Cannot say much beyond what I’d expect from Alva Noto on the usual high standard.
Alva Noto – HYbr:ID I
Djrum – Portrait With Firewood
Nice to mention this record right after Tides as this is a great example for the same vibe but with originality that I felt lacking there. Nice atmospheres on the slow-to-mid tempo electronic axis with lots of live-sounding orchestration, even more Floex vibes, but the more complex drum patterns and the post-dubstep bassline aesthetics package it into something fresh and exciting. I really like that this is a moody record without the sadness aspect—it’s like watching rain through the window but with inspiration and wondering. Actually it’s also like a new take on nu jazz.
Sunda Arc – Tides
From ambient to mid-tempo, from moody electronics to modern classical. A debut record that sounds like a debut record: full of references and inspiration but I have yet to hear the dintinct voice of Sunda Arc. I can hear the blue electronics of Moderat, the piano play of Nils Frahm, also the clarinet comes with a Floex reference to me. Nice sounds overall, just needs more originality next time.
Hand of Kalliach – Samhainn
It’s been quite a while that my attention was pinned down by a death metal album. Although this one ranges from death to black and melodic metal territories.
It’s so rare that speed gets put into such a great context and it’s not just going fast for the reason of technique showcase or mindless agression. I distinctly remember when I first starting listening to Slipknot as a teenager and I couldn’t listen to anything else anymore because other bands were just too slow. And that was also a case when speed has meaning and flavor. In the case of Hand of Kalliach I feel the same. The fast paced drums, guitars, and sometimes vocals flow so naturally with the overall sound they create, it just sounds amazingly fit there.
Eris Drew – Quivering In Time
Some fun moods and uplifting sounds on the house-breakbeat axis. It’s your afternoon stage music in a festival, which could either be the warm-up for the evening or the afterparty from the previous night.
Nightmares On Wax – Shout Out! To Freedom…
Nu jazz sound, chilled, relaxing, smooth. Shape The Future was a huge Nightmares on Wax come-back in my life. This one is not as strong but a fair follow-up.
Kontravoid – Faceless
The last album from Kontravoid I found mainly EBM while this one is primarily cold wave. It’s not as great as the previous one but still worth noting.
Freeways – True Bearings
Tastes of straight up rock music from heavy metal through psychedelic to hard rock. A band with two records that sounds like an old classic that could be around for decades. Logo and cover arts also support this feeling.
Christoph de Babalon – 044 (Hilf Dir Selbst!)
Starts with a dark ambient note but most of it is actually jungle beats and breakcore over some atmospheric sounds. Most of the time I imagined a cyberpunk heist movie rolling with this soundtrack. This could also be a spiritual successor of the Splinter Cell soundrack by Amon Tobin, but with less sophistication and a darker tone. Oh btw, I loved this record a lot, I could easily listen to it five times in a row.
Dark Nights: Death Metal Soundtrack
This is a soundtrack album to a pretty dark and grim comic book series, consisting of all original songs. I just want to taste this sentence for a little while and think about how awesome that is. And then start listing that collaborators include Mastodon, Rise Against, HEALTH, Chino Moreno, Greg Puciato, Chelsea Wolfe, just to name those closest to me. This is pretty rad.