• Music

    Various Artists – Gudelnaya Polyana – Solar Systo Togathering 2020

    July 30, 2021 - By 

    Good music and good new labels are easy to find if you apply yourself.  Zhelezobeton is not a new label, per sé, but a lot of the bands they work with will be new to listeners who don’t normally follow what is happening in the Russian sphere of influence. This compilation is three hours of live recordings made by a variety of artists, including, intriguingly, an ensemble of 12-year-old noisemakers.  The future, judging by the standards of this comp, is in secure hands over there. Also interesting is where this compilation was put together.  It was held on the experimental…

  • Music

    Various Artists – Unexplained Sounds Group – 7th Annual Report (Mid Year Edition)

    July 28, 2021 - By 

    Our dear friends at Unexplained Sounds Group release consistently good ambient, post-Industrial and noise music compilations.  As we have reached the mid-point of 2021, Raffaele Pezzella and company have released what they (rightly) deemed to be the best of the year to this point.  From their Bandcamp site: Unexplained Sounds Group 7th Annual Report (Mid Year Edition) is the Summer edition of USG’s Annual Report series that comes out every year in December, to showcase the best 2021 experimental and avant-garde music. It includes veteran composers alongside younger but equally talented musicians from all around the globe. All musicians here…

  • Music

    The Ambient Drones of Bill Baxter – Dreamscape One

    July 24, 2021 - By 

    I can’t say that I’m able to find any hard information on who Bill Baxter is, but he releases an almost ridiculous amount of music.  Amazingly, the quality is consistently high.  The tracks are very long, but they’re quite engaging on a pair of headphones.  If you want to learn more about this mysterious figure, you can check out his Facebook page.

  • Music

    Taennya – Natural Serenity

    July 22, 2021 - By 

    Taennya is Tatyana Maslova, an ambient music composer from Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia.  The city is home to some of my favorite musicians (including Roman Stolyar and Sergei Belichenko among others), and it looks like I have another musician whose works will be on my playlist for some time to come. The tracks are instrumental, with big, cavernous washes of sound.  As far as ambient music goes, this gives off a warm, calming feeling without being saccharine.  You will hear beats and voices here and there, and these help to guide you deeper into this enveloping sound.  A very engaging release.

  • Music

    TienYinMen – Between Clouds (雲峽)

    July 18, 2021 - By 

    TienYinMen are a collection of composers and musicians based in Hong Kong who release a lot of thematic soundtrack music played on traditional instruments and electronic instruments.  They have a healthy body of work to choose from, and I found this one to be the best out of a great lot.  I can see why they would be in demand for scoring TV programs as well as theater.

  • Music

    Kaelin Bougneit – Geograph

    July 13, 2021 - By 

    After a few dark albums, I thought I would share something that, while also a bit darker than normal, shows shades of the Berlin School and rather gentle Industrial soundscapes.  Kaelin Bougneit is a composer and label owner (Subviolet Records) based out of Portland, Oregon, and this particular album has elements of not only classic ambient music, but of tones I tie to old TV programs like “In Search Of…” with Leonard Nimoy.  This triggered some pleasant memories for me, indeed.

  • Music

    Linn Friberg feat. Zumaia – Oddity Spirale (Remixes) EP

    July 9, 2021 - By 

    Our dear friend Zumaia has reached the mid-century mark in his life, which is, of course, a wonderful milestone.  We at Music You Need To Hear celebrate his birth, and the exceptional work he does with his label, the Bordeaux-based Kalamine Records.  In honor of this milestone, Linn Friberg, composer and curator of the INTENT series on the label collaborate on a sonic birthday present for fans of the label. The music is cavernous, full of post-industrial and dark ambient soundscapes.  I would compare the sound to early experimental cassette-based musicians, but the sounds are so utterly crisp that it…

  • Music

    Robert Scott Thompson – Through Circle and Shadow

    July 8, 2021 - By 

    It’s been a while since I had the pleasure to feature Robert Scott Thompson on our blog, though you will be seeing releases from a label he plays a large role in, Aucourant Records, in the future. Through Circle and Shadow is a 7-and-a-half minute piece of gentle ambient music which is dark and reminiscent of some Berlin School-related artists, and others like Robert Rich and Steve Roach.  There’s something more cosmic in this release, however, and it sounds magnificent on a set of good headphones.

  • Music

    Various Artists – New State Of Flux

    July 7, 2021 - By 

    The second release from Raffaele Pezzella’s Unexplained Sounds Group’s latest acquisition, the magnificently dark Reverse Alignment record label. This is a different affair from yesterday’s compilation, which was more extreme in sound.  New State of Flux doesn’t have the same reach in terms of geography, but it covers music which is more focused, more intense, and gives a feeling of being part of a film-noir soundtrack.  Of particular interest to me was the piece done by Vongoiva called Palovankka, which you can hear below. Well done, as always.

  • Music

    Various Artists – Anthology Of Post Industrial Music From Balkan Region

    July 6, 2021 - By 

    The first of two releases related to our friend Raffaele Pezzella (who performs under the name Sonologyst) for today. This release from Unexplained Sounds Group is part of a series of compilations of experimental and dark ambient music concentrated in different regions.  This one is particularly special to me as, though my birth city is Los Angeles, those who know me well know that the Balkans has served as a second home to me over the years.  Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania all seem to be well-represented, and musically, each track is up…