ambient / experimental / avantgarde

Unexplained Sounds Group

There are people on this planet, with a devotion for music, who are willing to dig as deeply as possible into the underground scene. The result of  Rafaelle Pezzalla (also active as Sonologyst)digging is almost unlikely. The sympathetic Italian is the driving force and seeker of the Unexplained Sounds Group label, which focuses entirely on the contemporary experimental and alternative electronic music of our overpopulated planet.

With the new Unexplained Sounds Group release 'Anthology of Contemporary Music from Middle East' he presents a new chapter of the Sound Mapping project with special attention to non-Western countries, following the selection of contemporary electronic music from the African continent.

This compilation focuses on experimental and alternative music from the Middle East and includes artists from Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iran, Israel, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Afghanistan and Cyprus. This anthology shows a very interesting look at the productions sounds of artists rooted in their traditions with a progressive look at the new limits of their music.

These (as yet unknown) sound paths explore both experimental and radical improvisation, disturbed electronic tribal sonic structures, and psychedelic noise-drone escapades that sublimate the grains of sand in steaming ground breaking soundscapes. Anthology of Contemporary Music from Middle East reveals here an incredible sound puzzle in which the listener will find his favorite way to new places of architectural music constructions.

Speaking of a musical mind fuck, this compilation is a must for fans of experimental and cross-border electronic music. We have been stunned by this collection in a supernatural way. Top!

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Patsker

ambient / experimental / avantgarde

Unexplained Sounds Group

And yes, the sound mapping series of the Unexplained Sounds Group continues. After more than three years, the CD version of the previously only digital Persian experimental underground survey, focusing on experimental and alternative music from Iran, is finally out since November 30th 2019. 

Rafaelle Pezzalla had a lot of help from inside the Tehran scene to discover and compile this unique compilation. The artists delivered shining musical diamonds that have an eclectic content and various emotions. We were immersed in experimental electronic sounds, avant-garde, drones and ambient. The roots of the artists are woven in their sound sculptures and breathing rare buoyant atmospheres.

More known names in the genre, like Alphaxone and Xerxes the Dark have already released work on the American dark ambient label Cryo Chamber. The digital version of Anthology of Persian Experimental Music contains four bonus tracks. Reza Solatipour delivers to our opinion, without question, the most intriguing bonus track. The dark drones, mystical electronic pulses and a wide range of unique voices display an amazing world of deep sound ambiance.

For more than two thousand years the Persians had already developed and imprinted the core of the theoretical framework in the music of Middle Eastern origin still valid to this day. The local underground scene explores the ancient sound vibrations with a new vision and modern approach without losing their identity. The abstruse and complex quality tracks provide a soul-searching survey in the avant-garde music of Iran. We could only think of one word to end this review: brilliant!

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Patsker

Winter-Light is a Dutch label specialized in ambient, experimental and drone soundscapes. During the year 2019 the label released a number of high quality productions like Rapoon, Sysselmann, NIMH and Abbildung. We took with pleasure the time to listen further and deeper in their beautiful catalogue of 2019.

drone / dark ambient

Trances is the sequel to the album Zwischenwelten of the German drone artist Seetyca. The album was conceived and recorded during several summers. No warm seasonal tunes appeared, on the contrary, deep and dark signals of winter spheres are introduced on this mysterious album. The drones and soundscapes shiver like sharp ice rain slicing away the last pieces of the so hopeful winter light. Trances is a hypnotic piece of work with a lot of hidden layers like piano sounds, distorted humming and floating soundscapes, proving that Seetyca is a sound wizard like no other.  We were very pleased with the mental climate change this album induced. Trances is a detailed beauty on ice.

dark ambient

With chiming bells on a bed of dark drones presented on the first track, Rngmnn introduces his new work. RNGMNN aka Ronny Engmann from Germany, previously released albums on Noctivagant and Reverse Alignment, as well as a collaborative release on Cryo Chamber with Dronny Darko. Arctic Interference contains eight tracks with polar ambiance ranging from drifting pieces to tight, rhythmic and dark pulsating soundscapes. The industrial moods lurk behind the corner of this sharp edged electronic release. The tracks were recorded in the month of December, over a period of five years. RNGMNN uses field recordings, elements of percussion, samples and darkened electronic paths creating a desolated world where the only orientation point is the silence behind the ocean of sound structures RNGMNN produced. An awesome album for the darker parts of life.

ambient

The music of Kloob beholds profundity. Barcelona based Dani Kloob focuses his creativity in deep ambient music since 2010. Unpredictable Signs is a fascinating descent into a maze of cryptic caves. The ambient soundscapes howl like eroding winds against the damp walls. Kloob uses all kinds of manipulated voices and field recordings to detail his compositions. Perplexing sound structures amplify the feeling of never coming back to the surface. This recording feels like entering a bottomless chasm without beginning or end. Kloob created an irresistible mesmerizing world filled with soft drones and refined electronic tunes. We are obligated to say that this ravishing album is very addictive.

ambient / experimental

Atomine Elektrine is a project of Peter Andersson, the artist behind the Swedish dark ambient project raison d’être. Inspired by the discovery of a mysterious analogue computer, Peter Andersson  bundles his experiences as a sound creator in a new project. The enormous variety in approach and experiment with electronic based sounds makes this album not that easy to absorb. The Antikythera Mechanism sounds like cosmic clock, not only questioning time with creative squeaking and ticking of sprockets, but also using soundscapes, exploratory accents, glitch and sequencing. The result is a unique multidimensional melting of enigmatic sounds with a slight dark and edgy punk attitude. The Antikythera Mechanism is also available on vinyl and CD.  


​Patsker

progressive rock / post rock / experimental

Revolution is an album released in November 19, by Spanish post rock experimental project EXXASENS. A very interesting, dynamic and energetic album, that fluctuates over a variety of ecletic atmospheres, the versatility of this fantastic project is something almost out of reach. With a cohesive, solid musicality, and a proverbially clean style, Revolution reveals itself as a primordially graceful, effusive, pristine, elegant and very audacious work of art, that generates in the apex of its diluted style a proficient and sophisticated diagram of creative synergy, whose singular strenght is able to reach an extraordinary vortex of artistic splendor.  

Sixty-nine minutes long, the album has sixteen tracks: 1) Massachusetts; 2) A Space Odyssey; 3) Twenty One Years and One Day; 4) Revolution; 5) Why Not?; 6) Bye Bye Moscow; 7) Vega; 8) Eden; 9) Dream Is Over; 10) Another Space Odyssey; 11) Inside My Brain; 12) Since I Met You; 13) Eden's Place; 14) Dreams Are Over; 15) Autumn Storms; 16) Air; as a project that explores the overall density of a very proverbial and authorial musical proposal, EXXASENS does a surprising work on this fantastic album. With a cohesive, but at the same time easygoing style, a formidable creative horizon and exceedingly sober vocals — at least in some songs, the vast majority of the album is instrumental —, Revolution is a deeply pronounced ambitious album, that expands the creative formula of the artist's perception of sound.

With prog rock being the basis for the sound, the artist's style works from the musical conjuncture of this genre. Nevertheless, the marvelous atmosphere displayed by the harmonies conceives a serene universe of sound, whose magnificent technique anticipates the wonderful grandiosity of the project's somewhat innocent, but overwhelming artistic pretensions. The music is felt as simple, but splendorous at the same time; certainly, the diluted consecration of the formidable melodies that are poured through the edges of the sincere tones of the sound gets more and more rapturous, as the album progresses. 

Betting on a diversity of genres, letting the authenticity of his style reverberate over each one, the artist has crafted a formidably great, excellent and versatile musical universe, full of unexpected arrangements and colorful tonalities, that doesn't recognize boundaries nor limits for its fantastic creativity. The eleventh and fourteenth tracks — Inside My Brain and Dreams Are Over — are my favorites; the most beautiful songs in the album, in my opinion. 

A very interesting album, whose deeply authorial style and audacious experimental sensibilities captivates the listener already in the beginning, Revolution is a majestic work of art, whose gloriously creative ambitions make this work stand out for its ingeniousness and sonorous grace. Despite the fact that the album is a little too extensive — and invariably you become somewhat bored in the more repetitive passages —, the end result is fabulous, to say the least. Revolution manages to be a sensational musical experience, whose extraordinary creativity has definitely crafted a peculiar work of art, that deserves praise for all of its quintessential tenacious virtues.   


Wagner

industrial / darkwave / experimental / post punk

Cascades are falling down, a constant repetition of collapse. A motif found frequently in music, soundwise, in the lyrics or the music itself. Lots of artists from blackgaze to classical use it. Additionally it is found in visual arts or modern literature and over the last few decades has been connected to a critique of the present in order to change something about the future.

A new artist from Pennsylvania uses the image of collapse and a future uncertain combining it with a sonic landscape taking its bits from shoegaze and ambient, from noise and industrial. Lunacy‘s debut album Age of Truth (after releasing four EPs since 2016) is indeed a challenge to the ear but a very thoughtful one. The idea behind the record is obvious after a few seconds already because after a short lush intro the near-ambient mood is disrupted by harsh industrial marching drums. We are drawn into a world beyond Blade Runner and before Mad Max, a place where the constants of past, present and future might either still be possible or already obsolete.

The musician behind Lunacy tries to remain unknown (which can also be seen when looking at the record covers on which he becomes more and more of a blur). He does so not for his personal privacy but to render a blank canvas in order to give the listener the chance of projecting his own interpretations of and ideas about the music and the future, our planet and life in general – maybe even about the future of the future. What if our industry and society will collapse and with it the hope of changing the course of human (interference with) life on this planet? What will happen to “the future” if the end is coming, if the facades of humanity collapse and we will face the industrial downfall and machine-driven end?

Musically, Age of Truth combines his vision of a post-apocalyptic, post-human industrial age with
the help of Connor Clasen (IXVLF) recording the album and Oliver Ackermann (A Place to Bury
Strangers) mastering it. Sometimes you hear breakbeats, distorted vocal chants, shoegaze moments like that Ackermann is famous for. The foundation for this experimental electronica is a kind of 80s industrial soundtrack stemming from the use of synthesizers from that era which were then combined with several layers of guitars. Whether Lunacy is igniting a new phase of music-making for the first century after mankind or whether he is developing a new form of shoegaze is up to the listener, however it is clear that as an artist he achieved his vision clearly for the album transports us to a different place and time. Age of Truth will be released by Parisian label Third Coming Records on November 22nd


Thorsten

experimental / electronic / dark ambient / ambient / noise 

Nostalgie De La Boue

The world is all that is​.​.. is the most recent release by German electronic underground experimental noise artist Hans Castrup. With six tracks — The concept of sinking, Popular imagination, Full of used notes, Paradox difference, Clarification of geometry and Upon a hill —, on this work, like his previous albums, Hans continues to dive deep into a realm of lugubrious, melancholic and sinister sound experiences, where he clearly heads towards a stylistic direction of impious, responsive, nihilist and fatalist demise. Each and every album released by Hans Castrup seems to be the perfect soundtrack for a H.P. Lovecraft horror story. 

Already in the first track, the dense, epic and monumental The concept of sinking, we clearly see that the artist — deliberately or not — establishes his creative efforts towards a prominently dark ambient musical cosmogony. With pulsating, almost afflictive sonorous reverberations, the sensitive pluralism that emanates from the expansive and digressive agonies that subtlety comes out of these tracks certainly makes this album one of the darkest in the artist's discography. 

Nevertheless, there is also a lighter side in the music — albeit ostensibly dispersive —, that sounds as a more discreet, reasonable, proverbial uneasiness allocated in the background, that ocasionally flirts with our projective sensibilities, gracefully establishing an harmonious pattern that can be as decisively obscure as it is delightfully stimulating. 

The music gradually reveals itself as it is: as complex — in the darker depths of its relentless and dissolute darkness —, as it is majestically simple and objective, in the way it calmly delivers its pungent and uneventful dimension of poingnant mortality smoothly to the listener. Just as impressive is Hans' remarkable ability to progressively reinvent his music with more diluted elements, while never losing his virtuous and graceful sonorous identity. 

With the conception of an exceedingly dense, cohesive and robust musical atmosphere, it looks like Hans Castrup has crafted The world is all that is​.​.. as a pervasive parallel dimension destitute of acessible colorful sensibilities, whose mandatory elements are all indebted to a relentless and abrasive sonorous tissue, made entirely of an unforgiving, infinite and ruthless demise. 

As the perfect sonorous background for a surreal hallucinatory black and white alternate reality — like the ones shown in old sixties television anthology series like The Twilight Zone and One Step Beyond —, the music conceived on this marvelous album by Hans Castrup transports us to a whole different, more diluted, arbitrary and conspicuous diagram of existence, where the fugacious ephemeralities of life seems dormant, because they were never what they seemed to be, in the first place. 

Your sensitivities will be all confused, before they would be entirely configured in a completely different sonorous perception, diametrically opposite to what you had expected. In the end, The world is all that is​.​..  is a fantastic descent into a world of gloom, solitude and demise, without any possibilities to return. 


Wagner

progressive rock / post rock / experimental

bandcamp

Eðli. is an album released in October 11, by a French progressive rock virtuoso, under the alias of Ju. Sixty-six minutes long, the record has eleven tracks, whose titles have all the word Chapter into it, followed by the track order; for example, the first song is named Chapter One, the second song is named Chapter Two, the third song is named Chapter Three, and this goes on, until the last track, titled Last Chapter. A very intesting, colorful and serene musical work, the melodies are quite vigorous, and its renitent harmonious contrivances definitely highlight the superb creative abilities displayed by the artist. With simple, but profusely genuine authorial skills, Ju. manages to create a very decent, cohesive and dense album, that effectivelly satisfies all types of genre enthusiasts, from the more occasional to the more avid ones.  

With soft, serene lines of guitar, that develops the harmonies from the more pristine elements of its relentless solicitude, Eðli. reveals itself as a very diffusive work, whose dispersive melodies complement the beauty of its intrincate splendor with sensible majesty; though sometimes along the way, you may become a little exasperated by the despondent homogeneity of the style displayed by the artist, its general structure is cohesive, exceedingly concentrated, and delicately inserted into a sonorous vortex of sentimental magnificence. 

The delicacy of the artist's sonorous approach is very relevant for the creation of the diluted nature of his style. The uneasiness of all the majestic creative elements that circumnavigates the epicenter of the melodies floats towards the emotional sensitivities of the listener, that inadvertently absorbs the restless urgencies and the quiet resolutions that gravitates in between the external stimulus provided by the impredictable exhilarations of the sound and the sensational rapture that becomes invisible in the horizon of its dense expectations.  

Nevertheless, the guitar work displayed on this album is quite magnificent, and the diligent proficiency exhibited by the artist deserves praise. Ju. certainly knows how to conceive a marvelous sound, creating music that has soul, vigor and essence, being neither too technical nor too dispersive. The predominance of a salutary wave of calmness in the music — and yet, concomitantly, the vitality displayed by the guitar lines are quite resonant and resourceful — remains the basis of its splendorous and graceful strength. 

Unfortunately, the album has some monotonous passages, though in general, this doesn't compromise the spectacular degree of beauty and excellence displayed in the music. In fact, Eðli. is a very good album — that has an original, dense and intrincate musical layout —, that deserves to be highlighted, and mostly, widely appreciated. Undoubtedly, art rock and progressive rock enthusiats will find this album interesting, to say the least. Despite some minor stylistic limitations, Eðli. manages to be a relevant musical experience, that has all the necessary qualities to be classified as a marvelous work on its genre. 


Wagner

folk / experimental / classical

Another return to the impressive stable of Sound In Silence is 'Human, Insignificant' by Sweeney, the solo project of Jason Sweeney (Panoptique Electrical, Other People’s Children and Simpático). Sweeney has been making music for over twenty years, sometimes solo, sometimes with friends.

With this album, spanning around twenty-six minutes, Sweeney delivers eight emotional songs, all gritty, gloomy and accompanied with piano and soundscapes. The result is something so down to earth that you would think it's unearthly. It's folk, shoegaze and ballad pop, but most of all, it's an assault on your tear glands.

The eight songs here all seem to follow a similar path. In the back ground, you can find unidentified noises and soundscapes while the piano is set on "minimal". Then, Sweeney unleashes his fragile, emotional voice. His vocal style is something between singing and crying, which for some people will hit the exact right spot. For others, this might be a bit too intimate to enjoy to the fullest. For those, I will recommend the title track, which could be one of those illegal recordings of Elvis jamming solo on a drunk Sunday night.

In all, 'Human, Insignificant' is a daring album. It could be a big risk to bask in this melancholic sound because truth is, this is not a happy, joyful album. Yet, if you love what people like Luka Bloom do, plus love to dwell into gloomy classical music, this one will hit your right in the feels. Just listen to the alternative tear jerker 'Desire, Decayed' and you'll know what I mean. If you're in for a 26 minutes lasting emotional cleansing, this album is definitely a must-have...


​Serge

electronic / ambient / post rock

I know, I 'm getting behind on all the albums coming in to review. I'm afraid due to a whole number of different circumstances, some of those releases will eventually get lost in the pile but there are some beauties I definitely want to check out and recommend. Surely, I don't want to miss out on those amazing releases from Sound In Silence, which, throughout the years, have become one of my favorite labels. Their output has been one of an exceptionally high quality, not only because of their stable of talented artists but also because of the recognizable artwork and packaging. So, even though this album dates from July, I need to write about it.

Of course, Wil Bolton is no stranger to Merchants Of Air. For over fifteen years, Wil Bolton has been creating sonic works of art, mostly situated in the ambient scenes. 'Surface Reflections' is his glorious return to Sound In Silence, after the highly acclaimed album 'Whorl' in 2014. Once again, Bolton treats us to enigmatic pieces of music. There are five tracks on this album, good for forty-four minutes of soul warming ambient and blissful meditation. The album opens with the lingering 'Shrouded', which can best be described as a lengthy soundscape.

'In The Air Of The Morning' is a bit more playful but still remains on a gently, soft level. This one comes with an appropriate title as well. You can almost hear the city wake up. You can almost see men and women dragging themselves to their day jobs. In fact, this tune is where I decided to add "post rock" to the set of genres. Although you cannot compare this to bands like Explosions In The Sky or Mogwai, this music has a similar, narrative atmosphere in which you can easily loose your self into.

Even though it mostly follows its predecessors' example, 'Shallows' nudges more towards the noisier side of the ambient spectrum. It seems to drive on static noise, with vague samples and melodies interfering. Something similar can be said from the other tunes, with closer and title track 'Surface Reflections' being the absolute highlight. Soothing yet a tiny bit uneasy, calm yet somewhat impending. That is the music you can find on this excellent album. Ambient fans will know what to do...


​Serge

experimental / breakcore / electronic

The stubborn musical act Mathlovsky has  already dumped his second release, Phantoms, in our mailbox this year. This creative artist from Ghent Belgium is also the drummer of the black/post metal trio Kuar Nhial. He has a huge library of recordings that are ready to escape from the dark digital memory banks. According to Mathlovsky Phantoms contains ten tracks, in fact misfits, that remained between two different worlds and actually don't belong anywhere.

A bombardment of pounding hard core sets immediately the tone of this album. The subtly balanced crackling is interwoven with all kinds of samples and invites switching into a rave overdrive. Mathlovsky remains an unpredictable sound artist. Various styles are seamlessly stitched together into compelling tracks full of adventurous excesses. Break beat, electro, dark step and dub are cooked into a stew with spiced delicacies.

From breakcore beats with fiddling squeaks and soundscapes to a dub track that comes very close to Burial (Online Cult Leader). Mathlovsky stands for variety.  ‘That Remix I Made For Despoilah’ gives some space for quieter and floating atmospheres with a cinematic outcome. The spaghetti western melody at the end of this resting point bears witness to an approach with a very broad taste in music styles.

The pumping, contrary wire percussion is omnipresent and Mathlovsky is not tempted to fall into the cliche trap. He provides enough input to furnish every track with razor-sharp edges. On the last two tracks Mathlovsky takes his guitar by the hand to provide the pumping beats with surprising string chords.

On Veganopticon, in our opinion the apotheosis on this collection of misfits, all registers are opened and a new kind of metal break core is forged. Heavy, screaming guitar riffs with drums (and beats) are adorned with gargling death metal vocals into a black burnt porridge of sound. The added ethereal vocal lines and the experimental post-rock tending ending on this last track of Phantoms show once again that this Belgian artist embraces various (extreme)styles of music. 
Mathlovsky will not be everyone's friend with this crazy collection of tracks but we are wild about this unpredictable release. This edition is only available in digital format on the artists Bandcamp page.


​Patsker