Expertly produced fusion of instrumental hip hop and trip hop. Groovy, yet downtempo goodness.
Netlabel Dusted Wax manages to stick close to its signature sound, which sometimes can become boring for a treasure hunter like me, always curious for a new sound experience. This release is such an experience: familiar flavour, but new spices added left and right, and the result is all the better for it: delicious beats, served with specially recorded instrument tracks, and electronic effects on top.
Continue reading “King Shi – [2018] Red (LP)”Instrumental hip-hop and easy listening from the olden days.
How could I miss out on reviewing this album for so long? My bad, your good: prepare for an album that must be part of every anthology of CC music. Aphilas must not shy away from being compared to artists like Air or Zero 7.
Continue reading “Aphilas – [2003] Instrumentally Ill EP”Exceptionally virtuous psychadelic jazz rock frenzy. Like Mr. Bungle’s slightly more experimental cousin.
Wow, what a ride this is. At times, I scratch my head wondering “what the heck did they want with this?”. But mostly, virtuosic saxophone, galloping guitar, furious drums make you want their 13 minute long track to last even longer. Similar to progressive or post rock, all tracks start slow, to then slowly ramp up to a loud finale. If you can forgive occasional weirdness, please follow me to exhibit no. 1:
Continue reading “dUASsEMIcOLCHEIAS iNVERTIDAS – [2011] SADITREVNi SAIEHCLOcIMEsSAUd”Debut EP of “Portugese project doing cinematic postrock”. Special treat: excellently crafted melody lines.
What I like about post rock as a genre is how consistent it is. Once you have heard 3-4 albums, you immediately can recognise it and start concentrating on subtle differences, or bath your ears in the never-ending chord progressions above percussive loops that slowly build up to a loud, but modestly self-restrained instrumental finale. And that’s what awaits you here, as well…
Continue reading “As Above So Below – [2016] Ritos I”Old swing samples meet instrumental hip hop loops. Both casually and dancually enjoyable.
Back in 2013, Belgian (surprise!) producer Boogie Belgique published Vol. 1 of this series (ojdo reported). Only one year later, this gem followed. Time for me to follow up: like before, modern percussion arrangements are woven together with vintage recordings, carefully curated, sliced and spliced to create a tasty blend that could be described as instrumental hip hop. But this is only half true. Listen to hear for yourself:
Continue reading “Boogie Belgique – [2014] Nightwalker (Vol. 2)”Musical guitar-focused post rock. Spacy in more than one sense.
This release at Cologne-based netlabel Der kleine grüne Würfel comes from ESA’s communication officer, who produces music for a hobby; what a nice surprise! 8 tracks of laid-back, slightly trippy instrumental post rock want to be discovered: Continue reading “Marco Trovatello – [2018] Not At All”
Ambient acoustic guitar. Very musical 2 track EP.
With only two tracks, this short EP by artist Fellirium makes it easy for me to select my habitual two tracks for you. Airy guitar tones with noticeable reverb calmly meditate over beautiful riffs with minimal synthetic background drones: Continue reading “Fellirium – [2017] Bill A & 24/7”
Cinematic instrumental post rock. Like an alternative soundtrack to Magnolia, this slow-paced exercise in wackyness.
The inspiration taken from Air cannot be overheard, and is clearly stated in the album’s release notes. So if you like the alternative sound of the French pop duo, give this album a try on a train ride. Continue reading “Wacky Southern Current – [2011] In a Realm of Uncertain Summer”
Piano meets glitch electronics. Hybrid sound of live recording and studio production.
This is more on the artsy side of the spectrum I am reviewing here, but some broccoli from time to time is good for the taste buds, or so I heard… but sketchy metaphors aside: this release won’t make you dance, but instead tickle your musical senses where they are rarely touched by radio music. Continue reading “Luis Marte & Roger Delahaye – [2017] MOVIL/INMOVIL”
Playful electronica. Synth pads and drums fight against bad weather.
Netlabel Phonocake is a constant source of slightly quirky, but always fun electronic sounds. This album by US artist transient is no exception: happy bleeps and upbeet rhythms fight for (mental) good weather. The full album has 7 tracks, like usual I present 2 noteworthy samples… Continue reading “beat.dowsing – [2012] trigger.melodies”
