Browsing Tag

Electronic Psych Pop

Barry Slorridge – Why? Avant-Garde Whovian Electronica

Posted on 21 August 2024

Any artist who uses the vocalisations of an existential Dalek in their tracks is an icon in our book, and that’s just the tip of the ingenuity iceberg in Barry Slorridge’s slice of Whovian avant-garde electronica.

With Why? the UK-based composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist didn’t use his Bachelor’s Degree in Classical Composition by any conventional means; instead, he chose to score his cultivated composition chops into an installation of delicious discordance which reminisces with nuances of The Beatles and Kraftwerk.

The synth lines carry echoes of The Phobophobes, introducing a dark, reflective undertone, interwoven with kaleidoscopic effects, allowing distorted waves of psychedelia to cascade through the music. Meanwhile, sweet psych-pop harmonies offer a stark contrast to the monotonal menace of the Dalek samples.

The track epitomises revolutionary art, achieving a rare feat—it unsettles those comfortably ensconced in their auditory preferences while providing solace to those who find beauty in the bizarre. Once Slorridge finds his niche, he will be an unreckonable force in the alt-electronica scene; his ability to orchestrate sensory experiences which bend the mind and electrify the pulses is unparalleled.

Why? was officially released on August 5th; stream the single on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Darkness & the Light traverses the cosmos in ‘Nice to be in orbit’

Posted on 31 December 2021
under a distant sun by Darkness & The Light

If any track can remind you of how lucky you are to be a blip in the cosmos, it can be found in Darkness & the Light’s latest album, under a distant sun. Nice to be in orbit is paradoxically grounding in its cinematic delivery; the Sydney-based artist gives you the sense that they have the rare ability to emanate the grandeur of the cosmos in all of its glory instead of choosing crevices to aurally explore.

The ambient synth lines work their way through ethereal layers of reverb while the percussion brings lucidity to the mix, and the guitars take the track to an Avant-Garde, almost post-punk realm. The vocals may never go beyond choral echoes above the psychedelic grooves, and Nice to be in orbit is all the more celestial for it.

Of all the ambient music we have heard this year, nothing comes close to the intricately explorative alchemy in Nice to be in orbit. We can’t wait to hear what follows.

Nice to be in orbit is now available to stream and download via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Cheerry Red just ‘Can’t Explain This Kind Of Crazy’

Posted on 22 March 2021

The founder, singer, and songwriter of New York four-piece The Motor Tom, Nick Schupak since 2011, here – with Cheerry Red (not a typo!) – he brings us a stunning collection of arty alt-pop-rock tracks perhaps most reminiscent, in attitude if not directly in sound, of 80’s alt bands such as Aztec Camera, Orange Juice, or, at times, the Replacements.

It’s a divine mix of poppy alternative-ness, synth-wave, and New York Garage Rock, ‘Can’t Explain This Kind Of Crazy’ the lead single and eponym from a 13-track album mixing the 13-minute epic ‘I Was Right About You” to what Schupak describes as ‘sub 2-minute palette cleansers’; ‘Can’t Explain This Kind Of Crazy’ is a delightful, perfect introduction, intelligent lyrical jousting mixing with cleverly arranged and subtly perfect instrumentation. It’s timeless, contemporary, and a perfect little slice of pop-rock dreaminess.

Check out ‘Can’t Explain This Kind Of Crazy’, and the rest of Cheerry Red, on Soundcloud.

Review by Alex Holmes

Brave New Broken Hearts Club follow in the luminary footsteps of the Legendary Pink Dots with ‘Love Is On Its Way’

Posted on 26 January 2021
Brave New Broken Hearts Club

The musical vehicle for London-native singer-songwriter Neil Phillimore, Brave New Broken Hearts Club new single – released on the 29th January, and the first track from the forthcoming new album – is a delicate, melancholy semi-acoustic number; a tremolo-laden picked guitar part sits atop closed hi hats and Phillimore’s unapologetically character-filled vocals. Think of a ‘Country House’ era Damon Albarn, a North London wash delivering a evocative narrative of tainted love and shattered expectations.

It’s a great track, pretty and self-aware at the same time, downbeat without being downtrodden. Phillimore’s Suggs-like delivery perfectly suits the lyrical content, there’s some beautiful harmonies courtesy of Peckham folk singer Pearl Fish, and the repeating guitar motif adds weight throughout the track. Overall, ‘Love Is On Its Way’ is heartfelt, hopeful, and emotive, a perfect introduction to Brace New Broken Hearts Club – with two more singles scheduled before the release of the debut album later this year, it looks as though success, for sure, is on its way.

Love is On Its Way is available to stream from January 29th, you can pre-save the single on Spotify via this link.

Review by Alex Holmes

Escape reality and jet set through the 5th dimension with Praise & Warships’ synthy sweet single ‘Contact’

Posted on 19 December 2020

Global traversing may have been made difficult this year, but that’s not to say you can’t partake in jet setting through the 5th dimension with a little help from sonically entrancing tracks such as the latest release from Alt Electronica artist Praise & Warships.

In their latest futuristically danceable single, Contact, you’ll find catchy synth hooks, lashings of funk and overwhelmingly resonant lyrics. The repetition of ‘I just need contact’ brings a powerful relatable element to the otherwise playful and eccentric single. Hit play and you might almost forget that you’ve been starved of contact this year.

You can check out Contact for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast