Nic Bommarito offers seven tracks on Harp Fragments, a postrock release that is filled to the brim with washy pianos and strings, and great big drum sounds. Not afraid to incorporate any instrument at all, the overall style of the album drifts, but not too far, away from postrock and brushes against bluegrass, folk, and classical. Sometimes quiet and thoughtful, Nic’s music can suddenly burst into a cacophonous explosion of drums only to quickly fade back into a quite anesthetic synth line, all the while keeping it together with distant, echoing guitar patterns.
Well well well…
Let me sum up my entire creative output over the last few months, including music creation, photography, creative writing, and blog output, in one word:
Pleh.
I’ve been swamped with school, work, and life in general, and I’ve totally neglected the orbit. Have no fear! Holidays are coming up, and with the holidays comes time off from school. So I should have some time to update and bring you all some awesome music, just in time for Christmas.
Stay tuned.
Photo manipulations by Jan Oliehoek
Check out some outstanding illustrations by Jan Oliehoek. Jan works with photo manipulations, and was interviewed by the folks over at The Design Inspiration. Amazing combinations of animals, fantastic chimeras and biological wonders from the mind of Jan fill the page, apocalyptic visions assault the vision and sci-fi panoramas top it all off.
The Design Inspiration – Daily Logo Designs, Illustration Art, Website Showcase, Photos and Patterns.
Jitney – 86-300
Mix up The Mars Volta, Beck, and throw in a little White Album from The Beatles and you’ll have a close approximation of the Folk Rock that Jitney delivers. A set of eleven tracks full of emotion; it is absolutely astounding the way he seems to channel George Harrison at certain points. Don’t miss this one.
Aviary, an online image editor
I found a great image editor / paint program. It features some really cool effects and a way of creating art that I’ve never seen before – in a visual art package anyway. It uses generators and effects that can be chained together like audio components use cables to route signals. It’s free, but it will stick a watermark on your images unless you upgrade to the 24.99 / year Pro account.
Brigitte Bijoux – Le Fleuve Profond
Brigitte Bijoux is something of an anomaly in the world of electro. She creates music similar to Hermegerville, but with a more ‘no nonsense’ attitude, as if it is a job that needs to get done and get done right. And get it right she does. Backing the thumping, distorted beats with ethereal sounding strings and samples, and incorporating a sort of down tempo, trip hop feel, this is electro / dj music at its finest.
Sound Set – Plasma / Venus In Flames
Two tracks totalling 13:29. The ep is a nice, rolling maneuver of gentle bass with continuous, droning synth lines. Caffeinated house music that gets you popping.
Kilowatts – Six Silicates
This ‘jewel’ of an EP features a funky and upbeat set of six tracks. The first three tracks move you with staccato melodies that mix together to form a grandiose result of sound. At track four, it mellows out into a beautiful mesh of popping, clicking, almost glitch like rhythmic air. Track five picks the pace back up with a sort of electro / distorted guitar sound, but without disturbing the overall ambience of the entire work. The EP finishes up with a dark, mysterious track named Kyanite, a sweet house tune that goes all over the map and has an almost cinematic quality to it. This is a definite fave for the year, don’t miss it.
Velure – Songbox
Velure is a smooth, downtempo triphop group in the style of Portishead. Filled with overtones of dub reggae and minimalist house, these five tracks mellow and perfect for a late night drive.
Phvsr – Bassment
Phvsr offers us four tracks of well produced house music. Clocking in at just under half an hour, this release does what house music should do – get you moving. Good synth work, big fat square basses and grooving drum patterns all fit together snugly. I’m a big fan of beat drop outs and drop ins and syncopated basslines, and Phvsr definitely delivers with this release.