Browsing Tag

electronica producer

Drift back to the 90s rave era with Timothy and the Apocalypse’s latest forewarning release, Strange Tide

I never need all too much convincing to evade modernity and drift back into the relative comfort of the 90s; Timothy and the Apocalypse’s 90s rave-inspired release, Strange Tide, made taking an aural trip back across the decades all too irresistible.

Beyond the swelling progressions, crafted for filling floors and drinking in metropolitan landscapes in the twilight, there is a subtle reminder that you can only swim against the tides of narcissism for so long before you get pulled under by the self-serving currents.

With his fourth full-length album, All Busted Up, in the pipeline, there has never been a better time to indulge in Timothy and the Apocalypse’s electronica escapism.

Strange Tide is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Timothy and the Apocalypse – Voice Like an Echo: Meet Your New Favourite Trip-Hop Raconteur

After racking up hundreds of thousands of streams since his 2021 debut, the fatalistically monikered experimental electronica artist, Timothy and the Apocalypse has unveiled his latest leftfield single Voice Like an Echo.

With his knack of adding soul to synthetic textures, Voice Like an Echo is yet another trippy triumph, which carries the trip-hop gravitas of Portishead and the ardent downtempo allure of Massive Attack’s most grippingly progressive productions.

If the endlessly imploring vocals finding synergy with the mellifluous glitches (yes, I know that should be a paradox, he’s THAT good) don’t move you, you can probably consider yourself emotionally paralysed. Who would have thought end times would sound so sweet?

Voice Like an Echo is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Will Roesner does it Vampire Style in his latest ethereally ambient soundscape

‘Ethereal’ may have been inanely bound around so much that it has lost all meaning and resonance, but if there is any artist that the adjective should have been reserved for, it is the eclectically experimental creator of aural worlds, Will Roesner.

Especially based on his latest single, Vampire Style, which brings back the romanticism and gothic glamour of Interview with the Vampire. In place of fangs and frills, there’s cavernously lush 80s-Esque reverb, synth-carved ambience, and gorgeously delicate lamenting harmonies over the tear-jerking accordance.

With a new album due for release in early September, all eyes should be on Will Roesner and his command of evocative minimalism.

Vampire Style is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The anonymous electronica collective, Formanteau, detonated a bomb of colorful euphoria in their debut single, In Your Hands

In Your Hands is the debut mellifluously melodic feat of electronica from the collective, Formanteau, headed by a veteran underground music producer who has appeared in multiple film and TV credits for his compositions.

There is something incredibly reassuring about an anonymous electronica collective running in the same vein as 21st-century enigmas, such as Gorillaz and Sault. There is the immediate affirmation that the motivation behind the electro momentum is in no way egotized, and that is exactly how In Your Hand sweetly runs through.

The innocence in the reprise of “my life is only in your hands” made an unforgettable production out of the colourfully euphoric release that runs at the perfect tempo to leave you as invigorated as mellowed.

Get In Your Hands on your playlists by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Michael Kanyongolo – Dreams: Meet Your New Sonic Sandman

With an ethereally dystopic chill that creeps in straight from the intro, the Brooklyn, NY-residing electronic music producer, Michael Kanyongolo’s latest score, Dreams, constructs a biometrically ambient world you can drift into for a multifaceted sensory experience.

By building his tracks from samples, midi instruments and live playing, his sonic signature became one marked in stylistic fluidity, textural juxtapositions, and otherworldly atmosphere.

The fact that he’s still in college should be enough to make Hans Zimmer shiver with competitive fear. Kanyongolo is so much more than your average ambience peddler; he’s got the tenacity of an acclaimed composer in the making.

Dreams is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alt electro producer Z3LDA delivered cinematic hyper euphoria in their sophomore single, Sincerely, All Caps

The US electronic music composer and computer programmer, Z3LDA, delivered cinematically hyper euphoria with their sophomore single, Sincerely All Caps.

After a series of vocal samples that get you in the right space for the histrionic sonic suggestion, rugged post-punk bass guitars, and one hell of an astutely fraught spacey build-up, the progressive mix descends into a dizzying blend of hard techno and psytrance with a mind-bending BPM. Frenetic enough to make most dubstep sound ambient.

If any new electronic artist deserves to go viral this year, on the basis of the sheer gravitas of Sincerely, All Caps, it is Z3LDA. Love it for the escapism. Love it for the insanity. Love it for the personality, whatever you do, don’t let this stratospherically stellar release slip you by.

Sincerely, All Caps is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nocturnal Omissions – Local Customs: Meet Your New Experimental Escapist Playlist Staple

Pareidolia by Nocturnal Omissions

After the infinitely experimental alt-electronica artist Nocturnal Omissions invited us into the sanctity of his 2021 album, Tempus Destinatum, we’ve been hoping to see a return of his cinematic blends of post-rock, synthwave and chillwave.

The standout single, Local Customs, from his 2022 album, Pareidolia, is quite the departure from the last time we heard the one-man production machine, but a welcome reprieve from the soul-less electronica that floods the internet. The spacey meandering synths kaleidoscopically drift through the soundscape until the first crashing crescendo that lets you know just how immersed you are by pulling you through the tumultuous shift before the ambience creeps back, albeit briefly before another hammering blow of a breakdown.

Alchemic creativity and confidence in autonomy aside, any artist with the humility to describe themselves as perpetually emerging is an artist you should have on your radar.

You can check out Nocturnal Omissions’ album Pareidolia via Apple Music & Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get your summer soul-fix with the electronica producer, Nathan Maurice’s baby I need your love

Nathan Maurice lay down a tapestry of old-school soul in his latest single, baby I need (your love). The vibe-driven mix starts with the sample of archaic soul vocals before building a buzzing summer anthem, slickened with lush reverb, vibrant beats, and crescendos you would understand if your heart stopped for.

When his classical work isn’t on repeat on Classical FM, the Birmingham, UK-based composer and producer is featured on Radio 1 with his electronic project, Lorenz System. If that doesn’t tell you all that you need to know about Maurice’s luminary presence in the electronica world, I’ll assume you are past the point of comprehension.

Hear baby I need your love for yourselves via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The gloves are off in Sarah Shafey’s latest indie-electro hit, Competitor

Fans of Shiny Toy Guns, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and She Wants Revenge will find just as many reasons to get addicted to the heavy production in the Toronto-based singer-songwriter, producer and mixing engineer Sarah Shafey’s latest single, Competitor.

The gloves are officially off in the stylishly fierce indie-electro hit, which is a harbinger of even more visceral things to come from her upcoming fourth album, Blackbox Universe, which is due for release in September 2022. With her tendency to meld genres outside of the electronica spectrum, there’s an immersive tapestry of original layers to her sound, which not only lends itself to the originality, but also to the synapses that will fire upon registering the unadulterated expression that knows very little, if anything of assimilation.

Competitor released in May 2022. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Astro Spectacular – He Has Risen: Witness the Deep House Resurrection.

Astro Spectacular brought the eccentricity of a renegade to their latest deep house track, He Has Risen, which was penned on Easter eve, and performed with a little help from The Conservative Pygmies.

80s synths, funk-riding grooves, and sporadic bursts of otherworldly influence make He Has Risen a deep house track like no other. The producer and songwriter, also known as Mooney Star, started his Astro Spectacular project as a result of the lockdown restrictions that prevented him from getting together with his band, Warm Leatherette. Going forward, Astro is set to take his cosmic take on deep house on tour across Long Beach, CA and release a string of new singles to follow He Has Risen.

You can witness the resurrection for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast