• Music

    Various Artists – Blackford Hill: Transmissions / Volume One

    January 2, 2022 - By 

    Welcome to the first proper release promotion of 2022, and it’s quite a lovely way to begin the year.  Blackford Hill is a record company out of Edinburgh, Scotland, and they offer up a compilation of ethereal independent music from bands like Ultramarine, Emily Scott, Kate Carr, Jake Tilson and a host of others, providing 31 tracks. From the Blackford Hill Bandcamp site: The prospect from Blackford Hill is wide-ranging and far-reaching. This recently established label, curated by designer/publisher Simon Lewin, is based in Edinburgh and shares its name with a prominent topographical feature of that city. This compilation, ‘Transmissions…

  • Music

    Circuit des Yeux – -io

    October 23, 2021 - By 

    The name Circuit des Yeux has come across the laptop several times over the past year, and each review and interview (see this one at The Quietus) raved about her work, so I decided to give it a listen.  It was, undoubtedly, a rewarding experience. Haley Fohr is the singer and the Yeux in question.  With a four-octave voice and the most lush production values I’ve heard out of an album that isn’t ethereal or prog rock, I have to say that this left me floored.  It is as if Fohr has the husky, dusky voice of a female Scott…

  • Music

    Fallen – Ljós

    October 21, 2021 - By 

    Italian artist Lorenzo Bracaloni composes under the name The Child of A Creek / Fallen, and this release on ROHS! Records is quite a treat for fans of ethereal music.  It reminds me deeply of when Harold Budd collaborated with the Cocteau Twins, but in an instrumental form.  A truly calming release.    

  • Music

    Rapt – None Of This Will Matter

    October 2, 2021 - By 

    This Z Tapes release left me floored.  Rapt are a folk band out of London who have an ethereal sound which reminded me of musicians like Nick Drake fronting a band on 4AD.  Think, perhaps, of a more airy-sounding This Mortal Coil gone neofolk. The sound is folky without being stale, and adding elements like shoegaze and dreampop make for a rich, rewarding listen.  I really like this.

  • Music

    HIEMIS – La Chose

    May 20, 2021 - By 

    Gradual Hate Records has had a stream of excellent releases this year, but this album by HIEMIS, an artist out of Spain, is the best of the bunch.  This is dark, gothic (in the original sense, not the bad makeup sense), ethereal and would compare well to artists who made their mark with labels like Projekt Records, Cold Meat Industry or 4AD (think Dead Can Dance). What pleases my ears the most is the heavy, almost liquid-like sound that resonates so deeply in my speakers that I feel like I’m inside of a cave enjoying almost pure isolation.  It’s quite…

  • Music

    Various Artists – That Sounds Greek To Me | Apr 27 | Muses & Sirens

    May 10, 2021 - By 

    First, a debt of thanks goes to Dimitris Tsironis who took the time to send me this compilation for review.  His label, 1tracktape, is doing a great service exposing Greek experimental and avant-garde music to the world, and the quality of this compilation is superb.  What’s more, the label is unique in that it releases albums every New Moon and (most of) Full Moon dates.  I can’t say I’ve heard of any other labels maintaining such a specific schedule, so each moon that pops up will be an opportunity to check out what new releases Mr. Tsironis has in store for…

  • Music

    trajedesaliva – Ultratumba

    May 5, 2021 - By 

    It’s so nice to see new music come from Galicia, where my paternal ancestors hail from. trajedesaliva are from Vigo and seem to be influenced by dark ambient, ritual music and post-Industrial soundscapes, though it doesn’t try to overwhelm the listener. Something I really liked about this album is that it sounds, in parts, like 1970s Kosmische Musik (think of Tangerine Dream in their 70s prime), which makes this unique among darkwave or dark ambient bands.

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    Brendan Perry – Songs of Disenchantment – Music from the Greek Underground

    April 21, 2021 - By 

    Dead Can Dance singer and multi-instrumentalist Brendan Perry is absolutely enamored with Greek culture, and it’s obvious because a lot of DCD’s work has an affinity towards it.  Perry is especially appreciative of rebetiko, the local variant of the blues in Greek culture.  This album is his paean to his adoration of rebetiko, and is perhaps the first time some of these ballads have been recorded in English.  This disc is a labor of love.

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    Fradejas & Fradejas – Oum

    March 10, 2021 - By 

    It’s always a pleasure when you get to announce the release of an album made by dear friends.  Amandine and Santiago Fradejas operate in two different genres of music – she, in a more ethereal and progressive rock sound​ and he in a more experimental and improvisational setting.  Both of their respective talents compliment each other well, and the record is a very pleasant creative departure for both.

  • Music

    Doll Klaw – Thorns EP

    March 3, 2021 - By 

    As a more-or-less native Los Angeleno who grew up running around clubs in the late 1980s and early 1990s in clubs like Club F**k, DAS Bunker and the like, hearing synth-pop like this makes me feel a sense of nostalgia. Southern California-based Doll Klaw has all the hallmarks of a 1980s indie band – the ethereal vocals, the cold synthesizer, the catchy, dance-ready grooves and a fashion sense that screams ‘retro’.  As synthwave is making a comeback, the band have managed to come at a perfect time to take advantage of it. If you like bands like Red Flag, Xymox,…