Alberto Nemo - 6x0
ethereal / drone
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The name Alberto Nemo might ring a bell to Venetian Snares fans for whom he delivers vocal performances. With this record, the opera singer delves deep into the world of dark, esoteric ambient. Drones, soundscapes, a gothic atmosphere and the distinct operatic vocals create an estranging sound, somewhere between the gloomy experimentality of Coil and the ethereal orchestration of Elend. This EP contains six tracks, meant to be played backwards. You can hear that in the strange sound of the music but, if you're one of those dark, haunted souls, you can just as easily enjoy this album the normal way.
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Käki - Junk Loops 3
drone / ambient / experimental
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To some people, rubbish isn't always rubbish. To some people, scrap yards are instrument stores. This release by Käki (aka Junkyard Shaman) is the registration of a live performance, using junk, loops, soundscapes, samples and drones. The result is a brilliant mix between Master Musicians Of Bukkake, Einsturzende Neubauten and Raison D'Etre. In three long , repetitive and captivating tracks, Käki effortlessly takes the listener on an hypnotic trip. This is a perfect journey for a post apocalyptic movie about earth during a nuclear winter. Recommended? You bet. This is fantastic stuff.
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Alien Tantric Method - Intraverse
dark ambient / electronic
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Canadian dark ambient act Alien Tantric Method delivers a gloomy, cinematic and outer space inspired album, loaded with eerie soundscapes and cosmic noises. Immediately, IIVII comes to mind. Both acts seem to have a similar, highly electronic approach and both acts love adding repetitive percussion to their dark ambient sounds. Obviously, the result is something massively immersive. Here, that results in genre highlights like 'Awake' and the stomping 'Vortex' which drags both noise and EBM into the mix. Take it from me, this is one highly exciting release.
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Rodney Cromwell - Rodney's English Disco
electronic / synth pop
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Right, time to put on our dancing shoes and step into our time machine for a sweet trip to the electronic eighties. Rodney Cromwell comes up with a melancholic EP, fronted by the synthpop cracker 'Comrades'. However, there is more to be found here. 'Barbed Wire' borrows influences from shoegaze and new wave. The joyful 'Technocrats' reminds me of German act And One while closer 'Dreamland' seems to revisit The Cure's synth years. In all, this is pleasant EP that totally reeks of the eighties. I don't mind and I know heaps of others don't mind either. So check it out, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
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Siete Catorce - Agnosia
electronic / experimental
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Mexicali producer Siete Catorce delivers an experimental and unique approach to electronic dance music. Far away from trends, Catorce plays with quirky percussion, intrinsic soundscapes and futuristic atmosphere. On this EP that results in four wayward but energetic dance tunes, something between Autechre and Speedy J's 'A Shocking Hobby' album. This is no everyday techno music, on the exact contrary. This is the result of a years long exploration with beats, sounds and glitches. My personal favorite here is 'Susurro', a possible smash hit in a highly developed alien world. Neat!
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Superalma Project - Dystopian Children
drone / dark ambient
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Inspired by Dystopian literature (1984, Brave New World, Hunger Games), this project by Igor Almeida delivers an angsty and dark soundtrack, loaded with haunting soundscapes, eerie noises and impending percussion. At times acts like Deutsch Nepal, Coil or De Fabriek come to mind, which obviously places this release right into the avant garde ambient scene. The album closes with a track named 'Isn't Life Disappointing?' which clearly sets the tone for the whole thing. No, this is not a joyous piece of work, not at all, but it is a damn intriguing and captivating one, that's for sure. So check it out now.
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Teahouse Radio - Her Quiet Garden
drone / ambient
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Teahouse Radio is a brand new project by Pär Boström of Kammarheit and Cities Last Broadcast fame. With this project, Boström seems to explore the brighter side of ambient music, although the album still is gloomy and melancholic. The set-up is minimal, the drones and soundscapes are mild and the overall atmosphere is dreamy, as decent ambient music is intended to be. The album contains eleven tracks, each one and excellent and beautiful piece of work. This is definitely something for fans over everything between Brian Eno and Biosphere, which I guess says a lot about the overall quality.
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Adeptus Mechanicus - No More Heartbeat
dark ambient
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Hailing from The Netherlands, Adeptus Mechanicus treats the listener to frightfully droning dark ambient tunes. According to the bandcamp page, the music is inspired by Yen Pox and Stratvm Terror, which might explain the industrial soundscapes and haunting atmosphere. The artist is also active in the world of hard-, dark- and speedcore and that too is audible in the intense nature of these three tracks. In fact, 'Mechanical Bringer Of Death' seems to embrace the harshness of those genres (without the beats) to create a monumental industrial noise track. I'm damn sure that all fans of dark, harsh ambient will absolutely adore this stuff. I know I do.
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Hezaliel - Paradise Lost
dark ambient
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We're crossing the border again to witness yet another brilliant dark ambient performance by one of our fellow countrymen. Belgian act Hezaliel seems to continue the dark, impending flow of some of the previously reviewed albums here. This album contains eight deeply droning piece of dark ambient music, all with an enigmatic and mystifying atmosphere. The monolithic 'They Darkened The Land Of The Nile' is my personal favorite but each of this tracks will end up in my ever expanding dark ambient playlist. I suggest you check it out and get your hands on this thing. It rarely gets better than this...
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Visions & Phurpa - Monad
dark ambient
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Celebrating its 100th release, Cyclic Law presents an exclusive collaboration between label head Frederic Arbour’s long standing project Visions and Russia’s enigmatic ritual formation, Phurpa, lead by Alexey Tegin. The result of this collaboration is a stunning and enigmatic dark ambient album in four chapters, showcasing the best possible combination of both seasoned acts. Fans can actually expect the usual elements: drones, soundscapes and haunted voices. Yet, that "usual" comes at a very high quality and an almost suffocating atmosphere. For fans of dark ambient, this is a definite must-have.
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AnD - AnD003
techno
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Manchester residents AnD are here to invite you to the dancefloor and then pound you into a pulp with their raw, heavy and chaotic analog techno tunes. This stuff is intense but pretty much irresistible for every fan of hard electronic dance music. Borrowing elements from Detroit techno, retro rave and industrial, this EP opens with the dazzling track 'Manchester'. 'Analogical' follows and quickly becomes my favorite here, one that reminds me of the boiler room at Pukkelpop. 'Prophecy' nudges more towards trance while closer 'Transit' is mostly noise with beats. Enjoyable? Fuck yasss!!!
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Rebekah - My Heart Bleeds Black
techno
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More stomping techno, this time from Birmingham-born Berlin-based artist Rebekah. On this EP, or better, on this Double-EP, Rebekah delivers no less than nine dark and grinding techno tunes, driving on repetitive beats and enhanced by gloomy noise-scapes. The result is a massive assault on your dancing muscles, a neverending frenzy of dark, almost industrial techno. It's damn hard to pick a favorite track here and at some points I'm not sure that I can enjoy this music for a long time but I have to say that tracks like 'Halo Effect' and 'Empirical Cycle' are definite dancefloor killers.
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