“VS” by the ambient / drone project CASSEL starts with a time-stretched drone that sounds completely saturated by a codeine IV drip. A bass line moving like the expansion of the Mariana Trench. As percussion is added in,”VS” takes the shape of a post-punk track slowed down to the atomic level. This effect is amplified …
Andrew Larson’s spectral rock project magnetic ghost reaches into the ethereal pre-dusk light to conjure this golden and warming slice of shoegazey slowcore. Arcing over the buzz of a hazey drone, bright guitar lines and Larson’s voice hit upon themes of comfort in cosmic insignificance under a desert expanse. Recalling bands like Codeine, Idaho and …
We are providing a bit of extended coverage of Patient Hands’ EP. Stasis is a beguilingly beautiful composition that swells and dips into ambient passages and spectral folk songs. The totality of the piece comes in the subject matter stringing together lush drone compositions that fold together golden tonal shifts with autobiographical field recordings of …
Named after the siZulu word for “love”, “Uthando” continues the incredibly exciting string of singles in front of the release of “NOUS II”, composer Christopher Bono’s neo-classical / post-rock project featuring members of Liturgy, SWANS, Ghost Against Ghost and many others. This is post-rock done right. It’s inherently emotional peaks and valleys are not overwrought, …
Following up on the incredibly strong lead single “The Silence”, “Tarot Cards” is another slow-build dream pop banger that incorporates the quiet-loud dynamic to great effect. Bathe channels artists like Slowdive and Pale Saints in weaving her reverb-heavy verses into spectral leads and solos that take “Tarot Cards” into considerably heavier territory. Tarot Cards by …
Having worked with internationally renowned labels such as Kompakt, the Greek electronic artist returns with an utterly compelling track that drives the listener through several climates existing in harmony within the same track. Moving from ambient tones, to pastoral beat-led passages to heavier areas of techno, “The 5 Principles” covers a lot of ground within …
“Dead air hints at some kind of ominous, environmental issue”. This observation by Marconi Union co-founder Richard Talbot defines the tension and release formula present on the UK-based trio’s newest single. A slow build from a single oscillating tone, “Fractured” incorporates several additive tonal shifts before the track is broken wide open – vocal drones, …
the Cincinnati post-rock / jazz trio (post-rock like Tortoise not like Explosions in the Sky) explore several modes on their newest single “CNX”. These run from tight, syncopated grooves to mining open ended passages where Josh Jessen’s synthesizers and Stephen Patota’s guitar ping-pong of each with angular precision – making these miracle off-the-rim, blind alley-oop …
I have used the adjective “birch-branch dry” in the past to describe music like this that blends electronic percussion with live percussion and the way live percussion seems to snap the entire composition into focus when it drops. On Sievi’s “Birch Tree” live percussion is used to this effect along with the blending of acoustic …
It’s rare that I get multiple submissions from someone that makes me feel compelled to share all of them. Nicole Oberle’s output, however, is unique in that way as it covers quite a bit of ground in three tracks from Grouper-esque minimal compositions to in-the-red ambient work that borders on harsh noise. “A KNOT IN …
NICOLE OBERLE – “A KNOT IN TWOS / AZALEA / LITTLE FAWN / CHOKE (NO ESCAPE” Read More »