Teacups - Songs about Yarn (Rack & Ruin)

Rack & Ruin Records is certainly one of the fewest labels which has the ability to astonish the melomans at times. The album of 16 tracks gets involved in interesting aspirations. The main feature is to "mess up" the sounds of chiptune/8-bit and orchestrated sound/chamber pop, this is actually the reason why you can hear naivistic and rough electronic music approaches alongside with lucid symphonic sounds. The last mentioned ones are based on violin loops and tehnique of modifying some octaves and the first named are conjured up from old game consoles such as SNES and N64. Although almost all tracks are instrumental and have short duration, nevertheless, the picture will not get fragmentized yet. There are 2 exceptions, though - Knitting for your Resume (SNES) is a beautiful indie pop bob with singing. Also, it would be unfair not to mention the main and longest track Songs About Yarn in B-flat which does come forward through blithesome soundtrack-alike milieu. Listening to Songs about Yarn is a really worth experience, mainly by 2 aspects - solidness and extraordinariness.

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9.4

Chappaquiddick Chappaquiddick (Noise Horror)

An excellent blending of art-punk, fusion, avant-garde, progressive rock, improvised music, and a bit of hardcore. The more I listen to this trio from Florida the more it might be it reminds me of a mix of Soft Machine and one of the members, Taylor Ross`s parallel project Witchporn, and his label mates The Moon Runners. By the way, avant-prog/experimental rock master Gianluca Missero aka Hox Vox from Venice gave me the solid feedback, saying that during his living in the northern part of the USA he had not chanced upon such a organically wrapped up ensemble, though, he was being well aware of similar acts (he signified this genre as "clean psychedelia eclectic mix-up"). At last I want to ask is it a new sign of the rise of new American underground music through tape labels?

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10.0

Moon Runners Full Enough (Rack & Ruin)

Duo Danny Natter-Jake Jones comes from Olympia, USA, the city with decent musical traditions, launching an inspiring art/avant-punk line. Music which is a mixture of motorik patterns, blues, garage, math-rock, post-hardcore, surf rock, and psychedelic seeds. 11 tracks within circa 45 minutes do show some affinity toward The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Times New Viking, The Fall, The White Stripes, the 80`s end Sonic Youth, Big Black, and The Stooges as well. The tracks have relatively short duration, averaging two and a half minutes out, which is sufficient enough, to deliver a spicy and noisy sonic depeche. The opening track All Cops Are Murderers does open up through exhilarating surf-y blues refrains while opposing to it primitivistic declamations to have created an intriguing contrast. My Name Is Not Mud strikes with Mark E Smith-ian cynism, and the clash coming out from guitars and drums. Indeed, all what regards Natter and Jones noise doings it is completely targeted and refined. In the track Wolf Shirt all is about to speak in the terms of very harshness, accompanied by a minimalist electronics (compare it to The Fall`s Perverted By Language). I Want to Say No is also driven by similar bass-synth outlines - still edge-y and psychedelic ones. The ending track Death Tunnel can be considered as exceptional - an nearly 17-minute long colossus, which provides the opportunity to have some experiments with form and content - after the intense hits of blues and noise rock you can hear atmospheric and reversed upper sonic sentiments, which is apparently the case of minimalism. One of the best.

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9.7

[Live Session] Live at WFMU on Brian Turner's show, 5/4/2010

The French duo/love pair Nafi aka Scott Serpent, and Armelle aka Bisoubisou remained me first time with the excellent single pair on label Beko DSL (though, it wasn`t their first release yet). The duo mixed avant-punk and no wave creating an astonishingly ecstatic milieu around the listeners.

9 tracks within 36 minutes provide a way out set of post-punk, no wave, dub, reggae, and the world music, in-between filled by monotonous shamanism (Intro / Reggae 1 / Rising Son), exploiting in the primitivistic way programmed synths and electronics, sheer psychedelic layers and noise walls. The most remarkabale it is their ability and ratio to realize their conceptual sketches to bring ideas into an end - into a real apotheosis (Reggae 2; Tropique du Cancer). All of those nihilistic shifts and vectors, though uncompromising ones, are mere instruments to fill this purpose. The band is ruled by democracy (or should I say rather anarchy?) - sometimes sings Nafi, sometimes Armelle, sometimes they sing in unison. By speaking about parallels and legends it reminds of the early PIL, The Clash, The Slits, The Screamers, Karen Cooper Complex, Sonic Youth, even Elastica, and from nowadays it is a bit reminiscent of Gang Gang Dance. However, it does not make sense to think The Dreams could somehow to be the bastard of one of them. Listen and enjoy, and if it is for purpose you could take a lesson for to be aware of how practicing punk music in the `adequate` way.

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[Old but important] Ashbrg Music for Cats (Hamsterloco)

Actually the first premise is very promising anyway - Aleix Pitarch `s music is without any doubts always liked by me, and secondly, the cats are always enough cute to be welcomed and dedicated something to them. However, can we expect the new turns regarding artistic freedom, i.e playing with various forms and genres?

30-year old Catalan has released a bunch of personal issues under his own Hamsterloco label, many of whom have been re-issued recently. Indeed, Music for Cats, consisting of 17 tracks and enduring merely 32 minutes, was initally brought to an end in 1998 having revealed his unconventional approach to 8-bit/tracker music. On the one hand, all of those acid synth lines, bewildering and quaint sonic layers and mutated samples, and on the other side, it is all blended into a weird mix with a lot of diverse references - drum and bass, big beat, downtempo, ambient, and chilltronica. Even indie tunes are represented here - actually red eyes does bid bass sequences which, indeed, are probably one of the best moments on it. Also, there are quite a lot primitivistic sound collage as well, which conceptually is immanently concomitant with 8-bit music anyway, though, it seems the Barcelonan is used to involve to trying to magnify even more differencies and gaps to bring forth interesting contrasts between its parts. In any cases, though, psychedelic undercurrents are the corpuscles of his bloodstream. There are some very eccentric tracks too - for instance, country phone, does it belong more to the Kenny Rodgers`universe, or the Bruce Haack/The Jackpine Savage`s weird one, though? Will it be playlisted in Country music radio shows? Another example, flinser, is a hauntingly rumbling one, or spy which is built up on a sample of a sufi song, or empty going on a fly and disappearing into endless desolation. However, if you are being aware of Pitarch`s favorite artists (David Bowie, Cocteau Twins, The Residents, Deerhof, Scott Walker, The Cure, Yellow Magic Orchestra) it does not surprise you, though.

No doubt, it is one of the top releases in the 8-bit/tracker music universe.

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[Old but important] ART ABSCONs Spektral Magik (ParaLucid)

In my mind, `dark folk` (also, `neofolk`, `apocalypse folk`, `folk noir` as a genre has got to stay as one of the honest in its own. Ever since all of those acts, and some of them especially, which established the borders of the aforementioned styles approximately 20-30 years ago are intended to have stayed on the top level to date. Non/Boyd Rice, Death In June, Ataraxia, Current 93, Werkraum. Unlike black metal music, neofolkers have avoided to get devaluated, maintaining their severe, grim and often politically incorrect image. Indeed, for all of those people who have not had experiences with this sound yet should be get apprised that this music has nothing to do with ordinary folk music, except by the word`folk`.
Spectral Magik is the first and since the last release by a mystical German musician called Grandmaster Abscon ( by the way, who is supposed to use a mask). The album which consists of 7 tracks is probably one of the best - maybe even the most outstanding - I have found within this mysterious world since. Naturally, widely sprawling high arches as the obligatory element sketched by acoustic guitars and atmospheric synths are represented here. Besides that, the mysterious side as well. The first row of the lyrics will say much about it:

//Ich komm zürück aus fremden Welten/Seelen/von einsamen Hören/von verlassenen Tränen//

As confident and credible as by the side of its main elements it is also remarkable by its unusual digressions coming forth distinctly. For instance, Somnium III is fringed by the lightness of organic French estrada music. More specifically - there is no doubt anymore that the leitmotiv is loaned from the evergreenish Love is Blue which was popularized by Paul Mauriat and his orchestra. In true, the track does gradually evolve towards medieval music sentiments. Somnium IV is a stunningly synchronized one of relying on man-woman vocal lines sung in French. Obviously one of the most beautiful ones I have ever heard. Somnium V is getting approach to Einstuerzende Neubauten `s album Silence Is Sexy and its oeuvres recorded in German. Actually, a follow-up will move with Bargeld`s aesthetics arm-in-arm. The last track - as you even yourselves figured it out already - Somnium VII - descends to Gregorian-alike vowel experiments/ethereal sonic layers, neoclassical dark wave structures, impenetrable spoken word declarations.

A sort of mysterious universe. Comparable to the same degree, as the entire Spektral Magik is mystical in its vast goodness. The masterful act really worth for to be discovered by more music fans.

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edPorth Saying vamos and thinking let's go (Inglorious Ocean)

All experimental rock music roads lead to Rome, paraphrasing that byword of which adequately describes the recent case. Indeed, Patrizio Piastra aka edPorth has a lot to offer on his debut album Saying vamos and thinking let's go. In which way could the borders of his sound be dumbed down? If you have listened to Seefeel`s dystopic sound cocoons, you have got the ideas to be already along the half-way of truth (or even a little bit more). Even better results it is possible to reach if to arrive back in time to mùm`s first two albums, though, the man from Rome is intended to have, as it seems to me, a little broader aesthetical ambitions on his pavement. For instance, the title song, which is fringed by delicious harmonic layers in the vein of IDM/indietronica/post-rock/ambient glitch. In the place of Meeting at the utility he is ready to continue on the runways of the British legends - a certain kind of somber tonality will acquire abstract shapes over time, in turn, a lot darker shades swivel around them, though, it is mainly relies on inside higher chords while synth paces will unbashedly getting close to the past of new wave/new romantic bands. Indeed, this is carried out by electronic music of 101 percent yet subjected to the methodology of post-rock music. Though, however, there are a couple of exceptions (with guitars). Eighteen degrees below the horizon is built up on guitars, booming bass lines and massive violins, and Kreuzberg and the sun does crossover glitch beats and guitar chord transitions - the latest ones are just fabulous, working out as a kind of mood trigger let out. Similarly, angelic voices has an important role to play, which more clearly will be cropped out at Kadievka. Your sand does usher in as a kind of crossover of nu-jazz and Balkan rhythms, which getting develop and landing in the networks of glitch and vague scratch effects . Despite of variability all around seems to be congealing. Terminating Long Exposure offers wide-sounding orchestrations, being also one of the highlights on Saying vamos and thinking let's go.

Epic, soothing, masterful, dreamy, timeless are being the first adjectives come up to mind. However, besides our main figure, mùm and Seefeel I recommend listen to Echelon Effect, Monokle, orange crush, and Patrizio Piastra`s compatriots port-royal and The Japanese Gum, and also the brothers-sisters of him on the Inglorious Ocean label as well.

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9.6

[Artists] Hox Vox

Hox Vox
Hox Vox
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Guezos Oito Destinos (Aregueifa)

From the Galician region, Spain, coming a 7-member ensemble demonstrates its flavour in compliance with the label Aregueifa which in turn reflects the tendencies of their native county. If you have already made acquaintance with Xurxo Romani, Xera PROJECTO [TREPIA], or Fanny & Alexander you can`t be wrong in your speculations about possible directions in songcrafting of Guezos. You do not actually need to do it - Guezos have been active more than 10 years and issued some albums as well. Their ethnic pop - as well as another native-minded bands from the Galician/Asturian region can`t be without demonstrating their Celtic roots - is mixed with psychedelic organ sequences and hard guitar riffs. However, the album contains of very unexpected yet pleasure elements at the first sight. The opening track Guezada 69 does crossover ethnic rock with acid dance rock tunes. It sounds as if the fairies have arrived to a madchester-music party and since the subsequent fete will little by little be taken over by those supernatural creatures. Acción-Reacción drives through impressive loud-sounding psychedelic shoutings in the choruses. Vals do Regueiro is a blend of downbeat, hard rock tunes and the sounds of local bagpipe gaita. Actually all of this stuff on the album are pushed elegantly up to the top and sustained therein by catchy organ grooves and gaita strokes. Todo Perfecto is the only one which does not symphatize for me. Even though it starts with a delicious Yann Tiersen-alike accordion motive the track will be evolving into quite lame latin estrada pop. The harmonies-melodies arisen from there even reminds of the criminal/platnoi songs from the former U.S.S.R. My favorite track is obscure Benvida a Terradentro - through its very brief longitude and introspective nature, yet, it is rather meant as an interlude or introduction to the ending track Terradentro (2009).

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8.1