Browsing Tag

Alt Electronica

Take a Celestial Trip with Timothy and the Apocalypse’s ‘The Ethereal Event’

Posted on 10 April 2022

Timothy and the Apocalypse’s latest single, The Ethereal Event, is a delicious cocktail of spacey synths, epic sci-fi-enabled transcendence, trip-hop breakbeats, and artful gravitas.

Despite the lush textures and endlessly ascending chord progressions, there are the Australian artist and producer’s signature dystopic motifs that bring gravity into this elevated, genre-hopping release. And notably, we’re not the only ones fixated on the artist’s sound. With thousands of monthly Spotify listeners, it is clear that Timothy and the Apocalypse carries the catharsis and escapism that is in high demand in his production style. We’re stoked to hear him back on trippy and Avant-Garde form after he infatuated us with his Lynchian feat of electronica, The Mindful Cherub.

You can experience The Ethereal Event for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Neofix star rove in their alt ambient electronica single, Perseverance

Posted on 21 March 2022

What Elon Musk is to the tech world, Neofix is to the airwaves with their latest single, Perseverance. The entire beat is constructed by samples from Mars in the alt-indie electronica single, which is glazed in an interstellar sonic beguile.

With the positivity that shines through the lyrics as much as the effortlessly outreaching ethereal vocals, it finally feels like we’ve got a natural progression from Bowie that deserves to be equally as revered for their ingenuity.

Perseverance isn’t your average earworm, but the vocal hooks of “giving in is not the same of giving up” will linger for long after this ambiently unforgettable release has faded to a close.

If anyone is handing out awards for the best music video of 2022, Neofix deserves to pick them up for their video, which allows you to imagine what Morph would have looked like if the creators dropped acid before putting him into motion. You can check out the highly investable stop motion video, which premiered on March 11th, via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Reactive Armor delivered dark and dirty big-beat-trip-hop from the European underground with their seminal track, ModelA

Posted on 3 March 2022

If you take your electronica harsh, dirty and cinematic, Reactive Armor’s big beat soundscore, ModelA has all the makings of a playlist staple. The European underground electronica outfit consists of the classically trained synth player, drummer, and mixer, Tamas Valkar, and Andras Czimmermann on sax, woodwind and EWI. Together, they orchestrate blockbuster-worthy mechanical trip-hop that isn’t short of panoramic or visceral feeling.

It’s only a matter of time before Reactive Armor loses their underground status or breaks into the film score industry. Their dystopic sound isn’t just massive; it’s devilishly clever and easily on the same level as the artists on the Sucker Punch OST.

The official video for ModelA’s seminal track is available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Manchester’s most ethereal synth-folk artist, Test Card Girl, is transcendent in her latest single, Fly

Posted on 2 March 2022

From the definitive home of UK indie, the Manchester-based synth-folk artist, Test Card Girl, is here with their intricately alternative Kraftwerk-inspired single, Fly.

Her choral folk vocals float into the slightly Avant-Garde, endlessly ethereal electronica progressions as the lyrics navigate the stir craziness that lockdown stirred inside all of us. In their own words, “It is a rallying cry to stand up and walk to nowhere”, inspired in part by the colliery bands in British mining towns.

With Seadna McPhail (Airtight Studios) on production and the I am Kloot drummer, Andy Hargreaves, responsible for production, this Arts Council-funded single was worth every penny. There really is no understating how much its gentle gravitas cuts straight to the core of frustration while exploring art in the context of desolation.

Fly, the second single from Test Card Girl’s debut EP, was released on February 25th. You can hear it for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud, Spotify and Bandcamp.

Keep up to date with new releases from Test Card Girl by following on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

SEN COV smashes electronic archetypes in his latest cinematic breakbeat single, Kotor

Posted on 2 March 2022

Sound designer, artist, composer, and Strange Planet Label founder, SEN COV, has taken his aural mixology skills to the next level with his electronic-archetype-smashing mix, Kotor.

The cold grimey house beats fed through breakbeat progressions welcome you to the dark underbelly of house as SEN COV experiments with electro drill energy and polishes his sound in cinematically dystopic gravitas. We’ve more than had our electronic fill at A&R Factory, but no artist came quite as close as SEN COV came close to sating our hunger for original flair.

After Kotor, SEN COV will be unleashing fortnightly mixes. If you appreciate genre-transcending Drum n Bass breakbeat style, save a space on your radar.

Kotor is now available to stream on SoundCloud. You can keep up to date with all of the artist’s latest releases via Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

OXYG3N introduces us to the ‘New Electric’ in his cinematic electronica single

Posted on 15 February 2022

After growing up on an aural diet of Hooverphonic and Portishead, finding stellar trip-hop in this era is often a thankless mission, but OXYG3N allowed the endeavour to pay off in his recently released ambient work, New Electric.

Right from the prelude, the emotional magnetism in the reverb grips you before pulling you into the hauntingly cinematic track that almost resonates as spiritual. With the chorally quiescent vocals floating in the ether above the snappy structure of the beats and the mellifluous synth melodies, it’s impossible to feel anything less than transfixed once this meditative yet visceral all the same track reaches its outro.

It scarcely comes as a surprise that OXY3N can rack up tens of thousands of streams with singles such as Forbidden Cube, which leans on hip hop with more weight than New Electric, but you’ll still hear nuances of urban grit in the sonic bliss. It is officially better than anything Beach House has released in recent years. For your soul’s sake, delve in.

New Electric is now available to stream via Spotify, along with OXYG3N’s other tranquil hits.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

d4re delivers a paradoxically sweet hyper-pop lullaby with his latest single, etherial

Posted on 14 February 2022

“etherial” is the latest alt-hyper-pop drop from one of Canada’s most promising rising artists, d4re. The evocative potential viscerally rivals the sonic power of the glitchy harsh electronic beats, yet d4re had plenty of fun playing with bitter-sweet textures to create a multi-faceted track that goes a long way in reflecting the true nature of love.

As relatable romantic insecurities come to the surface, as do the soulful proclamations that definitively prove that romance isn’t dead. The up and coming artist’s alternative influence shines through in the spacey yet spikey futurism-laced track, as does his proclivity toward trap and melodic glitchcore. All things considered, d4re is one of the most innovative electronica artist around right now. Take note.

etherial is now available to stream via Soundcloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The breaking electropunk artist, PR6TTY E, has dropped his hyper-sonic electronica hit, Games

Posted on 8 February 2022

Since PR6TTY E premiered the music video to his latest electropunk single, Games, on January 28th, it has racked up over 36 thousand streams on YouTube alone; which scarcely comes as a surprise with the infectious industrial trap pop hooks that are laced into the hyper-sonic darkwave production by SXZU.

I don’t say this lightly, but PR6TTY E deserves to be as equally revered as Bob Vylan and IAMX for his experimentally bold style that has the potential to introduce a brand-new generation to electro-punk. As someone raised on the cuts of Celldweller, Skinny Puppy and Front 242, I can safely say that it has the potential to appease old school harsh electronica fans too. The fact that PR6TTY E is doing this at the age of 18 is beyond impressive; what further proof do you need of his prodigal status?

You can check out the official video for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get transcendentally high with Kuma Pop’s melodic techno drop, Ishq عشق

Posted on 7 February 2022

Euphoria breathes seamlessly through the latest release, Ishq عشق, from the Spanish, LA-based composer and music producer, Kuma Pop.

He evoked the melodic 90s techno spirit in the transcendently liberating track that goes so much further than appeasing your aural senses. Ishq عشق unravels as one of the most emotional and spiritual techno tracks that we’ve heard since, well, since we can remember. It scarcely comes as a surprise that he has held a residency in Ibiza clubs. There’s something intrinsically primal in his production style that is nothing short of transfixing. Between the massive beats, hypnotic vocal harmonies, tension-filled breaks and exotic eastern strings, few tracks will take you higher.

Ishq عشق is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Agaaze proves that pace is the trick in his electro-pop-meets-neo-psych single, Take it Slow

Posted on 8 January 2022

The New York-hailing multi-instrumentalist and producer Agaaze is fresh from the release of this debut 7-track EP, A Portal Inside, which features the eclectically progressive, Take it Slow.

Take it Slow was curated to prove that when it comes to progress, pace is the trick. The progressive single starts with the downtempo, dreamy textures you would expect from a track under such a name. By the time Take it Slow reaches the outro, expect to find yourself in a trippy, psychedelic rabbit hole that is structured by Agaaze’s soulfully sweet magnetism and the sheer range of his experimentalism. At the age of just 19 years old, his songwriting talent transcends the majority.

The world will never see another David Bowie for the simple reason that they’d rather place icons on pedestals and believe independent artists can never reach them. As far as we’re concerned, Agaaze came pretty damn close with Take it Slow.

Watch the visualiser of Take it Slow on YouTube or add it to your Spotify playlists.

Review by Amelia Vandergast