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

:bandcamp:

:facebook:

:instagram:

:soundcloud:

:youtube:

:spotify:

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

:bandcamp:

:facebook:

:instagram:

:soundcloud:

:youtube:

:spotify:

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

:bandcamp:

:facebook:

:instagram:

:soundcloud:

:spotify:

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

:bandcamp:

:spotify:

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

:bandcamp:

:facebook:
:official:

:instagram:

:spotify:

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

:bandcamp:

:facebook:
:official:

:instagram:

:youtube:

:spotify:

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

:bandcamp:

:facebook:
:official:

:instagram:

:youtube:

:spotify: