wallamide – how rich will i make the soil
A clever and striking fusion of diverse aesthetics into a singular vision realized by an ever-shifting sonic palette. The most common element is hip-hop, which can be heard in most of the beats. Layered on top of that you’ll find IDMesque sample manipulation reminiscent of early Caribou or the Books, and then elements of vaporwave, trance, chiptune and trap are woven in and out from moment to moment, track to track. The results are hypnotic, psychedelic and compelling from beginning to end.
(Listened to the entire EP)
Eleven Volt – Dream Embers EP
An interesting collection that spans deconstructed electro pop, shoegazey IDM, spacey downtempo and more across its five tracks. The album opens and closes with vocal tracks, kicking off with a vocoder-drenched pop deconstruction and ending with a surprisingly heavy slice of synth pop confectionery.
A third vocal track in between pairs immense drums and a distorted, indie rock vibe with a delicate plucked synth motif. Apart from the vocals tracks we get a pair of groovy instrumentals: “New City Twilight” exists in a similar space to early M83 and Ulrich Schnauss; “UFO Arcade” works a spaced out downtempo vibe that’s almost ambient.
(Listened to the entire EP)
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HansiLa – Aerospaceage Warriors Redux
A sci-fi concept synth album about a space age war and its gruesome consequences, based in synthwave but incorporating a variety of heavy influences that set it apart. Honestly, with its reliance on sound design, distortion and generally heavy vibe, an argument could be made that this is a new kind of industrial.
Whatever you call it you get a collection of driving, powerful tracks that communicate an immense heaviness and a touch of melancholy. If you’re looking for synthwave that leans into the cyberpunk/EBM side of things, this is definitely worth a listen.
(Listened to the entire album)
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Ready for experimental Norwegian lo-fi doom rap? It’s ready for you. Darkwave synths, booming minimal beats and a vocal style halfway between rapping and ritualistic chant — in a good way.
Unusual but worthy of further exploration — it’s one of 13 tracks on an album that shares most of its name, so there’s plenty to explore.
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Martyrs – “Between the Rain”
Spacy lounge-goth synth pop for sophisticated swingers. With its Vic Fontaine goes darkwave vocal, shimmering synth arpeggios and laidback, barely there beat, this track is a wild combo platter of disparate styles and ideas that really shouldn’t work… but it does. It really does.
The whole thing coalesces into a weirdly coherent vibe that’s washed out, blissful and dark, all at once. An intriguing track that definitely suggests the album it comes from might be worthy of further exploration.
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A parting note: Running this blog/newsletter takes a tremendous amount of time and energy, and a fair bit of money (my hosting is ~$13.50/month). I don’t intend to charge for it ever, but it would be great if those of you who appreciate it would consider the occasional donation/tip. If you can spare a few dollars, maybe hit my Ko-Fi page and show your appreciation? Alternately, you could always buy some of my music…
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