Recent Music Heroes

Comment: this set of 6 compositions embraces such titles as Dolphin, Jellyfish, White Whale, Lobster, Penguin, and Squid. Given that the title of the issue is Kaspar Nemo which does sound very close to captain Nemo. So what consequence could we extract from it? Is it the marine release? Is it thoroughly sea-green by its tonality? I have no competence to assume it but I think of it as a bloody catchy issue where all the aspects, the configuration of the whole is craftily set up yet stylistic scope of the whole is amusingly broad – from mellifluous spacey synth journeys and puckish IDM to elegant full-fledged electro pop/techno pop/kraut and elliptical dub techno frequencies. The outing is a part of the discography of Cota303.

Thierry Massard – A EN TIO (2012)

Editora Do Porto

Bandcamp

Drone
Old school industrial
Avant-garde
Experimentalism
Leftfield
Microtonal
Abstract
Electronic music
Non-music
Psycho-acoustic

Comment: I guess I made first acquaintance with the Frenchman Thierry Massard in 2009 while I started with the blog. It was a merry time within the blogosphere in general, including those blogs dedicated to free music mavericks. I can remember for a couple of blogs by him, one of them having spot on the nature and personality of artists through a fixed questionnaire. Later on, I discovered him as a musician who recorded his first music already at the end of the 70s (his birth year is 1959). I recommend reading my interview with him where he had shed light upon his doings and intentions behind his musical deeds. At A EN TIO he continues his initial impulse through the creation of abstract, austere soundscapes based on rough drones and abrasive yet restrained electronic music. Although it was issued 5 years ago it can be considered a pure instance of the old school industrial movement. I am always thrilled while listening to such sort of sound. It chimes in a very authentic way having clearly no rivalled counterparts from today. I guess this 3-notch release is also recorded with the same equipment he had been doing approximately 4 decades ago. It is a part of the discography of the Portuguese imprint Editora do Porto.

Bryyn – In Hiding (2017)

Jamendo
Bryyn

Indie folk
Alt-folk
Folk indie
Americana
Singer-songwriter

Comment: in recent days Chicago, Illinois, US-based artist Bryn Martin aka Bryyn (also being known as the frontman of Pinkle and the Polygons) issued a couple of albums. In Hiding is a crystal clear folk album which gets inspiration from the best sources of an American music history and tradition. It is not the first album by him. Vice versa, he has been a highly prolific artist during the last decade for cheering us with more and less whimsical electronic tinged folk releases. As I said already it is a crystal clear issue yet it does not mean he does not employ electronic devices and effects for his own sake. All these instruments are up there to have been measured out just as optimally and poignantly as it is needed to conquer one's senses and heart. The listener can breathe in and out in a free manner because all the music seems to come directly from an effortless cloud, from liberated uncivilised terrains, from somewhere we used to subconsciously longing for. It is idyllic, it is rustic, it is picturesque. There can be drawn parallels upon such an artist as Sufjan Stevens yet it is not a serious objection to assume it as being one of the best issues in 2017. The outing is a bit of the immense platform of Jamendo.