post rock / experimental

Paralax Markovian Denigrate is an album released on July 10 by a Polish musician, under the alias of DeLaa Fargis. A very concise work, the record is only thirty-five minutes long, and has seven tracks: 1) Falling of...; 2) Confusion - The Manner; 3) Singularity Quantized; 4) Outdazzled; 5) Megachile Pluto; 6) Nonenzymic Paradox; 7) Deoxidized; with exceedingly beautiful melodies, and an expressively serene and poetic musical layout, the sensibility present on this work reveals an aggrandizing and quintessential level of artistry, whose refined, dense and proverbial degree of originality could not have generated another result, other than the magnificient state of the art work that Paralax Markovian Denigrate came out to be. 

With cohesive, but incredibly dilated harmonies — that expand in the direction of its passionate, but rational sensibilities —, this album is a remarkable conjuncture of musical virtues, that perfectly align together to obtain a functional and dynamic convergence of values, able to conceive astounding, colossal and pure symphonies in the process. Invariably, its glorious qualities surpass the boundaries of its own creative and splendid authorial universes, in all possible layers of sound. 

Displaying calmer melodies that navigates in the infinite ocean of a restless and everlasting dream, the music of DeLaa Fargis rises from a graceful combination between sensibility and tenacity. With some gracious and impeccable piano passages that definitely discloses a personal universe of introspective tenderness, its overall musical possibilities expand to a vast and intricate sonorous resurgence of domineering placidity, whose deliverance projects towards the structure of the melodies a salutary symbiosis of sentiments, that progressively escalates to a monumental and splendorous creative palace of miraculous and reinvigorating glory, that exhibits on the arduous melancholy of its notes all the majesty of its renitent, but bright originality.   

With an interesting sonority that displays a formidable degree of authenticity, Paralax Markovian Denigrate — by DeLaa Fargis —, is an absolutely spectacular and genuine work of art, that deserves to be highly appreciated. With an amazingly peculiar, profound and audacious musicality, this fantastic artist has all the necessary qualities to prosper in a fabulous career, with enough talent to propitiate to the increasingly ordinary underground scene the development of more lucid, sober and innovative standards. 



Wagner

experimental / avant garde

I like strong female voices. Examples are the ritual chanting of Jarboe, the soulful crooning of Amy Winehouse, or the screaming of Amelie Bruun (Myrkur). Hell, even Adele would be great if it weren't for those mostly cheesy songs.

Last year I added Kristin Hayter of Lingua Ignota to this list. I was genuinely shocked when I first heard "All bitches Die", because of her intense, chilling screams - barely human, and especially not "female" at all. Music is rarely really frightening, but this really shook me to the bone.



So I was really eager to pick up the follow up record, Caligula. From the song titles alone you can already tell this are not really love songs: Butcher Of The World, If The Poison Won't Take You My Dogs Will, Fucking Deathdealer, and so on.

On this record Kristen has been assisted by some high profile musicians (Full of Hell, Uniform et al.). So musically it's a much more diverse affair, with the piano playing an important role. I have
to say this suits her (classically trained) vocals well, although I feel screaming is really her "unique selling point". She does some interesting throat singing as well this time (Fragrant Is My Many Flower'd Crown and Sorrow! Sorrow! Sorrow!), and at times even sounds a lot like Tori Amos ( May Failure Be Your Noose).

The violent and larger-than-life lyrics are an important part of what makes her so interesting, and, as before, they are based on her violent past (she was a victim of sexual abuse in her past). If I had to compare this record to her previous, I would say this is a more therapeutic record. "All bitches die" is rawer, it is the sound of a psychotic girl running around the street screaming, and harassing random passers-by. "Caligula", on the other hand, is Kristen lying on the couch of a shrink, recalling traumatic events from her past. Somehow it sounds more controlled and "safer" than before.

"Caligula" is a very good record, that will surely appeal to the hipster crowd. It's certainly more accessible than her previous record. Personally I would have liked a bit more screaming and a bit
less piano. Then again, this is probably a logical evolution, which should give her a lot more exposure to adventurous music lovers.


​Koen

post rock / experimental / alternative

Kota — released in July 2 —, is the debut album of Kota Kota, the personal musical project of English musician Michael Holmes. Sixty-two minutes long, the album has nine tracks: 1)Black Waltz; 2)Lyric; 3)Extend Your Fingers; 4)The End; 5)Burleywood; 6)Transitions; 7)Until The Last Minute You Breathe; 8)Crimea River; 9)L'appel du Vide; with generally long tracks, and exceedingly marvelous and poetic harmonies, this album is filled with  a wonderfully crafted and formidably genuine creativity, that definitely elevates post rock to a whole new level of sagacious originality and splendorous sensibility, unprecedented since the conception of the genre. 

With dynamic melodies, and a very vivacious musical synergy, the sonorous atmosphere conceived in this majestic album circulates within the axis of its own graciosity. Displaying a serene, but conscious acquiescence that delightfully departs from the bright disposition of its fantastic and pristine tenderness, the sound created by the artist delivers directly to the soul the omnipotence of an everlasting beauty, whose poetic resurgence dissipates the eagerness of its volatile and captivating temperance.  

As the sound achieves the glory of the restless melancholy of its dispersive essence, the rhythm gets more and more pervasive, with all of its pungent density proclaiming in the vastness of its consistence the diligence of harmonies that will never fade away. 

With a clear and distinct sound that gradually departs from the latent darkness of its diluted consciousness, the style of the artist is simple, but delightfully graceful and beautiful, as the sound delivers a melancholic stupor that intrinsically reinvigorates the life present on its simple virtues. With its tempestuous dissonances gradually increasing, the rules of harmonies reborn in a more colorful landscape full of ghosts and shadows; otherwise, the melodies — indebted to a fascinating cosmogony that discreetly compensates in the peripheries of its glory a vast conjuncture of progressive elements and lethargic ordeals — rearrange in more graceful patterns the extraordinary creative devices that comprises the fascinating musical universe of Michael Holmes. 

With a smooth, expansive, unexpected and salutary degree of experimentalism, that delivers to the audience a musical sensibility engraved in an audacious virtuosity, the sound present in Kota is a marvelous exposition of authenticity, crafted by an expressively talented musician, that has all the necessary qualities to create an entirely new genre by himself, departing from the unlimited excellence of his own peculiar and formidable sense of incomparable originality.  


Wagner

experimental / electronic

Zona Watusa

The Bristol based and creative mind Nick Edwards, has been in public view since 2010. He already released a huge amount of music on Punch Drunk, Further Records and on the legendary British electronica label Planet Mu. Ekoplekz never plans albums from the start. He creates, records, lives  with it for a while and later on selects the best tracks to become a release.

Metabolizm is his first production for the Barcelona based Zona Watusa label. Seven tracks of lo-fi and experimental electronic pulses create a bleeping science fiction world. The compositions are filled with many layers of sonic escapades which create a numb and dreamy feeling. A wide pallet of organic pulses takes the listener to a world with no stories. The sounds are so profound, assembling a impenetrable dome in the brain. Ekoplekz  does not allow room for thoughts in his complex sonic world.

The variety in sequences of steps with contradictory rhythms and dub beats gives this music a very interesting and unique underground range. We could hear slices of the Higher Intelligence Agency influences on this recording. Ekopleks seven musical concepts on Metabolizm travel from ambient to dub, minimal techno to downbeat electronica. The sonic structures are coloured with beautiful and experimental sound arrangements.

The limited tape edition was quickly sold out but this wonderful  and fascinating recording is available for download at  a very fair price. Ekopleks shows that his adventures in sound can lift the senses and conceive new worlds with a swaying retro style.

​
Patsker

noise / dark ambient / experimental

bandcamp

electronic

dSound In Silence

progressive / metal / black metal

heavy metal / thrash metal

downtempo / electronic / post rock / shoegaze

facebook

psychedelic / doom

sludge / black metal

ambient / modern classical / experimental

bandcamp

drone / doom / noise / experimental

ambient / electronic

noise rock

stoner rock / grunge / alternative rock

facebook

​Serge

ambient / experimental

Alting Falder I Samme Rum is an album released on May 31, by Danish ambient musical project øjeRum. Almost forty-five minutes long, the record has six tracks, all named after the album title, numbered from one to six. With a prominent experimental layout, and a dynamic degree of minimalism, the album definitely displays a monumental tenacity, that overtly dilates its expansive sonorous features. With calm harmonies that delegates to its dispersive majesty the eternal shadows of otherworldly dimensions – for the soul to rest in a realm where all hearts perish within the melancholic charisma of absurd lethargy –, the sound present on this album will definitely take you somewhere, possibly to a place where horizons can be touched, and even created according to personal wishes.

With a majestic style that definitely presents itself as a gracious agent of everlasting and genuinely resourceful serenity, Alting Falder I Samme Rum is an almost surreal masterpiece, with a relaxing diagram of captivating proclivities, whose perfectly crafted harmonious alignment defines the grace of its warm, cautious and obliquely discreet melodies. Displaying a sensational musical veracity – whose rhythm drives the listener to a colossal and reverberant state of grace –, this work has a proverbial and eloquent artistic density, constantly revitalized by the pungent mordacity of its own placidity.  

Despite its homogeneous musical layer, there is a certain degree of dynamism into this artist’s music, that elevates its sonorous configuration to a distinct pattern of creative sensibility. Standardizing the cosmogonies of its imprudent virtues, its laborious musical atmosphere is shaped over a candid and volatile intensity, that perfectly understands the reason behind its voluble and arduous sonorous splendor.

With a graceful sensibility that is overwhelmingly cohesive and decently structured, Alting Falder I Samme Rum reveals itself to be a highly spectacular and formidable album, whose marvelous sonority undertakes the pleasure of alternative ambient music to a whole new glorifying level, full of ubiquity and ambiguity. Despite showcasing creative abilities that could be perceived as somewhat limited and restrictive at times, øjeRum nevertheless conceived this record as a singular and fantastic masterpiece, that aggregates subversive, refined and original principles into the genre, inserting a discreet level of experimentalism in the lurid cataclysm of the sound’s musical anatomy, effectively propitiating to the listener the ability to dive into a completely different world. One that can be felt as more affable, loving and tender than this one, even though is also inadvertently ephemeral, translucent and transient.  


Wagner

electronic / idm / ambient

Welcome to the strange and otherworldly universe of Von Tesla, a place where music seems random and futuristic. This 133 minutes lasting double album is like nothing you have ever heard before, unless - of course - if you are a huge Autechre and Aphex Twin fan. In that case, 'Ganzfeld' might not sound renewing or refreshing, but it's still an excellent addition to your weird collection. The album is inspired by the Ganzfeld effect, a phenomenon of perception caused by exposure to an unstructured, uniform stimulation field which can cause hallucinations. (read all about that on Wikipedia). And yes, perhaps this music can indeed cause a few hallucinations along the way.

The album opens abruptly, with the beats and noises of 'Aftermath'. It quickly becomes clear that we are not dealing with a normal ambient/downtempo album. I mentioned the name Aphex Twin before and I think the godfather of intelligent dance music will rather often appear in your mind while listening to this stuff. Complex beats, noises from highly advanced planets and eerie field recordings create unique pieces of music. Sometimes harsh and unforgiving, sometimes dreamy and gently, like in the sweet ambient tune 'Lighted Room'.

'Out Of The Surface' feels like Plaid doing something with breakcore, which is bizarre, thus quite interesting. Although my personal preferences go out to less nervous tunes like the beautiful closing track 'In The Red'. Yet, before we can fully enjoy that, we have to undergo a whole lot of seemingly unstable rhythms. 'Caustic Network', the opener on CD2 threw the Autechre reference into the mix. 'Dream Part' flirts with harsh noise and 'Feedforward' seems to experiment with Speedy J's 'A Shocking Hobby'.

So there you have it, a weird electronic album for weird people but one that will quite often surprise and dazzle you. If you're into any of the aforementioned acts, you definitely need to get your hands on a copy of these two shiny CDs. There is no artwork so there is nothing to distract you from the sonic trip you're about to make, courtesy of Von Tesla. On the other hand, if you want music to be easy digestible and ear-friendly, perhaps you shouldn't be here...


​Serge

free-jazz / improv / experimental

In their brand new release “Lamentations”, RAIC used the concept “An exploration of the American South in sound, vision and text” to make an album that differs a lot from their previous release. Musicians Samuel Goff, Erik Schroeder, Zoe Olivia Kinney, Laura Marina, Jacob Courington, Robert Andrew Scott, Brandon Simmons, John Saint Pelvyn, Paul Metzger; writters Samuel Goff, Abby Cabuno, Lucas Brode, Dylan Fisher, Zach Wilson, Saint Abdullah, Dana Forehand, Dee Martin, Steven Sherrill, Kristin Salsano, John Priestley, Edward Breitner, Charlanne McCarthy, Daynee Rosales, Al Lattin and designer Jakob Rehlinger did an awesome and really impressive job!

‘Lamentations’ is raw from beginning to end, a kind of homage to the great names of experimental music. It has all elements that we can find on it, such as noises, guttural voices, free rhythms, drone music, extended technics, electronic effects and many others working for the music and mixed together in a really particular way. Besides that, there are also fourteen texts and images - one per track - about their homeland, all working 100% for the concept. The deluxe box also shows that their experimentation goes beyond music and prove that they care a lot about their work and their public.

People that loves different sounds, free jazz and non-standard use of musical instruments need to check this out (specially the deluxe box) and follow RAIC at their social networks. ‘Lamentations’ was produced by Samuel Goff, mixed/mastered by Richard Schellenberg and released by the label Arachnidiscs.  This album shows up an awesome music, an awesome box and an awesome concept from an awesome group! I used the word 'awesome' a lot to describe this work, and it really isn’t an exaggeration from my part... RAIC’s art really worth it!

​
Glauber

experimental / musique concrète

Raffaele Pezzella is a busy-bee. On his Unexplained Sounds group, and its weekly radio transmission, he showcases some of the most unique sounds from all over the world. From his home town of Napoli to the deep underground of the African continent, Raffaele Pezzella has a talent to find mesmerizing music everywhere. And when he is not selflessly promoting other artists, he does some musical experimentation of his own. Those experiments have lead to releases on Cold Spring and Gravitysrainobowtapes and now leads to an album on his own Unexplained Sounds Group. 'Phantoms' is an adventurous work which every fan of musique concrete should check out.

Opener 'Phantoms' breathes that old, sixties, experimental music air. It's composed from strange noises and soundscapes, immediately setting the right atmosphere. So does the bizarre track 'Shamanic Rite Passing On A Surgery Table Equipped With Azzax and Trumpet'. This feels more like one of those albums with all different kinds of field-recordings to add to your videos. 'Memorex' somewhat follows that example and 'Dahomy Kingdom' turns that into a scary adventure with bird songs, electronic noises and samples.

By now, I realize that we're not really dealing with a soothing ambient album. We're dealing with intense experimental sounds. These are near-psychotic stories, narrated by an array of samples, noises and sounds. But then there is also the brilliant 'Three Options Collided', my personal favorite on this album. This track seems to balance between the first era of electronic avant garde music and the stuff you could find on many Cold Meat Industry releases. Closer 'Orient Out Of Tune' is another one of my favorites, a deep droning dark ambient track.

In all, this is definitely something for fans of noise and weird music. But then again, I think those people already know and follow Sonologyst. Raffaele Pezzella is a highly creative human being with a massive array of influences in his brain, so I guess it's no wonder he creates such varied music. So check out this gem and join us on the next edition of The Recognition Test, the weekly showcase.


Serge

post rock / experimental / alternative

Toska is an album released in May 13, by experimental post rock project Fat Old Donald, from the Czech Republic. One hour long, the record has eight tracks: 1) Ibn Ezra; 2) Tünde; 3) Larva; 4) Toska; 5) Comme il Faut; 6) Lájos Bácsi; 7) Rybba; 8) Neumann; with an enormously introspective, frivolous and dense style, and exceedingly proverbial, lugubrious and somber vocals that reverberates through a clean, vast and expansive perspective a fragile and depressive, but lucid musical cosmogony, the general sound delivered by Fat Old Donald in this sinister framework is slow, diluted and afflictive, and sordidly anticipates the sentient expectation of a darkness that gradually drains all palpable resolutions of life.   

With an interesting, meticulous and methodic style – that can be quite monotonous at times – nevertheless, Fat Old Donald really knows how to properly conceive an atmosphere of dense, restless and pragmatic uneasiness, whose frigid and melancholic guitar lines are gradually revealed to be the epicenter of an emotionally vague, pale and diffusive disturbance. With a sensible beauty that underlines the melancholy of its existential playfulness, the music found on Toska displays a formidable degree of sophistication and pungent audacity, though sometimes becomes redundant, opaque and lost in the endless repetition of a predictable formula.

Despite the fact that there is nothing too extraordinary about this album, Toska displays a virtuous conjuncture of qualities, and a decent degree of originality. The diluted darkness that comes out of the melodies – slowly trespassing a subtle level of beauty that gracefully indulges in the instinctive desperation dispersed by the harmonies – reveals a consistent degree of compositional skills, whose audacious, uncommon and hyperbolic creativity certainly provides to the muscular tissue of the sound a pervasively robust and cohesive musical density. Nevertheless, underneath this spectacular disposition of tormented artistic vitality, there is a sonorous and coherent anatomic contingence, restraining the monumental order of painfulness that integrates the inherent structure of its horizontal grandiosity.

Unfortunately, you will have to undermine your patience, in order to listen to this whole album at once; despite its deeply depressive atmosphere, though, Toska displays a uniquely proverbial and sincere radiance of detrimental, but veraciously artistic agony, on a very personal scale of lugubrious darkness. Definitely, an intriguing work that deserves to be properly felt, appreciated and analyzed, this strange and bizarre, but amazingly effective, fearless and original album proves all the way through to be one of a kind.   


Wagner