Syupeo Jenjang - LP (2022)

The mysterious artist from South Korea but residing in Germany (I think) is back. He makes his music systematically and it always is a good quality noise rock and shoegaze blend. It's no different on his September album simply called LP.

The sound the artist creates is clearly established: it's noisy in the backgrounds, the guitars sound is clear and loud and the vocals dispersed and mysterious. The compositions are also particularly melodic while not of a standard length in places: Mother Earth is over 20 minutes long but it still easy to hum. I love how spacious the noise he generates feels. Listening to For a Better Life, for example, makes you think the guitar loudness creeps on you from every directions and it's so easy to get drowned in this beautiful and airy loudness.

LP costs 4 EUR.

Syupeo Jenjang - 이런 젠장 (2021)

Syupeo Jenjang - 슈퍼 젠장 (2021)

Check: For a Better Life 

Country: South Korea/Germany

Genre: noise rock

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Orbel - Lur Hezea (2022)

The artists singing in Basque are getting present on this blog. After Arima from the Basque Country, it is time for the band from the northern side of the Pyrenees, Orbel. Coming from Bayonne, the musicians create something from the borders of darkwave and nightmarish dream pop and hey showed it on their second album called Lur Hezea.

The album's title translates to "wet soil" and it only strengthens the overall impression that there's tons from folk culture in the band's music. The ancient, ritualistic nature of their art took form that is close to the dark folk/darkwave blend that is fairly popular i various places in Europe. But the vibes here are certainly more artsy: the music is dark but also far from being simple, the compositions create tones of atmosphere but not in the easiest ways possible. The minimalist background electronica works in a fantastic way in this surroundings too. It's artsy darkness. 

The band decided to switch their sound from post-rock/metal into what they call "oscillating between tribal rhythms and funeral introspections, like an ancient pagan ritual" and I ave to say that it seems to have been a really good decision. Especially when they incorporate some other genres into their tasty blend: like tribal folk in Irentsi or noisy backgrounds in Okerra. 

Lur Hezea costs 10 EUR.

Check: Heriozko Giltza

Country: France

Genre: artsy darkwave

Label: Usopop Diskak

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Glaston - I Am Whole (2022)

They make music since 2014, their debut album appeared in 2017, but it's only now that Glaston released their second album ever. The Swiss band brings post-rock and neoclassical music extremely close together and this makes I Am Whole something to have your ear engaged by for sure.

This is a pretty unique approach to post rock, I must say. Saying that it is led by the piano sounds is definitely not an exaggeration: the very classical piano keys are omnipresent here and decide the pace and the mood the music takes. And more often than not, it is surprisingly chill and relaxed pace and mood: the artists are concerned with the piano's beauty while guitars and drums mostly accompany this main actor. SO perhaps a neoclassical post-rock would be a fitting label for the Swiss band's music. There are cracks on this image that appear from time to time, as in Rotbuch where the guitars create very unnerving soundscape toward the end of the track, but the overall feeling is that the louder guitars still sit in the piano's shadow.

This is the way, a very jazzy way if I can add, the band decided to go to take the audience on a "journey of exploration, tapping deeply into emotions and feelings within". That's why more often than not, the music here feels calmer and more self-reflective than I would assume judging by the singles. It's an interesting surprise and I must say that it takes a while to appreciate this long album, but it's worth it.

I Am Whole costs 9 EUR.

Check: Rotbuch

Country: Switzerland

Genre: piano-led post-rock

Label: A Thousand Arms Music

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VIRUS2020 - SECT ط​ا​ئ​ف​ه (2022)

Rami Harrabir is an artist from Tunisia who creates various kinds of electronic music, but as VIRUS2020 focuses on very dark ambient soundscapes. His album SECT ط​ا​ئ​ف​ه makes it very clear.

His gloomy soundscapes are extremely immersive, one can feel them coming from every direction. Like an incoming night somewhere in the Tunisian desert. Especially that some parts include some obvious references to local, Arab folk which makes it only very unique. But the album is not just an oriental gimmick, Harrabir is really fluent in creating dark and bass-heavy drony ambient and I'm here for it. Interestingly enough, probably the most ear-catching track here, Crucified but ... مصلوب و لكن features Oiseaux-Tempête's Frédéric D. Oberland which only adds to the album's rich sound.

SECT ط​ا​ئ​ف​ه costs 3 USD.

Check: Crucified but ... مصلوب و لكن 

Country: Tunisia

Genre: oriental dark ambient

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Cruel Sister - Girls My Age (2022)

The "lover of big fields and forests" from Dublin, Faith Nico Boyd-Millar makes her music as Cruel Sister. And there's no doubt she is very talented as Girls My Age makes a very tasty noise pop dish.

The dream pop solo projects often rely on the lo-fi atmosphere to boost their oneiric capabilities, but it's not the case here: Boyd-Millar's music feels very well done, also quality-wise, and the noise we can admire comes solely from the quite heavy guitar sounds. The vocals are, of course, fittingly dispersed and, really, barely audible, but this is the point here. It's noisy and ethereal and, honestly, doesn't feel like a solo project. Maybe it's because in some fragments, the artist sings in choir with herself and it feels very authentic. It's always impressive how noisy one person can be and the Irish artist is a fantastic example here.

Girls My Age costs 4.5 EUR.

Check: too much

Country: Ireland

Genre: solo noise pop

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푸른 산 - 님의 침묵 (2022)

Coming from the Korean city of Incheon, 푸른 산 (Puleun San) is a post-rock band who released "an album from the heart" which is supposed to "celebrate beauty, peace and nostalgia". And 님의 침묵 presents an interesting take on instrumental music.

I feel it may be the Korean specialty as 푸른 산is not the first artist here who makes post-rock music as if it was supposed to be a shoegaze background, just waiting for some airy vocals. The overall structure of the fast and not that long compositions as well as their effect-heavy and dense nature, suggest some kind of influence coming from the shoegaze icons of the 90s. Still, I can't say that the band's music feels deficient without the vocals, I'm saying that this post-rock's flavour hits different than usually and I must say it is a compliment. 

The interesting fact is that the album's title translates to "silence" while its content is everything but quiet music. The most impressive example of the loud music the Koreans create is the album's longest track 님의 침묵 that uses its whole length to overwhelm the audience in the best possible way.

님의 침묵 costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: 님의 침묵

Country: South Korea

Genre: shoegaze-like post-rock

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The Stargazer Lilies - Cosmic Tidal Wave (2022)

For me, The Stargazer Lilies are synonymous with dense and moody shoegaze. A real shoegaze, if you will. The Californian band released their fifth album recently and, while there's no hit like Golden Key was, it represents the high quality oneiric psychedelia.

It's worth noting that, despite their name, the band is really into metaphors that involve the Sun as the new album is opened with Lit Like the Sun. Or maybe not really "despite" as the Sun is also a star. Anyway, the opening song introduces the album's psychedelic, heavy and slightly lo-fi atmosphere. This all results in a captivating experience, bringing together the psychedelia's trance and shoegaze's deafening abilities. And the raw excitement coming from the noise is especially well audible in Distant Space. And it's just a start as from this point, the dam breaks and the pure oneiric enthusiasm drowns the audience until the end of the record.

Yet another Sun-related track, Purple Sunshine, may be one of the album's highlights with the melodic and even glitchy, at one point, vibes. Those references to light are really very much in tune with the music itself as its overwhelming noise feels more luminous than dark, making the whole release hopeful and euphoric.

Cosmic Tidal Wave costs 9 USD.

The Stargazer Lilies - Lost (2017)

Check: Purple Sunshine

Country: California, US

Genre: luminous shoegaze

Label: Floravinyl Records

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Ef - We salute you, you and you! (2022)

The fifth album in the Swedish band's discography came after a long, almost a decade-long hiatus. But it was worth waiting for as We salute you, you and you! brings what best in the Nordic way of approaching post-rock music.

In their music the lively guitars and beautiful strings coexist with the Immanu El-like atmospheric vocals. The single's Moments of Momentum is the perfect example of this brilliant way of building compositions, the best way to end up with an instant post-rock hit in my opinion. There's a healthy dose of the music mystery and atmosphere without being too bland. And while the opening track is mostly focused on the mood, the Swedish prove that it's also possible to use guitars and string in more energetic, louder way.

I can't say if what strikes in their music the most is the airiness or the energy. Even the most ethereal tracks like Hymn of... can very quickly transform into almost post-hardcore passage of gloomy aggression (which is a nod to the artists' past in hardcore music). The whole album is a bag filled with various moods with an ambient Leuven added for a good measure, and this is what makes it a spectacular comeback. It is such a bliss that, also thanks to the uneventful life in the times of the pandemics, the band decided to come back together.

We salute you, you and you! costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Moments of Momentum

Country: Sweden

Genre: atmospheric post-rock

Label: Pelagic Records

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Rjania - 2001 (2022)

Coming from a "bedroom in Northwestern England" is this moody music by the artist known as Rjania. Her music gathered on this August's album 2001 is all about getting piano sounds into dreamy and ambient-like form.

They are certainly slow-paced and skilfully manipulated into sounding almost like a drone made of piano keys. The results are soothing but also very sad, making me think of the time just before the spring, when it's still cold and static but there's already the hope of bringing back the life present in the air. And it's not like in this lot of noisy effects, the artist forgets about the beauty the piano can bring, just get to Open Door and hear for yourself.

2001 costs 6 EUR (5 GBP).

Check: Open Door

Country: UK

Genre: piano ambient

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Julia Sabra and Fadi Tabbal - Snakeskin (2022)

This blog knows Julia Sabra as the vocalist of the Lebanese dream pop outfit Postcards. But she makes music under her own name too. Recently she joined forces with her compatriot, electronic/ambient music creator, Fadi Tabbal, in order to create a unique record called Snakeskin.

In their music, the artists combine Sabra's ultimately dreamy vocals and Tabbal's experimental electronica into non-obvious compositions. Already the first song here, Still Life, surprises the audience with crunchy samples that are everything but soothing to ears but yet, sounding very well together with Sabra's angelic voice. Later, the compositions get much more flow with the industrial flavours planted all around them. But really, this album is very difficult to attempt any kind of labeling with neoclassical ambient pieces like Past Tense, the unnervingly dark In Our Garden or the hazy dream of One by One. Practically speaking, each song is a different story with different vibes and emotions. And everything makes one whole glued together by the vocals and the melancholic aftertaste.

Snakeskin costs 8 USD.

Postcards - After the Fire, Before the End (2021)

Postcards - The Good Soldier (2020)

Check: One by One

Country: Lebanon

Genre: dreamy experimental pop

Label: Ruptured Records/Beacon Sound

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She Sees - Sakernas tillst​å​nd (2022)

The post-rockers of Shee Sees released their second (or third, depending on the source) album called Sakernas tillst​å​nd and I must say, although I haven't heard of the band before, they have everything that I love in post-rock music.

The most unique thing about the band is the use of the violin sound - not the bombastic and cinematic kind but more artsy and truer to the folk roots. And this alone makes me think of Godspeed You! Black Emperor in some, more atmospheric parts of the album. But violin, although a very important part of the Swedes' music, is not all there is. I can't help but love the overall vibes of this kind of post-rock: it's heavy and guitar-oriented but not overwhelming, it's fast and providing distinct melodies but not too pop-like, it's melancholic but not in the depressing way. Häxmässa is the faster track with the incredible flow that kidnaps the audience, Andakt is the moodier instrumental ballad but the real violin-guitar-drums madness comes in the album's finisher in 44 dagar. And not only once as the track feels like it's reaching its crescendos at least several times.

Sakernas tillst​å​nd costs 5 EUR (56 SEK).

Check: 44 dagar

Country: Sweden 

Genre: violin post-rock

Label: Hypnagogia Records

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cash - deluged (2022)

As far as I know, Cash debuted as an artist focused mostly on piano compositions. And while he was really good at this, those times are long gone. The India-born musician is now way more interested in the electronic sounds ranging freely from trip-hop to ambient and he proves it on his third album called deluged.

The synthy ambient soundscapes (a world of difference) are presented against the very trip-hop songs like submerged, creating together a unique experience that brings everything electronic music can be liked for. But it doesn't mean that Cash lost interest in the beauty of keys either: you can easily hear how good they sound in the bass-heavy asphyxia and the calmer plumeria. And the further the album goes, the more neoclassical it gets. The pace gets down, the subtle beauty of piano keys goes up. The airiness and the nostalgia-inducing ability of the album's finish is really something to go back to.

deluged costs 7 USD.

c a s h, 4lienetic - Abstract (2019)

c a s h - collision course (2019)

Cash - The Sounds My Heart Makes EP (2018)

Check: deluged (rework)

Country: Massachusetts, US

Genre: moody electronica

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Anna Arrobas - Made to Touch (2022)

Anna Arrobas, a Montreal-based artist, creates some hauntingly beautiful ballads that reside somewhere within the experimental art pop genre. Together with her band, the Canadian released her first album last month and it's a real deal of the moody, 

The Opener in Heart of Stone makes a beautiful promise for this album to be as moody as it is emotional and, simply, beautiful. However, from my experience, many artists like opening their albums this way, as a sort of an ornament, and then proceed with more mainstream pop content. Not this time though, as Arrobas continues with her atmospheric, nearly ambient pop. She uses her soft voice, additionally dispersed in a very dream pop manner, to lead us through this nostalgic and gloomy art realm. There's no doubt that her slow-paced compositions are meant to be very much of the experimental nature. The accents are put on creating the eerie but also enchanting atmosphere, rather than being particularly catchy or melodic. 

In this way, it is very ambient pop-like, there's, however, more to the instrumental side of the project. There's both guitar and synthesizer sounds, not to mention a guest accordion from time to time, but the music is still far from being overwhelming. The subtle backgrounds make it clear that in this art pop, art is more important than pop. And no song is a better example of this than the spoken word-filled Vœu that closes the album.

Made to Touch costs 7.5 EUR (10 CAD).

Check: Vœu

Country: Canada

Genre: dreamy art pop

Label: Éditions Appærent

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Departing / Serein - Elegy (2022)

Some music is meant to convey certain feelings and messages. Like it is with this kind of dark drone soundscape from the split release by Departing and Serein. 

I can't say much about the two artists but this album was born out of death of someone they cared about so much that this sudden loss lead to the sonic way of mourning. The two tracks are filled with drone soundscapes that are as dark as the feeling of loss and so touching as well. The music here is static and cold, filled with sadness and regret. I can't think of a better way of expressing those.

Elegy costs 1 USD.

Check: The Emptiness in Loss

Country: Pennsylvania, US

Genre: dark drone

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Submotile - One Final Summit Before the Fall (2022)

The Italian-Irish duo released their last album only a year ago and they are back again with the third one in their discography, ominously called One Final Summit Before the Fall. And I have to say, I dig the sound they achieve: the very noisy, very energetic kind of noise rock.

This sound is mostly the result of the extremely noisy and overwhelming guitar walls of noise that appear all over the album, ready to crush you in this sad but up-lifting kind of hug. Daniela Angione's dreamy, dispersed vocals have to fight their way through this guitar blizzard and these are the moments when I say "this is the shoegaze sound", especially in places like Resonica's finish.. And all of this doesn't mean that Submotile's music is not melodic. I don't know how they manage to produce this noisy but also fast-paced and melodic music so well. The overall feeling of the album certainly revolves around chaotic noise, overwhelming sound but also melodic rock and I like this combination a lot.

One Final Summit Before the Fall costs 7 USD.

Submotile - Sonic Day Codas (2021)

Check: From First Light Until Our Final Sleep

Country: Ireland/Italy

Genre: noise rock

Label: Shelflife

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OSNOVA - OSNOVA (2022)

The California-based trio OSNOVA are the newest dreamy music explorers from this region. They released their debut self-titled EP recently, showing some good, oneiric pop/rock skills.

I love the way Caroline McLaughlin's vocals' airy sound works with the music here. The artists propose a decent amount of noisy backgrounds, from time to time changing the vibes to more acoustic rock-like, but overall, mostly within the noisy realm. The bass lines are also surprisingly often well-audible. That's also why this is the kind of music that takes on the dreamy appearance where it fits but doesn't shy away from going towards the more indie rock direction. It could definitely be of better quality sound-wise, but perhaps it's good enough for the debut. Also, I love the album's finish in Solicitation (They're Coming On).

OSNOVA costs 4.99 USD.

Check: Solicitation (They're Coming On)

Country: California, US

Genre: dreamy indie rock

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Lucid Express - Floret (2022)

From the far away land of Hong Kong, "young dreamers creating a stunningly airy blend of shoegaze and indie pop", known as Lucid Express, hail. They have recently released their second album, following the really good debuting self-titled one, and called it Floret.

The five artists are devoted to creating soft and dreamy pop music that strikes with their slow pace and moody atmosphere. There's a decent amount of noise accompanying the guitar, not overwhelming, melodies and the withdrawn, very much dispersed female vocals. So everything we love in dream pop music. The album is actually a four-tracks-long EP but it is enriched with another five remixes and, I must say, it does feel like one whole album. Perhaps it's because the listener does not focus on separate songs that much as the whole album offers a blissful, dreamy experience. It's very well audible in Venture, where the music and the vocals reach this psychedelic, dreamy state of trance-like sound that last up to the end of the "EP" part of the album.

Floret costs 6.99 USD.

Check: Venture

Country: Hong Kong

Genre: dream pop

Label: Kanine Records

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Lost in Kiev - Rupture (2022)

It's been already three years since the French post-rockers of Lost in Kiev released the fantastic Persona and already a decade since their debut album Motions. To mark this milestone, the band shows their fourth LP called Rupture.

And, truth be told, it is mostly kept in the style they managed to get us used to already: the guitar post-rock filled with modern and exciting electronica up to the lid. As the guitars are really meant to be overwhelming and pretty dark-sounding, at least at the beginning, the lighter synthy side balances the resulting music perfectly. The material was recorded live and it may be the reason behind this energetic and engaging sound. The artists claim to dedicate this album to the environmental fight and "eco-angst" we all experience more and more these days - interestingly enough, they convey this in very modern-sounding way. And not that dark after all.

Because the further the album goes, the lighter, more melodic the compositions become. All of them are only instrumental, the only exception is the second track here, Prison of Mind, which reveals the album's guest star, The Ocean's vocalist, Loïc Rossetti and... it's honestly my least favourite track. On Rapture and generally in the French band's discography. The post-hardcore-like vocals don't match the complex music of Lost in Kiev as I see it. Or maybe I just really don't like this kind of vocals.

Rupture costs whatever you want to pay.

Lost in Kiev - Persona (2019)

Check: We Are

Country: France

Genre: modern post-rock

Label: Pelagic

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