Browsing Tag

Alt Electronica

Growing Boi made a malady of sentimentality in his psychedelically experimental single, Overflow

Posted on 24 February 2023

After years of success as a touring artist, session musician, songwriter and producer, Chris Matthews obliterated the notion of genre with his exploratively alternative single, Overflow, under the moniker Growing Boi. The artfully melancholic track makes a malady out of sentimentality while exhibiting the same instrumental alchemy and ingenuity as the Legendary Pink Dots and the vocal gravitas of Leonard Cohen.

The spacey amalgam of psych, folk, electronica, trip-hop and 70s pop is devilishly clever, but never to the detriment of the accessibility of the intimately bold score that will stay with you for long after the complex chords have faded into silent obscurity. From honkytonk piano keys to motifs you’d expect to hear in a Tame Impala production, Overflow is a treasure trove of artful beguile that allows you to drift to a higher plateau.

Overflow will drop on February 24th; hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Pedro set a cinematically arcane score with ‘Súplicas à Floresta’

Posted on 15 February 2023

Princeton, NJ-residing Portuguese artist and engineering student Pedro Pimenta is here with his dramatically filmic score, Súplicas à Floresta. The scintillating arrangement is just a taste of what is to come from the up-and-coming artist and producer, who takes inspiration from the roads he has travelled in addition to spiritually-centred artists, including Bjork, Arca and La Rosalia.

With the shimmering organ notes drifting above the contrast of the eerily ethereal electronic motifs in the cinematically synthesised soundscape that also pulls you through jarringly immersive orchestral layers, Súplicas à Floresta is an arrestive experimental arrangement with deep reverence for the natural and cultural phenomena it was inspired by. If the score was the soundtrack to a film, it would undoubtedly be a Cannes Film Festival favourite.

Súplicas à Floresta will officially release on February 15th; hear it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Skinny G Radio reached the pinnacle of existential humour with his alt-electro hit, Unplug Me!

Posted on 17 January 2023

Unplug Me! is just one of the eccentrically disarming alt-electronica singles found on Skinny G Radio’s funky 8-Bit album, The Heightening. The tongue-in-cheek exposition on the perils of social media in the age when fear and hate are relentlessly pushed to keep us transfixed to platforms is an all too efficacious reminder that we should consume media not the other way around.

Instead of letting the doom and gloom from the lyrical messaging control the track, the LA artist and producer utilises his on-brand sense of existential humour to give back some of the serotonin stripped by doom-scrolling. The playful polyphonic synth sequences make delving back in for repeat listens all too tempting. Can someone protect Skinny G Radio at all costs, please? He’s ingeniously precious.

Unplug Me! is now available to stream on Spotify.

Connect with Skinny G Radio on Twitter & Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Timothy and the Apocalypse set up a new installation of downtempo disenchanted catharsis with his latest trip-hop single, Shadows of the Lost

Posted on 22 December 2022
Timothy and the Apocalypse

Watching the Sydney, Australia producer Timothy and the Apocalypse as he becomes a rare 21st-century success story with his cinematic indie beats that are shifting him ever closer to the million streams mark with his discography has been a sense of contentment in itself.

With soundscapes crafted for the end of the world, which effortlessly gel with your own despondence, the tranquillity within his downtempo trip-hop tracks offers a breeze of disenchanted catharsis. His latest single, Shadows of the Lost, is no exception. The wavy psychedelic aesthetic of Shadows of the Lost touches on the phenomenon of disconnection which is as steady as the beats in severing connections in our isolated age.

As the synthetic vocals drift in at the mid-point mark, as though they have appeared from a black-and-white film, they remind us that the control we believe we have over our lives is nothing but an illusion. Tony Robins may not agree, but given that he’s probably responsible for the clinical burnout and appeal of pyramid schemes for his fans, we’d like to hear him argue with this compellingly chilling exposition of the end days.

Shadows of the Lost will officially release on December 22nd. Pre-save it here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

GrainyPastel – Ovrdone: Kaleidoscopically Euphoric EDM

Posted on 19 December 2022

The Oklahoma-hailing independent music producer, GrainyPastel, siphoned euphoria through his latest entrancing EDM earworm, Ovrdone. The jazzed-up hip-house instrumental hit flexes its polyphonic charm as the snares meet the synths to spill a kaleidoscope of polished colour that will brighten any mood in just one hit.

His ambition and drive to spread the love through his high vibe productions sonically shines through in the transcendently electric feat of electronica, which refuses to colour inside the lines of an electronic sub-genre. You’d be incredibly hard-pressed to find another electronica producer with a more vibrant sonic signature. When he’s not crafting floor-fillers and dopamine-spillers, he is often found dabbling in other genres, from cinematic scores to jazz ensembles to pop hits.

Ovrdone was officially released on December 2nd; it is now available to stream on YouTube.

Stay up to date with all the latest releases from GrainyPastel by following him on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Escape into the retro-futurism of tad valente’s synthwave world, take it away

Posted on 12 December 2022
escape room by tad valente

Torrance, California-hailing independent songwriter and producer tad valente, took his listeners on a retro-futuristic sonic trip with his latest escapism-aiding release, take it away.

The playfully ambient melodies chime with purpose as they lead you through the experimental synth wave progressions, which fuse video game-esque aesthetics with an innovative twist on pop. The symphonic synths amalgamated with the chiptune textures and glitchy trip-hop motifs create an affably-sweet atmosphere that is impossibly easy to melt into and vibe with.

Clearly, valente is no stranger to taking control of his listener’s rhythmic pulses to lull them into a state of arrested appreciation of his intrinsically unique sonic signature.

take it away was officially released on December 2nd; stream & purchase it on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Stave off existential burnout with James Greenfield’s alt-indie electro single, Turn it Off

Posted on 2 December 2022
https://soundcloud.com/user-93978067/turn-it-off/s-MX2xNnDZDtU?si=f2294089a37a420b8a960ec8c4255b92&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

The Southcoast, UK Songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, James Greenfield, released the most essential electronica single of the year with Turn It Off.

With soul bleeding equally through his vocals and the organic indietronica-meets-EBM rhythms, the impact of this single isn’t to be underestimated. You get a real sense that he’s harmonising from a position of experience when he verses on the pervasive negativity being too much.

“Not giving up, just rising above” is a mantra we would all benefit from taking in our stride. Nothing about Turn it Off feels preachy and holier-than-thou. It is clear that his warning comes from a place of deep compassion.

With 20 years working in the industry, Greenfield was primed to create a resoundingly empowering hit with Turn It Off. I, for one, will be heeding his advice to curb my doom scrolling and let more positivity shape my mentality.

“The demands being put on people these days are relentless. On any given day, we are exposed to huge amounts of disproportionately negative news and are constantly targeted and manipulated to buy more stuff.

We also have demands from other people’s expectations and how they want us to behave. We also live in a world where a never-ending stream of addictive content keeps us glued to our devices.”

For your own sake, place the efficacious reminder that you owe it to yourself to turn off and tune out now and again before you existentially burn out firmly on your playlists.

Check out Turn it Off from December 2nd on SoundCloud. For more info, check out his website. 

Follow James Greenfield on Facebook and Instagram. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jeff Goldsmith – Tied to the Track: Melt Into the Darkly Ambient Melancholy

Posted on 15 November 2022

Following the resounding success of his former releases, the Minneapolis composer, musical sound designer and producer Jeff Goldsmith unleashed the lamentfully arrestive atmosphere of his latest score, Tied to the Track.

With the art rock nuances of Radiohead, the progressive feel of Fear of a Blank Planet era Porcupine Tree and deserty Josh Homme-Esque vocals bleeding into the darkly ambient neo-classic electronic arrangements, succumbing to the cinematic melancholy of Tied to the Track is non-optional.

Goldsmith started his venture into creativity aged four at the Suzuki Music Academy, where he learned to play the violin by ear. In 2020, he made his debut with the album, Vodu, subsequently followed by his poetically titled scintillating sophomore album, May You Find the Light Before the Devil Knows He’s Right, in May 2021. In addition to his solo work, Goldsmith scores for TV and film and works with a myriad of other artists, such as Austin Texas’s Sparta. 

After hearing Tied to the Track, I know I will never stop turning to Goldsmith’s visceral sonic proclivities which innovatively amalgamate ambience with exultant ingenuity. He isn’t just one in a million, his presence on the airwaves can’t be quantified. I can’t recommend him enough.

Tied to the Track is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Paper White and the Lake synthesised Avant Garde electronica in their latest release, Need Everything

Posted on 30 October 2022

For their latest release, ‘Need Everything’, the leftfield electronica producer, Paper White and the Lake collaborated with Chris Peters to create a jazzy feat of synthesised electronica that utilises textures of 80s synthpop in the spacey soundscape that brims with uninhibited authenticity.

The tamed melodic discord that comes complete with stabbing horns may be a little too Avant-Garde for the mainstream, but for any fans of experimental art with the capacity to disturb the comfortable, Need Everything is everything you need on your playlists.

Take the psychedelic trip with Need Everything for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Post-hardcore goes electro-pop in I was the ocean once’s latest single, Heavy Love

Posted on 19 October 2022

Post-hardcore underwent an electronic renovation in I was the ocean once’s latest single, Heavy Love. After a scratchy turntable intro, a Deathstars-Esque sense of discord and heavy electro angst feeds into the pretty hate soundscape that toys with elements of electro-pop and hip hop. I say ‘toys’ think of Pinhead with a puzzle box!

It’s a scathing feat of experimentalism that won’t be for everyone. But for those inclined to dabble in vehement driven schizophrenically electric records, delve right into this cathartically raw outpour of visceral ‘love’. It is sure to hit the existential spot.

Heavy Love is now available to stream on YouTube.

Check out I was the ocean once via their official website, and follow them on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast