Heinali-Air review

When opting for the free download from Endless Melancholy we featured the other day here, I discovered another artist that Endless Melancholy was recommending.  That artist goes by Heinali.  He is another Ukrainian multi-instrumentalist that is similar to Endless Melancholy.

Having listened to "Air" in its entirety, I can't help but be impressed.  Heinali offers up the same gloomy piano work, but backs it up with beautiful string sections and flourishes of harmonic ambiance.  The production on this album is impeccable.

Though this album includes only six tracks, it is remarkable.  Minimalist neoclassical composition teams up with downtrodden ambient moods seamlessly in this music.  One of the things that impresses me so much is that the ambiance in this disc is not overstated or saturating, nor is it so abstract that it is difficult to enjoy.  It isn't overtly distorted.  Also impressive is the fact that Heinali incorporates more traditional ambient soundscapes like sounds of nature, including-but not limited to-tidal roars.  Basic ambient drone matches up with cello so perfectly that one might think that the sound of both is one and the same.

Ukrainian artists have impressed the heck out of me lately.  Thanks, Endless Melancholy for pointing me toward Heinali.  "Air" is a peaceful and strangely uplifting listening experience that should receive plenty of play time in my ever-growing classical and ambient selection. 

Unlike the latest from Endless Melancholy, "Air" is not a free download, but it is more widely available, either through Amazon or iTunes. 

Check out the full album stream below.  I can't recommend any single track, as all of them are equally outstanding.  Thanks for listening and enjoy!

The History of Colour TV-Emerald...reveiw

I have been following these Berlin shoegazers since their EP 1-800-Badnite was released.  That was an incredibly strong EP with plenty of stirring moments mixed into its short two-song, ten-minute play time. 

Saint Marie Records has just released The History of Colour TV's brand new album to North American shores.  I knew the EP had me wanting more, but little did I know how much more.  "Emerald Cures Chic Ills" is not as straightforward as most shoegaze.  This is a overall a smooth listen flooded in distortion and loud reverb.  Borrowing traits from both psych-rock and post-rock, this band wastes no time concealing their intentions. 

The first two tracks are full on, in-your-face psych that are at times atonal, but at the same time mesmerizing.  Exactly how this band fills their music with such variety while keep a general overall theme is beyond me.  What makes this band special is that they are not content to rest on their laurels and produce consistent music.  They continually push themselves, experimenting and evolving their sound.  What "1-800-Badnite" was promised, "Emerald Cures Chic Ills" has delivered.  Both tracks from "Badnite" appear on this album.

What cannot be understated is that this band experiment and unload heavy amounts of both analogue and digital distortion.  This makes for an interesting and intense listen that at times can border on the extreme (as extreme as shoegaze music can be). 

When I first saw that this band would be releasing a full-length album I was excited.  The cover art is fantastic and only further made me want to purchase this album.  Needless to say, I have been awaiting the North American release of this album for some time.  It is everything I was expecting and more. 

Unfortunately, only three of the ten tracks on this release have been made available for streaming, but of course we've got them all here.  These three tracks perfectly showcase everything The History of Colour TV is capable of.  In short, this album rocks.  Get it and you will not be disappointed. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Free Downloads-Endless Melancholy

Neoclassicism is a sub genre of contemporary music that can evoke countless emotions and produce styles too numerous to quantify.  Since there is no such thing as bad classical music, how on earth can you go wrong with classical music that is offered for free?

Endless Melancholy, otherwise known as Oleksii Sakevych, records minimalist neoclassical piano music that borrows some low-key elements of ambient and rolls it together into one tight package.  This is gorgeous music to be sure.  Even more impressive is the fact that Sakevych is completely self-taught.  Hailing all the way from Kiev, Ukraine, his music is only readily available through his bandcamp page.

He is generous enough to offer all of his recordings as name-your-price downloads.  By listening to his heartfelt piano solos, it is apparent that Endless Melancholy is an artist who makes music solely for the love of music and with little regard for possible fame and wealth. 

All five of the pieces on his new self-released EP, aptly titled "Five Songs" are down tempo minimal piano pieces with light ambient reverb that both preserves melody and encourages contemplation.  Traversing from dark, sad melodies to more upbeat textures, this music manages to hit right where Endless Melancholy was aiming for.  Even if you are not a casual easy-listening and classical fan, you can't help but admire this man's unshakable grasp minimalist neoclassical composition. 

"Five Songs" is a wonderful EP that was recorded in one week.  You can listen to the entire EP below.  Should you feel compelled to download this EP and have the means to do so, please donate a couple of bucks.  Thanks for listening and enjoy!

The Joy Formidable-Wolf's Law review

Today's musical discovery came from the unlikeliest of places.  I was scanning the local news rag and saw a list of mini album reviews from bands I don't really care for--except for The Joy Formidable.  I have been aware of this band and have liked them since they released their EP "A Balloon Called Moaning".  I had no idea they have just released a brand new full-length album.

When discovering indie and alternative rock music, you have to be careful because the genre includes so many styles of music that it is dizzying.  I dislike plenty of indie and alternative rock.  The best practice for me is referencing bands who have influenced a particular artist.

One of the many influences The Joy Formidable mentions is that of shoegaze legends My Bloody Valentine.  That's all you have to see. 

Where "A Balloon Called Moaning" was a remarkable album in its overall scope, "Wolf's Law" sees the band strip away some of the lengthy shoegazing pedal effects in favor of a more mainstream rock sound.  The first several tracks feature various rock hooks backing Ritzy Bryan's fantastic vocals.  This represented a stylistic change that was easier to get over as the album progressed.

The album's sound fills in nicely towards the end and the last four tracks are some truly epic rock tunes with a huge variety of sounds, including string arrangements.  This disc caught me as somewhat underwhelming considering the band's earlier work, but the final tracks easily made up for that with impressive rock beats and soaring melodies.  I know I say this a lot, but this is truly music you must hear. 

Lucky for you, we have the full album stream via the band's Soundcloud page here.  I recommend skipping to midway through the album and paying close attention to the last four tracks.  This is some of the best alternative/indie rock I have heard in a long time.  Thanks for listening and enjoy!

New Music from Apricot Rail and Gliss

It's Friday, ladies and gentlemen.  You know what that means: only one more day this week of work for Yours Truly.  It also means we have some brand-spanking new music to share with you, which has accumulated over the course of the week.

We'll start this session off with the wonderfully talented pop/post rock outfit Apricot Rail from Perth, Australia.  This band has a new album coming on February 25.  This will be one of our anticipated releases.  I've been loving what I've been hearing from the album's first single, Basket Press and can't wait to hear more.  Apricot Rail blend pop stylings with stretched post-rock atmospherics and ambiance to create a unique style that is easy to get into.  What I love so far is that they are not afraid to use true melody as a way to make the music move and breathe.  While there is ample ambient and atmosphere to pique the senses, the melodies carry the music to greater heights.  Check out the single below and stay tuned for a full review of the album shortly after the official release date.


Of course post rock isn't the only kind of music we like around here.  I sparingly listen to pop, but what I do enjoy is particularly good.  Take Gliss for example.  This dream pop trio from Copenhagen and Los Angeles produces tastefully melodic, yet artfully atmospheric dream pop with shimmering vocals that put most pop vocalists to shame.  The real shame is that this band is not better-known, because from what I have heard so far, they are excellent.  Gliss has just released a new album called "Langsom Dans", for which a couple of singles have surfaced.  Check out The Weight of Love below.  As always, thanks for reading and enjoy!  Happy weekend!

Free Downloads-Weird

Today seems like a perfect day to celebrate weirdness.  More often than not, I am described as weird, not to mention my musical tastes.  There is a rich bounty of amazing music in the world these days, partially because of Al Gore's second most famous invention, the Internet. 

There is a lot of weird in the world today.  Look no further than a friggin' ice storm in Boise, Idaho.  Seriously?  Must I go on?  Well, I'm not going to because I have some weird music to share with you today.  Weird music, weird album title, weird cover art.  "Desert Love for Lonely Graves" has it all.

Italian shoegazers Weird have released their brand new album, available for FREE download on their bandcamp page.  Since I'm a huge fan of free music, I just had to check them out, despite what I view as somewhat shoddy cover art.  Sometimes cover art is not a good descriptor of the music in an album.  This album cover screams lo-fi bedroom pop, but the music is much better than that.

"Desert Love for Lonely Graves" is almost purely a shoegaze album with the obligatory nods to standard-fare indie rock added for good measure.  If not good, this album is great.  The first few tracks of this release are warm indie rock tunes with underpinnings of solid atmospheric reverb and looped vocals.  The last few tracks virtually explode with long, slow tempo shoegazing tones that are at times reminiscent of late post-rock. 

Although the music is indeed weird, it is not too weird.  In fact it is nothing rivalling the artist we profiled here yesterday in terms of the weirdness scale.  At least one of the first few tracks seemed iffy to me, but I found myself digging the album more and more as it went along, culminating in the breathtaking final track.  You have to forgive me for using a 'digging' reference in describing how much I enjoyed this album.  As a matter of fact, I didn't even realize what I had done until it was on the page, and when I write something fabulous unintentionally I have a certain penchant for leaving it on the page.

Listen to the full album stream and then download this thing immediately.  It is worth it, especially for free.  This download is absolutely free, meaning they are not asking for donations.  Thanks for listening and enjoy!

Gate-Sekai review

There are some bands whose sound is impossible to categorize.  This can be either a good or a bad thing, but it is often refreshing to hear something so original that as a listener, one can't help but be pleased with the artist's effort.

|**| Gate is a rare breed of an artist.  Hailing from Japan, Lajos Ishibashi-Brons creates an intense musical sound that straddles invisible lines between ambient drone, electronica, techno, and industrial.  This is an incredible journey through soundscapes too numerous to describe.  The best one can do in categorizing the sound this artist employs would be industrial noise.  As Gate's record label, Fluttery Records, tells it, there is sound in music throughout our world and that all our world is beautiful.  Just as warm melodies create space with passion and grace, sharp, discordant sounds create a different sense of bliss--a different state of sonic beauty.

To describe the music in "Sekai" as discordant would be an understatement.  The music herein is for open-minded listeners willing to dabble in any kind of musical pleasure.  The sound of "Sekai" is incredibly diverse, yet jagged, irregular, eerie, dissonant, and at times downright jarring.  Though many listeners will simply pass this album off as noise, the music contains an unmistakable thread of musical composition that few artists would dare attempt, let alone master.

"Sekai" is unlike any album I have ever heard, and that says a lot.  I never thought I would find myself listening to this type of music, but this music is so atypical that to attempt description through words is folly at best.  As layered and discordant as this music is, I inexplicably find it appealing and even addictive.  This music that truly must be heard to be understood or appreciated.  That said, I don't expect many of our readers to get a proper handle on this album.  Listen if you dare--the entire album stream via Gate's bandcamp page follows. 

This is an underrated effort that is worth the price. "Sekai's" five tracks average a hefty 15 minutes in length, so you will more than likely have to find something else to do while you listen.  Try to listen to the entire track you choose because there are so many jolts, so many surprises, twists and turns, that it is difficult to fathom.  It is a fantastic listen and I hope you enjoy.  Thanks for reading!