Browsing Tag

experimental

Kiss Hello says an Experimental Indie Rock “Goodbye” with Their Latest Single

Posted on 30 September 2020
https://kisshello.bandcamp.com/track/goodbye-smiling-my-way-home

LA Ambient Indie Pop artist Kiss Hello has released their endearingly experimental Lo-Fi single “Goodbye (Smiling My Way Home)”. It will be some time before we fully recover from the sonically sugar-coated feat of synth-led experimentalism.

With elements of Synth Pop, Post Punk and Shoegaze in the hypnotically prodigal track, it’s safe to say that you’ve never heard anything like this before. With plenty of bendy distortion obscuring the Jangle Pop guitar notes, you’ll pick up on reminiscences to the Smiths and The Cure along with plenty of the effervescent authenticity which radiates from Kiss Hello’s galvanizingly quaint take on Indie. There’s also a lot to be said by their resoundingly dynamic vocals which won’t fail to test your soul’s capacity to feel.

You can check out Kiss Hello’s single Goodbye for yourselves by heading over to Bandcamp now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Heavy Salad have given ‘cult hit’ a brand-new meaning with their debut album “Cult Casual”

Posted on 25 September 2020

The debut album from Manchester’s finest soulfully-blessed Psychedelic trailblazers Heavy Salad has finally dropped.

Cult Casual hit record stores on September 25th and affirmed that the optimism that I’ve held since hearing their eccentrically resolving sophomore single Battery Acid in 2019 was entirely well placed.

Some records, you put on the turntable and know you’ll be apathetic about letting the needle hit it again. Others, you know you’ll delve right back in for the successive hits of emotion which manifested the first time around. Cult Casual is firmly in the latter camp.

Track 1, Death is a gentle Surf Pop easing into the colourful chaos which ensues in the form of their cult hit (in the most literal use of the phrase) Battery Acid. Track 3, The Wish is the feat of feisty grunge which blows every other Garage Rock artist in Manchester out of the water while simultaneously giving artists such as Dinosaur Jr a run for their money.

Track 4, Inner Versions carries the same bite as The Wish, but this time the playful angst is projected over punchy Indie Rock licks, leaving plenty of space for guitarist Rob Glennie to humbly unveil the virtuosic talent he’s been hiding all along. Track 5, Reverse Snake is Heavy Salad’s psych Rock scathing attack on the ideocracy which led us to Brexit. Arcanely, they actually succeeded in creating a high-vibe Anti-Brexit track.

Fans of Avant-Garde will be suitably enraptured in the album from Track 6 where the experimentalism truly starts to take hold. After you’ve enjoyed all the juicy Psych Pop earworms, it’s time to immerse yourselves in the unpredictable yet pragmatic progressive nature of High Priestess and This Song is Not About Lizards. Unapologetically, the tracks take seismic shifts in tone and ferocity, leaving you at the mercy of their rhythmic prowess and whatever celestial magic the Priestesses are serving up in the form of their intoxicating vocals.

Whichever plateau you’ve floated to with the former singles, Routine Dream will allow you to crash down to earth with the scuzzily confrontational track which serves an aggressive yet compassionate reminder that you’re probably living blind. Thankfully, there’s plenty of aural comfort in Slow Ride which will make sure that you’re in the best possible mindset for the evocative assault which follows.

The final track It’s OK to Bleed will break my heart over and over again. In a time where people are more likely to invest in bitcoin rather than their emotional intelligence, it’s utterly priceless. Straight from the intro, the tenderness rings through the guitar progressions, then, the vocal and lyrical empathy bring torrid emotions to the front but there’s plenty of solace to be found in the track which unravels as gospel for the impious.

In short, it’s a cosmic rollercoaster and easily up there with the best things to happen in 2020. Listen to it.

You can check out Cult Casual via Spotify & Bandcamp or you can (and you definitely should) treat yourself to a CD or vinyl copy of the album released via Dripped in Gold Recordings.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

AnLony – Mertsd2ac featuring Anna Maria Olsson

Posted on 19 September 2020
https://anlony.bandcamp.com/track/mertsd2ac-2-ft-anna-maria-olsson

Part of AnLony’s ‘Pe Ra Tu Ja’ EP (the title a sort of modernistic portmanteau of peregrine and thuja), a musical commentary on Anlony’s life during 2019 and 2020, ranging in scope from the birth of his nephew to the political struggles in Hong Kong.

‘Mertsd2ac’ is just shy of five minutes of experimental fusion, starting softly, with building chords over the sounds of rain, thunder, and birdsong, before the vocal, an almost chanting, droning (in an obviously intentional way), building slowly before the beautiful, haunting violin of Anna Maria Olsson slides in around the three minute mark.

Find AnLony’s music on BandCamp.

Review by Alex Holmes

Doomsy – Where Have You Been: Delectably Morose Genre-Defiance

Posted on 10 September 2020

Boston MA artist Doomsy has served up a delectably morose aural crumble with their third single “Where Have You Been”. Even though they come from a Rock background, they’ve completely transcended the notion of genres with Where Have You Been.

You’ll pick up on nuances of Pop, Indie, Post Punk, RnB and Rock within the consistently progressive, melancholically captivating single, but you’ll quickly lose all motivation to label Doomsy’s all-consuming sound. Instead, your rhythmic pulses will become aligned with the steady and tentative notes which lead you through an evocative rollercoaster.

The sense of longing and regret echoes throughout Where Have You Been, it’s so much more than your average lovelorn single. You’re able to feel every ounce of the weight which was projected into the strikingly undefinable mix.

You can check out Where Have You Been via Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Leon Seti’s ephemeral new track ‘Japan’ is a deeply moving tribute wrapped up in a pitch-perfect pop song

Posted on 28 August 2020

Leon Seti is the project born out of the mind and voice of Leo Baldi, who writes and produces every song of the discography. Based in London and Arezzo, Italy, his nostalgic yet experimental electro-pop has been played by the BBC Introducing, was featured in Billboard Italia and his latest album COBALT reached #1 on the Itunes Electronic chart in Italy. Leon Seti played in venues such as The O2 Academy Islington and The Spice of Life in London, as well as historic clubs like Spin Time Labs in Rome and Il Cassero in Bologna

In a tribute to his mother who suffered a number of health-related issues during quarantine in Italy, Leon Seti has released the song “Japan” which is a soft and supple track that is rhythmically visionary.

Telling a story throughout, Leon Seti sings the lyrics beautifully occasionally hitting his falsetto to empower the track. Easily relatable to many during these tough times, Leon Seti tells us his story with his lyrics that he wrote and the winding progressive beats that brings this escapism feeling throughout.

The song has been produced by Leon Seti and Pancratio, and a video for the song has been released to accompany the track which has been directed and edited by Thomas Rebour with Shaun Waldie acting as director of photography. It sees various images and scenes of Leon Seti, edited in line with the track itself.

“Japan” is an awesome track we could listen to on repeat, giving us pure escapism as Leon Seti impresses with his stunning vocals and lyrics. It is one track we all need to add to our everyday playlists..

Listen now on Spotify

Canadian indie-pop act Cardboard Cop shows his skills on the mic with ”Why Can’t You See Me Now?”

Posted on 25 July 2020

Cardboard Cop is the recording project of Leonardo Barragan who is an experimental indie-pop from Victoria in Canada. This is such a unique release and his new song is called ”Why Can’t You See Me Now?”.

”Why Can’t You See Me Now?” is all about how some people find you invisible after sharing a special moment together. This is such a horrible feeling and one that can cause you to feel really down about it. Cardboard Cop expresses his pain with his signature style that is like no other. He sings with heart and the beat is very laid-back with a summer kind of feel to it.

Cardboard Cop’s ”Why Can’t You See Me Now?” is the most intriguing song of 2020 and a good vibe for those afternoons while chilling out after a long day. The experimental Canadian artist continues to build up his name and will be a name to watch moving forward.

Stream this unique track here on Spotify.

Check out more about this artist on his Facebook music page.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

The Myricim official video is the perfect introduction to the obscurely sleazy ingenuity of Multimedia artist Adam Plant

Posted on 22 July 2020

Any fans of the American Avant-Garde collective The Residents will undoubtedly appreciate Australian multimedia artist Adam Plant’s film for Hardy Slerg Wamon’s obscurely mesmeric single Myricim.

For the first time in what seems to be forever, I got to experience the consciousness consuming sensation of being transfixed by a music video. The lines between aural and visual ingenuity blurred as reality faded and artful escapism took hold.

It may have been a short and sweet experience, but it left me with the compulsion to delve into the rest of Adam Plant’s artful work. Thankfully, there’s a smorgasbord of sleazy art to be found on their official website.

You can check out the film Myricism for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Cucurbitophobia has made a phantasmal return with their chillingly dark Avant-Garde release “Exordium”

Posted on 6 July 2020
https://cucurbitophobia.bandcamp.com/track/exordium

There was no forgetting Cucurbitophobia after being introduced to their 2019 single “Requiem”. How could we ever forget an Ambient Avant-Garde artist whose chosen title is also the name of pumpkin phobia?

After the release of their latest soundscape “Exordium”, we couldn’t resist delving into the Neo-Classically artful tones once more. The instrumental score sets up the most phantasmal Waltz-style piano score which has ever crept into your ears. With a significant lacing of ethereal effects, you’ll feel like you’ve just been dragged around a ballroom by a poltergeist. Given that that’s (probably) never happened to you in real life, you’ll have to hit play to know what I mean.

Exordium is the opening title from Cucurbitophobia’s release “Dies Ferialis (Awakening the Lemurs)”. It serves to set the tone for a dark tale of ancient evil spirits wreaking havoc in a modern world to be told. Rather efficaciously may I add. Bring on the apocalyptic festivals and the walking dead.

You can check out Cucurbitophobia’s single Exordium which was released on June 5th for yourselves by heading over to Bandcamp.

Keep up to date with the latest releases via Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

8udDha bl0od – SUm 0f the !x|xi gl17ch35 & 7h3 x!i 73ll7A!L 51gn5 0f 5p3c7R3 SARk0pH.:.rgU5

Posted on 4 July 2020
8udDha bl0od

Brighton-based experimental artist 8udDha bl0od has a tendency to leave us transfixed by their constantly evolving sound. With their upcoming release “SUm 0f the !x|xi gl17ch35 & 7h3 x!i 73ll7A!L 51gn5 0f 5p3c7R3 SARk0pH.:.rgU5” they’ve left us emotionally stung and aurally enamoured once more.

In their usual style, 8udDha bl0od ensured that the track carried an arsenal of curveballs which will throw you from the accordance you have settled into.

As the track kicks off, there’s something incredibly piercing about the artful tone and tempo despite the light textures and transcendent air which breathes around the slightly psychedelic progressions in the ethereally resolving soundscape.

Halfway through the 7-minute track, SUm 0f the !x|xi gl17ch35 & 7h3 x!i 73ll7A!L 51gn5 0f 5p3c7R3 SARk0pH.:.rgU5 takes an unexpected turn and veers in the direction of Lo-Fi Brit Pop which any fans of Blur will appreciate. But the evolutions in 8udDha bl0od’s track doesn’t end there. To fade out, 8udDha bl0od uses a haunting cinematic neo-noir outro which dissipates into the sound of rolling waves.

We needed no more proof that 8udDha bl0od was one of the most talented underground artists around in 2020, but with their latest single, he delivered yet another undeniable affirmation of his pioneeringly astounding talent.

SUm 0f the !x|xi gl17ch35 & 7h3 x!i 73ll7A!L 51gn5 0f 5p3c7R3 SARk0pH.:.rgU5 is due for release on July 5th. You’ll be able to check it out yourselves via SoundCloud from the date of the release.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Immerse yourselves in Enlightenment Saloon’s latest ambient synthwave single “Driving on Instinct”

Posted on 30 June 2020

Immerse yourselves in Enlightenment Saloon’s latest single “Driving on Instinct” and prepare for the nuancedly crafted catharsis.

Ambient Synthwave with absorbing guitar licks in a futuristically captivating soundscape was always going to be a potently transfixing combination. But the stylistic maturity in Driving on Instinct surpasses expectation and leads to transcendence.

Enlightenment Saloon may send you a few 80s postcards while Driving on Instinct progresses. Yet, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more authentic and captivating drive-home track if you turned on the radio.

After being introduced to the artist’s mesmerising approach to production, I will definitely be returning to their music for repeat doses of synth-led ambience. The blazing guitar solos are practically addictive.

You can check out Enlightenment Saloon’s new Synthwave soundscape for yourselves via Soundcloud

Review by Amelia Vandergast