The Top 5 Electronic Albums of 2013

Season's Greetings, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, one and all!  Or if you don't celebrate anything this time of year, Happy Antipathy Month! 

It has been a good year for all genres of music.  Perhaps less so with electronica, but there were still several solid releases.  Since electronics seem to be the only holiday gift that matters, I present to you our top 5 electronic albums of 20013.  This list is varied between the different schools of electronic music.  You won't find house or EDM in this list.  What you will find is some other great stuff.  Here they are:

1. Trentemoller-Lost
Before the later year release of this album, it would have been difficult to predict Trentemoller even making this list, let alone coming in at number one.  That's because we didn't know this Danish composer was working on new material until late August.  It would have been even more difficult to predict what kind of flavors were on order with this album.  Unlike his previous album, Lost incorporates a wide variety of vocals from a number of gifted singers.  Instead of breaking away from tradition, however, Trentemoller simply seeks new musical territory.  The result is nothing sort of astounding.  The deep pulses and electronic rhythms against a sea of blurry undercurrent still remain, as do the heavily distorted guitar lines.  What is new sounds almost like dreamy pop, delivered in spectacular doomy fashion.  This album grabs you from the first track and does not relent.  Speaking of which, here is that first track.


M83-Oblivion (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Normally, soundtracks do not count for album of the year awards.  Unless said soundtrack is a collection of compositions by one artist.  This doesn't happen extremely often.  When you think of electronic artists making movie soundtracks, you immediately think of Daft Punk's excellent work for Tron: Legacy.  In that same vein is the new work for Oblivion, which stars Tom Cruise.  This is a major departure in sound for M83, a French nu-gaze artist with some excellent talent.  With Oblivion, M83 trades in the guitars and pedals for an entirely symphonic electronic production.  In this album every sound you hear is being produced synthetically.  The album's closer is probably closer in style to normal M83 work, and it is the only track on the album with vocals.  You need to hear both.


3. Ulrich Schnauss-A Long Way to Fall
The first solo work released by Ulrich Schnauss in quite a long while is as good as any of the work he's done.  His latest works have been his collaborations with Jonas Munk and Mark Peters.  That should give an idea of what Ulrich Schauss sounds like.  What you hear is a deep, chill-wave style of music with some random infusions of jazz over long, soaring synths.  This album sounds darker than his previous work.  It is a very solid release.  You can listen to some of it here.


4. The Luna Sequence-The Day the Curse Grew Stronger
If you are in the market for some good old-fashioned electronic synth rock, this album should be right up your alley.  The Luna Sequence unveiled their debut album two years ago.  That was a very good effort.  This release lays down razor sharp, computer-enhanced guitar lines to create a metallic frenzy of rock and electronic.  This is a somewhat odd style, less mainstream than Celldweller, less metallic than Blue Stahli, and less industrial than I Will Never be the Same.  Also of note: There are no vocals, which really allows the music to shine.  Jump into some of the chaos here.


5. Klaus Schulze-Shadowlands
How often do you come across a double album that contains only five tracks?  That is just what German composer Klaus Shulze has done with his airy, ambient electronic new album.  As you would imagine, the tracks are very long, so this is not music for short attention-spans.  It works best as background music for when you are playing solitaire or...um, writing a music blog.  This music is dreamy, atmospheric, and beautiful.  One of track on this album is a shade under 42 minutes long, while another falls just short of an hour, a hefty 55 minutes.  The track you will hear below is the shortest track on the album. 


Of course, this list would not be complete without some honorable mentions.  Here they are in no particular order.
Cosmo's Midnight-Surge
Public Transport-Dark Days
Boards of Canada-Tomorrow's Harvest
Daft Punk-Random Access Memories
The Knife-Shaking the Habitual
Logos-Cold Mission

As always, thanks for reading, and enjoy!

The top 5 rock albums of 2013

Rock music, contrary to popular belief, is not dead.  The world is changing and that extends to music as well.  Old rock conventions and standards that have been rehashed since the 90s will not be so interesting in this era.  Rock music--especially rock--has to change and adapt with the times. 

That is why mainstream is out, out in my opinion.  Though some mainstream acts have pushed out solid releases this year, it is the underground scene that has really stolen the show.  Our five best albums span between shoegaze (the best being considered nu-gaze), post-rock, and alternative/indie. 

Thankfully, 2013 has given us quite a few good to great albums from those subgenres.  So, without further ado, I present to you our list of the five best rock albums from 2013.

1. The Joy Formidable-Wolf's Law
This Welsh rock group has only released two full-length albums.  Their first was impressive in its own right.  With Wolf's Law, the band takes their sound to new heights and, by so doing, blow the doors off everything they have done in the past.  This is a rock album chock-full of catchy choruses and bridges tinged with deep echoes.  There is literally so much to this album that posting one track can hardly do it justice.  Check out a couple of great tracks below.

2. The History of Colour TV- Emerald Cures Chic Ills
Pure shoegaze is an art that dates back to the early 1990s.  Over time, bands have adapted that concept.  In addition to electronic and guitar loops, this German band incorporates dark, spaced-out melodies and a certain metal-like flair for noise.  This may sound like a lot to handle, but the package is masterfully put together.  This is a great album and every track has its place.  Check out the first single from Emerald Cures Chic Ills here.


3. Sigur Ros-Kveikur
Sigur Ros is one of those post rock bands that can't put out a sub-par release.  They have been doing it a long time and remain one of the best in the genre.  Kveikur represents a somewhat darker approach, which is more akin to what post-rock is believed to be: stretched out, apocalyptic song structures with dreary melodies and no vocals.  Although Sigur Ros does use vocals, the music remains very much post-rock.  This album is being hailed by many publications as one of the best albums of the year and it is no mystery why.  They are perhaps the best band in Iceland. Check out a great track below.

4. Spc-Eco-Sirens and Satellites
Nu-gaze music blended successfully with electronic sounds and crystal-clear vocals is a rare treat.  This British group puts it all together on Sirens and Satellites.  The band's signature sound of looped, reverb-laden guitars melded with electronic grooves is on full display here.  The best element may be the vocals.  Spc-Eco have certainly stepped up their game in that department.  Check out an outstanding track from their latest album here.


5. Monochromie-Enlighten Yourself While You Sleep
Ambient post-rock with crunching waves of static seem to the be the theme on French band Monochromie's new album.  This is a slight departure from their excellent debut.  Everything the debut album presented remains present on this album, while the quality is kicked up yet another notch.  This is outstanding production occasionally disguised as lo-fi buzz rock.  The most important qualifier I can mention is ambient.  Though the album is very much a post-rock release, its ambient grace elevates it above the crowd.  Check out a track below.


The list of great rock releases goes far beyond the top 5.  In no particular order, here are our 2013 honorable mentions:
Apricot Rail-Quarrels
David Bowie-The Next Day
The Cherry Wave-Blush
Edweena-Solar Days and Lunar Nights
Elara-Soundtrack for a Quiet Place
Funeral for a Friend-Conduit
Gargle & Bosques de mi Miente-Absence
Gespenst-The Bloodline
Kigo-So Lost Now, Chance, Closer (Hear My Voice), Guilt, and Some Other Place
Russian Circles-Memorial
SiJ-Daguerose
Sleeping Bear-Sleeping Bear
Sleepstream-A Waltz with the Seventh Crane
Syahmi Rawi-Odyssey
Venera 4-Deaf Hearts
Weekend-Jinx
Whatfunlifewas-Stumbling Towards Purgatory

As always, thanks for listening and Enjoy!

The Top 5 Ambient Albums of 2013

Good evening, readers!  Another year has come and gone.  Per tradition, we like to break down what we feel are the top album releases of the year. 

In December of 2012 we published a list of the top 12 overall albums.  There were some great albums that year, and limiting the list to only 12 releases proved to be difficult.  The year 2013 has been even busier.  So many new albums and EPs were released this year that we decided to make a simple top 5 for each genre we cover.

I have been increasingly enthralled with ambient music, and 2013 has given us at least a dozen masterful releases.  We have five spots and some honorable mention awards to hand out.

1. Olekksii-Iris
This Kiev, Ukraine composer put together a very impressive album early this year.  Iris presents to us a classy mixture of lovely, minimal synths and modern classical-styled compositions set against electronic elements to add further texture.  The result is a real treat.  Listen for yourself below.


2. A Veil of Water-Reminder
Norway may be home to numerous metal bands, but sometimes a more somber, beautiful type of music emerges from the chaos.  Reminder is a remarkable album that renders thoughtful, airy piano work into a breathtaking work of art.  Not many pianists can do what Rune Trelvik has done.  Trelvik is a self-taught musician of piano, drums, guitar, and bass.  This album is almost entirely piano melodies interspersed with some lightweight ambient guitar textures.  Listen to some of this incredible work below.


3. Endless Melancholy-Epilogue
We have raved about Endless Melancholy here before, and with the sheer number of quality releases Oleksiy Sakevych has put out this year alone, it should come as no surprise that his debut full-length album makes our list,  Like A Veil of Water, Endless Melancholy's works appear on the Hidden Vibes record label.  And, like said band, Endless Melancholy deliver sensational piano tunes interspersed with electronic ambient music.  Sakevych is also a self-taught pianist.  Listen to the title track from Epilogue here.


4. Olafur Arnalds-For Now I am Winter
Olafur Arnalds is an Icelandic composer we have talked about here before.  This year he released a spectacular album that is as much about varying styles as it is peaceful melodies.  Several tracks on this album feature vocals from a variety of artists.  This style of music is easy to enjoy.  You just sit back and lose yourself in the waves of layered sounds. A featured track is available here.


5. Gamardah Fungus-Night Walk With Me
This Ukrainian band's music is slow, meditative, and, at times, dark.  This may be as close to drone as I can realistically enjoy, but the band incorporates a plethora of other sounds from a variety of instruments, all juxtaposed against a backdrop of sweeping, atmospheric synths.  Night Walk With Me was largely inspired by a 1992 prequel to the movie Twin Peaks, starring David Bowie.  While no Bowie-esque music makes its way into this release, it has plenty of other things going on.  It is more than good enough for a top five ranking.  Check it out here.


One of the better aspects of these brilliant pieces of work is that most of them are available as name-your-price downloads from the respective bandcamp pages. 

If you liked what you heard above, check out these honorable mentions from 2013:
Berserker Children Club-Someday (EP)
Endless Melancholy-Five Songs, Autumn Outtakes, and November
Equal Stones-To Erase a Lifetime
Linear Bells-For Your Eyes Only
Myosotis-Too Little Too Late
Ulver-Messe I.X-VI.X

As always, thanks for reading and enjoy these wonderful tunes!

Black City Lights-Another Life review

New artists can be interesting sometimes.  Some people have a hard time taking new artists seriously, even if their debut record is released by a big-name label.  Black City Lights, a pop artist from Wellington, New Zealand is no different.  Their previous EP, "Parallels" was an interesting release through which the group showed a lot of promise.  That EP was good but not great.  Since "Parallels" Black City Lights have released several singles.

The year 2013 has finally given us a debut full-length album from the band.  Where "Parallels" was good, "Another Life" is fantastic.  The artist has deepened their sound and have much improved in the vocal department. 

Black City Lights is most described as a dream-pop outfit, though the band seems to shy away from that label.  The problem with such a genre-specific label is that adhering to it only served to inhibit the musical artistry.  I think a more apt description of the music would be ambient synth pop with a very chill wave vibe running through it's veins (holy vernacular, that's a lot of 'v's, Batman!" 

If I were to compare artists, :Papercutz, whose latest album we raved about, would be at the top of the list.  Though the vocals are still not quite as strong as those from the aforementioned band, the cold, dreamy synths behind the vocals more than make up for it.  Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying the vocals are bad.  They are quite good as a matter of fact, just not quite as prolific as :Papercutz. 

The music in this release is deep and moving, packed with grandiose synths that paint the musical landscape with beautiful, ambient brushstrokes.  Standard electronic pop beats akin to chill wave music float to the surface in stunning fashion.  Another term I would use to describe the music would be dark cold wave.  This record emits a chilling darkness that is both beautiful and eerie.

Most of the tracks on this album are brand new.  One is a previously released single and at least one other track comes off of "Parallels".  If you are into pop music that doesn't meet the rigid qualifications for heavy air-play, you will most likely enjoy this disc.  This music remains interesting and beautiful throughout the short 45-or-so-minute run time. 

It is surprising just how good this album is.  I can fully recommend listening to this.  As it turns out, the band is offering a free stream of the album through their bandcamp page.  We have embedded that player here.  Thanks and, as always, enjoy!

Q&A session with Brad Mathews

As we have noted here several times in the last few months I am working on a new sequel to the acclaimed Era Sinistra.  This is an exciting era in the evolution of Brad Mathews.  As I can attest, promotion of said work has been difficult.  If you have not yet had a chance to check out the original Era Sinistra, you can view the product and read about it here. 

Now I have come to this: As a service to those of you who enjoy a good mystery by an author you are familiar with, I have decided to answer questions regarding the new Era Sinistra installment from you, the fans and readers.  It is something to keep you interested and something to get you licking your chops for the final chapter of the saga.

Without further ado, here are the questions and answers:

Q: Where and what time frame do the characters live in?  --Alik

BM: One of the challenges of writing a sequel that takes place 11 years after the conclusion of the original story line is finding a way to tell the story in a way that illustrates the passage of time.  Era Sinistra takes place in the present time, so 11 years later would be in the future.  Telling the story from the perspective of 11 years in the future is a balancing act between showing future technology without getting too sci-fi-ish.  Most of the story takes place in the mountainous back country of Western Idaho.  It is a very scenic, out-of-the way location in which the main characters seem somewhat 'out of their element.'

Q: How do you choose human characteristics for the characters in your books? --Allison

BM: Believe it or not, I compose most characters off of what I believe to be enduring characteristics normal, every day people.  For instance, I try not to write from the point of view of law-enforcement officials too much.  I need the characters to come off more human and more relatable than your typical crime and police-procedural characters.  I keep physical characteristics to a minimum unless those traits are central to the plot.  The most common method I use to flesh out characters is to just write what comes to me.  Human attributes such as personality and emotional presence evolve, just like in real life.

Q: Is this a continuation of another saga? --James

BM:  In a way it is.  What I call it is a separate story built on the events and characters of a previous episode.  In layman's terms, a sequel.

Q: What is the release date of your new book?  --August

BM: That remains to be seen.  As opposed to the film and music industries, book industries rarely publicize 'release' dates unless the book is heavily anticipated in the media.  Also interesting to note is that books are never released on a prescribed date.  They are released whenever they come off the presses.  This book should 'come off the presses' a few months after completion.  As of now, I am just over halfway through the story, so realistically, we are talking about winter or spring of 2014.

Q: What is the sequel's title? --Marion

BM: This has been a difficult story to assign a working title to.  Early on in the process, I was simply referring to it as Era Sinistra 2.  I tossed around several names in my head for quite a while.  Of these various names, Days Without Rain seemed really interesting.  That, however, doesn't quite fit the story perfectly and too closely resembles the title of an Enya album.  I believe I have finally settled on this: Era Sinistra: The Shadow.  This is both a play off of a common character's perception of the story's main antagonist and a notation about the years following a noted time period--the shadow of an era, if you will.

Q: How do you choose the setting for your books? --Makiah

BM:  This is a difficult question to answer.  The easiest answer I have is that the story simply takes place where I visualize it in my mind.  Rain Dance was easy, since the concept of the book came from a dream I had where I was sailing in the waters of he Puget Sound in the dark.  For Era Sinistra I had to build the scenario because all I had to go from was a brief news story.  It was definitely going to take place in the woods, but where? 

Q: What made you decide to write a sequel? --Sandy

BM:  A while after reading Era Sinistra again I realized that the previous book intentionally left some loose ends.  So, naturally I began to ask myself what would happen next?  As I thought about it, the basic plot just came to me. 

Q: Do you think paperbacks are a dying medium?  -Steven

BM: Everyone knows that the hot medium right now is the e-book.  Traditional trade paperbacks, as a result are seeing a decline in popularity.  Still, not all people own e-readers and many people prefer real, bound books. There is no doubt that such books feel more substantial.  Still, it would be foolish not to capitalize on the latest trend in the publishing industry.  I'd say most people own some sort of device that can display e-book text. 

Q:  In what forms are you going to print this book?  -Liz

BM: Although the future may hold a paperback version of this book, my plan is to self-release it as an e-book only format.  The advantage is that e-books can be priced much, much lower than traditional paperbacks and will last longer.  The decision to go this route stems both from a desire to reward my readers and the need to emerge from beneath the oppressive hand of the traditional publishing industry.  My frustration with PublishAmerica is well-documented by now.  Simply put, I will never let that sham of a publisher make another penny off a new book I write.  The book will likely sell for about $2.99 USD, but there will definitely be promotions which will allow readers to download the books for discounts or FREE for a limited time.

Q: Do you have plans for another novel?  --Mike


BM:  I do have one outline that seems quite interesting to me.  It is sort of a military-type story that presents an interesting battle and its mysterious underpinnings.  I also have a concept to a sequel to The Thousand Branches, but I'm not sure if real plans for that will ever materialize.  Right now, I'm putting all of my writing focus on The Shadow.

BM: Thank you all for your questions.  Hopefully my answers have given some insight on what is behind the new book.  Also, thanks for stopping by.  Your readership is the main engine behind this blog staying up and running.  We normally talk about music, so please come again! 

-brad

Syahmi Rawi-The Odyssey

If you paid attention to our last installment here, you will know who the subject of today's edition is.  Syahmi Rawi is the brother of Zuhair Rawi.  Together they form Malaysian post-rock duo Gespenst.  A few months ago I found a new solo EP called "The Odyssey."  Fluttery Records more than mentioned the Gespenst connection, after my initial listen to "The Odyssey" I decided I needed to check out Gespenst.

When talking about artists who are part of other bands, it is almost unavoidable making comparisons to said group, so I apologize in advance if this rubs any of you the wrong way.

In contrast to the richly instrumental-driven Gespenst sound, Syahmi Rawi uses a more earthly sound constructed mostly of pianos and string arrangements.  As such, it is a completely different style of post rock.  I would even hesitate to call it post rock, as it is much more in line with Endless Melancholy or Olekksii. 

For an EP it is often difficult to say much about the music.  There are still layered undertones of atmosphere present, but these influences are subtler and so, do not dominate the music.  The album starts off with some heavy breathing set against a somber prelude of keyboard before the other instrumentals kicks in.  This sound seems a little too bland for my tastes, but the intensity picks up when the labored breathing fades.  This results in a more sonically pleasing sound.  From there, the EP gets better and better.  The minimalist string sections create an interesting juxtaposition with the soft and simple pianos.

Rawi is a masterful musician.  In contrast to Gespenst, there are very few electronic interruptions to the music.  If I had to categorize "The Odyssey" with an established genre, I would label this as instrumental ambient music. 

As I have stated, this album is an EP which is composed of six short tracks.  You can listen to the album stream below.  If the breathing bothers you, you can always skip to the next track.  Enjoy!

Gespenst-The Bloodline

Pay close attention, readers.  Today we are featuring a year-plus old album that qualifies as another undiscovered gem.   How I found out about today's record was via a recent release from Fluttery Records, which we will feature on the next installment.  Today's post is an apt lead-in to what we will be talking about next.

It can be difficult to come across great music from the East, but this definitely qualifies. 

Gespenst was founded in Kuala-Lumpur, Malaysia by brothers Syahmi and Zuhair Rawi.  This is the first Malaysian group of any genre music I have found, which makes this record unique in a different way.

As it turns out, there is plenty unique about this disc.  This is not your standard-fare post-rock sound.  While it does feature loads of stretching atmospherics, generous helpings of keyboards and pianos, it also offers huge, chunks of guitar riffing and plenty of tasty leads.  This disc also features sparse vocals, and by sparse, I mean rarer than those found on your average Sigur Ros disc. 

What I love about this album is that, in addition to stretched melodies and eerie ambiance, it features rock beats that you can nod your head to.  Gespenst puts the rock back in post-rock.  Some bands are doing this nowadays--think recent releases by If These Trees Could Talk and Exxasens.  This is a somewhat new development in post-rock which is actually more of a nod to the old-school styles of post rock from stalwart bands such as Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. 

Although this is a short album, clocking in with seven tracks averaging around five and half minutes in length, it is something I am really digging.  I'm glad I found out about the subject of our next installment, because it led me right to Gespenst.  This is a fantastic record that I can recommend again and again, even if you are not a fan of post-rock.  Thanks to Gespenst's bandcamp page, we've got the full album stream ready for you to feast your ears on.  Enjoy!