Though ambient is not normally my thing, there is enough motion here to keep my interest all the way through. Strange Dreams is a release that is light and airy at times, dark and heavy at others, but guaranteed to relax you when listened to properly. Fourteen tracks clocking in at just under one hour, this release features plenty of details to keep your attention focused, even going so far as to include vocals in some places.
Author: bahgheera
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Slow – Strange Dreams
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Mo’town Junkie – Cuts and Raw Tapes
A handful of rocking electro hip-hop tracks. Samples from old movies cut up and glitchified over sampled beats, with minimal, almost house-like synth chord stabs; slow moving, weird, dark and distorted at times; upbeat and funky at others, this little release comes from the heart. Found on Phonotactics, a great netlabel, check out their other releases as well. -
Nice Wings, Icarus! – Self Titled
The Ukrainian post-rock crew takes a new style and adds their own old-world flair. This is not to be missed – one of the best post-rock bands I’ve come across since I started this website. Giant builds and drop-offs, guitars and violin mesh together, creating a moving and thoughtful experience. I’ll have this one on rotation for quite a while, I can assure you. -
Bartois – Solo Piano
An amazing album of piano compositions, just like the title says. Simple compositions, yet moving, the album brings you an exotic place to rest your mind. -
The Silent Ballet Compilation – Volume 14
Lost Children netlabel and The Silent Ballet have put together an absolutely stunning 75 minute long adventure through the universe of post-rock with the release of The Silent Ballet Compilation volume 14. Featuring some very diverse artists from all over the world, the stand out track on the album is from a Ukrainian band called Nice Wings, Icarus! Their track, Eagle, is absolutely superb. I have a feeling we will be seeing more of them here on the orbit in the very near future. Back to the current release, it grabbed me from the very first track – a very ambient piece by The Sight Below – and wouldn’t let go. I literally listened to the entire album as soon as I clicked play – given my schedule, thats a rarity for me. The intensely mellow first track quickly gave way to an onslaught of post-rock, shoegazer, psychedelic and even modern piano composition. Each track is unique, making this a difficult album to describe. I’ll simply say this: it’s an incredible album, and I urge you to give it a listen. -
Rho – October Turncoat
A nice little EP that sounds reminiscent of Boards Of Canada or Orange Crush. Mellow electronica grooves with acoustic guitars and chilled, downtempo beats. A nice, relaxing EP.
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Nettless – From Beyond
Nettless has created eight tracks of beautifully flowing, ambient space music. It doesn’t get much better than this. -
Hypnagog – Dreaming In Pieces EP
Hypnagog gives us a sweet little EP featuring four tracks of glitched out something or other that I can’t quite classify, but believe me – it scratches the techno itch like you wouldn’t believe. The first track, Still Dreaming, will have you bouncing all over the place with its sine-y synth work and dBlue style glitchy drums, followed by Funkdiddle, a house track with a soul that delivers funk straight into your brain. Track three, Tiny Little Pieces goes into a speculation on what its all about with a nice and airy, relaxing tune. I love Hypnagogs use of sinewaves, jumpy but calming at the same time. Track four, Reflections No. 2, starts out as a cinematic, orchestral audio experience that slowly introduces a great bassline and those awesome sinewaves again and almost giving off an 80’s industrial pop vibe. This EP is a great release for starting off the new year, check it out. -
Merry Christmas!
I wish each and every one of you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year! It’s been a great year for music, I have found so much great stuff on the net these last twelve months that I wish I had time to share with you. For instance, the band Sheavy – probably one of my favorite bands of the last decade, thanks FreeAlbumsGalore! Also discovered this year were Jitney, Cool Devices and we were also blessed with a new release from Brad Sucks. Of course, I keep this blog family friendly so some of these didn’t get a post, but if you’re handy with google you can search this stuff out no problem.
I will be traveling on and off for the first quarter of 2010, so in my downtime I plan to refocus myself on web design and music. So check back every so often, 2010 is going to be a great one!
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James Edwards – Christmas Bells
James Edwards plays a mean acoustic guitar, and on this release he offers ten tracks of technically excellent acoustic Christmas music that will make a perfect background for your holiday get-together.Merry Christmas everyone!