Heather Woods Broderick - Domes (2022)

Heather Woods Broderick is a multi-instrumentalist and a singer from Portland. The artist worked together with such artists as Horse Feathers, Efterklang, and Nils Frahm, and while listening to her music, it's hardly a surprise. The beautiful and very melancholic soundscapes she creates fill the new album called Domes.

Although cello is not Broderick's main instrument, this album is filled with compositions based on its sounds. It helped the artist through the pandemics times when she was in "need to find moments of respite in response to the chaotic and turbulent times we all faced in that period". And so the whole album is all about transferring this into the audience with the use of looped pieces that are to mesmerize the listener and drive them into this contemplating state that can sonically heel almost anything.

Domes costs 7 EUR.

Check: Tor

Country: Oregon, US

Genre: cello soundscape

Label: Dauw

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Bipolar Architecture - Depressionland (2022)

Bipolar Architecture are from Turkey but they live and create their music in Germany. Although the band is debuting now, some of its members have experience from a death metal band Heretic Soul and it's audible as Depressionland sounds like a complete work made by people who know what they want.

Although their album is said to be combining a variety of music flavours: "both post- and prog-metal, with flourishes of djent, black metal, and even spacey post-rock" into a complex and artsy blend, their music force comes from the deep aggressive feelings they need to release in the sonic way. It is very audible especially in the angry vocals. The pace is not really extreme, the compositions take their time to properly develop and so make me think more of post-metal genres with hints of blackgaze's synthy walls of sound. Their sound is simply too spacey and atmospheric to be regarded as "just" black metal and I love it.

Given the background of the band and the album's title, my first thoughts were that they aim to criticize their new homeland through the lenses of broken expectations or, perhaps, the old one from the perspective of the Western pointo of view. But in the end I feel like it's way more universal: depressionland is all over each of us with everything that is going on nowadays. It's good it was articulated in such a tangible and angry voice.

Depressionland costs 7 EUR.

Check: The Tragic Protagonist

Country: Turkey/Germany

Genre: fierce post-metal

Label: Talheim Records

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Catástrofe Club - El crecimiento infinito (2022)

Catástrofe Club are from Catalonia and make some super interesting post-punk-like eclectic music. The Josep Maria Herrera-David Molina duo are self-proclaimed "portraitists of the global catastrophe" who "compose and create with a particular sense of tragicomedy" and with an impressive approach to mixing genres in order to create a poignant message in an attractive form, just as it is on their new album.

El crecimiento infinito is the final part of their long play trilogy. My first thought when listening to this album was to check if this was a side project of Oscar D'Aniello a.k.a. Delafé, Spanish indie pop slash spoken word hip-hop artist the first albums of whom I really enjoyed back in the day. It's obviously not, but Herrera's voice and, most importantly, the spoken word way of "singing" bears strong resemblance here. However, the project, although very melodic, is far from a chill indie pop: it's post-punk delivered in various unique ways, so unfamiliar for the genre. The flow and catchiness of pop music and the lively electronica the compositions are built on are not your typical post-punk accessories.

However the whole theme they point the audience at, as they "question the individual, but in a somewhat calmer way, accepting the collapse and fatality of a social tragedy as something certain and inevitable that can only be contemplated", the collapse that has many reasons, but most importantly the consumptive way of life and the heavy but clever critique the artists employ, is taken right from the post-punk handbooks. So is the overall minimalism and slower pace that create this fantastic atmosphere within which the mesmerizing spoken word phrases go on and on and drill into the listener's mind.

El crecimiento infinito costs 8 EUR.

Check: Safari

Country: Catalonia/Spain

Genre: electronic post-punk

Label: Hidden Track Records

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Ben Haskins - Dinner Party (2022)

I thoroughly enjoyed Ben Haskins' 2021 album Oh Believers, Run! and it seems that the Canadian artist is a real machine to make good post-rock releases, especially that he shows them very often: Dinner Party is already the second one this year. And it may as well be the best one yet.

Although this is a solo post-rock enterprise, the way Haskins generate the attention-grabbing atmosphere is one of the kind. His music is not very loud and noisy but it seduces the audience with the flow and easy-listening synth backgrounds making it sort of a post-rock trip-hop combination. This makes the album run like a mountain spring, even if it's not the fastest music either. The album is structured like the title's party - it starts with a promising aperitif goes through the main course and everything a (Victorian?) fancy dinner should involve. And what it really shouldn't. The most important thing is though that no guest will leave it unsatisfied, that's for sure.

Dinner Party costs 5.5 EUR (7 CAD).

Ben Haskins - Oh Believers, Run! (2021)

Check: The Main Course

Country: Canada

Genre: synthy post-rock

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Hiroe - Wrought (2022)

One of the most impressive post-rock debuts of the last time. The Pennsylvania-based post-rockers of Hiroe released a short album called Wrought which is filled with the most monumental noise a guitar-focused collective could produce.

The album is yet another music work that is strongly affected by the times of the pandemics. The Americans decided to construct those uplifting and hopeful monumental compositions as an "ode to the resilience and power of the human individual, carrying over feelings of anger, anxiety, and loss" with a strong focus on overcoming those and getting on the other side where hope reigns. This is the kind of music that is centered around three guitars and the impressive wall of sound they are able to generate. And although in some places it feels like a hit in your jaw, overall they provide the very positive feelings: the energy boosts, the optimist hope, the massive awe. 

The grandeur of the sound and the way the compositions are skillfully structured make it clear that Hiroe is bound to be the next big thing on the atmospheric instrumental music scene alongside, among others, their compatriots from Coastlands - but unlike Coastlads' monumental gloom, Hiroe offers some of the much-needed consolation.

Wrought costs whatever you want to pay.

Check:  Doom Moon

Country: Pennsylvania, US

Genre: atmospheric post-rock

Label: Pelagic Records

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staszek fungus - frequencies on the fifth floor (2022)

Michał Lejczak creates his music as Staszek Fungus and he has recently released his first album at the Opus Elefantum label. After showing two long plays last year, frequencies on the fifth floor has better chance to get better visible in the drone/ambient world.

His style involves tons of subtle drones that together create vast and still soundscapes around the listener. There's no pace whatsoever, just the music that absorbs you and lets you slide into this kind of meditative state that is so valuable at times. It's quiet but it's always there, subtle but very tangible. And when there's finally something showing up in 2.2, like a gloomy and sombre structure on the horizon, it makes a real impact on the audience. 

frequencies on the fifth floor costs 4 EUR (16 PLN).

Check: 2.2

Country: Poland

Genre: drone soundscape

Label: Opus Elefantum

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COLLAPSE - BLACK SHEEP IS STILL DREAMING (2022)

Although the Japanese COLLAPSE make music for almost a decade now, this year's BLACK SHEEP IS STILL DREAMING is their long playing debut. I posted about their EP three years ago and I still think it's one of the best shoegaze stuff that comes from Asia.

"Whispering voices shimmering sweetly in the overwhelming roaring sea" - this is how the band introduce themselves and I couldn't find a better description of their music. The roaring and particularly noisy guitars fight against the whispering vocals of Shoko. I know that combining the very noisy music with extremely soothing and delicate female vocals is something the Asian shoegaze is known for, but I feel like COLLAPSE do that even more. In GARDEN, the complex noise in the backgrounds is suppressed by the airiness of the vocals but there are moments the guitars are unleashed, ready to wreck havoc. But they are no match for what's happening in SYRUP. This is the flag track of the noisy side of the band. The melancholic vibes provided by Shoko are only strengthened in tracks where they are accompanied by violins or uber sweet sounds of glockenspiel as in BIRTHLIGHT. They band's sound is very versatile while all the time aiming for the heavy melancholia kind of atmosphere.

BLACK SHEEP IS STILL DREAMING costs 18 EUR (¥2,500).

Collapse - Endogenic Rebirthday (2019)

Check: SYRUP

Country: Japan

Genre: Asian shoegaze

Label: Only Feedback Records

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Monochromatic Visions - REFORM (2022)

Five years ago, the London-based Monochromatic Visions released their self-titled debut EP and thus debuted also on my blog. Now, one album and five years later, it's time for their second long play called REFORM.

Unlike the title of the album suggests, there's not much reformation in the duo's music: it's still all about the post-punk's legacy filtered by a healthy dose of psychedelic noise. It feels cold with very audible bass lines encapsulated by very noisy guitars. On top of that, the vocals are situated and those are so very much in the line of post-punk genre. Also, the compositions are usually quite short, another inspiration from the punk's subgenres. Recorded during the pandemics, the release's "themes explore the process of untethering from the past to evolve and reform into a better version of one’s self", so well noticeable in Lost: "lost inside/ found outside/ past accept/ craft your time". And it does sound super optimistic for the coldwave music but I guess even post-punkers want to feel loved.

REFORM  costs 12 USD.

Monochromatic Visions - Monochromatic Visions (2017)

Check: Run

Country: UK

Genre: noisy post-punk

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Haiku Garden - Loose Contacts / Tense Present (2022)

The Slovenian dream rockers are back with their second album. Four years after the debut Where If Not Now, Haiku Garden released Loose Contacts / Tense Present to make their name sound even louder in the psychedelic music world.

Their label advertise the album as "clear, direct sound that punches you in the face and yet manages to stay articulate and refined" with hints at that the Slovenians got more musically matured and refined. But this doesn't affect their energy, so audible in the guitar-heavy compositions. Perhaps the way they balance the energetic and the soothing songs is a prove for this more mature approach to song-writing with Structures subtle psychedelic magic that borders with the high-paced Levitate. But, what's more important to me, the band can also create a real guitar-fueled storm of noise as it is the case in Loose Contacts or more synthy in Tense Present, if only they decided to do so more often.

Lyrics-wise, the album is said to be exploring the "themes of ever-changing relationships and division" while staying hopeful in that matter. And the music reflects that very well: serious and noisy guitars playing catchy tunes is my favourite kind of rock.

Loose Contacts / Tense Present costs 7 EUR.

Haiku Garden - Where If Not Now (2018)

Check: Loose Contacts

Country: Slovenia

Genre: psychedelic indie rock

Label: Kapa Records

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Flying Moon in Space - Zwei (2022)

They debuted in 2020 (if you don't count a soundtrack album they released earlier) and immediately proved they deserve a place within the Fuzz Club label's team. Their new album sets the bar even higher as this psychedelic delight should appeal to any kind of listener.  

I feel like while their 2020 debut was good, the sophomore Zwei is simply brilliant. It marries and mixes genres and stylistics like it's nothing. It comes from psychedelic rock but involves so much of the pop's energy and catchiness that it should be played on radio. And in this unpretentious drawing from everything around, it goes as far as to rap-ish This Exists or very electronica-oriented vocalless Power. But in general, the Germans make psychedelic music with crazy melodies, unique vocals with a lot of punk's shouting vibes and heavy pace. It's adrenaline and energy kick you can run on for long hours. 

And this works even though the compositions are fairly long. The band doesn't stop for a bit, the music goes on and on in a head-spinning pace with incredibly satisfying flow. No wonder that on their recent remix-filled album, the remixes were provided by such names as Xiu Xiu, Suuns or A Place To Bury Strangers - all of them well known for the music that is both catchy and experimental.

Zwei costs 9 EUR (7 GBP).

Check: This Exists

Country: Germany

Genre: energetic psychedelic rock

Label: Fuzz Club

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SHRINE - Nausicaä (2022)

I learned about Hristo Gospodinov's music from NERATERRÆ's album Scenes from the Sublime on which Shrine featured. This year's Nausicaä is my first time with the artist alone and I must say, I am so impressed with his unique attempt at dark ambient experience.

The album is said to be inspired by a Japanese manga called Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind - which doesn't mean anything to me, but apparently it is a text about a gloomy, post-apocalyptic world and it is all clearly audible on the release. Gospodinov achieves this thick and unnerving atmosphere by mixing the soft and dreamy ambient soundscapes with dark and extremely overwhelming industrial parts. It is unbelievable how easy it is for the artist to create this dangerous world the soundscape of which we are lucky to explore from a safe (for now) place at our homes.

Nausicaä costs 8 EUR.

Check: Like a God of Death

Country: Bulgaria

Genre: industrial dark ambient

Label: Cyclic Law

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Crystal Eyes - The Sweetness Restored (2022)

Five years after their debuting album The Female Imagination, the Canadian Crystal Eyes are back with another super catchy and dreamy release. The Sweetness Restored makes me think of Pia Fraus and other bands that marry the oneiric with the fun.

The band says it's a "feel-good self-help record for the age of existential dread" and that fits nicely with the twee pop kind of indie music that fills the release. The music is certainly not overwhelming, the guitars are subtle and give the way to the bass lines and its melodies. I love that the compositions here blend in various super weird instruments, including "the Hammond C3 with Leslie speakers, a string quartet, a choir, an out-of-tune piano, analogue synthesizers" and more. This adds some of the psychedelic chaos to the tracks (as in I Still Believe in Love for example). But in the end, it is mostly the background for the beautiful, dispersed vocals that are both melancholic and filled with sunshine.

The Sweetness Restored costs 8 EUR (10 CAD).

Check: I Still Believe in Love

Country: Canada

Genre: psychedelic indie pop

Label: Bobo Integral Records

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Minaxi - Lazuleen (2022)

Minaxi are from New York but their inspirations reach more distant places. Their hit-worthy indie rock with some noisy elements can be admired on the band's sophomore album called Lazuleen.

The most interesting part of Minaxi's music is the multicultural dimension of their works as they blend the Western genres (psychedelia, shoegaze, dream pop, noise rock) with the South Asia's sufi music - no wonder the band calls it a "sonic buffet" for the audience to choose from. And similarly, on the language side, English dominates on the album but there are also part sung in Hindi audible. It is all because of one of the band's leaders, Shrenik Ganatra, who traces his origins to this region of the world. But the overall impression while listening to the band's music is that it is a well-done indie rock music that draws interesting flavours from various places. The guitars are very clearly the driving force of the compositions: sometimes rock-like heavy (like in Lost in the Water), sometimes more subtle. There's certainly some of the oneiric genres within the pool of inspirations but the music here can hardly be called noise pop/rock, it's more about the catchy melodies and either dance-inspiring energy or relaxing, mellow music subtlety.

Lazuleen costs 11 USD.

Check: The Deep Blue Sea Conveys Your Love

Country: New York, US

Genre: dreamy indie rock

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Darkher - The Buried Storm (2022)

Jayn Maiven creates her music as Darkher. And what a music it is! The moniker she uses is a perfect fit here as there's few music genres that can be as dark as her post-rock/dark folk creations. 6 years after her debut album Realms, the British artist is back and The Buried Storm is certainly one of the best albums of the year.

It is said that Darkher's music is a "haunting trip through the mind and spirit of founding member". It is based on Maiven's mesmerizing vocals that are never angry and desperate: their gloomines is leaning towards the utter sadness and depressive resignation. They have some serious tear-jerking abilities but they are also so beautiful. Hunting, yes, but also subtle and pretty. And the vocals are not alone here: the darkness of the compositions is built by the dark folk music with tons of post-rock and noise traces, heavy vials of ethereal backing vocals and the unnerving tribal fragments. The music is so oneiric but it's not about good dreams, a nightmare pop could be a genre invented for this release. No wonder that it is advertised as "eerie and at times even outright sinister sonic storytelling" with the artist aiming to address the "darkness lurking at the edge of consciousness, hidden from plain sight but patiently biding its time to strike out at the heart", the title's burried storm.

The Buried Storm costs 6.99 USD.

Check: Fear Not, My King

Country: UK

Genre: dreamy dark folk

Label: Prophecy Productions

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Skuund - Social Animal (2022)

As far as I know, it is the second Polish band that is being released by one of my favourite labels, Shore Dive Records. Skuund are from the Northern Poland and successfully combine at least two guitar-based genres, something that is all too well visible at their second (and first one recorded in English) album called Social Animal. 

This is either unorthodox post-punk or unorthodox noise rock. The album opens with a post-rock-like intro that offers a good deal of engaging guitar music, but it is followed by Alaska (my favourite track here) that is reigned by the Martin Howard's post-punk vocals (with a hint of Editors' Tom Smith) and socially engaged lyrics. This song is the best show case of the band's fantastic ability to write super catchy melodies that, at the same time, are strikingly moody and gloomy. Often based on repeated phrases (like in You Can't Hide Forever), with lyrics that usually point at the listener, engaging them even more. The vocals, the melodies, but also the quality of the guitars' sound is top-notch. I'd say this is what drove me to this album, the heaviness and dark energy that flows out of the instrumental parts with It Wasn't What You Took and Bad Days as the best examples.

Social Animal costs 5 USD (though the label's Bandcamp).

Check: Alaska 

Country: Poland

Genre: noisy post-punk

Label: Shore Dive Records

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City of Dawn - As the Universe, So the Soul (2022)

Damien Duque creates so many things, very often cooperating with other artists, like it was the case on Wander performed with zakè, the album he appeared on this blog with two years ago. This year, the Texas-based artist released, among many other things, this beautiful album called As the Universe, So the Soul.

As the title suggests, the music here feels very spiritual. The ambient soundscapes have very meditation-inducing abilities and this is certainly not a coincidence as the artist himself states that his music "will invite you into a meditational estate that is self-exploring" and this journey "can lead toward healing". The way the mind floats and relaxes while listening to this music, is certainly the most important thing about the album. But it can also be tear-jerkingly beautiful if you can submerge yourself within those waves.

As the Universe, So the Soul costs 7 USD.

zakè & City of Dawn - Wander (2020)

Check: Layers Unseen

Country: Texas, US

Genre: spiritual soundscape

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Flower and Pines - Hnieŭ (2022)

Jegor Mickiewicz and Sasha Pushkin are based in Wrocław and create this extremely unique music that combines a lot from a lot of genres. And then some. It's no wonder that the artists' names are also the names of the most important writers in Poland (Adam Mickiewicz) and in Russia (Alexander Pushkin). Their new EP, Hnieŭ, is certainly one of the most interesting releases in Poland this year.

This is not an ordinary album, it's said to be "sonic performance" that is meant to be a "memorial service and an ode to courage". The fact that it is performed in Belarusian, the forbidden language in the modern Belarus, only provides a broader context and explains whose courage it is meant to praise. The noisy and experimental on many levels music has some of the east sacral vibe that is certainly only strengthen by the impressive and very original vocals. It is folk, it is dark, there's so many things going on in the backgrounds and each of them adds to the overall mysterious atmosphere. 

Hnieŭ costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Hnieŭ II

Country: Poland

Genre: dark folk noise

Label: Geertruida

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Darkfield - Reanimated Voices (2022)

Joey Westerlund already appeared on this blog two years ago with his album Carry Us Away. This year it's time for the third position in his discography with the new release called Reanimated Voices.

His solo post-rock music is based on the rough electric guitar sounds that contrast the very prog rock-like keyboard tunes. It's both dark and rocky and beautiful at the same time. The main theme for the album is said to be mental health, "emotions you feel or "voices" that you hear during various moments and periods of your life" - according to the artist's words. As the title of the first song suggests: it's all about chemicals, but the complex structures of the compositions on the album hint that there's way more to the topic. As in Copacetic where the attractive key notes are being devoured by very satisfying and loud guitars only to soon get back to the calm in Divided. However, the most interesting things happen towards the end of the album with Control's very modern feel and World Eater's satisfying crescendo.

Reanimated Voices costs 8 USD.

Darkfield - Carry Us Away (2020)

Check: World Eater

Country: Oregon, US

Genre: prog post-rock

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Neon Iglu - Stranput (2022)

This is official my first post on a Croatian music project on this blog and it comes as a result of my journey to the Zagreb's INmusic Festival. I didn't manage to see Neon Iglu live there but their new (and debut) album is certainly worth catching up to.

Stranput contains "cathartic compositions of noise, kraut-rock and noise pop inclinations": there's complex and very artsy but also slow and not-very-overwhelming music that in some parts is clearly a guitar-based post-rock while in some other is more inspired by (post)jazz genres. This is this kind of music that can hardly bore anyone as it changes so fast and contains so many elements. One of them are vocals - soft and melancholic, very space rock-like, more often than not lost within the music. The band is also very fluent in captivating the audience within their compositions - this is this psychedelic rock's influence and I appreciate it very much.

Stranput costs 7 EUR.

Check: Omen

Country: Croatia

Genre: psychedelic post-rock

Label: Geenger Records

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Watchcamp Best Singles of May-June'22 with atmos bloom, Midpoint Union, Onira, The Palace of Tears, Redloz

atmos bloom - daisy

The first single from the incoming album that will follow the band's 2020 debut EP; the Curtis Paterson and Tilda Gratton duo from Manchester present a super airy indie pop that is so very, very catchy. The song costs 1 USD.

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Midpoint Union - Beyond Days

Pedro R. is from Portugal and his music combines synth-based, lively and melodic backgrounds with vocals that in turn combine dream pop's subtle sound with post-punk's vibes all over them. Two songs stay in your head from the very first time you hear them. They cost whatever you want to pay.

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Onira - What's to Fear?

Carefree and tune-rich indie pop with a lo-fi-kind-of noise all over it - this is the Californian band who have recently released their debut single/short EP. Three brief songs cost whatever you want to pay.

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The Palace of Tears - Tears of the Moon v​.​2

The Erick r. Scheid and L.V. Darkling duo from New Orleans create a super interesting take on darkwave music: minimal and atmospheric backgrounds and vocals that range from suggestive whispers to opera-like beautiful singing. Two years after their debut, they are releasing a short but very meaningful EP. Two tracks cost whatever you want to pay.

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Redloz - Ungatz

The Dutch artist Bart de Groot, together with Jonny Parlett who provided vocals, created this airy and melodic piece of dream pop. Two versions of the song cost 2 EUR.

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Holy Hum - Let It Be Desire (2022)

Five years ago, Andrew Lee released his brilliant second album All of My Bodies and stole my music heart. Since then, he seems to have moved to New York but the music he offers hasn't changed much. There's no vocals this time, but the complex instrumental side speaks for itself on Let It Be Desire.

This album feels extremely intimate with all those imperfect sounds and noises all over the place, with many silent interruptions, with the clearly audible soul poured into the compositions. They are neoclassically beautiful but also a bit noisy, very experimental, clearly meant to ask questions rather than provide answers. It's poetry turned into music and as such, it goes so well with the poem the artist mentions on his Bandcamp account, a poem in which he that states that "I have lived most of my life in the spaces of becoming". 

Let It Be Desire costs 9 USD.

Holy Hum - All Of My Bodies (2017)

Check: Faith in Doubt

Country: New York, US

Genre: experimental neoclassical

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