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Ummagma + A.R.Kane - Winter Tale
dream pop
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The one thing I dislike about Christmas, is the music. From those appaling bells to the 'Frohe Weihnachten' by The Wiener Sängerknaben, it's all horrible. Luckily, this year, there's a decent alternative, a little cooperative single by shoegaze / dream pop acts Ummagma and A.R. Kane. 'Winter Tale' is a gentle, dreamy and quite minimal song, guaranteed to get you into the wintery atmosphere. If you're into stuff like Cocteau Twins, 'Winter Tale' could easily guide you through the darkest days of winter. I also really dig the two remixes, taking on an ambient approach. Nice work...
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Verein Freude - Schnappschuss
jazz / krautrock / post rock
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Somewhere between the immersive atmosphere of post rock and the psychedelic approach of krautrock we find the inspiring music of Verein Freude, a German band. On their facebook page, this quartet mentions Miles Davis, Avishai Cohen and several other jazz-musicians, and with good reason too. The music on this ep is a perfect combination of jazz and post rock, well, the mild, subdued version of post rock that is. The end result is a nice relaxed piece of music, perfectly suited for the quiet winter evenings and the lounge bars at the summer beaches alike. Check it out, this is a pleasurable listen.
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dy - Flip Side
electronic / idm
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On to the electronic scene then, where we meet a project named Dy and his weird, gloomy electronics. In a way, I think it's safe to place this ep between your Aphex Twin and Autechre albums. Dark, haunting soundscapes and broken rhythms make up most of this release, brilliantly highlighting in 'Flipped Out'. Although, I have the say, that eerie opener, 'Cheap Seats' is a great piece of electronic (dark) ambient as well, reminding me even of Deutsch Nepal's percussion rich works. In all, this is a splendid effort, containing five original and immersive pieces of electronic sound art, definitely good enough for my daily playlist.
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Architectural - Cubismo
techno
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Time to put on your dancing shoes and join me in the discotheque. Spanish producer Architectural comes up with an ep containing four dance tracks, seemingly inspired by the early industrial techno scene of Detroit where strange soundscapes and noises meet repetitive beats and minimal percussion. For me, the ep highlights in the second track ('Cubismo 8.2 (Lost in Buenos Aires)), probably because of those awesome ambient soundscapes. Yet, I just might recommend this one to everyone who isn't afraid of some electronic dance music once in awhile, especially those who nudge towards industrial.
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Guruzsmás - Üst A Gríz Felett
rock / experimental
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Back to the world of rock music, more specifically the experimental corners of that industry. Guruzsmás is a band from Hungary, four guys playing some complex, confusing and fascinating music. It's just as alternative as it's psychedelic and reeks just as much of jazz than it reminds me of Frank Zappa. There are flashes of surf rock, post rock, math rock, noise rock and so on. Hell, there is a didgeridoo and it's mainly instrumental, apart from some troath-singing. Yes, this is a weird album, but nonetheless one that deserves your attention if you want something else, something unique. This is something unique!!!
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Crimson Tusk - Crimson Tusk
stoner / doom
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Driven by the sheer power of the riff, Oxford quartet Crimson Tusk come up with a heavy but groovy four track ep. On this, they deliver a solid blend of sludge metal, stoner rock and heavy blues, obviously resulting in delicious fuzzed out rock songs in the vein of Dopethrone, Bongzilla, Weedeater and so on. My favorite track is 'Stray Dog', a guaranteed party started, but I guess that could easily be said about all four of these tunes. Even more so, throughout the album, the party seems to intensify. 'Rollin' made me start a little head-banging session. What a fine stoner doom tune that is. Stoner doomers, you have got to buy this one!!!
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Cities of Mars - Celestial Mistress
psychedelic doom
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Swedish doom masters Cities Of Mars take us on an interplanetary mission. With heavy riffing, psychedelic passages and firm, intense vocals, this trio comes knocking on the doors of Yob, Conan, Mastodon and The Obsessed. The three tracks on this ep are simply epic doom metal anthems, with title track 'Celestial Mistress' being an eleven minutes lasting highlight, both on this ep and in the whole doom metal scene. Fans of the above mentioned bands can easily trust Cities Of Mars to deliver the goods so it'll be no surprising that this galactic gem comes highly recommended.
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Ur - Hail Death
black metal / doom / thrash
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Another shocking piece of extremism comes from Polish horde Ur. They present a six track ep with a grim blend of thrash, doom and black metal. The result is a damn varied piece of work with some fierce headbanging potential. Bands that come to mind include Voivod, Venom, Sodom, Absu, Marduk and so on. Yet, it does feel like a coherent effort. 'The Tongue Of Fire' is probably my favorite song on this one but that's a difficult choice to make. Whom I'd recommend it to? Well, obviously all those old school black & thrash metal fans out there. This is the real shit!
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Dark Messiah - Dark Messiah
thrash metal
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Hailing from Canada, Dark Messiah blends metal, metal and metal into metal. The band was formed in the summer of 2015 and already come up with their debut ep. In a way you can actually hear that. Although the five songs here are decent metal tunes, they're not yet close to the heroes that influenced Dark Messiah (you know, Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera...). But who knows, give time, effort and a professional producer, the future might shine bright for these Canadians. If so, in a few years, many fans will start looking for this debut, so you might as well just buy it now...
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Stillborn Slave - 7 Ways To Die
metalcore
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Formed in 2009, French melodic hardcore combo Stillborn Slave have a lot more experience under their belts than the band above, and you can actually hear that. In seven songs, with a total of twenty-eight minutes, these guys blast some brutal metalcore, deathcore or whatever core through your speakers. The absolute highlight is 'End Of Everything', a song that sounds destructive enough to deserve such a title. This definitely is something for the younger generation of metalheads. However, I'm sure seasoned metal fans can easily appreciate the high level of musicality on this one.
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Expo Seventy - America Here & Now Sessions
drone / ambient / psychedelic
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After all that metallic violence, it's time for something completely different. For that, this massive jam session definitely is a highly recommended piece of work. Like we're used to from Justin Wright, this album is an hypnotic trip through cosmic music and psychedelic rock, something between acts like Om, Earth and Barn Owl, along with the jam bands from the sixties and seventies . This time, two drummers have been added to the mix, giving the whole something jazzy and psychedelic. The end result is a mesmerizing album that will definitely accompany my late-nite writing sessions from now on.
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Tellma - Swansong
folk / rock
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Tellma is a French duo, dedicated to playing elegant rock music and that's exactly what you get on this ep. The acoustic guitar is the central instrument on which a number of calm, emotional pop rock songs are written. The songs are not complex, not overly distorted, not rocking your socks off but they are certainly a pleasure to listen to. The music reminds me a bit of Radiohead, David Bowie and Jeff Buckley. The title track remains my favorite, followed by the tearjerking version of Queen's 'The Show Must Go On'.
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Deathblow - Demolition Deployment
thrash metal
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While preparing their upcoming full-length, Salt Lake City thrashers Deathblow throw this short but brutal assault in our faces. The ep contains two songs and a cover version of Motorhead's 'Mean Machine'. Obviously, this is stuff to bang your head to. Think Overkill, Kreator, Testament, any of your eighties thrash favorites and you'll be very close to what Deathblow delivers. It's fast, varied and relentless, exactly what this kind of music is supposed to be. So thrashers of the world, what are you waiting for? Get your hands on this ep or are you not a true thrasher? I mean, it's only a dollar...
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Deep Fryer - Deep Fryer
punk / hardcore
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Songs about hangovers, groundhogs and whatnot, recorded in a basement by a band constisting of members of other Fredericton, New Brunswick based bands, a band with the seering hot name Deep Fryer. I'm not sure if this is all too serious, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is the fact that these are four fierce, aggressive and fast hardcore punk songs that will even make your chamber plants start a moshpit in your living room. My personal favorite? The band's name. I know, I'm not really a hardcore fan but if you are, you have to download the shit out of this. Besides, it's free so you have no excuse not to.
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Parallel Colors - Inoculation
post rock / psychedelic / progressive
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Also free, and certainly worth the effort is the very first single by American progressive rockers Parallel Colors. Inspired by everything between Tool, Caspian and Russian Circles, these guys come up with an immersive, technical and varied eight minutes lasting track. If this really is the harbinger of things to come, like a full-length, Parallel Colors might become one of thé discoveries of 2017. I certianly hope that they will send me the album when ready and come over to Belgium and the rest of Europe for some magnificent gigs. This truly is promising stuff...
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