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)”
Having reviewed another release by Daizy (The Daizy Factory) back in 2018, it’s time to return this Belgium electronica artist. Their songs are clearly structured, built up from simple layers, yet gain from repeated exposure.
Continue reading “Daizy – [2012] Aramat”Relaxing trip hop flirting with IDM. Limited cassette version (still) available (?).
Kreislauf is boutique electronica netlabel specialising in cold and steely sounds, similar to its older cousin Kahvi Records. Check out release Kreislauf Extrea 020 to check whether you can still grab the physical tape edition, in case you like the sound, or crave a print of this gorgeous cover art, or want to listen to all 12 tracks with real tape wobble artefacts. But back to the music:
Continue reading “Niteffect [2019] – The Wage Of Forgetting”Massive trip hop infused electronic compilation. 30 tracks from dance to experimental.
Netlabel Bump Foot is special in that it consists two separately numbered release channels. One is labelled bump, dealing with house and techno, foot the other for IDM, trip hop, chiptune, ambient… everything else electronic, basically. In 2009, both series hit their 100th anniversary. This one is filled with two hours of high quality trip hop, pop-y and funky electronica from the golden netlabel era.
Continue reading “Various Artists – [2009] Footprints”Versatile trip hop compilation. From ethnic ambient to catchy pop rock, all genres may apply.
Over 5 years after my review on Fusion Compilation 8, I return to this netlabel with their most recent instalment to the series. Comparing both compilations back to back highlights how professional the free music scene has become during the course of the decade: all ten tracks have major-label grade production, crisp recording and tight arrangements. Which tracks am I gonna highlight?
Continue reading “Various Artists – [2019] Fusion Compilation 12”Laidback easy listening. Simple ambient tracks with distinct flavour.
Another entry from prolific netlabel Enough Records, who have been releasing over 400 albums and EPs since 2002, and are – unlike many others – still active. This weeks album features guitar-based trip hop served on top of ambient synth sounds. A bit too busy for coding, this album makes for a great pool party backdrop (not that I had a pool to test this). Continue reading “Daizy – [2011] The Daizy Factory”
Indie trip-hop. 4 track EP full of intriguing tracks and collaborations of creative musicians.
Netlabel Sirona Records specialises in specially sounding music. Just looking at their link of backlinks to reviews, music blog “Yeah I know it sucks” is among the most frequent listed; it specialises in reviewing “underground stuff”. So why I am I writing about one of their releases here? Find out for yourself: Continue reading “Sister Soleil – [2012] Haunted EP”
Vintage trip hop. Old music samples, forming auditory dioramas above contemporary beats.
Netlabel Dusted Wax Kingdom is a reliable supplier of (instrumental) hip hop music. This release even leans towards trip hop sound (think: early Massive Attack), while not forgetting to sport slow, fat beets. Continue reading “Zifhang – [2017] Two Worlds”
Powerful big beat trip hop. High-concept sounds meet instrumental hip hop.
This is an instrumental EP by a Russian ex-graffiti artist music producer, featuring six quite diverse tracks. The last track features spoken lyrics, but the rest of the release is instrumental (except for mixed-in vocal samples). Continue reading “Cutside – [2016] Paramnesia”
Carefully crafted electronica. This is a gem from now defunct netlabel Sutemos, back from 2009. Artist stockfinster, whom I have reviewed in this blog before, is a household name in the Creative Commons scene, and for a reason. His productions occupy a quiet, warm corner somewhere between New Age ambient and IDM electronica. I like it there, so his tracks end up in my playlist regularly. Here I present two of the 13 tracks this release contains. Continue reading “stockfinster – [2009] Dead Line”
