Browsing Tag

trip-hop

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

Ukrainian indie art-hop duo, Polyvoda meets perpetual torment with unfaltering resilience in ‘Never Ending’

Posted on 10 October 2022

From the war-torn city of Kyiv, Ukraine, the duo, Polyvoda, has released their latest melodic art hop single and music video, Never Ending. Singing of hard times, doing their best to get by and their commitment to authenticity, the duo consisting of Vinovishi Klavino and Basey Naiado gave us a glimpse of the resilience that has become necessary in this needlessly tragic chapter of history.

But independent from the situation that Never Ending was born from, it’s a stunning exhibition of Polyvoda’s deeply humanist expression, which gives you a panoramic view into their strength, pain, and tangible grace. With Radiohead-Esque percussion, there’s an elegantly artful edge to the fusion, which pulls together organic indie textures and hip hop tones. The vocals also contain their fair share of evocative kryptonite as they make their way through the semi-spoken word verses and harmonised choruses.

Watch the bleakly mesmeric official music video for Never Ending, which premiered on October 4th, on YouTube. For each view of the video, the duo will donate one Satoshi coin to a charitable organisation helping rebuild Ukraine.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nasty Geographic tracks the descent of the pedestal-placed icons of culture in his jazzy trip hop single, Canceled

Posted on 9 October 2022

Taken from his latest album, Crooner, Nasty Geographic’s seminal single, Canceled, is a glitchy synth-driven, jazz-spliced triumph of a societal dissection which sinks its claws into the destructive egotism of the fame-obsessed.

If there was ever a male equivalent to PJ Harvey, it is Nasty Geographic in this trippy, rhythmically grooving descent into the dystopia of the modern age which starts with a euphoric glow which sonically dims with the diminishment of renown and respect. A journey that most pedestal-placed icons of culture eventually take.

By day, the solo songwriter is a social-justice-driven lawyer, freeing the wrongly convicted from life sentences imposed by racially biased juries. By night, he pours his passion for social justice into his art, with all proceeds going to the International Bipolar Foundation and the Promise of Justice Initiative.

Canceled is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Steph Delz took urban Avant Garde to the extreme with ‘Lockjaw’

Posted on 6 September 2022

LA’s Steph Delz put the trip in trip-hop in his latest experimental track, Lockjaw; it isn’t music as we have known it before, but any fans of extreme urban Avant Garde will want to pay attention.

He’s a ghost in the machine in the hyper-warped 8-Bit production, which may be a little too out-there for most Trap fans, but the up and coming artist and producer has certainly carved himself an autonomous niche in the market; in 2022, that’s an achievement in itself.

Lockjaw was officially released on September 19th; it is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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

Posted on 25 August 2022

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

Glock-9ne – II Tempo Delle Sirene: A Meditation in Trip-Hop

Posted on 26 July 2022

The independent Italian multi-genre producer, composer, arranger, and graphic designer, Glock-9ne, AKA Mirko, built a flourishing new world with his latest composition, II Tempo Delle Sirene.

The Verona-born and raised artist who founded the GLK Production company switches it up with every new release. This time, he dripped sun-bleached ambience into an artfully upbeat feat of trip-hop, which flirts with the sonic signatures of leftfield electronica and blissfully unravels as easily one of the most meditatively immersive tracks that we have heard this year. Music may only be a competition in our late-stage capitalist world; regardless, his instinctually sublime melodies are a cut above the rest.

The instrumental, II Tempo Delle Sirene, is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Time Meddler – Folks Want Blood: The Tranquil Trip-Hop Enigma Returns

Posted on 13 July 2022

If you prefer your trip-hop on the more temperately exotic side, The Time Meddler’s latest orchestration, Folks Want Blood, will happily assist in your sun-bleached transcendence.

The cinematic Timothy and the Apocalypse Remix tears away from the electronica mould, before boldly roaming into avant-garde textures, kaleidoscopic tones and a sense of intrinsic soul that brings you right into the tranquil heart of the mix.

You scarcely need the producer’s bio to tell you that he’s been making beats since the 90s. It is written within the mellifluous leftfield gravitas that throws right back to that era.

The Timothy and the Apocalypse Remix of Folks Want Blood is now available to stream via Spotify. Hit play; the cathartic payoff is instantaneous.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Anjalts – On Your Side: Provocatively Sensual Art-Pop

Posted on 26 June 2022

While everyone is jumping on the Kate Bush hype, it isn’t a far hop across to the up-and-coming art-pop singer-songwriter and producer, Anjalts’ latest sensually provocative single, On Your Side.

The minor keys in accord under the 80s-Esque production wrapped in haunting reverb create the perfect atmosphere for Anjalts’ translucently lucid vocals to bleed into. It is a full-on sensory experience that naturally words alone can’t capture. On Your Way leaves no room to wonder why it is on its way to going viral. We can’t wait to hear the alchemy that undoubtedly lingers in the LP that is set to follow On Your Way.

On Your Side is now available to stream on YouTube. And you can check out Anjalts via her official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Area 51 has nothing on Koosha Azim’s psychedelically sensory experience, ALIEN

Posted on 24 June 2022

Haunting and transcending are two rarely joined adjectives; the Iranian American contemporary artist, Koosha Azim, pushed them into a tight-knit while exploring alt-hip hop and psychedelia in his sensory soundscape, ALIEN.

The bleeding vocals, cinematically ethereal layers, and playfully unpretentious creativity are a stellular pleasure which scarcely resembles any Avant-Garde score that experimentalists have left behind before.

If he keeps pushing in this gratifyingly trippy and obscure direction, the San Francisco Bay Area artist will have the airwaves at his feet in no time. Naturally, we can’t wait to hear the transcendence that follows.

Koosha Azim’s latest single, ALIEN is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Slide into Izaiah Bangz’s latest new wave rap track, Messenger

Posted on 13 June 2022

Like a laureate of the modern age, the trap pop artist Izaiah Bangz is always true to his moniker and bang-on his cutting narratives of 2022 romance. While I never quite anticipated a love song that mentions Chik-Fill-A, Bangz runs the reference right through his vibey latest release, Messenger, that borders on ethereal with its dreamy RnB layers.

After making his debut in 2019, Izaiah Bangz hasn’t failed to amass a following around his soul-steeped hard hitters that make it infinitely easier for his fans to navigate the digitally dystopic age of romance. After the release of Messenger, he is well on his way to racking up over 15k streams just a few days after the release. After the drop of his forthcoming self-titled debut album, it is safe to say Izaiah Bangz is going to be an unstoppable force in the new wave of hip hop.

Messenger is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast