And we’re back. I took June off because life got in the way of blogging, but here we are staring blankly around the beginning of August and wondering where the last two months have gone. As usual, we have some amazing music for you so let’s get going. We’ll start this month with a single.
ØXN
Love Henry
Trad / Doom trad
Some of the members of Lankum have a new band that’s a little less Trad and a bit more doom. Love Henry is the original murder ballad that Nick Cave based Henry Lee on and ØXN’s version makes this murder sound like the end of the world.
That they can make what is so clearly trad, sound so oppressive is incredible, it’s almost a new genre in itself. I’m a bit worried that I’m starting to get a taste for this kind of thing, but to hell with my music snobbery if the songs are this good.
Gacha Bakradaze
Pancakes
Electronica
Gacha’s third album finds him continuing to meld his influences and as a result, Pancakes blends a lot of different styles that in lesser hands, may not work.
Tracks like Overtime have a more dissonant IDM feel, while others, like Tainted lean into the more chilled, ambient side of things. There’s a strong Orbital feel to Opi and Morning Chatter, while Backup brings a warm techno sound. Luckily, the album flows effortlessly and none of the style changes are jarring. The hardest track on the album, ominously called Terror, is still sunny techno, it’s just the bass is hitting a lot harder than the rest of the album.
This is a perfect album for a balmy summer evening, relaxing and just enjoying the sun, or will be equally at home in the early morning as the sun creeps towards the horizon.
bdrmm
I Don’t Know
Shoegaze
It’s not often you start an album and a few seconds in you have to check that you put the right record on, but I Don’t Know really surprised me. Instead of the shoegaze guitars I was expecting, electronica drifted out of my speakers.
It’s not something a lot of bands can do. Most attempts to meld dance music with indie do not go well at all, but here it works and as a result I Don’t Know is head and shoulders above their debut.
The opening track, Alps, perfectly showcases this sound, starting with hazy electronica, but as the track progresses, the band’s instruments slowly make themselves heard.
While a lot of the songs have a dance beat, bdrmm are clearly a shoegaze band. It’s Just a Bit of Blood and We Fall Apart are more straight ahead indie numbers, but then Pulling Stitches comes along, and an almost funky, Manchester groove kicks in, giving the song a great swagger.
This album really surprised me, and hopefully it will bring bdrmm to the much wider audience that they deserve.
The Glass Pavilion
Celestograph
Post Rock
At first I wrote this album off as pretty but slight. Like most post rock, it can just slide off you if you don’t give it your full attention. But, there was something here, something that kept pulling me back to give it another listen, and slowly, Celestograph burrowed its way under my skin.
Yes, this is mostly a very pretty album, but for the love of all that is holy, when did this become a bad thing? This album isn’t the musical equivalent of empty calories, it just seems that way with a casual listen. There’s a depth and emotion here that keeps drawing me back.
That’s not to say it’s all shining guitar riffs and sweet keyboard sounds. Celestograph IV (The tracks are named Celestograph I – VII) sounds like a wall of vintage synth is trying to overwhelm you. V is intense, and has the feel of Bowery Electric’s hazy, beat driven shoegaze, a not unpleasant droney, claustrophobic feeling. All this is builds to the final track, VII, which is the musical equivalent of sun coming out from behind the previous two tracks. The building piano and guitar riff are so expansive they lift the album out of its mid album darkness and make everything seem right in the world.
There is never the expected blast of distortion on this album, rather than resorting to cheap pyrotechnics, The Glass Pavilion relies on rock solid songwriting and more heart than you usually find in Post Rock. Take some time to immerse yourself in this album and it will really reward you.
Hexwave
Kern
Electronica
Petite Victory Collective is one of the few record labels that I follow anymore. They may not be well known but they have great taste in electronica and I’ll give anything they put out a listen as a matter of course.
That’s not to say I don’t have my doubts, Hexwave is a name that didn’t instill me with confidence. I was expecting Psytrance, but seeing that this album was designed as a soundtrack to Adrian Tchaikovsky’s book, Children of Time, it jumped to the front of my playlist.
And while I’m not sure it conjures up the book for me, this is a really enjoyable, synthy soundtrack that has a great ominous feel to it.
Hexwave builds this album from vintage sci-fi sounds to create tension and suspense, but isn’t afraid to embrace hardcore, with driving percussion and enveloping bass making its point. Early on, Chemical Spit feels like it’s soundtracking a chase scene and knowing the book, I’m trying very hard not to think of giant spiders when I’m listening to it. Biotech is another good example, with its distorted techno kicks combined with some John Carpenteresque synths building dread at a considerable BPM.
But this isn’t an album of bangers, it’s a well thought out piece that embraces 70’s and 80’s sci-fi soundtracks and comes out with something fresh and interesting. With the background dread of giant, sentient spiders.*
* Children of Time is a very good book and you should read it. But not if you are arachnophobic.
Croatian Amor
A Part of You in Everything
Electronica
A Part of You in Everything is Danish producer Loke Rahbek’s tribute to his brother who died at birth. He describes this album as 8 songs about being human on Earth and the reflections on the sibling he never knew.
That may sound like heavy stuff, but A Part is the very opposite of that. Featherweight production means that these songs just float by, with only the deep bass holding them down to the earth.
There is a very clear influence by Burial here, with pitched up vocals, the warm bass and cavernous reverb. But Amor has his own stamp on this sound and delivers a slow, contemplative album that is nowhere near as challenging or downbeat as the concept sounds. Tracks like Dancer, while never worrying a dance floor, are upbeat enough to have you bobbing along as you listen.
This is a perfect album for wondering out at night, under the stars and letting the universe wash over you.
Forlorn
Sæl
Metalcore
Forlorn are a relatively new metalcore band out of London. Their aim is to blend folk horror and paganism to create their own sound ‘Midsommar Metal’. The word Sæl means hi, hello to a group in Icelandic and this ep is a hell of a hello.
This is the band’s debut and really stamps their intentions clearly. Their mix of beautiful passages mixed with face melting hardcore is incredibly well delivered. The opening track, Old Wounds, being a perfect demonstration. Megan, the lead singer, has a great clean voice but can really bring the throat shredding roar that really punches up the already aggressive sections of the songs.
Forlorn may not have carved their own unique sound out yet though, there is a heavy Rolo Tomassi influence, but it’s performed so well and with such grace that it’s hard to care.
If this is what the Forlorn can deliver on their first record, the sky’s the limit for them.
DDENT
Ex Auditu (Part 2)
Post Metal
Ex Auditu (part 1) made my monthly list way back in the depths of February. It was a post rock ep that flirted with post metal and was all round lovely. Well, Pt 2 is here and this is the heavier end of the band’s sound.
That’s not to say that DDENT doesn’t ease you in gently. La Nuit Transforme is a slow build that ups the drama and intensity. This music is heavy without being aggressive, it sounds huge but isn’t crushing the way most post metal is. The second track feels more orchestral than metal despite being very much a riff monster of a track.
It’s the third track before things get filthy in a Sabbath sort of way. Things slow down and embrace the Doom giving a new dimension to the band’s sound.
Ex Auditu Part 2 is a brilliant continuation that really builds on the first ep, bringing us some of the most melodic post metal that I’ve heard in a long time. This is the good stuff.
Long Island Sound
Don’t Let Me
Electronica
The Dublin duo still have a soft spot for Bicep and Don’t Let Me could very easily fit on the Northern Ireland duo’s last album. But while it may not be an original sound, it’s a great song. The b-side embraces a different style though, while still rattling breakbeats, Air is a much more atmospheric track, light synths and deep subs aimed squarely for the post clubbing chillout sessions.
Still, it feels like LIS have back slid a little after getting way from Bicep’s sound on their debut album, but this is still a great single. However, it does leave me wondering where LIS’s next direction will go.
The ways of exile 