Bloody Valentine meets Mahavishnu Orchestra is one way of how to approach the group. And there is no sign about saxophone! By the way, there are presented a pair of covers (Guns N` Roses` Get In the Ring; and - surprise, surprise - Holy Night). It is an astonishing release by any senses. Grrrt!
Testet Ölt - Untitled (2012)
9.4
/Post-rock, Instrumental rock, Avant-rock, Improvised music, Ambient rock, Psychedelic rock, Alternative, Epic/
Comment: Testet Ölt is a collective from Temerin, Vojvodina, Serbia who provide a handful of tracks which used to wobble somewhere in between composed and improvised tendencies. More concretely, TÖ`s soundscape can stylistically be considered a hallmark of psychedelically treated post-rock whereas there is no vocal lines but instead of it involves a loads of key changes and half-crescendos oozing out of the slots backdropped with dreamy, at times even haunting synths, cohesive guitar lines, and mesmerizing drum sequences. There are some exceptions (Dèli Bàb) where Pink Floyd-esque influences are withdrawn and guitars and traded to vibraphones (or its emulators) thus reminding rather of the likes of The Dylan Group, Mice Parade, Mercury Program, and Tristeza. Another exception, called Biztos Alkony used to get quite close to the main theme of Twin Peaks, however, amalgamating it with solid guitar chords and catchy effects and tumultuous drum breaks now and then. The result is superb having enough potential to get a classic status sometime in the future.
8/18/2012
All their broken hearts – A tribute album to Julie Doiron (2003)
9.2
/Indietronica, Compilation, Improvised music, Covers, Alt-folk, Indie folk, Post-rock, Folk indie, Singer-songwriter/
Comment: this 28-track cover album is dedicated to the (French) Canadian singer-songwriter Julie Doiron by an Belgian-Canadian record, called Paper Heart, however, stylistically veering away from more or less whimsical indie/alt-folk contemplations and straightforward punk-ish forays and freely composed off-kilter appearances to soothing electric piano-led soft pop and fine electronica-tinged indie pop/post-rock examples and heartfelt, intimate singer-songwriter-ism. There are represented tracks by such artists as Snailhouse, Neil Haverty, Tino, Melochrome, nude, Call me Loretta, MEN, Evie, The Radiators (if to name some of them only). In a nutshell, the miscellany is on the ball.
Linear Bells - An Island (2012)
9.5
/Ambient, Glitchtronica, Epic, Abstract, Post-rock, Soundscapes, Modern classical, Experimental rock, Glitch ambient, Musique concrete, Chamber music/
Comment: this peculiar, 7-track issue comes out of France embarking on a journey with a whiff of concrete sounds which later will be interlaced with lone, reverb-laden guitar or piano chords and at times sparse, at times more swelling glitch-y noises, being embellished with fine ambient and drone-esque panoramas above it. On the other side, stylistically the set used to wobble in between gritty experimental electronica, anthemic yet somewhat restraint (or still life-ish) post-rock-ish aspirations, ang gliding drone and ambient-ish soundscapes. If you are intended to search for some kindred souls then I recommend to listen to Pygmalion-era Slowdive, Natural Snow Buildings, Pan American, Tim Hecker, Sejdman, Aboombong, for example.
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