pop / ambient / shoegaze

Midwives are able to help giving birth to new life and enduring all the pain one (woman) can bear. They transform all the pain into the most joyous of moments. Madeline Johnston chose that name as her stage moniker several years ago and has since released two full-lengths and a b-side collection as Midwife after using Sister Grotto for several years.

Midwife’s music is different in a way, and that becomes clear from the very beginning of “Forever”: “2018” starts with a piano melody in minor keys before the ambient spheres starts in the background and Madeline sings “This is really happening… to me” as if she wants reality to fall apart and away under her vocals. You can already hear her despair under all the distorted singing, she is not going to sing about the beautiful sides of life. She is moaning, accusing life of all the negative things she is going through, like the loss of the beloved creative working/living space Rhinoceropolis in Denver in 2016 and, even harder for her, the suicide of her friend Colin Ward, who she shared an apartment at Rhinoceropolis with, in 2018. Ward can be heard reading out a poem on “C.R.F.W.” (his initials) for about four minutes until a simple drone sets in spiraling upwards accompanied by simple guitar lines and no additional words – a kind of wordless mourning. 

Pain and beauty – the two sides to Midwife. The drones have slightly harsh endings just before they ebb away beautifully. The guitar lines are steady but never boring as the are often supported by a delicate echo that makes them reverb into open space. Johnston’s compositions float through the air not being tied to any earthly weight so that you watch them for hours on end without being bored at all. On the other side, the lyrics can have a very different effect because they are among the saddest in a long time. Forget all those black metal bands who are trying to tell you how dark their lives are – Midwife’s songs are real because they are honest and one truly feels afraid for what is going to happen to her next. 

This might be the catharsis of the year, the one record which tells you how shitty life is and how you are not able to run away from it. But talking about it at least opens your chest for a breath of fresh air while looking up at the beautiful blue sky outside. Beautiful moments in painful phases of life – Midwife. 


Thorsten

ambient / shoegaze

Planning for Burial-like. Have a Nice Life-esque. Archive-ian. Review over.

A: Wait – over? 
B: Yeah, why not?
A: Cause it’s too short and non-explaining.
B: Why do I have to explain that something is great when I give such great Comparisons?
A: Because you do not compare the new Folian record Blue Mirror with these bands, you merely give non-existing adjectives connected to these bands.
B: But isn’t that enough for everybody who knows that the new full-length David Fylstra’s third release within the last two months?

A: Well, how many people do you know who know that Fylstra released a split EP with Shifting Harbor called “Tenemos” on January 2nd and a one-longtrack-collaboration with Entresol called “The Archangel of Huntridge” on December 19th before?
B: Hmmm okay, but most people should know that Fylstra is able to convey an atmosphere of naturalness by incorporating shoegaze elements, some industrial sounds, field recordings, guitar work and some ethereal vocals!
A: Yes, most people should know that; however, we both know that they don’t know and not everybody follows The Flenser and it’s connected artists that closely!
B: Wait a moment, Blue Mirror is released on Fylstra’s own Anima Recordings, not on Flenser, only because he collaborated with .drowse for some of their tracks does not mean that all the Flenser-die hards know about him.
A: Of course the die-hards know, but maybe you are right, cause apart from that his work is not that known.
B: Although it should be as he also worked with bands like Bible Black Tyrant or Ramprasad. 
A: Although they should yes. Do you know what hit me most positively about this record?
B: Tell me!
A: That is all flows together so naturally, that none of the elements dominates the others and that it sounds as if he knew straight away where he wanted to go with this release like he had a planned out map for his way through all of the fog and the forest of Portland where he lives and works and which definitely influenced this record a lot.
B: But isn’t it the way that he was struck by the intricacies of modern life and all its negative consequences on our way of living?
A: It might be and you definitely can feel the paradox of man trying to connect with the old ways (represented by the lots of acoustic guitar and the field recordings) and our longing for modern-ness and “the new” (shown by the industrial beats and the shoegaze walls of sounds).
B:  Oh is that why you wrote that shortest of reviews?
A: Yes, because that’s what these artists also do. Combine old and new. Each in their very own style.
B: Ah, okay, so let’s just say this album is:

Planning for Burial-like. Have a Nice Life-esque. Archive-ian.


Thorsten

shoegaze / alternative rock

Whenever you think you got Deathwish figured out, they come along and jump into your astonished face with a band like Greet Death knocking out your teeth with all their silky, spooky softness and then embracing you with tall towering yet whispered walls of sound. 

Not trying to come across as philosophical, but this release is so unlike most other Deathwish releases (for example lately Process Black or Frail Body) that it’s already more hitting than all the other releases. 

“Circles of Hell” greets you with an intro that might also be the start of a new Weakerthans record, or the beginning to a good song by some Britpop-sensation back in the late 90s, like Spiritualized or Slow Crush, to drop a more recent name. Another name that might come to mind is Radiohead on their first two records still using some harsher guitar riffs and yet blending those with beautiful pop melodies. “I could give you my heart / what would you say, dear? / I could open my arms / I could just lay here” - pure blessed melancholy accompanied by simple guitar lines opens the record and you feel like meeting an old friend at your high school reunion. And then, after 46 seconds, the first noise part steps in and you are totally drawn in reminiscing of Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Pumpkins and other greats of the early 90s when Greet Death probably would have hit MTV’s Alternative Nation hard. The band is able to shower us with melody and noise, with bliss and pop, with melancholy and sweetness – not only in one song but in each single note. 

They also transport that 90s teenage angst thing, the insecurity of youth, the self-righteousness of being young and misunderstood, of wanting to fit in with a non-conformist movement – just listen to the wonderful lines “I hate my friends / Cause they don’t hate themselves / And they shut me up / I want to be like them / I don’t want to talk / I want to think about my days/ ‘till I waste them all”.

And here is the one single thing you might want to complain about – the content of the record. It is a concept album about a couple splitting up, being unable to stay together. The story is told from one of separated and that person is definitely having a very bad time coping with it and drifts off completely into suicidal ideas. Now, a lot of bands talk about death and suicide, but hardly any talks about in such a way, where the “normality” of such thoughts is really hard and where the brilliant noise-rock-pop music might be called a glorification of these tendencies. You should not listen to this record being in a depressed mood, it might not be good for you. 

Nonetheless, from an artistic point of view, it is nearly unbelievable how impressive this album is. One really has to listen hard to hear that this band is not from the UK, but from Flint, Michigan, that they are not teenagers themselves but twens. And that this is not a wonderfully encapsulated record from the 90s blown through a wormhole into the present and now unloading all its blissful queerness onto the ears of nowadays’ audience. The youth should listen, and everyone else, too!


​Thorsten

shoegaze / grunge / post punk / noise rock

It’s that special sound of the guitar strings that makes shoegaze so unique – that moment when the pick hits the string and then the sound starts winding its swirling way up the long, thick metal cord. Something similar can be said about the significance of those same strings for a grunge song, albeit here the sound is not winding up slowly and seemingly winding along even after the end of the neck, in many grunge songs the sound is pretty short but robust. You can see the difference clearly when listening to “Loveless” and then to “Nevermind”. 

Rarely a band comes along that denies its allegiance to one side or the other, which merely says “Hey, never mind being loveless!” Timelost is one of those rare bands and at the same time they are more. Another example of 2019’s singular position among recent decades when it comes to new sounds and combinations, just think of Witch Trail or Jambinai. 

So here Timelost are, now entertain us. The first song already transports a similar vibe - “You’ll never know / How strange I feel / It comes and goes / It’s always there” is a laconic take on a broken relationship and the time lost becomes its drive impersonated by the energetic drums and the   quick guitar lines that seem to reach for something beyond its origins. Singer Shane Handal mentions that this is some kind of ongoing motif on the album – relationships and loss, “It’s weird to throw yourself out there to the world and be so vulnerable but it felt honest and real. We wanted to put out a genuine record from the music to the lyrics.” There is something in those good and simple, yet exquisitely shoegaze-grunge songs that goes straight to the heart and makes us want to embrace this duo for all it’s worth. Maybe it’s something like the outro of “Nausea Curtains”, where a few harsh hits on the drum kit end a line of reverberating guitar twists, and the semi-acoustic guitar intro to the following song “Don’t Remember me for this”, where the acoustic-ness is then substituted for some swishing rides of the shoegaze riffs up the neck of Handal’s guitar. 

There are some clearly grungey moments on the record like the intro to “The River broke us” which sounds like a meeting between Kurt Cobain’s neck and Dean DeLeo’s strings. This record is much more than one part Set and Setting (Handal) and Woe (drummer Grzesiek Czapla) – it is neither and stands within a new sound realm, one it draws the listener to. Timelost are here to entertain us, no matter the melancholic mood they were in when writing the record, these eleven tracks spread loads of warmth. 


​Thorsten

post rock / shoegaze

It’s very hard to do something original in music these days, be it with appearance, style, genre or any of the myriad options open to bands. Step forward Hungarian band Torzs with their latest album Tukor. You see, this impressive album was recorded in a cave, an actual honest to goodness cave system in a Hungarian National Park. This was not done just as a gimmick (although it is a pretty good one!) no, it seems that recording the record in this way gives the record a quality you just don’t get any other way. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, but it does give the record an otherworldly quality, a depth you can almost physically feel, it’s quite beguiling and well worth the mammoth effort it must have been to get it done in this way.

The group themselves describe the album thus: “meant to inspire self-reflection, to conjure ideas about how we see ourselves in one another, how our paths through life parallel, and how these related images can become distorted based upon who’s perceiving them and how.” The whole album is a journey and indeed the music has an open expansive quality to it where you begin to journey inwards, to question past experiences and examine internal and external relations. 

 Lead track Elso starts as the albums means to go on with deliberately paced, delicate guitar picks over a gradually building rhythm section. The whole thing drips with an ethereal quality and the wispy gossamer strands of music seem like they would almost fall apart if reached for.  Album highlight and final track Hatodik takes the themes of self reflection and runs with them. The guitar work on this song truly shines, and has an almost Floydian feel to it which flows through it's entire length and you find yourself swept along by it. It’s immersive and has a definite depth to the free flowing dynamic layers of post-rock you expect. 

 So, if you like experimental free form post-rock, you will find a LOT to like in this album. If there is one criticism to be levelled at it, it’s that it brings nothing new to the genre (apart from the obvious cave recording, which admittedly is awesome) but take nothing away from this brilliant album, if you like instrumental music and post-rock in particular, you will absolutely melt into this great album, recommended.


​Simon

drone / ambient / post rock / shoegaze

The Dutch Norwegianism Records label was founded and shaped by Dead Neanderthals duo René Aquarius and Otto Kokke. Both artists couldn’t find the time to continue with the label (lots of music projects). New owner Hans van der Velden is now taking care of the label that is specialized in releasing noise, free- jazz, drone, grindcore, power-electronics and other weird stuff for the masses. Hans van der Velde is also the initiator behind the alternative music event Hans Festival taking place in Diepenheim Holland.

In fact thisquitearmy needs hardly an introduction. Canadian experimental guitarist Eric Quach (thisquietarmy) and Belgian drummer Tom Malmendier joined forces.  Both musicians met at Beauté Soniques festival in Namur (Belgium) for a Hypnodrone Ensemble gig in the fall of 2016. They got fueled by continental travel stories and meetings through the underground scene. Tom Malmendier is a self-taught drummer who is interested in the sound, more than in the pure technique of the instrument. Playing with sounds and to improvise became a great part of his work as a musician.

Steppe is a collaboration of two artists melting their talents and improvisations into a mix of guitar drones and soundscapes submerged  with enormous variations of drumming and percussion. Tom Malmendier ‘s work on this recording shows not only intensive pieces. His percussion also flirts lightly on the surface between the deep drones and effects of wizard Eric Quach. The varied atmospheres combined with the intense drumming make Steppe an interesting and worth listening piece of work. Guitarist Eric Quach shows again that he is a master in creating drones from another dimension. 

Tom Malmendier rattles like a carpenter the guitar drones of Eric Quach into a solid and strong sound construction. The frenzied walls of sound have depth and are filled with the dynamic input of the Belgian drummer. Steppe is a vigorous and unpredictable release with surprising atmospheric vibes. We consider Steppe one of the better co-operations thisquietarmy already did.

​
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

psychedelic rock / garage rock / stoner rock

experimental / jazz / drone / ambient

Ormo Records

doom / stoner rock

drone / ambient / experimental / noise

Attenuation Circuit

electronic / techno

bandcamp

drone / doom / shoegaze

ambient

equanimity. Those twenty minutes of Sublime Silence contain healing and reposeful sounds which are welcome in this over-stressed society we live in. If you are into this kind of meditative sound creations, there is a lot to discover from this artist on his Bandcamp page.

ambient / dark ambient

Dark and melancholic ​moods change into spacey ambient tonalities, sometimes kittenish, other times filled with doom. The world of Sílení is covered with alienated sounds and moods. This is an excellent piece of work. Dark ambient lovers, if you listen to Sílení’s Long Forgotten Bowers, you will get hooked. We sure did!

dark ambient

Mother Destruction above standards in this genre. The album is a varied piece of work caught in a deep haunting, emotional prison. Sacrifice and dedication are translated in penetrating sounds and choruses. The nightmare never seems over in this pungent journey of hellish fires. 
Another quote from Empty Chalice: ‘… the lost ones are retracing the path of the oldest fairy tale: coming home’. Well, we did come home and we still feel home between the moods and vibes of this wonderful dark ambient recording.

dark ambient

Winter Light

over a ten year period. Nimh is active since 2001 and has already more than twenty physical albums released. Sound chasers will be pleased and excited with the multi-layering of soundscapes, field recordings, voices and the experimental manipulations of samples this album contains. The sustained drones create darkened and emotive moods. Beyond The Crying Era is an outstanding soundtrack for a SF/horror movie that does not exist. It’s time to dig deeper in Nimh’s music history. Speaking about a discharge!

dark ambient

the world of Anantakara. We’ve noticed psychedelic influences appearing in the mysterious structures of  the tracks. The eight adventurous ambient pieces on Momentum Lapses are filled with a variety of lovely compositions and moods. Rumors told us that this album will be released on CD in the future. Anantakara stands for “ to make infinite” in Sanskrit. In some way this album does.

Serge (1-6)
​Patsker (7-11)

ambient / post rock

The high quality label Sound In Silence release the brand new album by London, UK based duo AMP. Formed in 1992 by Richard F. Walker, AMP has been cooperating with an impressive list of artists so far, including members from bands like Flying Saucer Attack, Part Chimp and Loop. You can find an extended list on the bandcamp page.

In recent years, Amp became the duo of Walker and and Karine Charff. 'Entangled Time' is their first studio record since 2011 and the first release on Sound In Silence since their collection of live recordings 'Switched On And Live', released in 2016.

The album contains five tracks and delves in the world of electronic music, shoegaze, post rock and ambient. Opener 'Drifting' is a slowly meandering ambient track with minimal shoegaze or dreampop vocals. Fennesz comes to mind here and so does Loveliescrushing. With droning bass lines and heaps of guitar effects, Amp creates and minimal but often overwhelming sound. If you add electronic beats, resembling acts like Gas (Wolfgang Voigt), you get a gloomy dancefloor filler, which is exactly what 'Will-O Dreams' is. Unexpected beats but nice.

For excellence in minimalism, you have to check out 'Opal Tears', a slowly meandering blend of drones and soundscapes. The album closes with an extended remix of 'Will-O Dreams'. Sixteen minutes long, repetitive and immersive. If any song deserves the sentence "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes", it's probably this one. The almost industrial beats beneath the wailing guitars and lingering vocals of Charff will certainly get you in a state of trance.

Neat album, and another one of those must-have gems from Sound In Silence.


​Serge

hardcore / grindcore / crust

black metal

grunge / alternative metal / progressive rock

doom

alternative rock

death metal

punk rock

bandcamp

electronic

electronic / darkwave / EBM / Industrial

shoegaze