Hear me out on this one. Gang Violins, a duo out of New Zealand, released a single to their upcoming album Inner Realms, and it’s a well-crafted mix of cinematic ambient music and post-rock, but it triggered a memory of the subtle buildup to the song Where The Streets Have No Name by U2. No surprise, as Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno had a lot of input, and made a rather decent pop song start lushly. I’m looking forward to hearing more from these lads.
As the world is in a state of free-fall at the moment, it is nice to take some time to listen to something mellow, perhaps saccharine to some tastes, but calming nonetheless. Mattia Cupelli’s release is an appropriate one to share today considering the album’s title, most recognized as the date where Roman emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated.
Because I could Not Stop for Death... is a quote from poet Emily Dickinson, and listening to JOHN 3:16 interpret it is a pleasant experience, as the music on this one-track single is sweeping and cinematic, a touch different from his other work.
We had the pleasure of reviewing Mong Tong last year. They have produced yet another surreal post-progressive electronic gem. On this album, there are elements of post-rock, modified traditional Taiwanese music, but also the eerie grooves which would do bands like Goblin proud, as the creepiness is quite subtle. Read their Bandcamp site for a more in-depth account of this latest album.
This album is magnificently weird. Imagine a band out of Thailand with minimal, ghostly musicianship, slightly ghoulish, off key vocal dronings, the plinky-plonking of piano and spoken words that sound like it might have been influenced by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. This sublime mixture comes from the band a world wondered full, and I have to saw that the album is creepy gorgeousness to it. I’m now a convert to their music.
This is a curious release. Cergy-Pontoise are an Italian duo, and their albim starts out with drone-y ambient sounds but then falls into atmospheric progressive-folk at times, sounding like a better recorded lo-fi artist out of New Zealand, perhaps. There are also elements of space rock, prog and psychedelic music in this. It’s a mixed bag in the positive sense of the word.
Azure are a post-rock band out of Aviles, Spain, who produce an atmospheric instrumental vibe on this EP. It has a familiar sound to those who like a bit of metal inside of their post-rock, so it’s a worthwhile pickup. Also, for those of you who love using Bandcamp, this release is free, so it’s most certainly worth sampling.
Raphael Weinroth-Browne is a fine cellist from Canada. He weaves together contemporary classical music, post-rock, post-metal and even some hints of ambient. From Raphael’s Bandcamp site: “Realizing Worlds Within in the studio was more of a process of discovery rather than one of conscious creation. Long after its release, I felt that I was still getting to know the music and understand its nature. Learning to recreate the album live was an extension of this process which has taken me full circle, back to the initial impulse from which this music took seed, much in the same way that the…
Lotus are an instrumental post-rock/post-metal band out of Pune, India. They have a pleasantly heavy groove that has a lot of more modern progressive rock influences. A solid EP.
Though this is a one-track release clocking in at over three minutes, it gives a nice taste of the music of Maltese electronic music composer Robert Farrugia. There are some similarities to his work and that of, say, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Harold Budd, but he is equally comfortable in working in a post-rock frame. Impressive.