Tag Archives: Experimental

El Ten Eleven – El Ten Eleven

by ·

★★★☆☆ = Good!

Sounds like?

instrumental melodic post rock – duo or trio playing simple music of tight compositions, sentimental and melodic

Moods

It's like an extended instrumental emo jam, an accessible entry into post-rock

Thoughts

enjoyable if you like that sound, reminds me of something else I can't quite put my finger on (know that's not helpful, it's the sentimental side of the sound). Accessible as a bridge record for those starting into post rock given the quick melodies and agile drumming. Guitar lines are almost robot like in their sequences, simple scales that give a familiar and immediate sound.

Is it the kind of record you need to hear before you die? Not at all but it's got some memorable tracks that would work well on mood playlists.

More Info

https://www.discogs.com/El-Ten-Eleven-El-Ten-Eleven/release/720464

Listen!

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_TV076UGUs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBTUAHGpQqE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFCRMonf7lI

Spotify


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El Ten Eleven – El Ten Eleven

Description: Album Review of El Ten Eleven – El Ten Eleven


Rating: 3 out of 5

 

Laurel Halo – Dust

by ·

★★★☆☆ = Good!

Sounds like?

electro art pop

Moods

DIY hip electro lounge music

Thoughts

Sexy, layered electronic productions with real instrumentations (sax solo here or drum line there) that provide welcome accents. Halo can write, her voice isn't particularly strong but it's fine in these abstract streams of conscious; provides a bedroom intimacy. 'Moontalk' is a good example of when this all comes together well.

Uneven but more good than bad, an accessible introduction to her sound.

More Info

https://www.discogs.com/Laurel-Halo-Dust/release/10500770

Listen!

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrjeMN_U1hw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y9AQfqnUvs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcZ-JK8EZlw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvkdCnK-aCE

Spotify


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Laurel Halo – Dust

Description: Album Review of Laurel Halo – Dust


Rating: 3 out of 5

 

Out Hud – S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D.

by ·

★★★☆☆ = Good!

Sounds like?

spacey instrumental electro dance punk

Moods

Psychedelic dance music

Thoughts

Two of the members went onto major things with !!! And LCD Soundsystem. This LP has the jam band sound without the jamming. It's music made by a traditional rock quartet but as if their trying to sound like a spaced-out electro project with dub sounds and house goodness weaved in. There's a 'raw' element here that provides a nice character, feels very human. It's key as instrumentals acts like this can someone's feel a little too clinical or impersonal without the vocal touch.

I'd be really interested in seeing Out Hud live as there are so many jumping off points for jam noodling. As a studio thing it works and it's interesting hearing it so many years later as their sound has gone on to influence lots of other bands from the disco biscuits to pretty much the entire DFA roster.

More Info

https://www.discogs.com/Out-Hud-STREET-DAD/release/229420

Listen!

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XJ_qx0CkRs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cRe_GduF_g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wImsKpTBuH8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFHWjR_D-bI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0zLOcRzQT4

Spotify


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Out Hud – S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D.

Description: Album Review of Out Hud – S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D.


Rating: 3 out of 5

 

Shit And Shine – Bad Vibes

by ·

★★★☆☆ = Good!

Sounds like?

intense electro

Moods

Electroshock dance-punk

Thoughts

booming and slightly brooding electro with weight, drifts into acid house territory at times. A couple tracks (acid and backstage) take a warped vocal sampling approach to hedonistic activities while still holding this catchy dance-punk beat.

All songs are open ended and freeform with heavy repetition on basic basslines. For that reason I'd leave this for slightly more experimental listeners with a tolerance for that kind of thing. It seems like a group that would have an interesting live show with lots of places for improvisations.

More Info

https://www.discogs.com/Shit-Shine-Bad-Vibes/release/12782873

Listen!

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ5bLD3JDtc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPj2uqCwS6s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b3KORG031c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F9sH3RYonc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IukyZwcV7bc

Spotify


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Shit And Shine – Bad Vibes

Description: Album Review of Shit And Shine – Bad Vibes


Rating: 3 out of 5

 

Actress – Splazsh

by ·

★★★★☆ = Quality release and suggested listening

Sounds like?

Accessible experimental electro

Moods

Deep dank dark club music

Thoughts

this isn't gunning for the dance floor but it would work really well in certain 'dance' settings. Thinking smoke machines, deep, rhythmic.

It conjures up bad sound systems with tracks that have this bloated bass like you're listening to a dj through the basement floor of a club. Maybe that's the point: It's club like music presented out of context, from far away. Detached as an observer. The whole thing feels hazy, like it's filtered through something. weed maybe… i dunno but there's a separation between the listener and the music.

He's pushing electronic music forward in his own way, I suspect this will age well. At 10 years it still sounds relevant.

 

More Info

https://www.discogs.com/Actress-Splazsh/release/2281630

Listen!

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0FmZReUWXU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcnRT-m9MYo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqUzSq1MVh0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0bJUbcBP_c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqQFMjUySio

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Actress – Splazsh

Description: Album Review of Actress – Splazsh


Rating: 4 out of 5

 

Objekt – Cocoon Crush

by ·

★★☆☆☆ = Eh, fine

Sounds like?

cerebral left field artsy experimental electro with a boom

Moods

Earthworms eating

 

Thoughts

There's this skittering sound he uses that gives it this insect like feel. The blurry line between organic and mechanical nature of bugs,he plays into this with a creepiness.

I enjoyed this the first time through with it's detailed and rich production, lots of little earworms to get lost in. These are songs and it's a testament to his ability as a songwriter (lots of electronic musicians focus only on the sound and develop little in the way of composition).

However after multiple listens I feel it's missing something. I moved past the immediacy of the beauty and found myself bored and thinking about what's next. I can appreciate these songs as singles but as an album it felt too much.

More Info

https://www.discogs.com/Objekt-Cocoon-Crush/release/12777177

Listen!

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlW2naIokwA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QwceWXWi-w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqZF0wTEwF4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj-kgypzFnU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zUAoHc4eZc

Spotify


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Objekt – Cocoon Crush

Description: Album Review of Objekt – Cocoon Crush


Rating: 2 out of 5

 

Michel Isorinne – Stumhetens toner

by ·

★★★☆☆ = Good!

Sounds like?

ambient keyboard music

Moods

Soundtrack for a regretful protagonist in a 2D RPG talking to NPCs in a new town, trying to find his way home

Thoughts

While an ambient record the keys playing gives it this subtle rhythm with little floating sentimental melodies. Could be an RPG video game soundtrack, feeling like a stranger in a new town just trying to find his way home through a life of regret.

Things take a more menacing tone in the second half where tracks have a brooding machine like intensity, as if these are electro b-sides born from Floyd's 'welcome to the machine'

More Info

https://www.discogs.com/Isorinne-Stumhetens-toner/release/12922932

Listen!

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6eHdaKX-_Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxswoTpwTrI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOnEHQIX16k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD5V9Tfu0rA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAqJbt6J7U0

Spotify


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Michel Isorinne – Stumhetens toner

Description: Album Review of Michel Isorinne – Stumhetens toner


Rating: 3 out of 5

 

Sam Gendel, Sam Wilkes – Music For Saxofone & Bass Guitar

by ·

★★★★☆ = Quality release and suggested listening

Sounds like?

Abstract bedroom smooth jazz

Moods

Hangs around like steam rising after a summer downpour.

Thoughts

Bunch of rough ambient sax and basic supporting sounds like a drum machine or bass line. At times it's like they're boiling modern r&b to its most basic form with looping finger snaps or whispery beatbox. It's a bunch of sketches, not really an album. There's a lot of ambient background noise, effective as another texture like burial. Has an improv vibe.

Gendel is a good sax player, really hear his rich sound on the solos ( track one is a good example).

More Info

https://www.discogs.com/Sam-Gendel-Sam-Wilkes-Music-For-Saxofone-Bass-Guitar/release/12194261

Listen!

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enX9Fr-I8MA

Spotify


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Sam Gendel, Sam Wilkes – Music For Saxofone & Bass Guitar

Description: Album Review of Sam Gendel, Sam Wilkes – Music For Saxofone & Bass Guitar


Rating: 4 out of 5

 

Topdown Dialectic – Topdown Dialectic

by ·

★★★★☆ = Quality release and suggested listening

Sounds like?

minimal house with ambient ideas

Moods

A black cosmos speckled with particle grooves

Thoughts

Really connect with this. Highly repetitive song structures with interesting bits that subtly float up through the rhythm. There tends to be some rhythm even when it's at is most atmospheric, makes this an accessible record for people who wouldn't typically listen to ambient. Production mimics lofi at times.

More Info

https://www.discogs.com/Topdown-Dialectic-Topdown-Dialectic/release/13230387

Listen!

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JWRk6DUlR8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTED4Tn_q6o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy-2mEg9TTU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89usL-4pI1s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zMkBu_E84Y

Spotify


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Topdown Dialectic – Topdown Dialectic

Description: Album Review of Topdown Dialectic – Topdown Dialectic


Rating: 4 out of 5

 

Superpitcher – So Far So Super

by ·

★★☆☆☆ = Eh, fine

Sounds like?

German minimal house

Moods

a retrospective of superpitchers career

Thoughts

hard to concisely categorize how a career spanning document sounds but it's definitely German minimal house, certain darkness' with a bit of spoken word whimsy. I wasn't crazy about the first half or so. Some OK moments. Lots of lyrics but none of it particularly good.

More Info

https://www.discogs.com/Superpitcher-So-Far-So-Super/release/8395925

Listen!

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faHxF-bD-N8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM5coZk_lkE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9n7QLJvWZg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPtyyMkxMRM

Spotify


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Superpitcher – So Far So Super

Description: Album Review of Superpitcher – So Far So Super


Rating: 2 out of 5