Wet Roads by Listening Mirror
More audio gourmet goodness. This is gorgeous, especially the second track. Two more new ones up as well that I plan to check out later. GBP 0.40 or free from the archive.
Dream Drome by Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys. The Broken Toys are Amanda Palmer stalwarts. As might be expected, the music has a theatricality, in this case being Carnivalesque or Circus-like. They sound, not surprisingly, like highly conceptual versions of Nick Cave, Compulsive Gamblers and the Oblivians--music sophistication played with garage rawness. They also are a large band, each member pushing in a different musical direction, sometimes being that garage band, other times more like demented Klezmer. The album was recorded as part of the RPM Challenge--to produce an album of 10 songs or 35 minutes of new music in one month. The songs themselves can be a little underdeveloped, but considering the parameters of the challenge, the album is very cohesive. $1 or more
Rural Route No. 5 by The Gentleman Losers
Ambient, instrumental, $4CAD for 3 tracks, though one is 10 minutes +, but really nice and certainly leaning me towards buying. CDR for $5CAD plus shipping. Has a laid back, western/pedal steel kind of feel in many places, though achieved with (sometimes guitar-based) electronics. They have a full-length on emusic that I might have to check out also.
Here's an Italian band called "Christine Plays Viola" whose singer does a pretty good impression of Ian Curtis, though on the last track he tries his hand at Robert Smith and isn't quite so successful. But hey, it's free.
And yes, I believe that's a Rubik's Cube. Moreover, there's no indication that Christine actually plays the viola on any of the tracks, and TBH if there's any viola at all, it's buried in the mix so deep they might as well put a headstone on it.
"Follow the space captain's adventures near Alpha Centauri, and his forbidden love for a beautiful rebel slave-- a four--part ambient techno suite by experienced artists Mister Vapor (aka. Mystified) and Phillip Wilkerson. The background pads were rendered by Mr. Wilkerson from older fractal midi pieces created by Vapor, then phrases were extracted from the lovely background parts, and given techno sounds. Beyond the beats and other frills, Mister Vapor dubbed in spacey sound effects created by Mr. Wilkerson."
Mystified with Celer - Dying Star (Celer) Mystified Remix Preview Package
"In 2011, Mystified will release a full-length remix of Celer's cd, "Dying Star". The remix was created with the permission of Will Long of Celer, and uses only sounds from Celer's original. The full release will appear on the Petcord netlabel (http://www.petcord.com/). The purpose of this release (at bandcamp) is to provide a nice preview of the audio and also a downloadable video to supplement the main release."
Mystified - Remembering The Engine
"It is Mystified's hope and belief that in 2 decades, the streets of America will be quiet and clean, populated with electric and fuel-cell cars. This e.p. is a dream eulogy for the gas-powered car-- that big, ugly dinosaur that has almost cost us our environment. Listen to the gasoline engine burn away!"
"Those familiar with mystified know the artist to be both proficient and prolific. However, in his ultra-prolific nature, has he finally gone too far? Has he inundated the world with too many beautiful droney techno pieces? "The Mad Hatter" digs deep for sounds of madness-- bizarre, resonant strings, banging metal, strange voices-- and comes up with material that is both mad and entertaining, like lounge music on barbituates."
released 06 March 2011
First unreleased version from 2004
-As far as I can work out this was released as a ltd. ed. two track, 35 minutes vinyl Lp in 2006 and is his first release.
- So my guess is that this is a "polished of" and extended dl. version.
Let's just hope for his sake that he doesn't contract epilepsy, followed by throat nodules, followed by the attentions of an attractive French journalist...
On a slightly lighter note, I've noticed more and more indie-folk acts showing up under Bandcamp's "Shoegaze" tag. Most of these are just wrong-headed tag misappropriations, but this one seems to be one of the more interesting/worthy examples - it's a guy from Buffalo calling himself "Cemeteries" (note that I did say slightly lighter) and he's produced an album called Speaking Horrors - full of what you might call "folkgaze," with some very tuneful songs that are also hypnotic and quite listenable, and with plenty of reverb. All the lyrics are about ghosts, though I don't think you'd figure that out unless you were reading along. It's NYOP.
You'd think this would be really dark, brooding and melancholy, but that's not how it sounds to me - at least two of the tracks sounded almost (Brian) Wilsonian, and are fairly poppy - in particular, "Fires In Your Cities," track 8.
HAPPENING ALL AT ONCE by MEGACHURCHES
Tagged ambient, drone, shoegaze. Quite enjoyable. Free/NYOP. (Album download says NYOP, track downloads say free.)
They're ambient folk. Actually, I think it's just one dude, no "they're" to speak of. Very pretty stuff. I own the full length album "Departures" and highly recommend it. I picked it up about 15 months ago, and I still listen to it regularly.
Here's a fairly good record of the alt-rock/grunge/guitar-band variety - not the sort of thing I usually listen to, but quite good for what it is. They're the Minor Suns, from Las Vegas, and the album was apparently recorded live-in-the-studio... Anyway, it's free.
"This was supposed to be released on cassette.
It might still be, but here it is digitally. It's a collection of older material. Crunchy textures prevail. The first side is comparable to material from Wegwerpwee. If you like tracks like Hersenberm and Passeervrees, you'll most likely appreciate the second more noisy side."
- Bas van Huizen
This band, the Guards, tags itself "alternative doom new wave power pop rock & roll" (and also "New York"), but most of it sounds more like a strange and heavily-reverberated hybrid of 90's Britpop, 70's glam-rock, and the 60's Motown sound. Quite a good record though, and it's free!
Guided By Voices fans might like this - the Motel Beds. They're even from the same hometown. Very much a lo-fi, Kinks-inspired sort of affair, and it's free for an e-mail address:
This is a context-specific rec. This album consists quite overtly of someone noodling aimlessly (though gently and prettily) on a guitar. The page is headed "12 records in 12 months. 81 Songs. 365 minutes of homemade music. Probably not the brightest idea I've had in my life." Don't expect compositions. I could imagine this in the background in some restaurant or waiting room settings.
This month I felt particularly stressed out at times. The way I cope with stress mostly is by playing guitar. It unwinds me. Not composing nor playing old songs nor anything I need my brains for, none of that. Nah. Im just caressing strings. Often Im just laying on the sofa, my beat up spanish or electric on top of me, randomly feeling and stroking the guitar strings...This month, I recorded some of these random playings. Sometimes they sound like melodies about to happen, but its just free floating nothing. I did multi-track everything though.
That said, I find that there some kinds of work that I cannot do with music in the background if that music has a beat or bass line or vocal with audible words - I need something that burbles just outside of consciousness. And I do have a definite soft spot for music that has an aleatoric quality. This is really quite pretty and fulfills those criteria, and its aimlessness actually keeps it from becoming kitsch.
NYOP.
Over on eMu these days they're pushing The Joy Formidable, a recent Atlantic Records signing who are sort of a heavy-shoegazer act with a Courtney Love/Shirley Manson-ish female singer (on most tracks). Mind you, they're good, and I like them... but this band, Love Culture is just as good if not better, and this EP is also absolutely free (and not on Atlantic Records):
I almost never listen to Americana/folk muzik, but I heard this on Breakthruradio.com earlier today and it's just one of those hard-not-to-like kinda records. Then again, she's asking $10 for the album, so I probably won't actually buy the whole thing - a couple of selected tracks, maybe. (I'm unpredictable. Also, eMu is selling it for $5.88, so...)
A pair of very listenable ambient albums. Drifty backgrounds with some burbling and an overlay of brighter sounds (Rafts), some darker moments & some piano (Sparks). Some tracks stronger than others.
Sparks and Rafts from Flotsam by Lamorna. NYOP, individual tracks marked 'free'.
Comments
Wet Roads by Listening Mirror
More audio gourmet goodness. This is gorgeous, especially the second track. Two more new ones up as well that I plan to check out later. GBP 0.40 or free from the archive.
Dream Drome by Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys. The Broken Toys are Amanda Palmer stalwarts. As might be expected, the music has a theatricality, in this case being Carnivalesque or Circus-like. They sound, not surprisingly, like highly conceptual versions of Nick Cave, Compulsive Gamblers and the Oblivians--music sophistication played with garage rawness. They also are a large band, each member pushing in a different musical direction, sometimes being that garage band, other times more like demented Klezmer. The album was recorded as part of the RPM Challenge--to produce an album of 10 songs or 35 minutes of new music in one month. The songs themselves can be a little underdeveloped, but considering the parameters of the challenge, the album is very cohesive. $1 or more
Rural Route No. 5 by The Gentleman Losers
Ambient, instrumental, $4CAD for 3 tracks, though one is 10 minutes +, but really nice and certainly leaning me towards buying. CDR for $5CAD plus shipping. Has a laid back, western/pedal steel kind of feel in many places, though achieved with (sometimes guitar-based) electronics. They have a full-length on emusic that I might have to check out also.
And yes, I believe that's a Rubik's Cube. Moreover, there's no indication that Christine actually plays the viola on any of the tracks, and TBH if there's any viola at all, it's buried in the mix so deep they might as well put a headstone on it.
Mystified with Celer - Dying Star (Celer) Mystified Remix Preview Package
Mystified - Remembering The Engine
- Free, free,free and free.
released 06 March 2011
First unreleased version from 2004
-As far as I can work out this was released as a ltd. ed. two track, 35 minutes vinyl Lp in 2006 and is his first release.
- So my guess is that this is a "polished of" and extended dl. version.
7 eur. and it sounds just fantastic !
Craig
On a slightly lighter note, I've noticed more and more indie-folk acts showing up under Bandcamp's "Shoegaze" tag. Most of these are just wrong-headed tag misappropriations, but this one seems to be one of the more interesting/worthy examples - it's a guy from Buffalo calling himself "Cemeteries" (note that I did say slightly lighter) and he's produced an album called Speaking Horrors - full of what you might call "folkgaze," with some very tuneful songs that are also hypnotic and quite listenable, and with plenty of reverb. All the lyrics are about ghosts, though I don't think you'd figure that out unless you were reading along. It's NYOP.
You'd think this would be really dark, brooding and melancholy, but that's not how it sounds to me - at least two of the tracks sounded almost (Brian) Wilsonian, and are fairly poppy - in particular, "Fires In Your Cities," track 8.
HAPPENING ALL AT ONCE by MEGACHURCHES
Tagged ambient, drone, shoegaze. Quite enjoyable. Free/NYOP. (Album download says NYOP, track downloads say free.)
Soporus - 2011 (released 15 January 2011) - 2 usd.
http://www.emusers.net/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=422&page=1#Comment_22266
They're ambient folk. Actually, I think it's just one dude, no "they're" to speak of. Very pretty stuff. I own the full length album "Departures" and highly recommend it. I picked it up about 15 months ago, and I still listen to it regularly.
http://messagetobears.bandcamp.com/album/ep1
Looks like he's selling the albums for four and five pounds each (EP is four).
Thanks for the Bears pointer, lovely stuff !
Here's something with a little more "edge":
Sparkling Wide Pressure - For All From Lucy - Free
- Experimental ? - Beyond Classification ? - either way, a very moving listening experience, much recommended.
ETA: Frank Baugh aka. Sparkling Wide Pressure
Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys - SteamShipKillers (=>bandcamp) $10 "Note that EVERY SINGLE PENNY of this goes to the REAL LIVE artist!!!!
" Creative Commons license.
Big melodramatic sound. Think along the lines of Devcotchka, with less vocal gymnastics. This is good stuff.
Bas van Huizen - Platronenval
- No coverart, only for streaming.
How does one describe the rich, oak-y flavor and full-bodied bouquet found in Prose in Rosette's music?
Tags sum these tracks up
Wixel - Unwind by wixel
This is a context-specific rec. This album consists quite overtly of someone noodling aimlessly (though gently and prettily) on a guitar. The page is headed "12 records in 12 months. 81 Songs. 365 minutes of homemade music. Probably not the brightest idea I've had in my life." Don't expect compositions. I could imagine this in the background in some restaurant or waiting room settings. That said, I find that there some kinds of work that I cannot do with music in the background if that music has a beat or bass line or vocal with audible words - I need something that burbles just outside of consciousness. And I do have a definite soft spot for music that has an aleatoric quality. This is really quite pretty and fulfills those criteria, and its aimlessness actually keeps it from becoming kitsch.
NYOP.
Ooh, I definitely like this.
Ethereal, electro-hip-hop-acoustic beats...
Free For Email
Pillowy synths, ethereal vocals, boom bap rhythms, and snippets of radio. Like Sneaker Pimps produced by Ammoncontact.
Free.
Sparks and Rafts from Flotsam by Lamorna. NYOP, individual tracks marked 'free'.