bdrmm - Microtonic (2025)

Despite their name, it's not another lo-fi bedroom pop project from States. Instead, the British band offer a fine quality of music that is both airy and... very much energetic. The light melodies and up-beat compositions ask anyone to dance on the artists' third album to date.

And, I have to say, this is their best one yet. Actually, when I think about it, the dreamy part of the music is slightly withdrawn. The album goes on like a good example of indietronica that is not crazy about creating the airy atmosphere but does it anyway. Sort of a side effect of the synths and samples' rich quantities. It is best audible when the band goes dark pop with spoken word vocals and the melodies woven of synths and pure, captivating flow. Yes, I'm talking about Snares. (And In the Electric Field with a guest appearance by Manchester-based artist Olivia Rees).

It's interesting how dark the album sounds while it is made of dance'able electronic sounds mostly. I love the feeling of euphoric cosiness it provides. Like one part of me wants to dance while the other just drowns in the see of sounds.

Microtonic costs 11 EUR (9 GBP).

Check: Snares

Country: UK

Genre: dreamy indietronica

Label: Rock Action Records

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Public Service Broadcasting - Bright Magic (2021)

The British electro/post-rock collective is one of my favourite bands since their brilliant album Every Valley and their live gig down in the Guido mine in Zabrze. The artists are devoted to "teaching the lessons of the past through the music of the future" and accomplish this motto by creating concept albums that are almost like documentary movies but expressed by their exciting music. They are finally back with another LP called Bright Magic and it's a blast. Again.

This time it is slightly more difficult to find the theme behind the album. The artists moved, quite literally, from the Welsh small towns and valleys to Berlin, one of the biggest and liveliest metropolia in Europe, and the notion of moving as well as the history of the city is the album's main concept. It is still very much different from previous releases, being "less linear and narrative, instead it’s an impressionistic portrait of a city from the ground up" while in music it's reflected in the less usage of voice samples (with the exception in Der Rhythmus der Maschinen with its tasty reference to Every Valley). You could say it's a situation when a band looses their main characteristic trait, but perhaps it's something they needed to, nomen est omen, progress.

The move to Germany is also reflected in the guest artists on the album with Einstürzende Neubauten's Blixa Bargeld or Berlin-based Andreya Casablanca for instance. There's also a change in the music's vibes but while Every Valley, due to its theme, had a gloomier, bleaker atmosphere, the British artists have always created rather lively and even danceable electronica. So it's not much of a change, in fact it's more like an emphasis on the character of their music, reflected best, of course, in People, Let's Dance. No wonder that the brain behind the project, J. Willgoose, Esq., stated about the album: “I started to get a feeling for where the title of Bright Magic wanted to take me, towards ideas of illumination and inspiration, electricity and flashes of light and colour and sound" and it feels.

Bright Magic costs 7 GBP.

Check: Der Rhythmus der Maschinen

Country: UK

Genre: electronic post-rock

Label: Test Card Recordings

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Skygasm - Fan Fiction (2020) EN

Skygasm is the second in the recent time on my blog, after The Know, This one consists of London-based artists Ako and Henry who just released their debut EP called Fan Fiction.

It starts with an instrumental-electronic intro Garden Song, a track that shows that the whole thing is going to represent a good level music. Soon, it's joined by Ako's vocals sounding very much Blonde Redhead-esque so, it goes without saying, extremely ethereal and atmospheric. That's why Marshmallow Lollipop (a title that must have came from The Most Dream Pop Titles Ever Generator) is my favourite part of the album.

In Freak Henry's vocals join and the whole thing gets clear pop-rock vibes. There's no doubt that the tracks here are both melodic and catchy but what bought me was the intimate, romantic atmosphere between the spouses, so perfectly clear in the very pretty Special. Very promising debut, the English artists' career is absolutely worth observing.

Fan Fiction costs 8 GBP.

Check: Marshmallow Lollipop

Country: UK

Genre: dreamy indie rock

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Skygasm - Fan Fiction (2020) PL

Skygasm to drugi w ostatnim czasie na blogu, po The Know, duet małżeński grający nowy, intrygujący dream pop. Ten składa się z artystów z Londynu - Ako i Henry'ego, którzy wydali dopiero co debiutancką EP-kę Fan Fiction.

Zaczyna się ona instrumentalno-elektronicznym Garden Song, który to kawałek pokazuje, że całość utrzymana będzie na solidnym poziomie. Wkrótce dołącza wokal Ako brzmiący bardzo mocno Blonde Redheadowo a więc, nie trzeba tego pewnie nawet dodawać, ekstremalnie eterycznie i atmosferycznie. Dlatego też Marshmallow Lollipop (tytuł, który wyszedł chyba z Generatora Najbardziej Dreampopowych Tytułów Ever) jest chyba moim ulubionym fragmentem płyty.

We Freaku dochodzi wokal Henry'ego, a całość dostaje zdecydowanie bardziej pop-rockowego sznytu. Nie ulega wątpliwości, że są to kawałki i melodyjne i wpadające w ucho, ale mnie najbardziej urzeka intymna, romantyczna atmosfera tak bardzo słyszalna między małżonkami, zwłaszcza w bardzo ładnym Special. Bardzo obiecujący debiut, warto bacznie obserwować dokonania Anglików.

Fan Fiction kosztuje 39 złotych (8 GBP).

Sprawdź: Marshmallow Lollipop

Kraj: UK

Szufladka: dreamy indie rock

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Hope Leslie - Crushes EP (2018) EN

As a Pole, I find it especially satisfying to find new Polish artists of the shoegaze-dream pop stage. This is exactly Hope Leslie from Poznań, who have just released their first EP.

The album is short but very promising. The music by the band that uses a sweet pun as a name, could be called indietronic dream pop with fittingly electronic backgrounds and very catchy approach. The foreground is occupied by unique vocal by Bartosz Górny, that may remind of britpopish bands like Starsailor rather than dream pop. But the backing vocals and the overall vibe is surely taken from the oneiric kind of pop.

Especially well sounding is "Dystopia" with catchy melody and somewhat crying-like vocal. Good stuff. No wonder their motto reads "We give both: melodies and melodramas".

"Crushes" costs 4 EUR (15 PLN).

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Hope Leslie - Crushes EP (2018) PL

Polscy debiutanci na scenie shoegaze'owo dreampopowej zawsze są w cenie. Tacy są właśnie Hope Leslie z Poznania, którzy wydali właśnie swoją pierwszą EP-kę.

Płytka jest krótka ale dobrze rokuje. Muzyka firmującego się ładnym językowym punem zespołu to indietroniczny dream pop z odpowiednio elektronicznym podkładem i bardzo przebojową formą. Na pierwszym planie jest bardzo oryginalny wokal Bartosza Górnego kojarzącego się raczej z britpopem w stylu Starsailor niż z tradycyjnym dream popem. Jednak już chórki i ogólny vibe w utworach czerpie dużo z onirycznego popu.

Świetnie brzmi zwłaszcza "Dystopia" z wpadającą w ucho melodią i lekko zawodzącym, płaczącym wokalem. Robi wrażenie. Nic dziwnego, że ich motto brzmi "dostarczamy obu: melodii i melodramy".

"Crushes" kosztuje 15 złotych.

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