Amiina, Re Minore

Iceland, 2009.

Amiina (formerly Amína) is a string quartet from Reykjavík, Iceland: María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir (violin), Hildur Ársælsdóttir (violin), Edda Rún Ólafsdóttir (viola) and Sólrún Sumarliðadóttir (cello). The group makes music with a great number of instruments - synth, piano, electric and baroque guitar, celtic harp, harmonium, melodica, celesta, glockenspiel, gideon harp, call bells (also called “office” or “reception” bells), glass harp, kalimba, mandolin, and musical saw played with a bow.

This EP is simply enthralling.

Playlist:

1. Ásinn
2. þristurinn
3. Tvisturinn

Link.

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Ólafur Arnalds, Eulogy For Evolution

Iceland, 2007.

"Icelandic composer and multi-instrumentalist Ólafur Arnalds is bound to find himself met with comparisons to his fellow countryman Johánn Johánnsson: Arnalds' highly cinematic approach has that same instantly digestible quality that Johánnsson, and for that matter Max Richter, are able to tap into. After its initial string swells, the sweetly sorrowful opener '0040' starts to sound vaguely reminiscent of the mournful piano music at the end of the '70s Incredible Hulk movies, and that certainly isn't intended as a jibe, it's lovely stuff, if rather dramatised. The ensuing pieces maintain this wistful, downbeat sound, riffing on various permutations of string and piano arrangement, only for Arnalds to whip the rug from under your feet with the brash guitar distortion of closer '3704/3837' which features some seriously histrionic quiet-loud post-rock action, only for all the drums and fuzz to crumble away abruptly for the lonesome, organ-fuelled coda. Gorgeous."

Playlist:

1. 0040
2. 0048/0729
3. 0952
4. 1440
5. 1953
6. 3055
7. 3326
8. 3704/3837

Link.

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Ef, Mourning Golden Morning

Sweden, 2010.

EF is a five-piece band from Gothenburg, Sweden. It all started in May 2003, and soon they stood in a small basement and created quite heavy music. It didn’t take long for them to find that melodies, emotions and explosions were more interesting. "Mourning Golden Morning" is the band's third full-length and a post-rock masterpiece.

Playlist:

1. Escapade #1
2. Sons Of Ghosts
3. K-141 KYPCK
4. Longing For Colors
5. Fyra
6. 401 Lwa
7. Alp Lugens And Beyond

Link.

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Wooden Shjips, Dos

US, 2009.

Wooden Shjips is a vital and refreshingly inspired quartet from San Francisco playing loud rock ‘n’ roll in a style heavily influenced by the experimentalism of psychedelia, classical minimalism and garage rock excess.

Playlist:

1. Motorbike
2. For So Long
3. Down By The Sea
4. Aquarian Time
5. Fallin'

Link.

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Red Sparowes, The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies the Answer

US, 2010.

"The Fear is Excruciating, but Therein Lies the Answer is Red Sparowes' 4th studio release, and it delivers across the board well beyond expectations. The complex progression and dynamic energy in this album is so fluid, so precise yet natural, you’re almost forced to believe it’s a living, breathing, sonic force. Add to that the chameleon qualities of this album and its ability to fit any mood you’re in. One song can either help you celebrate great joy or reaffirm you through a brooding depression."

Slightly less epic (and less boring) than their previous stuff, "The Fear Is Excruciating" shows a much more dynamic and progressive metal structure, often reminiscent of Isis.

Playlist:

1. Truths Arise
2. In Illusions of Order
3. A Hail of Bombs
4. Giving Birth to Imagined Saviors
5. A Swarm
6. In Every Mind
7. A Mutiny
8. As Each End Looms and Subsides

Link.

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Slow Six, Tomorrow Becomes You

US, 2010.

"Put this collective in the “rock” bin only because rock fans are so likely to like them. For while many Brooklyn bands bandy about the term “experimental,” Slow Six makes it meaningful with piercing string snippets, haunted motifs, and glassy—or is it Glass-y?—synths.

Call them post rock, call them chamber music, call them experimental neo-classical. No matter what you choose, understand that broad genre descriptors do little to describe the striking compositions of Brooklyn collective Slow Six."

Playlist:

1. The Night You Left New York
2. Cloud Cover (Part One)
3. Cloud Cover (Part Two)
4. Because Together We Resonate
5. Sympathetic Response System (Part One)
6. Sympathetic Response System (Part Two)
7. These Rivers Between Us

Link.

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DAAU, We Need New Animals

Belgium, 1998

This is a (strange but) beautiful album. DAAU (short for Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung) are a quartet comprising cello, violin, accordion and clarinet.
We need new animals shows unsettling, and oftentimes progressive, but always meaningful soundscapes that will at times remain sharp or, at others, warm you up while you listen to it; it transcends genre.


Playlist:

1. No Rule
2. Hot Shades (My Medina)
3. Nix
4. Broken
5. Gin & Tonic
6. Oliphant
7. Waltz Delire
8. Traag
9. Dip 'n Dodge
10. Lady Delay
11. Lost Souls

Link.

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David Beans, The Loss And Recovery E.P.

US, 2008.

David Beans is a twenty-four year old writer, composer and producer of music. Influenced by various acts including Sigur Rós, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Album Leaf, The Notwist among others, and composers such as Max Richter, Clint Mansell and Philip Glass, his music attempts to combine the emotion of ambience with classical structures allowed with modern technology.

Playlist:

1. Preface
2. Dream
3. Peaks
4. Father
5. Children
6. Remorse, Meet Recovery.

Link.

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Espers, III

US, 2009.

Espers is a neo-psychedelic folk band from Philadelphia. Their music is reminiscent of late-sixties british folk such as that of Fairport Convention, Pentangle and The Incredible String Band as well as many contemporary folk acts such as Six Organs of Admittance, Marissa Nadler and Nick Castro and as such their work is often lumped in with the so-called new weird america movement or naturalismo as Devendra Banhart preferred to coin it in 2006.

"With new album III just released, Espers have continued to stretch the folk genre. There aren’t many bands who can blend the atmosphere of early Black Sabbath with finger picked acoustic guitars, and electronic flourishes, but this is the swirling domain that Espers so fittingly occupy."

Playlist:

1. I Can't See Clear
2. The Road of Golden Dust
3. Caroline
4. The Pearl
5. That Which Darkly Thrives
6. Sightings
7. Meridian
8. Another Moon Song
9. Colony
10. Trollslända

Link.

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Clogs, The Creatures In The Garden Of Lady Walton

US, 2010.

Clogs’ “classical” music is the result of a peculiar writing process more akin to a rock band or a jazz quartet. The members come to rehearsals with basic ideas that the group riffs on and develops in jam sessions and live performance. Newsome later arranges these ideas into elegant and complex musical narratives that meld and extend the ideas of minimalist, modernist, and romantic composers, adding sounds and melodies drawn from the folk music of India, the Jewish Diaspora, and everywhere else.

This is outstanding! Can't stop listening to it.


Playlist:

1. Cocodrillo
2. I Used to Do
3. On the Edge
4. Red Seas
5. The Owl of Love
6. Adages of Cleansing
7. Last Song
8. To Hugo
9. Raise the Flag
10. We Were Here

Link.

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Bullets In Madison, We Became Your Family When You Died

US, 2010.

Bullets in Madison is an indie-experimental band from the suburbs of Chicago. With a cinematic and orchestral sensibility, their songs center on ambient, key-driven tones. Their sound encompasses everything from brass, guitars, glockenspiel, and violins.

Playlist:

1. Impossible Grave
2. Animals
3. Joel Found His Angel Cowering In The Garden
4. Riots
5. Broken
6. The Eclipse
7. St. Jude
8. Crimes
9. This Is The Last Night
10. Requiem

Link.

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Marissa Nadler, Ballads of Living and Dying

US, 2004.

Marissa Nadler is an American folk musician. Nadler studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she began her performing career after writing songs for many years. Nadler writes strange, yet classic, melancholy songs. Her voice is often bathed in a wash of reverb and space echo and creates a ghostly, atmospheric feeling to the music.

Playlist:

1. Fifty Five Falls
2. Hay Tantos Muertos
3. Stallions
4. Undertaker
5. Box of Cedar
6. Bird Song
7. Mayflower May
8. Days of Rum
9. Virginia
10. Annabelle Lee

Link.

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Finntroll, Nifelvind

Finland, 2010.

Finntroll is a finnish folk metal band that combines black metal with a Finnish form of polka called Humppa. This is their latest album.

Playlist:

1. Blodmarsch (Intro)
2. Solsagan
3. Den Frusna Munnen
4. Ett Norrskensdåd
5. I Trädens Sång
6. Tiden Utan Tid
7. Galgasång
8. Mot Skuggornas Värld
9. Under Bergets Rot
10. Fornfamnad
11. Dråp
12. Under Dvärgens Fot

Link.

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Les Discrets, Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées

France, 2010.

Les Discrets is a French metal/shoegaze/post-rock/acoustic project. It is the sole musical creation of Fursy Teyssier, a former member of Amesoeurs and an illustrator for bands such as Alcest, Amesoeurs, Arctic Plateau, Agalloch, Neun Welten and The American Dollar.

Les Discrets is the musical approach of Fursy Teyssier’s artistic research. Originally an animated film director, Fursy tends to evoke the same in both music and animation/illustration: contemplative and esoteric atmospheres, feelings, fears and sensations related to our life and world. His paintings, music or lyrics are mostly about Nature, the feeling of Love and his fear of Death.

This is Les Discrets' debut album and it's absolutely amazing.


Playlist:

1. L'Envol des Corbeaux
2. L'Échappée
3. Les Feuilles de l'Olivier
4. Song for Mountains
5. Sur les Quais
6. Effet de Nuit
7. Septembre et ses Dernières Pensées
8. Chanson d'Automne
9. Svipdagr & Freyja
10. Une Matinée d'Hiver

Link.

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Alcest, Écailles de Lune

France, 2010.

"Stylistically, Neige reverts to the sound of Black Metal that once shaped him: a picture of heart-rending, otherworldly screams, collages filled with passion and sadness, and the characteristic clean vocals. These mellow and ageless voices manage to weave a shroud of sorrow around the album. "Écailles de Lune" is like a dream, a manifesto of transience and human inferiority. For all the changes, Neige has kept all of his trademarks: calm passages, massive slabs of guitars, catchy melodies, and hook-lines going straight to the heart – all this once more delivers a convincing articulation of ALCEST's unique style."

To be honest, this album pales in comparison to "Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde". Whilst it still has some very good songs, it didn't really astonish me.

Playlist:

1. Écailles de Lune (Part I)
2. Écailles de Lune (Part II)
3. Percées de Lumière
4. Abysses
5. Solar Song
6. Sur l'Océan Couleur de Fer

Link.

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Esmerine, If Only A Sweet Surrender To The Nights To Come Be True

Canada, 2003.

Esmerine is an experimental instrumental group started in 2003 by Bruce Cawdron and Beckie Foon, who have contributed to other Montreal-based bands as Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Set Fire to Flames, and A Silver Mt. Zion.

Esmerine’s music consists mainly of percussion, cello, and marimba, lacking the guitars present in other Godspeed side-projects. Esmerine’s style shares many characteristics with minimalist classical music, and chamber music.

Playlist:

1. Red Fire Alarm
2. And They Left No Footprints In The Dust Behind Them
3. Nohna's Lullaby
4. Where There Is No Love There Is No Justice
5. Tungsten
6. The White Blazing Star
7. Luna Park
8. The Marvellous Engines Of Resistance

Link.

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Bersarin Quartett, Self-titled

Germany, 2006.

Bersarin Quartett is one man project from Münster, Germany founded by Thomas B. in 2006. Self-titled debut album was released February 2008 on Lidar Records. B. blends dark electronics with beautiful instrumental melodies, creating a cinematic atmosphere.

Playlist:

1. Oktober
2. Geschichten von Interesse
3. Inversion
4. St. Petersburg
5. Und die Welt steht still
6. Die Dinge sind nie so wie sie sind
7. Nachtblind
8. Es kann nicht ewig Winter sein
9. Endlich am Ziel
10. Mehr als alles andere

Link.

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Worrytrain, Fog Dance, My Moth Kingdom

US, 2007.

A fusion of neoclassical music and electronic noise by Joshua Neil Geissler. Over the last five years Worrytrain, living outside of Chicago, has quietly surfaced. From tapping cinematic and experimental fields, to blending genres such as modern classical and noise. The instruments most often heard are mandolin, piano and cello making melodies that are often gentle yet violent.

Fans of Rudi Arapahoe and Rafael Anton Irisarri will like this.

Playlist:

1. Prelude for Piano and Malaria
2. Celestial Police
3. For Auschwitz
4. Thundertrance Interlude
5. Achtung, God
6. Hospitalized
7. Soviet Passages
8. White Phosphorus Angels
9. The Moth Screamed Harvest
10. Saturniidae
11. Cambodia (piano duet)
12. Exorcism for Cello and Malaria
13. The Trenches Choir
14. Ode to Faithful Kataklysm
15. End Theme

Link.

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