Browsing Tag

Alt Electronica

Nocturnal Omissions – Safety Demonstration: Dark Lo-Fi Chill-Wave.

Posted on 9 October 2021
Nocturnal Omissions

‘Safety Demonstration is just one of the standout dystopic darkwave singles that feature on the latest album to be released by the electronica artist and producer Nocturnal Omissions.

The solo artist first burst into NYC’s underground alternative scene in the early 00s before becoming Myspace famous; with five albums under his belt and plenty more EPs to boot, Nocturnal Omissions has continued to hone in on his craft. To stay true to authentic expression, each of his albums offers a different sonic twist.

Tempus Destinatum follows on from his electronic post-rock album, Transientalism which unravels as a melodic feat of lo-fi post-rock. With his latest album, he’s borrowed elements from chill-wave hip hop pioneers before infusing them with his domineeringly dark signature edge.

Check out Nocturnal Omissions via the official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Aiko Aiko became the definition of etherealism with their latest release, Al Lat.

Posted on 7 October 2021
Aiko Aiko

Prepare your dark ambient trip-hop playlists for the latest release, Al Lat, from the alt-electronica duo, Aiko Aiko; it proves just how readily we bound around the word ‘ethereal’. When you’re confronted with a soundscape as phantasmal as AI Lat there are few ways to aptly allude to just how ensnaring the delicately commanding textures are.

The artist has been infusing their alchemic mash of soft synths, organs, driving electronic beats and intricate piano melodies onto the airwaves since 2012. With a brand of emotionally intellectual catharsis similar to Warpaint, Portishead and Widowspeak, it comes as no surprise that they have captivated an international fanbase with their psychedelic reprising progressions.

Al Lat will officially release on October 7th. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to the artist’s website or SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alice Payne – Visions: The Ultimate Chillwave Playlist Staple

Posted on 18 September 2021
https://soundcloud.com/alicepaynee/visions-radio-edit

‘Visions’ is the latest dreamily psychotropic dance-pop release from the independent Australian artist and producer Alice Payne. After releasing her debut synth-pop track, Drive, earlier this year, the hype is steadily garnering around her emotionally charged, sonically cathartic style.

The reverb-swathed soundscape starts with an ethereal indie trip-hop prelude before the downtempo four-to-the-floor beat starts to kick in to create a solid structure for the ensnaring track to capture you within.

With the teasing progressions, aural curveballs and enigmatic sense of intrigue in Visions, you couldn’t ask for a better chillwave playlist staple.

Visions is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get your euphoria fix with MAR1’s alt-electronica single, Someone Else

Posted on 18 September 2021

If it has been a while since you’ve encountered an uplifting track that does what it says on the tin, delve into MAR1’s hyper-pop dance track, Someone Else, which uses distorted vocals that find ubiquitous synergy with the beats.

Someone Else was never orchestrated to fall in line with contemporary trends or style. The Alexandria, Egypt-hailing producer and DJ thrives when his electronic craft knows no stylistic bounds. Experimental it may be, but by no means is MAR1’s evocative sound niche. The artist has counted plenty of successes in his career, including joining big-name acts at festivals such as Firefly Music Festival. Something tells us that MAR1 won’t stop there, considering that his potential leaves us with as much hype as his energetic sound itself.

For the sake of your serotonin levels, safe space on your radar.

Someone Else is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Last Clouds take you to the sonic depths of dejection with their ethereal indie electronica track, Black Hole Lives.

Posted on 17 September 2021

With an intro that mashes The National-style tender piano keys with glitchy caustic electronica, the sense of duality starts resonating early in The Last Clouds’ latest single, Black Hole Lives.

There is an overarching sense of inescapable despair while the restive drum patterns epitomise our refusal to sit restless with ennui. Resonate with it, and you will find yourself consumed by the monochromatic tones, poetic lyrics and psychologically reflective rhythms as you’re taken to the sonic depths of dejection. I mean, do you really have anywhere better to go?

As the single progresses, the reverb that took the sting out of the naturally intimate, Paul Banks reminiscent vocals in the intro starts to slip away, allowing the emotion to ebb and flow with the crescendos, saving the most visceral for last.

I don’t make Paul Banks comparisons lightly, but if any new single is going to leave you an emotional wreck, it is Black Hole Lives and I can personally vouch for The Last Clouds when I say they pour plenty more into their live performances than Interpol.

Black Holes Lives is the second release from the Cheshire-based synth duo’s upcoming album, English Melancholy. The single was officially released on September 17th; you can check it out via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Definitely Not Aliens – Rub Hands Together: hail our new extra-terrestrial aural overlords.

Posted on 9 September 2021

‘Rub Hands Together’ is the latest single by the eccentric aural expressionists, Definitely Not Aliens. While their human status is questionable for the way they explore human behaviour in a detachedly bemused fashion, one thing that isn’t in question is their sonic appeal.

Lyrically, Rub Hands Together is a series of witty one-liners that won’t leave you enamoured by Definitely Not Aliens’ playful way of parodying the reality that so many artists try to sugarcoat and glamorise only to leave us with unrealistic romantic expectations. Ironically, all we needed to bring us down to earth was something extra-terrestrial.

Check out the, quite frankly insane, official video to Rub Hands Together via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

R1OT gave big beats an industrial sting with ‘Intermission’ from his debut EP

Posted on 6 September 2021
DIGITAL RIOT by R10T

Under the influence of Robert Smith, Butch Vig, Jimmy Page, Trent Reznor and Brian Eno, the Toronto-based alt-electronica artist and musician R1OT released his debut EP, DIGITAL R1OT, in 2015 to introduce his glitchy industrial big beats to the airwaves. Any fans of Skinny Puppy will want to delve right into the entrancingly melodic standout single, Intermission.

Intermission hits midway through the EP to indulge you in a histrionically progressive rave track that keeps your rhythmic pulses captivated throughout the entire 5-minute duration. The preceding and subsequent tracks are slightly more caustic, but if you find yourself inclined to seek out the filthiest electronic basslines, you won’t be disappointed.

Intermission is now available to stream and download on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Gold Supply have made their ethereal debut with Completely Underwater

Posted on 5 September 2021

The recently formed avant-garde powerhouse, The Gold Supply, consists of ex-major label artists exploring outside capitalist confines; their debut EP, Completely Underwater, unravels as an ethereal art-rock-meets-trip-hop masterpiece.

The catharsis-laden standout single, Cold Water, sonically sits between sounds you will be accustomed to from Radiohead, Portishead, Interpol and Trent Reznor. What you may not be used to is the meditative effect of the tranquil electronic soundscape and the chilling vocals that give Cold Water even more cold dark atmosphere for the listener to swim through.

The Gold Supply formed during the pandemic, with the intent of reflecting the turmoil of the world at it through ambient sounds; depending on your current mentality, it will either comfort or disturb. David Lynch would be proud.

Delve into Cold Water yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Avant-garde experimentalist Dan Devon has released his summer reggae-pop track, Party Dancer

Posted on 4 September 2021

Singer-songwriter, producer and composer, Dan Devon, has released his sophomore single, Party Dancer, as part of his psychedelic soul experiment that fuses elements of RnB, soul, rock, hip hop and electronica in avant-garde fashion. While it probably isn’t to everyone’s taste, anyone who appreciates an unadulterated shot of high vibes will soon feel their souls warm to this tropic summer reggae-pop single.

After garnering over 10,000 streams with his short and sweet debut single, Kitty Cat Song, which is somewhere in between Nada Surf’s Meow Meow Lullaby and Frank Turner’s Plea from a Cat Named Virtue, Dan Devon’s sweet and affable style has more than earned its space on the airwaves.

Party Dancer is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Swim Ignorant Fire speaks to your rhythmic pulses on a primal level with ‘Initiated’

Posted on 3 September 2021
Swim Ignorant Fire

Chicago Illinois experimentalist, Swim Ignorant Fire, has launched their latest single, Initiated, as a leftfield globally inspired teaser of his album, Bufo Alvarius. The soundscape makes a Herculeanly strong case for multiculturism as the Eastern vocals ethereally drift in and out of the ambient electronic mix that also feeds in distorted guitars and bass.

If your ambient lo-fi playlists are feeling a like uninspiring, funk them up with this infectiously eclectic release that speaks to your rhythmic pulses on a primal level.

Get Initiated by heading over to Swim Ignorant Fire’s Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast