If you can overlook the packaging, which looks like a bootleg B-horror film you’d get offered in an alley in Chinatown, you’ll find that Hamre delivers with some of the best dark ambient soundscapes I’ve heard this year.
Tag: 2009
Koneyn – Transitional
“Transitional” is Koneyn’s debut solo release for Serbian label Àsino Elettronico and follows two self-released EPs – “Stormfields” and “Enclosed” – both issued during 2008. Released digitally and also as a limited pre-order edition in nicely produced handmade packaging, “Transitional” consists of five fairly short tracks covering a 20-minute duration.
Free releases
Dicepeople “Time To Play” Glatze “Glatze EP” (The Centrifuge) Graham O’Brien “Live Drums” (NOECHO Records) Myrrman “PorNOsmagoria” (Cold Graey) Roy of the Ravers “2010 Annual EP” (The Centrifuge) Stpocold “What [ … ]
Various – Thalamus III
“Thalamus III” documents Russian post-industrial/noise artists alongside less classifiable work, mostly lo-fi, abrasive soundscapes. It is an uneven but important compilation and, provided you can endure the generally desolate tone, there are some really interesting pieces to be discovered.
Sonarophon – De Frie Elementer
“De Frie Elementer” is a live recording of guitarist Alf Terje Hana and vocalist Line Horneland performing as Sonarophon. Composed around a core of experimental and ambient electronics, their set features the six string skills of Hana combined with the vocal yet wordless voice techniques of Horneland. “De Frie Elementer” is comprised of a single 24-minute track split into a number of linked elements.
nonnon – The Entitlement Generation
“The Entitlement Generation” is labelled as experimental hip-hop influenced IDM, and even though they are right about the different ingredients, the IDM shouldn’t be mentioned as main ingredient. It’s more dubby, hip-hoppy experiments with beats, where you can clearly hear IDM influences at certain moments, but it’s kept within the experimental stage.
tokee – Quintuplet
With “Quintuplet” tokee not only delivers five fresh tracks, but also a sizeable selection of top-notch remixes; a limited release that, thankfully, plays like a brand new full-length. From 4/4 thumpers splattered with breaks and glitch to coasting and fluid downtempo groovers, tokee’s flawless production and innate sense of tempo render “Quintuplet” a powerhouse of swirling layers and solid beats.
Flint Glass – Nyarlathotep + From Beyond EP
Like the new artwork, the music is multi-layered and complex. Skilfully woven layers of dark electronics and samples evoke a quiet, eerie atmosphere, haunted with menacing tension.
Kommando – Crimefactory
Kommando is the first project of Daniel Hofmann, a.k.a. Anton Knilpert/Dan Courtman, who has a hand in the work of virtually all the artists on the UMB label, Dogpop, Jägerblut, Kommando, The Musick Wreckers, Thorofon, UMB-Kollektif and more. The material gathered here is from 1993-98, and was ‘re-constructed’ (or re-animated?) in 2008.
Aun – Utica
With this virgin white vinyl on Drone Records, Aun delivers, period. The 7″ contains some beautifully designed soundscapes made of the guitar drones for which we know him. Aun firmly places himself in the top of guitar-based drone artists, something he more than deserves.