Atlas Sound Bedroom Databank Vol. 1 (Atlas Sound)

Nowadays (experimental) indie music golden boy Bradford Cox is back again. No doubt, he was one of those remarkable newcomers - besides the tandem Avey Tare-Panda Bear, and Ariel Pink - whose conception poisoned profoundly the understandings of music lovers throughout the previous decade. At first, with Deerhunter, as the singer of the Atlanta-based quintet (now quartet), he has been evolving a blend of art-rock, noise rock, space pop/ambient, and shoegaze, all wrapped up in expansively psychedelic ambience. As Atlas Sound, his one-man-band, he is used to exploit the most of the abovementioned stylistic elements while showed up more electronic and laptop-based approach as well. By the way, besides the extraordinarily lank look he is also known by his exclusive songwriting method via stream-of-consciousness.

During last years he has released a lot of concert outtakes and bedroom demo recordings of the both projects via his/Deerhunter blog. Bedroom Databank Vol. 1 compiled of 11 tracks is the last appearance in the array (in Wikipedia has already mentioned the numerical follow-ups to the Bedroom Databank). The album is stilistically a wide-scale one, extending from minimally bleeping laptop-based lo-fi electronics, and Stereolab-esque light-filled synthetic pop to harmonica-leaded introvert alt-folk/indie folk songs (though it is mostly managed to be fulfilled with every kind of electronic effects). However, by my opinion, Lanterns is an outstanding ambient track, encircled by ticking icy-tinged IDM-beats. Really profound and sensitive, remembering a bit of Pulp`s Seductive Barry. There are also two covers represented here to get coated into new appearances (Bob Dylan`s This Wheel`s On Fire; Kurt Vile`s Freak Train).

Listen to it here

8.6

[Artists] Dark Souls Day

Afmusic
Jamendo
Bandcamp
Archive.org
Myspace
Lastfm

Fescal Endorphin (1798)

This year has been busy for Fescal, a British native residing in the South Korea at the moment, having previously released some issues under Black Square (Omnia), and Bypass (Lethal Industry) AD 2010.

However, endorphin is in effect a good substance for one`s brain to lift up the mood and give a firm push for a subject`s further movings and actions. The essential question is, should it always be designed into a variegated output or might it be the matter of sparseness as well? Regarding an example of Fescal`s new one, I can admit that the last named possibility has also a solid perspective, though. 7 tracks consisting of sparse layers of ambient, throbbing microtextures, subtle tape hiss-based ingredients and darkwave-esque harmonies. Even a half-way inbetween ambient and krautrock-alike touch are conjured here (Sheep Dip), and the glass bead game of Door Cinema (with the assistance of loops, droning microsounds, and musique concrete). Indeed, by its mood the sonority of the whole at times does consist strange (dystopic) impulses of an isolated place somewhere. Here the writer says that the best tracks are the two last ones (Waltzing Nature; Frozen Time) and the first one (Hollow Spirit), finding out and acquiring mightily epic point of views.

It to estimate the album from the ideal perspective of ambient and experimental music, the result is getting proportionally close to the final end.

Listen to it here

9.3

Alessio Ballerini Blanc (Zymogen)

The privilege, the pleasure is mine... . Zymogen is back with its new notch, Alessio Ballerini`s brand new heavy album Blanc. The coverprint with a snowy mountain peak...what is it up here to be referred actually? As it is obviously known "Blanc" does mean as "white" in French, so is it possible to have somehow a reference to the highest peak in the Europe? Why not, though in fact, the album concerns on climate changes regarding the melting of the ice sheets of Greenland. 5 tracks are appeared here to be sounded really warm and comfortable, though, it is full of ghosts and ghouls, which, however, are not used to be frightening occurences. The whole one might be reminiscent of borealic space of Tim Hecker, endlessly snowy landscapes, chaotically swirling airy vectors and silent whirls of the storm. Here you can relax for listening to hiss-infused mini-orchestrations, electro-acoustic trash-y clangors, minimally sounding piano loaded modern classical pieces. Could you imagine that a kind of (beatific) shit and a piece of beauty are rolling alongside to get finally joint together, and as a result, delivering a hallmark about an exhilarating sound example in the end of 2010. By the way, Ballerini is helped by Canenero, Gianni Pavan, and Christian Fennesz (indeed, by this famous österreicher Fennesz).

Listen to it here

9.4

[Compilation] Beko DSL Beko_Fla (Beko DSL)

In fact, there is not much time passed by when I reviewed Bekos DSL`s compilation box_3 being dedicated to witch house/drag/haunted house/screwgaze/crunk shoegaze. It is another compilation, however, also subnamed as A Beko/Free Loving Anarchists Collab concerning profoundly on shoegaze, lo-fi, fuzz pop, dream pop, and post punk-influenced sound from one area/scene (Houston, Texas). Indeed, this miscellany can be dealt with as a fine indie stuff for nowadays people being seriously annoyed by the mediocrity and unvariedness of ordinary music examples. 8 tracks by projects like Rape Faction, Lois Magic, Pink Playground, Young Henry, The KVB, Virgo Rising, Wicked Crafts, Sacred Place do draft solid harmonies and catchy pace notches. The favorite numbers of mine are The KVB`s Into The Night which is an experimental drive on the level of DIY via pulsating trance-alike synth drones, and Joy Division-esque coolness; and Virgo Rising`s To Deal Without It based upon reminiscence of a track by My Bloody Valentine (find it yourself out, I guess) through a memorable synth repetition and spaced-out milieu.

Listen to it here

[Artists] Addis Abbeba/Аддис Абеба

Addis Abbeba/Аддис Абеба
Lastfm

Model Warships Capsules (Bandcamp)

No doubt, Leeds-based Michael Waters is an idiosyncratic singer-songwriter, who has issued 4 releases during last 2 years under the likes of Tavern Eightieth, BeatIsMurder, and Bandcamp. For an argue, concerning on his abundant experiences and possibly much collected know-how in various experimental ensembles (Perfect Writing; Shi Toys; Syuzhet; The Amber Sleep; Cedar Trees), it should not make a big heck of his (sub)conscious expressions and stylistic palette. Indeed, it is eccentrically diverse on each of his issues, stretching out to form kinds of striking wholes consisting of wide-rangely used plaintive and sometimes dirge-alike vocal manners encompassed by noise and hiss-infused guitar strummings, which is enriched with glockenspiel snippets, electronics and stereo effects. Finding out his nichè in drifting between the ways of silence and noise, calmness and unrest, dream-alikeness and horribleness Waters` music is compared to such defiant pop acts as Xiu Xiu, Frog Eyes, Belong, Sufjan Stevens, and Martin Grech. By my side I would add the metal-slapping adoreness of Einstuerzende Neubauten, and dream folk-esque invertedness of Pipher, and Barbagallo.

The whole array of the abovementioned elements are proudly represented on Capsules too, though, some new elements are up here for Waters` weird conception to be completed. For instance, through electro-cadenced undercurrents and metallic abrasiveness are brought forth some new grinning facies. No doubt, Model Warship is one of the most powerful representatives in the New Weird Europe movement nowadays.

Listen to it here

9.4