Łabandzi Śpiew: Germany

czwartek, 28 maja 2026

Foghazer - He Left The Temple (2026)

Take the artist's image, song titles, label and even the name, Foghazer, and try not to be surprised when you hear the music behind it, I dare you. The black-metal-facade meeting the trip-hop core sound of the Berlin-based artist is really just something else. And yes, the trippy beats and scratches are followed by metal guitar backgrounds, but the effect is still peculiar. In the best possible way.

This also means that Foghazer's debut album is one of very few trip-hop-adjacent releases that don't bore me. Unfortunately, I struggle to enjoy the genre I once thought might become my favourite. Something clicked in my mind in the wrong way. But it seems that what I need it a dose of originality. And yes, I recognize that this is probably a very amateur project, the quality of the guitar parts is not great, but I value the complexity and diversity of compositions a lot, enough to give the project an OK with a note "keep an eye on".

According to Foghazer, the album is filled with the so-called "sound of low visibility", "slow beats, distorted memory and fog as both space and emotion" in his words mesmerize the audience with ease while the addition of surprising but so well-fitted elements (like the fantastic, Igorrr-like opera vocals in He) add up to the originality of this music even more.

He Left The Temple costs what you want to pay.

Check: He

Country: Germany

Genre: death trip-hop

Label: Hypnotic Dirge Records

czwartek, 2 kwietnia 2026

BRUECKEN - years that answer (2026)

One of the most interesting new instances of the classic, guitar-oriented post-rock music comes from Germany. At the end of February, the Oldenburg-based BRUECKEN released their third album and it's some bloody good guitar music.

The album is filled with guitar compositions that are more melodic than atmospheric and can appeal to the fans of the good, ole' post-rock. But they also include a range of other sonic decoration, like the ethereal elements in Periapsis or soft vocals in Signs of Spring that can satisfy all fans. I really like that the massive compositions, first of all Dissolving, where you can feel the weight of the guitar sound while still enjoy the ever-changing melodies share the album space with some airy beauties that function basically as ways of appreciation of each sound and every note created.

The name of the band is no coincidence. Just like bridges do (bruecken means bridges in German), the band is all about uniting. Let me quote the artists: "We believe in the power of 1music, friendship, empathy and solidarity and stand firmly against all forms of discrimination". I'm cosigning this message with both of my hands. And hey, we have our man in the line up as David Barteczko plays guitar since the establishment of the band!

years that answer costs 9 EUR.

Check: Dissolving

Country: Germany

Genre: classic post-rock

Label: Moment of Collapse Records

Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys - Teen Tapes (for Performing Your Own Stunts) 2022

wtorek, 24 marca 2026

Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys - Pale Bloom (2026)

It's been already almost 10 years since Lucy Kruger started releasing albums with her band as Lucy Kruger & the Lost Boys and she proves that she has innumerable layers of artisticness and pure talent within herself. The albums are released so frequently one can lose track of Kruger's discography, but that's ok. I can assure you, they are only getting better and better.

The characteristic minimalism the artist nurtures evolves with every release, at least that's how I see it: it's not as rough and lone electric guitar-heavy, less of the dark blues vibe and more towards softer, dreamier art pop music. In some places even bordering with ambient pop's soundscape-y unintelligibleness of the backgrounds. It may be softer but it's certainly not much lighter: the darker shade of dreamy is the signature skill of Kruger's music and, first of all, lyrics which play the lead role in every song on this and any other release. And those can be extremely poignant and uneasy.

But the thing I love about this music is how effortlessly it combines the ethereally catchy parts with artsy, slightly less approachable in form, very often within one composition too. That's why Ambient Heat is definitely my favourite here: the short lyrical phrases that create a mosaic of fear and existential uncertainty contrast the beautifully executed chorus that contrasts the ambient pop formless parts. I could hardly not love this one.

Pale Bloom costs 9 EUR.

Check: Ambient Heat

Country: RSA/Germany

Genre: dreamy art rock

Label: Unique Records/Schubert Music

Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys - Transit Tapes (For Women Who Move Furniture Around) (2021)

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Hypnodrone Ensemble - Plays Orchestral Favourites (2018)

środa, 13 sierpnia 2025

thisquietarmy x otay:onii - Howl and Tell (2025)

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The collaboration between two outstanding experimental musician, thisquietarmy (Eric Quach) and otay:onii (Lane Shi) had to bear some exciting and valuable fruits. And, surprise, surprise, it did! Long and spacious, yet deeply intense. Imagine industrial ambient and noise folk music from your beautiful nightmares.

As mentioned on their instagram, the project was born during the 2023 tour that Quach went on in Europe and where Shi was supposed to be an opening act, but quickly got introduced in the main one as well. And I have to tell you, it was rather clear that the two would find a common language. The industrial soundscapes with noisy guitar sounds hidden in the backgrounds, lurking from the shadows fits perfectly with Shi's vocal improvisations that you can feel on your skin. Even when the backgrounds attack the most with the raw and dirty sounds, the vocals are still the most important to me. But maybe I'm just drawn to their uniqueness so much.

This autumn, otay:onii is playing a gig in Warsaw and I'd love to see her live finally. Maybe this will sooth the regrets I have from not going to thisquietarmy's performance at dunk!festival:)

Howl and Tell costs 8 EUR (7 GBP).

Check: Lips Touching the First Word in Sleeps

Country: Canada, China/Germany

Genre: industrial dark folk

Label: Cruel Nature Records

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środa, 21 maja 2025

Wombed - Developing Phobias (2025)

And so André Leo finally released the debut album under the moniker of Wombed. I remember his first EP being extremely slowcore and intimately quiet while the new album is more about showing emotions. In the end, this half of Medicine Boy ended up in similar musical regions as Lucy Kruger (and The Lost Boys) as they both explore the darker minimalist rock music and both do it very well.

Although Wombed is now a full line-up band, the album is ruled by the moments when Leo lets the emotions run freely be it in the form of his angrier voice (slightly angrier, let's be real) or surprisingly rough sounds of electric guitar. It's this kind of one man music that is very dependent on the vocals-guitar collaboration, although when you listen closely, some songs present more three-dimensional compositions. In any case, I still like the atmosphere very much: the slightly airy and very intimate music that, I'm sure, is especially good when played live for a smaller audience.

And yes, as it's been the case pretty much always, Lucy Kruger helped with providing backing vocals. It's good to see former band members helping each other with post-split-up careers.

Developing Phobias costs 6 EUR.

Check: Cloud Hum

Country: RSA/Germany

Genre: dark art rock

Wombed - Still Nothing (2021)

czwartek, 8 maja 2025

Pictures From Nadira - Bright Lights and Tired Streets (2025)

Another band that get better and better with every release is the German Pictures From Nadira. Their third album comes as "a sonic world full of melancholy, vastness, and fleeting memories" translated into guitar-oriented post-rock that balances the melodic and the dark faces of the genre.

The band describes their music as "massive walls of sound and fragile melodies allow the listener to partake in the tearing down of soulful silence in chaos and utopia." This album is more dark and massive than melodic and funky. Which I appreciate. As the title suggests, it feels like a night landscape of a city that is covered in heavy silence, but the lights are still on and life can be felt existing somewhere close. The homogeneous heaviness of the guitar sound is very close to the best post-rock examples of the overwhelming music.

The flow of the album is near perfect. The torrents of sound feel like dark waters of a big river (from the title of the closing track, I presume it's Danube) flowing around you to an unknown destination and you don't even know when they catch you in a way that cannot be fought against.

Bright Lights and Tired Streets costs 7 EUR.

Check: Absence

Country: Germany

Genre: dark post-rock

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czwartek, 16 stycznia 2025

There's a Light & Noir Reva - Anam Cara (2024)

Two German (mostly) instrumental bands released a split album back in November and brought as a healthy dose of good guitar post-rock. The better known There's a Light from Lahr and their compatriots, Noir Reva, from Koblenz made sure to fill this short release with some juicy stuff.

The first part belongs to There's a Light, who composed their songs with a lot of post-rock aspects: the soft guitar dancing (I don't like this that much), the heavier guitar crushes (I like them very much), the melodic story-telling and the nostalgic atmosphere. The second track, Aporia, surprises twice: the first notes sound almost like minimalist chip tune, but it eventually grows into a full-fledged post-rock composition until it is joined by, it's the second surprise, almost... progressive rock-like vocals. I think it all works together pretty well.

The second part from Noir Reva shows that the lesser known band is very able to make interesting music. Their compositions are faster, more complex (with some interesting samples in the background I think) and catchier. The energy is pretty contagious and it's difficult no to dance to Svartur. Which is great, but in Noir Reva's case I do believe the faster the better. as the closing track is one that my mind completely ignored every time I listened to the EP.

Anam Cara costs 4.99 EUR.

Check: Aporia

Country: Germany

Genre: guitar post-rock

Label: Broken Youth Records

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poniedziałek, 8 maja 2023

Alpha du Centaure & unknown fault - Careless (2023)

Two bands: the French post-rockers of Alpha du Centaure and unknown fault, a duo from Germany joined their forces to release a split album filled with

The split is opened by the "raw alloy of ethereal spleen and onirism" from Alpha du Centaure. The French are known for their consistently high-quality releasing history with two great albums in their discography. And their post-rock music here is certainly on pair with their previous albums. This one, however, starts with a galloping but smooth guitar avalanche that is enriched with, alternately, dreamy and angry vocals. Those are the elements added by Nadia and Urs from unknown fault. And this combination of thick, atmospheric post-rock with oneiric blackgaze works extremely well. And I genuinely wish the whole album was like that, it just feels great together.

Instead, we have one more song by Alpha du Centaure and three songs from the German duo. And they are all great, don't get me wrong. The French kill with their heavy post-rock vibes and unknown fault enchants the audience with beautiful, magical vocals.

Careless costs 7 EUR.

Check: Sunray Inertia

Country: France

Genre: blackgaze post-rock

Label: Stellar Frequencies

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wtorek, 18 kwietnia 2023

Golden Hours - Golden Hours (2023)

Golden Hours may have just released their first album ever, but this is a band that involves a lot of talent and experience. Made up from musicians known from such bands as Gang Of Four, The Brian Jonestown Massacre or The Third Sound, the supergroup delivers their memorable post-punk music on the self-titled debut.

Everything here is as supposed: the compositions are based on very post-punk bass lines and very post-punk vocals (by The Third Sound's Hákon Adalsteinsson) but with extremely noisy guitars that spice everything up. Not to mention the catchy melodies that should make all the post-punkers out there dance and dance from the very first sounds to the last. And this all works also with slower tracks where the band focus on the noisy and unsettling atmosphere that in Dead On sounds like a lonely night on a cemetery. This album may just be the very essence of the slightly darker post-punk music and everyone should check it out.

Golden Hours costs 8 EUR (7 GBP).

Check: Calling Me Home

Country: Germany

Genre: noisy post-punk

Label: Fuzz Club

piątek, 3 lutego 2023

YEAHRS - Transfer.Transform (2023)

The four-piece band from Berlin playing shoegaze based on very post-rock guitars, this is YEAHRS and their maybe debut album or maybe second EP called Transfer.Transform.

The quality of the guitar music that this album is based on, was the first thing I noticed. The guitars feel crunchy and the compositions well-written and complex enough to potentially function without the vocals as post-rock music. But with the dispersed, yet melodic, vocals, the album gets a lot to the oneiric experience, making it virtually a treat for shoegaze lovers. That is until it suddenly gets heavier and faster with the soothing vocals starting to coexist with post-hardcore screams. I like surprises like this. I really am looking forward to more from the Germans.

Transfer.Transform costs 5 EUR.

Check: Judgement Day

Country: Germany

Genre: shoegaze rock

Label: Night Ritual

środa, 30 listopada 2022

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

piątek, 23 września 2022

Jolanda Moletta - Nine Spells (2022)

The leader of She Owl, the Berlin-based dream pop duo, Jolanda Moletta recently showed what seems to be her first solo album, and what an intriguing gem it is! Nine Spells are magical incantations that are clearly gates to a different, fantastic and pretty moody world.

What's most impressive about this album is that the only instrument Moletta uses is her voice. Distorted and experimented on, yes, but still, just the voice. And its various natures are collected together to create the eerie soundscapes. As she explains, "singing beyond words is a way to express an entire lifeline in one single breath, a way to represent and move emotional mountains, clouds full of tears and winds of laughter, infinite gardens where memories and desires intertwine and work together". This unique way of the abstract storytelling is used by Moletta to explore her ancestry, the history of her female predecessors on this Earth. One thing is certain, it's a magical tribute.

Nine Spells costs 7 EUR.

Check: Spell V: Like Honey in a Hidden Cave

Country: Germany

Genre: soundscape a capella

Label: Ambientologist

wtorek, 13 września 2022

Melting Palms - Noise Between the Shades (2022)

Melting Palms debuted two years ago with Abyss, but they hadn't caught my attention until this year's second release ever, Noise Between the Shades. And as the title of the album suggests, it is filled with many shades of pop music that are glued together by the noisy elements.

It is further confirmed by the band themselves, who say that "what unites us all is reverb". Baptized as "loudest group in Hamburg", they embrace the noise pop genre, and everything it includes, with fantastic enthusiasm. The lively and energetic melodies are what drives the album together with the very catchy guitar work. The two vocals go together with these vibes but there is some of the dreamy nostalgia in them as well. And everything is drown in subtle but omnipresent noisy atmosphere that makes it so attractive to the fans. But it doesn't mean that everything here is fast and pop-ish: in tracks like Ark, the artists give themselves some time to play around instrumental, appealing and extremely moody music (those violins here!).

The lyrics about "hope and misfortune, about melancholy and promise" bring the so appreciated contrast against the upbeat (most of the time) music with examples like the gloomy Crimson Eye: "Stuffed my chest/ with harsh regret/ Clouds drop rain upon the bed/ My mouth runs dry, all has been said". Sad and beautiful, like the whole album.

Noise Between the Shades costs 12 EUR.

Check: Ark

Country: Germany

Genre: noise pop

Label: La Pochette Surprise Records

Päfgens - Der Sturm (2019)

piątek, 19 sierpnia 2022

Päfgens - Der Regen (2022)

Jana Kočišová and Filip Drábek, two modern nomads, come from Slovakia, they created their band in Warszawa, Poland and currently make their music in Berlin, Germany. Just like the artists, their music is also travelling, "moving from shoegazy and dreamy naive folk into loops and oscilative drones". The latter is reached on Der Regen.

Their new album "comes from nowhere, takes you to a place for a moment and leaves as suddenly as it came. Subtle, yet very strong." The subtlety is the keyword here: the music is based on acoustic sounds that get looped and changed all over so they create tiny mazes of mesmerizing sound. And those mazes lead us through tiny worlds filled with field recordings that make them alive. The strength of the duo lies in their ability to create soundscapes that generate so much atmosphere, one that may be lighter or darker, but they can also create some really unnerving pieces too, with the album's last, slowly building up Nylon that ends the whole album with gloomy sounds of bells.

Der Regen costs 5 EUR.

Check: Nylon

Country: Slovakia, Germany

Genre: atmospheric ambient

Label: Solanum / Econore

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