drone / ambient / electronic

Sea of Tranquility is the most recent album by an unknown electronic music artist, known only by the alias of Realm. Thirty minutes long, the record has only three tracks: the eponymous Sea of Tranquility, We Will Return to the Stars and Majestic Embrace. With a quiet, subtle and introspective musical proposal, that deeply perpetuates at the alignment of its obscurely serene melodies the confluence of a sonorous secrecy bound by the terrain of virtuous and intensely glorifying harmonies, Sea of Tranquility is a silent ghost among shadows, trying to duplicate the inspirational vicissitudes of its graceful healings in a liquid world of voracious opacity, upon which all states of consciousness rely quiet on a single element of musical confinement. 

Superficially, Sea of Tranquility can be described as the traditional ambient/ drone album, although the record really has unexpected qualities, and a very singular style of its own. With somber nuances, and a marvelous stream of darker intonations – without being de facto a mostly obscure album – Sea of Tranquility really has a pervasively subtle layer of ambiguity deeply entranced into the sound. It is almost possible to feel a wonderful lust for sincerity ostensibly evaluated at the axial truth of its sonorous perceptive guidance, located inside the primordial hardline of the voracious symptoms of its delusional sense of artistry.

Definitely a very interesting album, that expands the colossal greatness of its veracity inside the dense spectacle of its relentless musical dogma, Sea of Tranquility seems to fulfill the sensibility of a wider scale of nobility into a very pragmatic level of darkness, upon which the senses gets used to a very profound type of descendant wave. And all that you can feel, suddenly, is another kind of universe touching your skin, your senses, your mind, and finally, your soul. A warm journey profoundly exhilarated by the greatness of an exacerbated sensibility, conducted by an ambivalent musical vehicle, that departs from the engines of your own spirit.

Definitely, Sea of Tranquility is a very perceptive and introspective album, upon which the listener will be able to wander, in a perpetual dream-like state, that closely resembles a unity with nothingness. A profound intimacy with the unknown deep space, this album really enables anyone to find the deepest treasures of one’s own truth.   


Wagner

electronic / ambient

bandcamp

Chime is an album by an unknown artist from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, known only by the alias of Quietest. Released on May 12, Chime is a rather eccentric, but beautiful album, whose genre is described as “generative ambient inspired by wind chimes” on the artist’s bandcamp page. One hour long, the record has only six numbered unnamed tracks, ten minutes each. A very good album, pretty effective for the purposes of relaxation, Chime is a subtle, but efficient work of minimalist tendencies, upon which your mind would do the work, way more than the music itself.  

A very interesting album, despite minimal musical proclivities, Chime can inspire the mind of the listener to wander through a great vastness of colorful, dense and sensible universes. If your emotions were deeply aligned to the serene and sentimental waves of the work, you will certainly have the most pleasant journey throughout a world of perennial beauty, profoundly seen by the vivid illusions of infallible perceptions.

Nevertheless, the listener really has to be exactly on the same level of introspective serenity, and interior relaxation, as unveiled by the music, otherwise the sonorous experience will be too much monotonous. And what could be a marvelous perceptive journey throughout one’s own inspirational and personal world will turn into a despondent and anxious tedious task.  

Chime is perfect for relaxing moments. Besides the music being beautiful, the length of the work offers greatly surreal experiences for perception and meditative exercises. Although the music itself doesn’t have too much value alone, it is amazingly brilliant if combined with the correct ambience, and directed towards a very specific purpose, like the aforementioned meditation. For people who have already a certain kind of affinity towards relaxing music, Chime is a highly recommended album. A gracious work, splendidly conceived at the height of the most precious and refined style of the genre, the album has profound, but subtle melodies, perfectly solidified at the heart of the miraculous vicinities of its own pure purposes and delightful perceptive intentions. 


Wagner

ambient / downtempo / post rock

On the somewhat quieter sound of the musical spectrum, we find Indian one man project Mixtaped Monk and his deeply emotional music. On 'Urban Lonesome', the project flirts with ambient, post rock and downtempo music, be it in a very minimal style. The tracks on this album are slow, atmospheric pieces of music with soundscapes, electronic percussion and a few oriental influences.

Other acts that come to mind while listening to songs like 'City Of Changes' or 'Lonesome Drifter' include Plaid and Boards Of Canada. In fact, this albums would fit right in between the works of these acts and probably some other Warp residents too. On other occasions, as in 'Futile Festivities' elements of cinematic post rock shine through, driven by gentle guitars plucks and soundscapes.

Perhaps, if there is one point of criticism to be given, it might be the somewhat sterile sound of the album. Although the tracks are quite immersive pieces of music, I still miss something. I'm not sure what it is but I think I can explain it. This project has been around since 2016 and is still in the process of careful experimentation. For now, that resulted in a splendid album, one that certainly deserves you attention. Yet, I think in a few years, Mixtaped Monk will realize that this was just the beginning and grow ever prouder of his most recent work.

The verdict? 'Urban Lonesome' is a splendid album, best to be enjoyed with a good glass of wine and a decent meal, or in a comfortable, meditative position. It shows an artist worth keeping an eye on, certainly if he decides to take his experimental efforts to a next level. Only time will tell what he comes up with in the future but I bet it's interesting enough to follow. So, check it out and judge for yourself. A talent might be blooming here...


​Serge

ambient / downtempo / electronic

Escape From Reality is an album released on April 27, by Spanish electronic music artist Alex Cortez, here attending by the alias of Ashnaia Project. Almost eighty four minutes long, the album has eleven tracks: Losing Awareness, Born in Space, Dualities, Peaceful Loneliness, Celestial Purple Haze, Escape From Reality, Childrens of the Universe, Frozen Memories, Between You and Me, Empty Your Mind and Decompression. A marvelously epic, delightfully beautiful and profoundly fascinating ambient album – certainly one of the most poetic, wonderfully amazing, astoundingly resonating and significantly lucid ever to be created –, Escape From Reality is an extremely groundbreaking and audacious record. Sidelined by a majestic expressionistic minimalism intertwined by intrinsically beautiful melodies, the album has a signature sound of its own, and ostensibly shows the powerful scope of expansive tides correlated with an introspective universe of sensational infinity and everlasting majesty, preordained by a drastic sensibility that excels its extraordinary alignment of dynamic contingencies over an exceptional layer of laborious harmonies.

Reproducing the sound of a universe lost in the intrusive configuration of a gigantic celestial hope that always seek the weakness of endless gray days, Escape From Reality is an irrevocably unforgettable work that seems to have been conceived in a distant part of the galaxy, where sound reaches a level beyond its ordinary grievances, and unusual melodies of monumental beauty collide directly with the creative reality of an expansive instinct, lost in the interior shadows of our own decadent glories and convoluted confabulations. 

A brilliantly original work that mixes elements from several other genres as well, with special mention to traditional Indian music, Escape From Reality is a vast, extensive and extemporal work, that seeks in the universe of its own indefinite mirages the outstanding beauty of worlds unseen, where day and night are simultaneous, and the visibility of our shadows never forgives the ongoing weaknesses of our own sordid, but imperceptive, intrusions. 

A marvelous album that transports the listener to a delusional dimension where everything can be as instantaneous as it is overwhelmingly distant, the superbly fascinating and impeccable work that Escape From Reality revealed itself to be elevates the work above all the other albums in the genre that were released so far. Thoroughly surprising, and reverberatingly omniscient, each and every song on this album communicates itself ostensibly with the listener, in such a sagacious and unprecedented manner, that inevitably you will be asking yourself if this work, indeed, was not created, conceived, recorded and produced in another part of the galaxy. Because it seems almost impossible for such a beautiful and marvelous work to be a product of our ordinary world.

Escape From Reality is a vigorous and perfect masterpiece. One of the most undertaking, complete, intense, captivating, beautiful and marvelously conceived chillout/ ambient music albums that I have heard in my life, this record has a fabulous potential to enter into the history of these genres. Certainly, this work is a strong motive to commemorate, to celebrate, to boast, to electrify the entire scene. This album has to be spread everywhere. No ambient music enthusiast should ever commit the mistake of not listening to this magnificent, striking and astonishing album!          


Wagner

electronic / ambient / psytrance / downtempo

The Study of Change is an album by electronic music artist Amit Marco, under his nom de plume of Coam, released by Mindspring Music on April 28. With seven tracks – Bun Bo Hue, Me Ya, All Of Life, Outspot, Inspiration Fields, Spectrum Of Love and 4 2 8 – The Study Of Change can be essentially categorized as a psybient music album, with flavors of chillout, psytrance and psydub. With a pronounced angle of colorful atmospheres, the album shapes in the nucleus of its effervescent ashes a labor of transient sonorous devices, disposed in fractal melodic tunes, that let all the harmonies go free throughout the simple universe upon which the rhythms manage their own expansive virtues. 

Interestingly, the melodies constantly reshape themselves in an inclined strand of hallucinatory angles, which oversees the work as a sensible and unpredictable symphony of delusional sequences, being withdrawn from a universe undergoing a beautiful metamorphosis. With a pronounced signature sound that comprehends meticulously the diagram of its own harmonic structure, The Study Of Change reveals itself all the way through as a whimsical record, underlined over a chemistry of rhythm and dissonance. 

A very peculiar album – certainly a milestone in the genre –, the energy that overflows from the melodies are undoubtedly monumental, and the poetic sensibility that undergoes its ostensibly fragile sympathies scores a horizon of highly dissolute sonorous tendencies, exceptionally compatible with the universe projected within the introspective nature of the work, perfectly aligned with the amorphous contiguous zone of flexible perceptions evoked by strength of its characteristic atmosphere.          

A formidable album that works in a very precise intuition several subgenres of electronica – masterly tying all of them together – The Study Of Change is a sensational album, that severely underlies a coherent set of musical patterns, overwhelmingly combined in a style that ably projects a world of dreams by the astoundingly monumental uniqueness of its sound. Certainly, this is a record that deserves to be heard over and over again, as it is a celebratory triumph that concerns the evolutionary development of a genre. A victory to be exalted for the years to come.  


Wagner

electronic / noise / experimental

Sacred Bones Records 

At the end of 2015, I declared Blanck Mass' Dumb Flesh as the 2nd best album of that year, just behind No Joy's  More Faithful. In hindsight, judging by the amount of plays those albums got from me I should have declared Dumb Flesh as the best. It is a stellar album and I am not afraid to call it a landmark album in the history of electronic music. To say I had high hopes for World Eater is a massive, massive understatement. High expectations can yield big dissappointments though. M83's 2016  album Junk was a huuuuge let-down and I wasn't that impressed by Nothing's Tired Of Tomorrow as well. I know that musicians don't (and shouldn't) give a rat's bottom about how I feel about a particular album turns out though. It's their album, their fruit of their labour. Still, I got cautious about being too overly enthousiastic about upcoming albums, but in the case of World Eater I couldn't help it. This simply couldn't turn out bad or okay-ish, right? 

Right!! If anything it's even better than Dumb Flesh! I know I get carried away easily, dishing out hyperboles a lot of the time but this honestly surpasses all my expectations. Benjamin John Power takes his brainchild to the next logical step. Dumb Flesh already strayed much further from the ambient sounds of Blanck Mass' eponymous debut album by being much more rhythmic but World Eater takes it again to the next level. After the brilliant opener 'John Doe's Carnival of Error', that sounds like a musicbox mated with monstrous setup of analogue synths, complete with the (now almost trademark) glitched and cut-up vocals, 'Rhesus Negative' blasts through your speakers. A monster of a track that left me practically dumbfounded the first time I heard it. Again, the cut and paste vocals give it that alien feel to it. I really like the way that they are used as a percussion instrument. Speaking of which, the beats and occasional harsh vocals of this track lean very close to the rhythmic noise from artists on Ant-Zen and the likes, but the whole epic, larger than life soundtrack-like feel of the tracks results in something unlike you've ever heard. It's a glorious triumph of a track. 

'Please' drastically reduces the speed and yet again features the warped voices as the main focal point. I can't quite put my finger on it, but for some reason I'm reminded of The Bulgarian Voices Choir when it comes to the vocals. It has that same otherworldly feel to it. 'The Rat' goes down the rhythmic noise road again, albeit much more playful and, like the whole album in fact, doused in a huge soundtrack sound sauce. 'Silent Treatment' is as close to a "love song" as Blanck Mass will get and has a certain broody sensuality to it. 'Minnesota/Eas Fors/Naked' hearkens back to the debut with it's ambient sounds and moods. 'Hive Mind' starts calm enough, once again a sensual 'love song sound' but explodes into a glorious finale at the 6:30 mark which makes  you want to crank up the volume all the way to 11. Pure bliss. 

I haven't really gotten into the whole idea and concept of the album but then again, Power explains it all in the various press releases, as well as on the bandcamp page. So who am I to explain my interpretation to you, dear reader? I'm all for people finding their own meaning. Power states: 'The human race is consuming itself' and the anger and frustration that come with it are tangible throughout the album. Most notably in 'Rhesus Negative'. But it's not all negativity. There are glimmers of hope, and the aformentioned finale of 'Hive Mind' is a good example of that. At least, that's how I interpret it. The fact that Power manages to invoke so much feeling and emotion in what is essentially a wordless album is an accomplishment on its own. 

I cannot stress enough how absolutely stellar this album is. It is an album that transcends genres and like Dumb Flesh before it is yet again a landmark album. We are not even halfway 2017 but this will reach my number 1 spot, unless something even more amazing will come by.... 

​
Bjorn

electronic / ambient

KrysaliSound

Today is a beautiful day. It's so beautiful that I'm not even angry at Jehovah's Witnesses for waking me up so early in the morning. Normally, if those people ring my doorbell at that hour, I just start throwing black metal cds at their faces but not today. Today, all is calm. The sun is shining. The coffee is good. Plus, I am listening to an equally beautiful album, courtesy of Italian producer Federico Mosconi and sent to me by KrysaliSound, who by now are synonymous with "quality".

Yet, writing reviews about ambient albums is never an easy task. I can start writing to musical landscapes, ever changing figures in smoke, nighttime walks through endless forests and amorphic audio structures. All those comparisons would be correct and I can easily compare this music to acts like Biosphere, Tim Hecker or Fennesz. But still, this album is way too good to throw some review-clichés at it.

There are eight tracks on this album, with the first two already being brilliant highlights. Federico Mosconi creates music where ambient and noise perfectly seem to coexist. There is a certain darkness in the music, represented by deep drones and haunting soundscapes. 'La Fabbrica del Vapore' becomes a bit more noisy, harsher and even somewhat obtrusive while follower 'L'Immagine riflessa' is friendlier, gentle even, at least for a while

That way, the album calmly floats on, filling the entire room with these soundscapes. The tracks are somewhat alike, which is quite normal in this genre, but also come up with the right amount of variation. Federico Mosconi explores vintage ambient music, blends it with today's droning sounds and eerie loops, turning the whole thing into one narrative adventure. One you surely don't want to miss if you are an ambient fan.

So obviously, this one comes highly recommended to all you ambient and drone fans out there. Like many times before, KrysaliSound comes up with a high quality and quite versatile album. I'm not going to describe all the tracks but I can assure you that you will like each and every one of them, from the most minimal one to the massive bombast in some of the ones I mentioned earlier. 


​Serge

ambient, electronic, IDM

Infinite Waves

This album came in quite a while ago but I kept on postponing this review because of the release date, which is tomorrow, March 30. However, this is not the first time I am listening to it, on the very contrary. Almost all of the tracks have already become constants in my day-to-day playlist and quite often I simply play the entire thing. Sometimes to be enjoyed quietly as gentle background music, sometimes loud as a sonic trip. It's perfectly suited for both, and that's an excellent property for music to have.

First things first. Soft Armour is Christian Hougaard, a Danish producer. 'Multi Terrain' is his debut full length, after two ep's. The album is a mesmerizing marriage between ambient and IDM, loaded with soundscapes, field recordings, bass lines and dynamic electronic percussion. That being said, don't expect typical techno, drum & bass or dubstep beats. The ones on this album seem to breathe their own air, go their own way and drag you into an immersive audio adventure. Think Autechre, µ-Ziq or Squarepusher, that will get you closer to the sounds on this album.

Now, in the first paragraph, I mentioned that "almost all of the tracks" have reached my day-to-day playlist, which leaves out the intro 'Coast'. To be brutally honest, this is my least favorite track, an experimental ambient-noise tune without most of the other elements I have been writing about. In all, 'Coast' is a fairly decent intro for what later on proves to become a brilliant album. That being said, on to the glorification of this album, because it really deserves that, at least in my opinion.

'Dune' then comes up with the drama and gentle bombast that would occupy most of the other tunes. It reminds me a tiny bit of Bersarin Quartett and other acts in that genre, but I also notice an urge for originality. Where 'Coast' didn't manage to suck me in, 'Dune' did. Slowly, I am getting into this sound, this atmosphere and these immersive rhythms.  'Moor' follows that example, be it a bit darker. Here, Mmoths comes to mind, another one of those projects that manage to stand out in the vast world of electronic music. 

'Desert', the track we are premiering on top of this review, is a gloomy and quite heavy piece of downtempo electronics and ambient, driving on distorted beats and blissful soundscapes. I think this is one of my favorite tracks, but there are plenty more to be found. The dark, weird and highly experimental 'Macadam' for example, or 'Tarmac', one which evokes visions of late night dancefloors, somewhere up in space. 'Aerodrome' is probably the most haunting track here, even nudging towards the obscure dark ambient scene.

Closer 'Urban' does its job in style, coming up with broken techno and eerie soundscapes. If I have to rank these tracks from best to worst, this one will be somewhere on top. However, I don't want to do that, mainly because I like this album as a whole, even though each track seems to have its own character. In all, 'Multi Terrain' is exactly that, a wide electronic playground where everything is possible, to be discovered again and again, by anyone who wants to. My suggestion: get your hands on a copy of this thing. You will not regret it.


Serge

electronic / ambient

Once is the most recent album by Dutch electronic music artist Eelco van Westen, better known as Taktyle, released on March 17. With an effective, inventive and cohesive mixture of electronica subgenres, like ambient music, neoclassical and progressive, this seventy three minutes album is an epic coalescence of visceral harmonies. With subtle melodies and enduring atmospheres of a prominently colorful symbiosis of deeply resonating sonorous intonations, Once can be described as a splendid record. With twelve tracks – Inside the Box, Green Sheep, Faith, Follow Me, Pinched TB, Mainstage Falafel, Pioneers, Bobbekeen, Vacuum, About Big-Eyed Barking Dogs and Electro Cats, Orange December and Waltz Macabre – the songs are usually very long pieces, where you can almost travel through the tissues of time, undergoing a progressive journey by the intrinsic expansion of your own sensibilities. With a formidable sonorous approach, explicitly lucid and exceedingly vivid, Once reveals itself to be a major record, one that really has come to change each and every aspect of underground electronic music, launching a genuine revolution in the shape, the consistency and the elemental sincerity of the sound.     

With an aggrandizing sense of beauty and eccentricity, Once is a graceful and innovative ambient electronic record. Although the album has its fair share of monotonous passages, the overall score of the album is outstanding, deeply rewarding, precisely intense, and favoring a prominent mosaic of dilapidated tapestries of reinvigorating beauty and splendid majesty, throughout the ocean of its miraculous musical proposal. Like small particles reunited in the functional diagram of a conscious display of infinity, every track in Once exhibits the veracity of a sentimental ordination, unseen in the sonorous waves spread through the lines of its unwavering melodic expansion.  

Once is an album to hear in a quiet place, to appreciate profoundly, in a very serene and sagacious state of mind. From the songs, a splendid universe of sound emanates subtlety, in such a condescending, but at the same expressive manner, that you really will find yourself situated above the clouds. Possibly, even in another planet, or another galaxy. 

Unfortunately, as beautiful as it is, Once is a record that can reach only a very specific audience. It will hardly be appreciated by anyone outside the progressive/ ambient/ neoclassical electronica underground scene. But if you are one of those enthusiasts, do yourself a favor, and listen to this album. With a marvelous ascending intonation, a subtle rainbow of creative audacity, and an impeccable sense of brave originality, the beautiful melodies of this record will enchant you deeply. Taktyle’s music will penetrate the essences of your soul, bringing the whole universe with it. 


Wagner

industrial / electronic

My favorite metal-band-without-metal-instruments-or-band is back with a five track ep, something I'm always curious for. After all, since discovering this awesome act at Incubate some years ago, I have been intrigued with his machines and the sound he produces with them. I've seen him do it live a few times, resulting in shock and awe every single time. Author & Punisher is something unique, and with that in mind, this ep is quite unique too.

For those not familiar with this act, let me explain quickly. Author & Punisher is Tristan Shone, an American doom metal one-man project who builds his own equipment, influenced by his experiences in building and maintaining telescopes. His machines create drones, riffs, beats and loads of other sounds. Every performance is a blast. The music is intense, heavy and pounding, and some people can never get enough of that.

But then there is this ep, named 'Pressure Mine', and although this one is pretty damn heavy, it shows a different side of Author & Punisher. In a way, this one is rooted more into eighties industrial and even shoegaze. Opener 'Enter This' brings Scorn to mind. 'Pressure Lover'  and the monolithic 'Nazarene' someway remind me of old Ministry meets Nirvana and Godflesh. Furthermore, the vocals are a lot more melodic than what I'm used to from this project.

Nonetheless, 'Pressure Mine' is a very interesting piece of work, one where Author & Punisher dares to experiment with the seemingly endless possibilities of his machines. 'New World' is probably the most vintage industrial song I've heard since the eighties and closer 'Black Wand' is just weird, industrial approach to Depeche Mode. In all, I think this is a must-have for people who are already fans. Others, try it out, you will be surprised.


​Serge

synth pop

Exist and Exit is the debut album of American-based electronic/ synthpop duo Snake Heart Society, released in March 10. With ten tracks – Snake Heart, I See Fire,
Silence, The Dream, Tonight, You Fall Down, They Don't Want You, Shadows, The Other Side and Where are you now – Exist and Exit really absorbed well the greatest 80’s influences – and apparently, more obscure, but nonetheless interesting references too –, in all of its vehement and inconspicuous versatility. Although you will hardly be impressed by them, this album is a well flavored pop virtuosity, despite a handful of inexpressive harmonies highlighted in irrelevant musical passages, that compromises more sinuous melodies here and there. 

If you are used to 80’s synth or electro pop, you will hardly feel enthusiastic while listening to this album, since, essentially, Snake Heart Society hasn’t presented anything new. Nonetheless, they have potential to attract younger audiences, and they are competent in creating good and decent harmonies, in the old-fashioned style of the genre. They certainly have developed their own sonority, since they didn’t sound generic, although in some brief moments they certainly remind Depeche Mode a little. 

Exist and Exit manages to be a good, decent, even splendid album, without a doubt. Although I reassert the fact that this record is far away from being considered a masterpiece or an impeccable debut, there is almost a total absence of major flaws either. And the duo certainly has enough talent, competence and dedication to promote a great and more visceral revival of the genre. They really have a formidable musical sensibility, and great potential to make stunning records in the future. My favorite song in the record was the first, Snake Heart, undoubtedly.

While Exist and Exit could have been a better record, it certainly reveals extensive and exciting musical possibilities. With influences – apparently – ranging from Soft Cell to Daft Punk – and I will not name the most obvious ones, of course –, Snake Heart Society has showed meticulous consistency, an intelligent musical intuition, a great sense of timing and a certain level of subtle authenticity in their curious debut. Like I’ve pointed out above, this record would hardly impress an enthusiastic veteran of the genre, but they do elaborate interesting rhythms that rejuvenates the synthpop atmosphere quite extensively. Exist and Exit certainly can be classified as a very good album. But they have talent and creativity to do better than this.     
 
 


Wagner

electronic / alternative rock

Well, since we're dealing with deviant music today, I might as well throw this one in the mix. Again, much like the melodic death metal, the free jazz and the harsh hip hop I wrote about today, here is an album that shatters every expectation and leaves me wondering what the hell I'm going to write about the damn thing. Not that I mind, but the days of easily categorizing a band are over, that's for damn sure.

Unsurprisingly, Margaret Catcher are a French duo, that country is crazy. One is a drummer, the other one plays bass and both throw in heaps of vocoders, effect pedals and sensor paths. The result is something that resembles math rock music in an electronic and abstract way, a bit maybe like something between Add N to (X), Battles and Suicide. This album is loaded with weirdness, but also with uplifting and danceable songs.

Most of the songs are quite short, only a few make the three minutes mark. Nonetheless, they are full of unexpected hooks, dynamic drums and an old school sound that will make every vintage synth fan get aroused, easily. My personal favorites? Well, I'm quite fond of opener 'Not Too Bad' and title track 'Singularity' is a confusing but massively enjoyable piece of music. In between, there are other captivating tracks to be found. 

In all, this is a startling album, one that could have been made in the experimental scenes of the seventies or eighties. I think most of these songs will end up in my day-to-day playlist and I'm sure that I will grin each time they appear, especially when I got people over who have no idea that there is such a thing as experimental music. I suggest you do the same, you might be surprised what lurks in the rehearsal rooms of France...


​Serge

electronic / experimental / hip hop

We're still in France. We're once again dealing with something surprising, something stubbornly following its own path. Yet, this time, the music is something completely different, deviating from anything I usually listen to and certainly from anything I review. Right now, we're in the urban electronic hip hop scene, listening to beatmaker Al'Tarba and his gloomy tales of pariahs, sidewalk survivors and anti-heroes. 

Al'Tarba has been influenced by Mobb Deep and Wu-Tang Clan but also by audiobooks, field recordings, street dialogs and the sounds of everyday. Those influences are now being thrown into a intense and stunning album, 'La Nuit Se Lève' (which translates as 'The Night Rises'). The album is a mesmerizing blend of beats, electronics, weird soundscapes and a multitude of vocals. Hip hop and dubstep,  they seem to fit perfectly together.

Now, my knowledge of both genre is quite limited. So I'll throw in a few names that come to mind when I listen to most of the songs on this album. Cypress Hill is one, especially the ep they recorded with Rusko. The Herbaliser also comes to mind, along with Wu-Tang Clan, Eminem, Nas, you know, the in-your-face version of the rap and hip hop scene. In that aspect, 'Guillotine' is a brilliant angry hip hop track.

Now, I don't often listen to either hip hop, rap or dubstep but this album will definitely end up in my day-to-day playlist. I don't think I've ever heard these genres being this interesting, this varied and this immersive. Who to recommend it to? I don't know, I really have no idea. I'm not sure if fans of these genres read this website but if so, I recommend it to them, along with fans of weird electronics. This is the kind of variation you need in your collection, believe me.


​Serge

electronic / dub / reggae

Shapes and Shadows is an album by the electronic music artist known by the nom de plume Panda Dub, released on March 1. Forty eight minutes long, the album has ten tracks: Howl, Lost Temple, Enigma, Shankara, Kalahari, J'finirai seul dans un coquillage, Bad Weather, Shapes & Shadows, Drizzle and Labyrinthe. Shapes and Shadows depart from an interesting mixture of several different genres of electronic music, like dubstep, progressive dubstep and electro reggae, amongst others. The result is not only interesting, but exceedingly intriguing, and very pleasant to the ears. With an exceptional amount of fearless creativity, the general grooves of the music are colorful and pretty much alive, and you are introduced with such a strong majesty within the universe of the music, that you almost feel you are part of it. 

The overall rhythms of the songs are magnificent displays of omniscience, with powerful outlines of strength and sobriety. The general imposition of melodies is greatly intensified by a strong sense of rhythmic proficiency, intrinsic to the conscious rules of the harmonies. Although the album is extremely influenced by reggae, the eccentricity here works profoundly well. This reggae infused electronic music record certainly reveals an exponentially monumental and sensationally peculiar sense of artistry, especially given the fact that the final result is simply beyond astounding.     

Shapes and Shadows is a majestic album. With an audacious, expansive and daring musical proposal, the artist scored just right a formidable level of experimental musical versatility, without the fault of committing any exaggerations.  

I became surprised even with myself, taking into consideration how much I have liked this album. With the little twists of psychedelic groves, the abundant Jamaican sounds root of its unpredictable notes and the electronic wave of a vivacious dubstep, Shapes and Shadows is a marvelous record, extremely innovative, unique and original. Highly recommendable not only to dubstep enthusiasts, but for fans of electronic music in general, as well as experimental music, this album transcends boundaries, and defines new patterns for the expected scale of creativity usually found in the underground scene. Undoubtedly, Shapes and Shadows is a virtuous and highly colossal piece of musical revelation.     


Wagner

industrial metal

metal / hardcore

stoner rock / psychedelic

post rock / math rock / progressive rock

alternative rock / hard rock

facebook

electronic / trip hop

post rock / electronic

stoner rock

metal

hardcore / black metal

death metal

dark folk / neofolk

Serge

experimental / electronic / ambient / classical

I first discovered the wonderful and adventurous music of Jacaszek in a record store. 'Glimmer' and 'Catalogue des Arbres (feat. Kwartludium)' have been regularly played albums for years in this household. So when this new album was announced, I was immediately interested. However, like often happens with artists this talented and versatile, starting to write this review was a difficult task. So let's just begin by writing that this is an breathtaking piece of work.

For those not familiar with Michał Jacaszek: he is a Polish composer who combines electronically prepared sounds with acoustic instruments.  Over the years, he composed soundtracks and theatre music, plus a number of albums. His work blend classical music with experimental electronics and jazz. He knows little to no musical borders and continuously drags in seemingly strange influences. 

'Kwiaty' means flowers and in a way that is exactly what you get on this album; blooming pieces of music that look and feel familiar yet mysterious. The album was inspired by Michał Jacaszek’s discovery of an English anthology of metaphysical poetry from the 17th century by Robert Herrick, which to him — somehow-- sounded songlike when read out-loud. The album contains guest appearances by Hania Malarowska (Hanimal), Joasia Sobowiec-Jamioł and Natalia Grzebała.

The songs on this album are strange pop-ballads or jazz inspired classical pieces or electronically rearranged folk songs, regarding on how you feel about them. I hear influences from all these genres, including trip hop, dark jazz and the soundtracks to Tim Burton's movies or even Twin Peaks. There is a gloomy atmosphere, a mysterious feel but also musical ingenuity and beautiful vocals.  In short, this is Jacaszek at his very best.

Once again I refuse to pick a favorite track. I'm not even going to mention separate songs. I'm just going to recommend buying the album. Take the weekend off and enjoy 'Kwiaty' non-stop. Allow Jacaszek to guide you on an introvert but epic journey, one you will not regret. It will definitely be worth the effort. If you are into anything between Dead Can Dance, Bersarin Quartet and The Nightmare Before Christmas, you will easily get addicted to this thing...


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ambient / idm / electronic

Last Drop Records

I just love the perks of being a music reviewer. Not only do I get to listen to new music way before other people do, I also receive unexpected albums which deviate from the stuff I usually write about. Take this little gem for example. I'm not one to search far and wide for this kind of groovy idm induced ambient music, but here it is, being a part of my day-to-day playlist for quite a while now. It's going to remain in there for a long time too.

Ichinen consists of Italian producers Roberto Bosco and Kiny. This full-length follows their 'A Morning Without Glory EP and is a blend of Bosco’s rhythmic elements with Kiny’s experimental sounds. That being said, don't expect techno beats and danceable tunes. This album is moody, gloomy, atmospheric and captivating, a must-have for fans of Autechre, Cordell Klier, Squarepusher and Biosphere.

The album opens with 'First Impact', which immediately sets the tone for the entire album. With clicky beats, atypical percussion and strange soundscapes, this track promises an enjoyable electronic trip and the rest of the track easily keep that promise. It's extremely difficult to pick a favorite, especially because I simply enjoy playing the album as a whole. However, I have to say that title track 'Dual Craters' stands out, reminding me the most of my favorite on the aforementioned list of bands, namely Biosphere.

'Lander' is another highlight, an uneasy and somewhat eerie ambient tune with broken melodies and wry percussion. 'Small Martian' follows coherently and makes that eerie atmosphere harsher, heavier and deeper. The other tracks are up to you, but I promise you they'll be worth the effort. In all, this is a brilliant album, one that never gets stale or weary. So I can only recommend this to all you experimental ambient and idm fans out there. This is the soundtrack to your lives...


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electronic / ambient / downtempo / industrial

Denovali Records comes with two collaborations this month, both equally interesting in my personal opinion. I'll start with this strange and breathtaking collaboration between two Berlin based electronic acts, Monolog and Subheim. I don't think these are unknown names to fans of downtempo electronics and Denovali Records so I'm not going to go into introductions. However, I will have to warn you, this is not an easy digestible album. There sure is a lot going on here but the overall feeling is dark, heavy and often haunting.

​The album opens with 'Wone', a pitch black blend of dark ambient and industrial. As if Raison d'être, Lustmord and Author & Punisher have engaged in a sonic threesome. From there, things tend to become abstract, strange and definitely unusual. 'Benedict' reminds me of Scorn, much to my delight. It's been a while since Scorn has appeared in my playlist. 'Sumo Rimi' is probably the most radio friendly track on the entire album, doing something highly immersive with dubstep and the dark electronic sounds of the eighties.

'Make Stones Cry' grabs back to the eerie dark ambient sounds and layers it with sluggish beats. Perhaps this one is my favorite but that's a tough decision to make. 'Colourful Flight' closes the album, again with a gloomy electronic ambient sound. Yet, in a way, this song can function as the breather after all that sonic darkness. Nonetheless, it's another one of my favorites here, my five favorites. Yes, I know, there are only five tracks, each with a different personality and identity and each of them equally interesting. So - obviously - this comes highly recommended.


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ambient / electronic

Deep Infinity is an album released on January 16, by Cyber Dream Records. Work of an artist known as Jon Salem, the record has eight tracks: Breaking The Barrier, Terra Psalm, Sol Invictus, Deep Infinity, Sagittarius A*, Cosmic Debris, PSR B0329 +54 and Voice of the Nebula.

A very cosmic ambient album, Deep Infinity heavily intensifies different nuances of silence, to expose over the dissident sonorous layer of its harmonies the intensity of fragmented textures, that undermines the frailty of an invisible, but profoundly surreal musical universe. Highly intense, although very quiet, this is an album perfect to relax and feel. It juxtaposes sensible realities, as long as they manage to manifest a subtle density fulfilled of unexpected energy.

Although there is nothing in Deep Infinity that you haven’t heard on other ambient music releases, this record does unravel the prominence of its own style. A lot more quiet and slow than the genre usually are, Deep Infinity uses calmness as the central force of its musical axis for the entire time. Breaking and expanding sonorous boundaries to form new musical elements – although you may think the album to be a little tedious at first –, in fact, Deep Infinity builds a new form of interaction between musical notes, in a relaxed harmonic space, where sound deviates from its ordinary purpose, to select and reach a new organic paradox of melodic ambitions.

A very interesting album with potential to achieve a very large audience into the underground, Deep Infinity is a somber and enthusiastic record, with bubbling soundscapes, that personalizes rhythmic dissonances, and compresses them into a universal cataclysm of sensibilities, modifying your thoughts and perceptions, prompting you to undergo a deeper journey into this stunning atmosphere of sound. With an intriguing paroxysm that comprehends the power of calmness to achieve its musical goals, Deep Infinity seems to really capture the sound of space, universe, galaxies and the infinity, so to speak. You really feel yourself traveling throughout space and time, concluding a marvelous journey, wondering how this album masterly achieves its objectives, as a deep space ambient album. 

Although there is nothing really fantastic going on here, Deep Infinity is an ambient music album done right, worked out right and deciphered very well. Not only the most majestic goals of the genre are there, but they are perfectly introduced. And giving the fact that you never feel yourself bored, for the entire run, this album really deserves all the credits. Jon Salem is an incredible artist, and ambient music is really his thing!        


Wagner

electronic / dubstep / industrial 

And now for something completely different. We're heading to Italy to find some electronic beats in the form of rock songs. I know that concept might sound a bit strange and that's true. The whole album is kinda weird but that doesn't make it any less interesting if you ask me. On the very contrary, there is plenty of goodness to be found on this album, from industrial rock anthems to synthpop ballads.

The mastermind behind this project -obviously- is NeroArgento, who is probably best known for his work with industrial rock band The Silverblack or for his modelling career. With 'One Against All' he tries his hand at "hip" electronic music, including nineties techno to dubstep and turns it into songs. The result is something that sounds both industrial and mainstream. Yet, above all, this one is full of surprises.

When I have to look for references, acts like The Prodigy, Pendulum, Die Antwoord, Deadmau5, Nitzer Ebb, VNV Nation and Covenant come to mind, along with a bunch of eurodance projects here and there. Yet, there is room for guitars in some songs and the whole thing comes with pretty catchy choruses, highlighting in 'Liar' and 'Don't Touch Me When I'm Drunk'. Title track 'Songs Against All' is a weird hip-hop meets dubstep like tune but nonetheless a pretty decent piece of music.

Halfway through the album, the surprise-effect wears off and this album finally gets the chance to grow on the listener. Who that listener should be? Hell, I don't know. Maybe I'm afraid that this album will be too mainstream for the industrial electro scene and too bizarre for regular dance music fans. Then again, most of these songs are fun. Skinny Puppy meets Combichrist in 'On Your Own', which will get many people on the dance floor.

In all, this is quite a daring album but I guess strangers things have entered the mainstream of the music industry. so yes, I think this one can break a few grounds and get the act on many stages all over Europe and beyond. Personally, I definitely want to see this live, partially because I want to look at the faces of the people in the audience. I'm curious if they would be as surprised as I am...


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