VOYAGER II – “FALLING” The London duo comprising Voyager II dig deep into a lush world of live, jazz-influenced percussion, eroding samples, vocal drones and repetitive arpeggios to create a sound somewhere between El Ten Eleven and The Album Leaf. Elongated ambient passages are snapped into focus by the crack of a locked in snare, …
REALIZER & MATT TONDUT – “MEMORIES” This collaboration between two guitarists Realizer and Matt Tondut showcase the two trading melodic leads, lines soaked in warm reverb, washes of delay and a sense of lived in sonic space that feels comfortable and nostalgic, making up for some of the more dynamic push-and-pull found in guitar duos …
MENIK – “A RAINY DAY IN MURRAYS BAY” This is one of those songs that seep into your bones. The sadness permeates everything like monsoon rains that seem to turn every air molecule to water. Plaintive guitar with plenty of hanging reverb is paired with a droning violin, making this reminiscent of another post-breakup heartbreaker, …
CLOUD TANGLE – “FALLING ASLEEP” In this Grouper-esque track by the Australian multi-instrumentalist, Amber Ramsay’s nocturnal voice and minimal instrumentation floats in and out of our liminal consciousness like worried thoughts that later get reprocessed into our dream state. Likewise, the gradual accruing of instrumentation by the end of the track is anything but restful. …
NO FAST FORWARD – “CULT” Emerging from a really promising European ambient-techno scene, the Lithuanian producer relies on ever-growing arpeggios and thick ambient pads to create a piece of time-stretched beauty. Using the conceit of the cult leader as seducer of the working class, this contemplative track grows from a submerged house beat to a …
ABE HOLLOW – “GOLDEN CALF” A golden calf. A substitution for the divine. An idol created in haste in the absence of clear direction. On Adam Hirsch’s “Yiddish Gothic Trip”, the Oakland multi-instrumentalist fleshes thoughtful and contemplative tunes with a producer’s ear squinting just right to hear layers of percussion and synths piled atop a …
ROB BURGER FEAT. LAURIE ANDERSON – “SOULS OF WINTER” For the second single off of Rob Burger’s upcoming album The Grid out on Western Vinyl, the erstwhile Tin Hat Trio member and frequent John Zorn collaborator teams up with experimental legend Laurie Anderson to create a stately track that blooms slowly out from a delicate …
KRIKL – “INFINITE” “Infinite ” is a peek into a larger conceptual project that the L.A. based producer has been forming out of minute-long instagram experiments composed from processing tape loops through digital software. “Infinite” expands delicate looped guitar lines into a grander, encompassing sea of sounds that pool and wash over the track with …
PLEXIHAVEN – “TIN” Sometimes electronic music of this nature has the tendency to sound like a roomful of people talking over and around one another. Intersecting synthesizer melodies, bubbling bass lines and overlapping rhythmic phrasings stalking and stepping on one another’s sonic territory. Plexihaven’s IDM-centric track is anything but. All of these proclivities are marshalled …
MONS VI – “ASK ME ANYTHING” Wrapping late-night R&B melodies around hazy, shoegazing atmospherics and pitch-shifted vocals, the Brooklyn musician and former medical student perfectly captures the portent of a young producer with an ear open to everything – emo rap triplets, downcast melodies, shifting ambient textures – and endless dedication to craft. THE DUMES …