Everything Is Made In China, 4

Russia, 2007.

Everything is made in China is a Russian three-piece post-rock/experimental band formed 2005 in Moscow. Despite being inspired in post-rock, EIMIC's music integrates shoegaze influences, electronic samples and nice, mellow vocals that sets them apart from other bands.

Playlist:

1. Catch & Carry
2. Buy 4 Take One Free
3. My Marshell
4. .
5. Fetters
6. After Rock
7. Closer
8. Day Out (Unpopular 90's)
9. Speed My Way
10. Breathe In
11. Make Trade Fears

Link.

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Sonic Youth, SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century

U.S., 1999

A noise & experimental kind of homage/retrospective on 20th century music, namely the works of influential artists such as John Cage, Takehisa Kosugi, Christian Wolff and company.
Ought to clear your head right up.


Playlist:

1. Edges
2. Six (3rd Take)
3. Six For New Time
4. + -
5. Voice Piece For Soprano
6. Pendulum Music
7. Having Never Written A Note For Percussion
8. Six (4th Take)
9. Burdocks
10. Four ⁶
11. Piano Piece No. 13 Carpenters Piece
12. Pièce Enfantine
13. Treatise (Page 183)


Link.

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Battle of Mice, A Day of Nights

US, 2006.

"Battle of Mice was a post-metal supergroup consisting of Julie Christmas (Made Out of Babies), Josh Graham (Neurosis, ex-Red Sparowes, A Storm of Light), Joel Hamilton (Book of Knots), Tony Maimone (Book of Knots, Pere Ubu), and Joe Tomino (Fugees, Dub Trio, Peeping Tom).

The album, which was released under Neurot Recordings, is heavily influenced by metal, post-rock and noise rock roots. The atmosphere is decidedly eerie and unnerving, with one song, At the Base of the Giant's Throat, featuring a recorded 911 call between vocal sections. The lyrical content is wide in scope, touching on love, lust, jealousy, and rage."

Playlist:

1. The Lamb and the Labrador
2. Bones in the Water
3. Sleep and Dream
4. Salt Bridge
5. Wrapped in Plain
6. At the Base of the Giant's Throat
7. Cave of Spleen

Link.

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Brass Knuckle Surfer, Sin Palabras

US, 2009.

"Armed with dozens of guitar overdubs, percussive compositions, electronic interludes, and guest musicians including sitars, horns, piano, and vocal chants, Sin Palabras is an album that all instrumental / progressive / experimental / art rock enthusiasts will enjoy over and over again."

Playlist:

1. Flotation Device
2. Inferno
3. Pineapple Salsa
4. Zoltaur
5. Slewtopia
6. Capacitance
7. A Dead Stare
8. Devadesi
9 Flesh of the Gods

Link.

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Robin Guthrie, Songs To Help My Children Sleep

Scotland, 2009.

Beautiful ambient, dream pop, ethereal music from the co-founder of Cocteau Twins.

Playlist:

1. Laughter In The Dark
2. Fireflies
3. White Bear In Honolulu
4. Misty

Link.

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Ga'an, Self-titled

US, 2009.

I first discovered this obscure experimental Chicago-based band on soundweave a few months back. While I'm not quite sure whether the band is still active, this self-titled cassette shows an interesting combination of psychedelic prog and very dark atmospherics.

Playlist:

1. Chasmaeon
2. Vultures of The Horn 2
3. I of Infinite Forms
4. I of Infinite Forms 2
5. Servant Eye
6. Vultures of The Horn

Link.

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Richard Barbieri, Stranger Inside

U.K., 2008

Great album by Porcupine Tree/Japan's keyboards legend. It surprised me, but it really shouldn't have.


Playlist:

1. Cave
2. All Fall Down
3. Hypnotek
4. Decay
5. Abyssn
6. Byzantium
7. Morphia
8. Retina Blur
9. Stranger Inside


Link.

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Immanu El, Moen

Sweden, 2009.

Immanu El is a young Swedish band with a unique sound: dynamic guitar and keyboard soundscapes, captive singing and with somewhat of a moving Nordic mood. The music is focused at varying dynamics and a wide spectrum of harmonic expressions and sounds that can move between presence and ambience.

Playlist:

1. Agnes Day
2. Lionheart
3. Aerial
4. Hogamon One
5. Hogamon Two
6. May
7. Archers
8. Tunnel
9. Storm

Link.

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Valravn, Koder På Snor

Denmark, 2009.

This is not your typical Scandinavian folk. Though rooted in Nordic music tradition, Valravn blend folk influences with electronic beats, complemented by amazing female vocals.

Playlist:

1. Koder På Snor
2. Kelling
3. Sjón
4. Kraka
5. Seersken
6. Fuglar
7. Kroppar
8. Lysabild
9. Farin Ut Tan At Verða Vekk

Link.

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Alcest & Les Discrets, Split

France, 2009.

Absolutely brilliant combination of post-rock, shoegaze and black metal. Especially promising considering the upcoming albums by either bands on Prophecy Productions.

Playlist:

1.Les Discrets - L' Échappée
2. Les Discrets - Après L' Ombre
3. Les Discrets - Song For Mountains
4. Alcest - Percées De Lumière
5. Alcest - Circe Poisoning The Sea

Link.

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The Dead Sea, Self-titled

Australia, 2009.

Post-rock meets ambient meets shoegaze. Very good debut album.
"...pieces of ambient, insistent, instrumental, experimental, majestic and undeniably moving sounds..."

Playlist:

1. Okono
2. The Devil Bends
3. III
4. Zabriskie Point
5. Nulla Desiderata
6. Little Lights
7. Departure Gates
8. Banquet
9. Bandicoots
10. Slow Jet

Link.

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Fjieri, Endless

Italy, 2009

Think of No-man meets RPWL. The Burning Shed newsletter categorized it as the satisfying conclusion to a meticulously executed labour of love. Fjieri is led by Stefano Panunzi and Nicola Lori.
Endless is a good progressive album pleasantly crowned with atmospherics, that has been co-produced by Richard Barbieri and relies on guest appearances such as Mick Karn's and Tim Bowness', among others.


Playlist:

1. A Reality Apart
2. A Big Hope
3. Ad Occhi Chiusi
4. Marcinelle
5. Breathing The Thin Air
6. Endless
7. Soul Eaters
8. The Breath Of The Earth
9. Lotus Flower


Link.

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The Deserts Of Träun, Part III: The Lilac Moon

US, 2003.

David Murray's (Estradasphere, Sculptured) solo project is "a musical adventure allying the use of jazz, funk, classical, black/death metal, rock, fusion, world, video game and electronic music to sonically describe settings, character personalities and events to an original science fiction comic book epic."

Playlist:

1. Awaiting The Majesty Of Extremes
2. The Detective In Disguise
3. Report To The Fruitless Kingdom
4. The Detective & Gary Prepare
5. Searching The Swamps
6. The Court Of The Blackmetal Princess
7. Escape From The Crystal Caverns
8. Descending The Crystal Mountain
9. The Desert Of Träun
10. Greetings From The Lilac Moon
11. Seeking The Navigator
12. Prisoner In The Brig
13. Battle Upon The Space Galleon
14. Awaiting The Sun
15. Sailing The Electrolytic Ocean
16. The Gift Of The Whirlpool Vortex
17. Longing & Foreseeing
18. The Uncompromising Blizzard
19. The Cave
20. An Unlikely Visitor
21. Infiltrating The Fortress Of Absolute Zero
22. Showdown In The Atrium Of Fallacious Foliage
23. Homecoming In The Fruitless Kingdom
24. The Destruction Of The Elevator

Link.

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Laura, Radio Swan Is Down

Australia, 2006.

Laura is a post-rock band from Melbourne, Australia. Since 2001, they have been producing music described as emotive, intense, cinematic, atmospheric and chaotic.

Playlist:

1. Radio Swan Is Down, Part 1
2. Is There No Help for the Widow's Son?
3. I Hope
4. Numbers Stations
5. Every Light
6. Lake Vostok Beachfront
7. It's Kind of Like the Innocent Smiles You Get at the Start of a Relationship Before You Fuck Everything Up
8. Radio Swan Is Down, Part 2
9. Patterns Not People
10. Cambridge Bypass
11. Another Near Miss

Link.

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Maserati & Zombi, Split

US, 2009.

"Long in the making, this split LP finally brings together two similarly influenced and equally provocative groups: Athens, GA's Maserati - with their eternally driving, Krautrock-infused dance anthems - shares the record with Pittsburgh's favorite Italo-cinema fetishists, Zombi."

Playlist:

1. Join Us, Mystic Sister / No More Sages (Maserati)
2. Monoliths / Thieves (Maserati)
3. Infinity (Zombi)

Link.

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Guizado, Punx

Brazil, 2008.

Very interesting experimental eletronica/jazz/rock/psychedelic/avant-garde ensemble from São Paulo, Brazil.

Playlist:

1. Vermelho
2. Miragem
3. Maya
4. Areias
5. Rinkisha
6. Coloridos
7. Der Golem
8. Órbitas
9. Sagitariu's Dream
10. Afroka
11. Zonzo

Link.

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A Backward Glance On A Travel Road, Self-Titled

France, 2009.

A Backward Glance on a Travel Road is a project born out of the progressive metal group Hypno5e. This work is, however, entirely acoustic, "while keeping the progressive and epic feel, mood swings from haunting to hopeful, and guitar tones as deep as the abyss".

Playlist:

1. Regular Barbary
2. Falling
3. Johny Got His Gun
4. In Absentia part I
5. In Absentia part II
6. Hier Régnant Désert
7. Approximativement Moi

Link.

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