ST★RS – Four Letter Words (2014)

Bayshore

• Electronic music 
• Experimentalism 
• Lo-fi 
• Alternative 
• DIY
• Darkwave 
• Synthwave 
• Drone 
• Avant-garde 
• Minimalism

Comment: behind the nom de plume ST★RS is Jay Stevens from Portland, USA whose 4-track debut outing starts off with Gold which chimes like an old tape broken up and being played on a tape player with smeared cartridge. One can hear faint droning and powerless drumming around it. By using headphones one can hear almost nothing. Because of that the purpose of that track seems to be totally unclear. It might be it is thought to introduce the other tracks to create such a sort of effect before. Indeed, the situation will change with the second track, Frag, which is based on a reverberating, vibrant drone showcasing its very minimal approach in the first place. Haze is also a drone-based issue though abandoning its minimal approach and employing blackened smouldering of somehow glistening synthesisers and intense drumming. The final track Tosh is the most hovering one and opened toward outer space. Indeed, Jay Stevens watches the stars in a magnificent way. The solid outing is a part of the discography of Bayshore Records.

[Teaser of the day] Derek Clegg - Turn Back To Me

• Singer-songwriter
• Indie pop
• Soft rock
• Alternative pop
• Americana

Artist: Derek Clegg

Release: DC4t

Label: Self-released/Bandcamp

Year: 2017

[Teaser of the day] Baradit - Cyber Photo

Pueblo Nuevo

• Techno pop
• Ambient pop
• Alternative
• Kosmische Musik
• Synthwave
• Crossover 
• Electronic pop

Artist: Baradit

Release: Electro Lines

Label: Pueblo Nuevo

Year: 2017

Get- Effect – Trick Ladders (2015)

Vanguardista

• Krautrock 
• Alternative 
• Experimental rock 
• Drone pop 
• Motorik 
• Avant-rock 
• Art rock 
• Electronic

Comment: this handful of tracks is based on contemporary tendencies of krautrock/motorik music which was initially started off by an early Kraftwerk, and Neu!, and later developed by such artists as Stereolab, The Notwist, To Rococo Rot, Mina, Contriva and Fujiya & Miyagi, for instance. Get- effect is a project from Glasgow, Scotland whose the most distinctive track is obviously Giant On The Hill which chimes like a tribute to Simon Jeffes through fable short waves, and white noise frequencies providing the intriguing background for the catchy, iterative melody. Otherwise, droning, glacially glimmering synths with acidic vibrations are represented there which used to hover over obsessively iterative rhythmic structures and pulsating guitar gears and throbbing synthesised basses. This fabulous outing is a part of the discography of Manchester, UK-based imprint Vanguardista Records.

[Teaser of the day] Ruffle - Addicted To Your Mind

• Kosmische Musik
• Krautrock
• Synthwave
• Electronic music
• Alternative

Artist: Ruffle

Release: Uplink To Ruffle

Label: Format Noise

Year: 2009

[Teaser of the day] Dust Mill - Light On

Sirona-Records

• Electro pop
• Post-rave
• Electronic pop
• Alternative
• Post-disco

Artist: Dust Mill

Release: Post-Past EP

Label: Sirona-Records/Free Music Archive

Year: 2017

The Harvey Girls – The Harvey Girls (2005)

Imaginary Albums

• Indie pop/rock 
• Art pop 
• Alternative pop/rock 
• Jangle pop 
• Experimental pop

Comment: The Harvey Girls` 9-notch outing can be considered a classic indie pop album where jangly guitar-based templates are mixed up with synthesised effects and with some electronic music around it. However, recent understanding of indie music is already changed because the synthesisers have conquered the scene and mostly the result used to be quite cold and making no difference. There is no naivety, there is no belief for better future. Frequently all is changed into a repellent electronic gross. Do you like such combos as Kasabian, and 1975? I do not like them. Do you like Primal Scream in the year of 2016 and 2017? I do not like it. However, Primal Scream`s Vanishing Point (1997, Creation) is one of the best albums throughout the time. The album starts off with Green Light, the first chords of it remind of Pulp`s Do You Remember The First Time. I like if guitars and synths are balanced on a release or the artists trying to avoid lame synthesised sounds (for instance, The Smiths` album Queen Is Dead, and Strangeways Here We Come, and Blur`s Blur, and Mercury Rev`s Light In You, and Animal Collective`s first five albums, and Sufjan Steven`s albums are great ones with regard to it). The point of mine is also related to the belief that sonic effect based approach cannot replace solid songwriting. The Harvey Girls succeeds doing it. The album embraces catchy melodies and experiments due to song structures and sounds. It is filled with hirsute noises and gentle jingle-jangling sounds, with expressive and restrained moods. Furthermore, I could not resist singing in unison by female and male voices. All is craftily balanced on the album being released under Imaginary Albums.