Browsing Tag

Alt Electronica

Endless Wires made his stridently electrifying synthwave debut with ‘Accept to Enter’ featuring Kabelle.

UK-based multi-instrumentalist and producer, Endless Wires (Tom Evans) established themselves as one to watch in the Vaporwave scene with the release of his arresting debut single, Accept to Enter, featuring vocals from Kabelle.

With vocals that will take you right back to the 90s and remind you of the forcefully resounding timbre of Cher, Whitney Houston and Madonna falling into the synthwave reverb-laced soundscape that kicks off with moody synth notes and transgresses into a stridently electrifying aural experience, it is an entrancing and evocative ride from the start. The addition of the classic rock guitar solos in the tense build-up to the highest crescendo was undoubtedly the cherry on the cake.

Accept to Enter is available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alex Bright defies convention with his symphonically visceral electronica album ‘Building’.

Alex Bright

Bristol-based artist and producer Alex Bright is set to release his album, Building, which obliterates the notion of genre and introduces the lister to pure uninhibited electronically-crafted expression.

From neo-classic increments to symphonically cinematic scores complemented with pulsing bass to experimentation with elements of nature; you will find it all on the absorbing 7-track release. Alex Bright isn’t afraid to paint across the tonal spectrum, mischievously throwing together light and dark textures to create stunning sense of utopic/dystopic duality.

With such scarcity of reminiscence,  eclecticism of style and veracity of emotion, Alex Bright’s sound expresses what words cannot, making my job impossibly hard but gratifying all the same. Discovering exceptional producers who defy convention and can still speak to you on a primal level don’t crop up every day.

You can check out Alex Bright on his YouTube Channel and by heading over to Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

On A Road To Change: Aorta Project soothes our worries with the intoxicating electronic single ‘Wounded Warrior’

Wounded Warrior by aortaproject

As you feel like you are stepping into a hallucinatory world of mysterious forces, Aorta Project puts your senses into another level of surprise with the new single called ‘Wounded Warrior‘.

Aorta Project is an absorbing dark alt-electronica act led by Houston, Texas composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Steven Sheffield. He creatively meshes that reflective music, which has you thinking much deeper than before.

Fans of Deadmau5 and Jon Hopkins will be especially pleased here as the backdrop filters in with a fresh backwash-feeling like the oceans salt water potion — to cleanse you from the toxins of yesterday — as the incredible ingenuity is quite striking, as it somehow leaves your imagination alive with ideas like never before.

This is the true message of taking time to heal if you have dealt with something traumatic. You need to have a chat with yourself to improve within — as you are the only one that can really make it happen — not anyone else.

The female-led vocals has you in another world, as the atmospheric beat lathers your mind with peaceful energy, where there was trauma and heartache before.

”A catalyst for catharsis, Aorta Project transforms our darkest moments into transcendent epiphanies of self expression and reflection.” – Aorta Project

Wounded Warrior‘ from the terrifically stimulating Texas-based dark alt-electronica Aorta Project, shows us into a state of mind that can pulsate like a hallucinogenic mood to the other side, as you find yourself again and make that change that you know is needed.

If you want it enough, its never too late to change lanes and drive into a better life.

Hear this stunning new single on Bandcamp and see more visuals on IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Fake-Bit Rebel gave chiptune the melodic touch in their latest indie single, ‘Stolen Summer’.

Chiptune may not be your first choice of genre to delve into when looking for melodic and evocative tracks, but Fake-Bit Rebel with their latest single, ‘Stolen Summer’, may be set to change that.

Behind the choppy full-bodied lo-fi guitar, you’ll hear the indistinguishable beeps and boops which could only have transpired from 8-bit. When the two seemingly contrasting textures merge under the indie power-pop vocals, Stolen Summer becomes a track worth holding a lighter in the air for. Remember when that was a thing?

Given the track title, you can guess what Stolen Summer lyrically tackles, but what it doesn’t do is warn you how hard it hits emotionally. To give you an idea, it parallels what you’ll feel if you hit play on Third Eye Blind or Taking Back Sunday.

Stolen Summer is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

No Gods Here – Lights in the Sky: An Ethereally Dark Sci-Fi Thriller

No Gods Here’s latest Alt-Electronica single, ‘Lights in the Sky’, goes beyond sound. The artist and producer orchestrated an ethereally dark sci-fi thriller that unfolds in the space of just 4:33-minutes. It’s safe to say that Jeff Wayne has new competition.

Here’s how No Gods Here sets the scene for Lights in the Sky:

The United Kingdom. 26 December 1980.

As darkness fell, an RAF security patrol observed a series of strange lights descending into the gloom-laden Rendlesham Forest.
An investigative team was dispatched.
The officers noted burn marks and broken branches – a mysterious triangular pattern was also discovered on the forest floor.
This is what they heard.’

At the risk of revealing the plot, Lights in the Sky starts with piercing trepidation that fills you with the same amount of dread as when you know a jump scene is coming in a horror film. Instead of finding an ominous figure in the mirror, you’re slammed into the glitchy static of distorted drum & bass beats that are accented by reports of responders at the scene. Towards the outro, Lights in the Sky submerges itself further into darkness with noisy no-wave inclination.

On that basis, it’s very unlikely we’ll forget the London-based one-man-machine any time soon.

Lights in the Sky is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Let your psyche go on a journey with Abandon the Fall’s instrumental alt-rock track, ‘October Sky’.

When Abandon the Fall appeared on our radar in 2019, we knew they’d be one to watch. Their latest EP may come without lyrics, but there has been no compromise to the evocatively charged nature of their Alt Rock soundscapes.

‘October Sky’ is just one of the progressive art-rock singles to feature on the 4-track release that will take you on a journey of the psyche as you follow the morosely-tinged melodies through their cutting progressions which leave trails of shimmering echo and reverb behind.

With over-driven guitars and coalescing with darkwave electronica, October Sky will hold plenty of appeal to any fans of 65daysofstatic and This Will Destroy You.

October Sky is now available to stream along with the rest of Abandon the Fall’s Infinite Seasons EP via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Do Not Adjust Your Radios – ET Just Phoned Home: Seedy – ‘Seedy Sunday 3’

When the aliens land, they’ll be sending us a warning or two on their way – Seedy Sunday 3 might be the first of those cautionary broadcasts from outer space, kicking off with nothing more than siren blasts before the ‘we interrupt this broadcast’ monotone voiceover warns us of imminent danger. Namechecking burning churches, apocalyptic visions, and that Nigerian prince who keeps trying to send us money all in one verse, ‘Seedy Sundy 3’ is a sparse, tongue-in-cheek blast of eerie sci-fi electronica that’s maybe reminiscent of a mash-up of Devo, Sparks, Flash Gordon, Flesh Tetris, a touch of Electric Six, and just a smattering of Doctor Who, Hitchikers Guide, and C Beebies.

It’s a welcome change from a world weighed down by yet another foppish indie band or wannabe Fifty Cent; fun, quirky, amused and amusing, this is just shy of six minutes of original space jam entertainment. If fifties B-movies had a sound of their own, as opposed to a soundtrack, this might just be it. It’s not quite the end of the world as we know it, but it’s perhaps the precursor to it. Just remember to keep checking the skies for those aliens.

You can hear Seedy Sunday 3 on Spotify (try saying that quickly); check out seedy here.

Review by Alex Holmes

Franz Kirmann and Roberto Grosso have released their collaborative electronica mix ‘Saudade’

Electronica luminaries Franz Kirmann and Roberto Grosso combined their signature sounds in their latest release, ‘Saudade’. The collaborative mix unravels through pulsating beats, glassy synths, and flurries of intricate notes that almost allow Saudade to tease neoclassic properties. But at its core, Saudade boasts a tribalistic drive that you’ll want to strap yourselves in for.

The quiescent release allows the styles of Nils Frahm and Thom York to meet in the modular-synth-middle, to entrancing effect. If anything can strip away lockdown anxiety and angst, it’s Saudade.

Saudade is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alt trap artist, 7:AM wakes us up with their ‘Raw Talent EP

https://soundcloud.com/7aminthemorning/sets/raw-talent-ep

Detroit-hailing artist and producer, 7:AM is riding on the new wave of trap with their debut EP ‘Raw Talent’. The spacey adrenalizing EP kicks off with ‘How It Feels’ which makes no bones about immersing you into a distorted feat of alt-electronica with tribal new age rhythm.

The dizzying swathes of reverb in How it Feels may resonate as excessive to those who haven’t found an affinity for psychedelically mind-altering textures in electronic hip hop, but anyone who appreciates electrifyingly visceral ingenuity will find themselves hooked on 7:AM’s unapologetically unique sound.

The Raw Talent EP is available to purchase via Apple Music.

For more ways to listen, head over to 7:AM’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

GeoMike122 gives you the permission to own your idiosyncrasies with their latest single ‘Whimsical’

GeoMike122 aims to inspire as an educator, community leader and as an artist, with their latest single, ‘Whimsical’, you get a glimpse of their social responsibility and a stark introduction to their commandingly distinct alt-electro hip hop sound.

Over the simple polyphonic bass-heavy trap melodies, GeoMike122 projects their almost deadpan rap bars which compel you to delve deeper into the mix to pull out the nuanced wisdom. By the time you reach the outro, you’ll find that your hands are full with invaluable introspection. In its essence, Whimsical is a track which gives you the permission to own your authenticity instead of hiding it. Discernibly, GeoMike122 practices what he preaches.

Whimsical is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast