Browsing Tag

instrumental

Steve Nicosia scored a scintillating ambient fantasy in his instrumental curtain call, End of the Event

Posted on 12 March 2023

Taken from his hotly anticipated Matter of Time EP, the standout single, End of the Event, from the eclectically inspired artist Steve Nicosia is a filmic sonic fantasy that invites you to lose yourself in the scintillatingly structured ambience.

Short of implanting yourself back in the womb, there are few sanctuaries on our intrepid scorched earth as cathartic as the one that unfolds under the duress of the cinematic sound designer.

Extended preludes may be becoming a thing of the past in the streaming era of music. Yet, End of the Event proves that they are anything but outdated. The gentle orchestral swells, classical guitars, and piano motifs gradually build from the mid-way mark in this daydream of a release that progressively rewards you for your immersion.

As the layered melodies gently crescendo, the sense of arrestive awe for Nicosia’s talent when weaving an instrumental narrative will viscerally heighten. I feel like I’ve just heard the curtains close on humanity, and it deserves a standing ovation.

The Matter of Time EP is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Stamina Master drops a mellow beat for us to locate Ground Control

Posted on 18 February 2023

Swimming in an ocean-like experience to wash away the tears, Stamina Master tingles our spines with a rather bone-healing track to start any week with as he leads us through Ground Control and into the light.

Stamina Master is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based experimental instrumental hip-hop music producer who is emerging from the shadows and into our lives with much substance.

”My musical style takes influence from notable electronic producers such as Flying Lotus and Aphex Twin, with a spaced out, psychedelic atmospheres, and wonky/off-kilter drum beats.” ~ Stamina Master

Finding his sound and yearning for a new wave of fans to unite us all, Stamina Master indicates to us what kind music sounds like in 2023. This is a tranquil experience to get enthusiastic about for all the right reasons.

Ground Control from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based experimental producer Stamina Master is a mellow reminder that all is well in the world after all. Sending shivers through many spines, we find a rather calming effort to ease all worries away into the sky like they were never there.

Listen up on Spotify. View more news on Twitter.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

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

Transcend to a new distorted dimension with the post-rock instrumentals in Bundle of His’ latest single, Patches

Posted on 7 February 2023
Úr Ur by Bundle Of His

If Grandaddy dialled the polyphonic distortion and fuzz up to 11, their sweet synthy melodies would be as infectiously muddy as the electro post-rock tones in the latest single, Patches, from the artist and producer, Bundle of His.

With a touch of Kraftwerk melded into his intrinsically authentic instrumental hits, the Outer Hebrides-based artist pushes the envelope beyond the limits most dare to, and his instrumental lo-fi tracks are all the more alluring for it.

After an illness got in the way of the artist playing bass in various bands in Glasgow and the Outer Hebrides, it is safe to say Bundle of His didn’t fail to bring his bass-driven ingenuity to life as a producer.

Patches was officially released on January 1st. It is now available to stream and purchase via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Florian Hamela

Posted on 6 February 2023

What is it that makes a virtuoso? I think for most of us we tend to think of those musicians who can play inhumanly fast passages of the most difficult pieces ever composed. I heard Issak Stern say that a virtuoso was someone who could “do anything.” I really liked that definition – but it begs the question: just because you can do anything, does that mean you should?

And that leads me to Florian Hamela, a gifted guitarist who is, for my money, every bit a virtuoso even though his piece “Ebb and Flow” has a more relaxed and melodic vibe dispensing with flashy overly complex acrobatics that is the hallmark of so much electric guitar music. “Ebb and Flow” rather, has a deep cinematic feel – there is a vastness to the work that makes it sound “big” but elegantly simple at the same time. The piece itself uses a slightly distorted tone on the instrument (opening with a clean sounding arpeggio), once the theme lands we’re treated to a Major-One/Minor-Four pattern which is always satisfying.

Another thing I admire about Hamela is his sense of humour. His Instagram moniker is “youraverageguitarist” giving us the feeling that he doesn’t think he’s anything special. Here you can see images of him in the studio and on stage – it seems he is quite the active performer. All humbleness aside, I can say wholeheartedly that “Ebb and Flow” is anything but average and well worth the listen.

Spotlight Feature: Pinwheel Valley transcendentally reflects in his accessible Avant-Garde ambient EP, What If I

Posted on 3 February 2023

On February 3rd, the superlatively talented songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Pinwheel Valley will unveil his most experimental EP to date, What If I, as a departure from his indie-psych hits. Bar spoken word philosophical verses in the title single, the instrumental EP allows the dynamic instrumentals to set the tone, atmosphere, and sonic ideology.

The opening single, R.E.M. State, reaches the pinnacle of tranquillity as the lush reverb counters the visceralism of the trip-hop-y backbeats. Before track two, Honey Ripples, gives you an oceanic opportunity to slip away from the fray and enter a subaqueous paradise.

The concluding title single is a disarmingly poignant invitation into the psyche of Pinwheel Valley. The spoken word verses compel you into matching the deep state of reflection while the experimentalism of the Avant-Garde rhythmically complex arrangement provides a serene atmosphere you will want to visit time and time again. The soulfully accommodating release is inexplicably unparalleled from what any other artist is putting into the ether.

The alchemic feat of audio engineering definitively proves Pinwheel Valley’ ability to take phenomenological fragments and create sonically serene worlds from them. If I could permanently exist within them, I would take up perpetual residence in their artistic confines.

Pinwheel Valley Said:

“R.E.M. State is inspired by the absorbingly rejuvenating instrumentals in KAYTRANADA’s single, Bus Ride. I wanted to leave a mark on the canvas of mankind’s universe by flowing into rhythmically complex territory without becoming inaccessible to my audience.

Honey Ripples was written on a rainy day, envisioning how water droplets collide with the body of a lake before reflecting the impact through the warm and creamy honey texture of the Rhodes piano, also experimenting with dolphin samples to create an underwater soundscape haven.

What If I traverses themes of revival. The instrumental track with spoken vocals speaks from the dark abyss of mortal defeat. The protagonist weighs up letting his soul disintegrate or summoning an unforeseen strength to claw out of his pit to bring about his soul’s resuscitation.”

What If I will officially release on February 3rd. Check it out on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Sun Hit an 80s New Wave Atmosphere in Sabet and Doherty’s Single, At the Brink of Dawn

Posted on 30 January 2023

Docking their boat at the harbour of 80s new wave atmosphere, the soundtrackers, professional songwriters and producers, Sabet and Doherty, orchestrated a sonic depiction of when the sun hits in their single, At the Brink of Dawn, taken from their sophomore EP, The Secret.

Starting with cavernously choral angular guitar work in the same vein as Slowdive, the instrumental aural escapade builds into a feat of full-bodied beguile through the percussive fills brought by Doherty, best known for his work with Ben Folds and They Might Be Giants.

The oceanically cathartic testament to the collaborative chemistry that spills between the two artists is a unique invitation to slip array from the fray of typically structured music and become part of the flotsam while you trust in the expert orchestrators, who drift you into one of the sweetest 80s rock crescendos towards the outro.

At the Brink of Dawn is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Under the Sun – Ocean Breeze: an ambient dreamwork of Lynchian cogitation

Posted on 11 January 2023
Ocean Breeze by Under The Sun

Adding a disarming new trajectory to the evolution of shoegaze, the Suffolk-based originator Under the Sun (Matt Catling) constructed an ambient dreamwork of Lynchian cogitation with their three-track release Ocean Breeze.

As hazy as the titular allusion, the opening title single carries the weight of driftwood as it traverses through the meditatively industrial layers of reprising synths and delay-filtered dreamy guitars. Mastered by none other than Simon Scott (Slowdive), Ocean Breeze is a scintillating adaption of the origins of ambient soundscapes, modernised through the essence of caustic 21st-century dystopia that leaks into the transcendence of the track.

The arrestive rhythms in Ocean Breeze are a testament to Under the Sun’s ability to create sonic worlds far more accommodating than the ones we’re physically bound to. Short of taking a trip to the 5th dimension, there’s no better escapism than the sanctity that flows just as mellifluously through the following singles, Whirlwind and Soft Focus.

With Whirlwind unravelling as a tribally psychonautic fever dream and Soft Focus exhibiting Branca-Esque tendencies enveloped by the bleeding lament of the vocals, it’s an evocative conclusion to a release you don’t realise how deeply you have enmeshed with until silence falls.

Stream Ocean Breeze on SoundCloud and Spotify, or purchase the release via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

RØAD RVNNER is back with Metamorfosi

Posted on 14 November 2022

RØAD RVNNER is an artist who loves to add a lot of vibrance and personality to his sound. His most recent studio release, Metamorfosi, stands out as a great testimony of the freshness and vibe the artist is so seamlessly able to take into his work.

Metamorfosi hits the mark from the get-go: the intro is catchy and immediately easy to connect with, building up the musical world surrounding the artist’s aesthetics right away. RØAD RVNNER’s combination of electro and EDM makes for a very innovative approach to songwriting, while still maintaining that sense of the familiar that is so important for people to immediately experience a connection with the music. RØAD RVNNER’s work should be a great match for fans of artists’ music with a broad and diverse approach.

Find out more about RØAD RVNNER and do not miss out on Metamorfosi. This release can be pre-saved here.

NYC instrumental rock raconteur Alec Berlin has unveiled his latest single, President’s Day

Posted on 24 August 2022

NYC songwriter Alec Berlin has been filling New York venues with his catchy rock hooks since long before telecasters were a twinkle in lockdown-born creative’s eyes. Now he is here with his atmospherically consuming single, President’s Day.

The instrumental track, led by his sublimely overdriven definitively rock guitars and bolstered by the steady percussive panache, takes you through a murky, almost lamenting soundscape, which builds into Foo Fighters-Esque crunchy crescendos and epitomises immersivity. Rarely do instrumental tracks invite you into such evocative depth, but that’s exactly what separates Alec Berlin from the rest.

President’s Day is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast