Tag: Rock

  • Lorenzo’s Music – [2017] Cool ships and heat exchangers

    Lorenzo’s Music – [2017] Cool ships and heat exchangers

    (Un)conventional alternative rock. With netlabel blocSonic, it’s hard to not be impressed. I adore how they keep publishing consistently solid to exceptional albums and compilations year after year. The word conventional is meant as a compliment. Although it is not strictly correct: the use of brass instruments and synth sounds clearly is an exception to…

  • Antethic – [2017] Ghost Shirt Society

    Antethic – [2017] Ghost Shirt Society

    Electronic post rock greatness. We probably all have heard those drawn-out, long, boring post rock extravaganzas with minutes of continuous distorted guitar sound carpets without sense or measure. This not one of those… Instead, the genre is enriched by upbeat tracks, careful addition of electronic effects and ornamentation. In short: it sounds pretty fresh! Read…

  • Mr. Bitterness And The Guilty Pleasures – [2017] Songs From The Surveillance Age

    Mr. Bitterness And The Guilty Pleasures – [2017] Songs From The Surveillance Age

    Coming to save alternative rock. Wow, what an excellent production. It’s rare to be blown away by so “little” happening on the surface, while so much falls all into the right place in the background. Electronic effects left and right, used in subtle ways for great effect make this a well crafted release.

  • Dream Mechanics – [2009] Screensaver

    Dream Mechanics – [2009] Screensaver

    Casual ambient soft rock. This oldie (i.e. published last decade) is a perfect mental “screen saver”. According to the release notes on Bandcamp, the artists were called a “Russian Massive Attack” for their psychedelic, trance-inducing sound. Judge for yourself what you make of it..

  • Hermelin – [2008] Hermelin

    Hermelin – [2008] Hermelin

    Straightforward post rock. Hermelin is 4 guys from Hanover in Northern Germany, performing at least since 2008. On April 1 this year they have released their newest album called Tüdeltüt. While their newest work certainly has increased in terms of production (sound quality, mixing), their first full-length release has its charm, too.

  • Eye – [2007] Plays

    Eye – [2007] Plays

    Meditative psychadelic rock. Ok, the release notes advertise this as Pop, “without a shadow of doubt”. I tend to disagree, but what do words matter? For a change, I’ll discuss three of the release’s 7 tracks.

  • JT Bruce – [2005] Anomalous Material

    JT Bruce – [2005] Anomalous Material

    Instrumental progressive rock at its best. This over 10 year old album by JT Bruce contains just over one hour of meticulously produced music. No lyrics, but attention to detail throughout the 16 tracks. If you like this classic, you might also enjoy his 2015 release Vandal of Fortune (Jamendo).

  • Chronique – [2008] A Gate to All Secrets

    Chronique – [2008] A Gate to All Secrets

    Solid alternative rock. A German band, both German and English lyrics, and broad musical influences: traces of new wave, gothic, and metal can be heard throughout the 11 tracks.

  • Various Artists – [2012] Braaahhlitz Compilation

    Various Artists – [2012] Braaahhlitz Compilation

    This excellent compilation is a product of the well-developed German netlabel aaahh-records. Well-developed means that while they still release free music under Creative Commons licenses (aaahhwoo!) the label self-identifies as a “festival curators” nowadays. For me, they are one of the longest-standing publishers of consistent high-quality “analogue” music out in the net. This album features…

  • Nicolas Falcon – [2011] Nicolas Falcon

    Nicolas Falcon – [2011] Nicolas Falcon

    Folky post indie rock. This acoustic guitar vocal gem is the debut album by Italian artist Nicolas Falcon. Voice, guitar, piano (in that order) are all it takes him to write thoughtful, entertaining songs. The (apparent) love ballad I Promise features the following lines: But I promise you baby I’ll never let your heart break…

  • Nic Bommarito – [2009] Harp Fragments

    Nic Bommarito – [2009] Harp Fragments

    Melancholia shoegaze in beautiful cinemascope. Think Ennio Morricone’s classical movie soundtracks, but in today’s style. The same deserted emotions, but mixed with modern post rock. 7 tracks, released at netlabel 12rec, brilliantly show that post rock can be so much more than guitar effect avalanches.

  • Sasha Raskin – [2011] Only Music

    Sasha Raskin – [2011] Only Music

    Electronic soft rock. Jerusalem-based artist Sasha Raskin makes us a great present by releasing his debut album for free at the netlabel diym. To cite French reviewer @adiffuser: Do not rely on the efficiency and the energy of the first title to automatically store the music of Sasha Raskin in the category electro-pop mainstream.

  • Spit Rusty – [2011] Underwhelmed

    Spit Rusty – [2011] Underwhelmed

    Punchy hard rock from Denmark. Loud, very loud. And fast. And LOUD. Erm… what else? Oh yeah, they have cool guitar riffs, excellent drum patterns, transitions. Head-shake-inducing chorus lines. Cannot. Write. Long. Sentences. Must. Move… Read on for my two favourite tracks and the obligatory release link…

  • Lockerbie – [2010] Lockerbie

    Lockerbie – [2010] Lockerbie

    Icy post rock from Iceland. Lockerbie know the recipe for a delicious post rock album: interesting sound effects, lots of guitars from calm to loud. Long, really long intros and endless repeating of the same chords over and over again. The result makes for some epic background music with punch.

  • JT Bruce – [2006] The Dreamer’s Paradox

    JT Bruce – [2006] The Dreamer’s Paradox

    Powerful instrumental progressive rock. And quite versatile. The 11 tracks of Dreamer’s Paradox contain both epic and silent pieces. All instruments are produces with much attention to detail. The album packed with great guitar riffs, bass lines and drum patterns.

  • Nine Inch Nails – [2008] The Slip

    Nine Inch Nails – [2008] The Slip

    Nine Inch Nails is a industrial rock band with experimental touch. This is exactly what I wrote Last year in my review on Ghosts I – IV. While the latter contained 36 improvised tracks, The Slip consists of 10 composed, recorded, and produced tracks. They showcase Trent Reznor’s style that later got featured prominently in…

  • Meanwhileproject.ltd – [2008] Today is Sunday

    Meanwhileproject.ltd – [2008] Today is Sunday

    Folky instrumental guitar rock with a dash of Pink Floyd. Today is Sunday is the first solo release of the Cologne-based artist M. Adam with his Meanwhileproject.ltd. Electronic bits add flavour to background-music chord textures. Great during, but also after work!

  • Sakee Sed – [2013] Ceci N’Est Pas Un EP

    Sakee Sed – [2013] Ceci N’Est Pas Un EP

    Clinical Archives is probably among the ten netlabels with the most releases. This one is number 517, indicating a long history. Check my music player freemusi.cc for a playlist of my favourite tracks released on Clinical Archives. Sakee Sed delivers six tracks of edgy psychedelic rock. The style brings with it that not every song…