Thursday 23 December 2010

Golden Oldies


Some good ol' releases from the 80s onward. Some of the best.
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>BRIAN ENO/DAVID BYRNE (1981)
  

     My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is a serious piece of songwriting. It combines the sensibilities of both artists into one well rounded piece of early electronic goodness. Masterful instrumentals, epic layered compositions, synths from synth guru Eno, and incredible tape loop samples with analog effects, all cut by hand.

BOWIE(1992)




     Hands down the best Bowie construction out there. The songs are so good, typical ironic and suggestive lyricism, coupled with grand, forward moving music. "Waiting for the lights, you know what I mean."


ASPECTS OF PHYSICS (2004)



   These guys have dominated San Diego minimal electronica for almost a decade, receiving nominations for best Electronic act at the San Diego Music Awards from 02 to 06. Rob Crowe, Jeff Coad, great musicians, great minimal ambience: Marginalized Information Forms One: Ping

KOTKI DWA (2007)


     Kotki Dwa is a good thing, despite what GestateReality or Max Paradise have to say. If you can get past the vocals and their production, which are both atypical and I admit somewhat uncomfortable at times, the music is thoroughly enjoyable. It is tight,  inventive, and it keeps with a solid theme of absurd half-hope. The music is upbeat, almost fun, as are the lyrics dark and questioning as well as playful. The electronics are pretty, (the album opening features bleeps and whirs artfully arranged to simulate nature sounds) and appropriately used. I highly implore you to acquire this release.

Signing out.



















kids AND explosions?

Yes. Both.
Mash-ups are some finicky bullshit. Most mash-up artists these days are too busy being hipsters to actually mash good music together. Others will often resort to simply laying a couple songs over one another that happen to be in the same time signature and hope it appeals to the masses. It is rare that an artist will insert enough of their own artistic touch to impress me with a mash-up. It takes a fucken lot.

With that being said, new to the scene, we have Kids & Explosions. With his first record released as of mid-October, it's quite the banging interception for a lot of AotY lists. What separates this release from the pack is its sounds of Unstoppable-era Girl Talk glitch MASTERY combined with the super clean production style of newer Girl Talk. Though they are parallels that must be drawn and compared against for any mash-up release, this album goes above and beyond most anything Greg Gillis has ever, or will ever do. The beats and lyrics--from start to finish--are masterfully crafted into unique compositions, giving new life and meaning to every single track used. Do not pass off a moment of this album as noise you have heard on the radio before. Everything is where it needs to be at all times. And all for good reason.

Deeply fun and surprisingly meaningful. Hopefully, a producer to look out for more in the near future.

9/10

MP3/FLAC:

http://www.kidsandexplosions.com/shitcomputer/
If you are soulless enough not to donate, simply put "0.0" in as your donation amount.

Tuesday 21 December 2010

GestateReality's Releases of 2010

Full Lengths:
10. Defeated Sanity - Chapters of Repugnance:
Heavier than ever. Brutal Death Metal at its finest.
9. America Addio - Cotton Kingdom:
Spastic Electropop; autotune for miles; beautiful, vivid lyrics; all tastefully woven into each other making a near damn perfect album.
8. The Ascent of Everest - From This Vantage:
Orchestral Post-Rock. Huge, consuming soundscapes and crushing crescendos.
7. Blackbird Blackbird - Summer Heart:
Chillwave done right. Not over produced. Not boring. Just an honest, feel-good album.
6. Sed Non Satiata - s/t:
A big dividing line with Screamo for many is the lyrical content. Some love it, and some fucking hate it. I am part of the former group, and though this release is sung in French, you can still feel every ounce of emotion in every word. And the guitars are nothing less than destructive.
5. Shigeto - Full Circle:
Words can hardly describe this release. It feels like nostalgia as music. An essential for any fans of Ambient, Glitch, or IDM.
4. Envy - Recitation:
Envy are monolithic. They have never once disappointed me with even a single track across their 6 albums and 5 or so EPs. And then of course all their splits... This album is not an exception. Perfect.
3. The Saddest Landscape - You Will Not Survive:
It was hard for me to put this album ahead of Recitation. Ultimately, I decided to because while Envy has created near, if not fully, flawless albums for almost a decade and a half, this was the first release by the Saddest Landscape where I felt that they just put everything into the right place. They've really been coming up strong with all their recent releases. Perfect.
2. Crystal Castles - s/t 2010:
Maybe the number two spot is a bit high for Crystal Castles' newest release, but then again, listening to both of their albums back to back, there is a certain unbridled sense of emotion that goes into everyone of their songs. It's near impossible for me to describe, but it's there. I swear.
1. Baths - Cerulean:
I have fallen asleep to this album practically every night since I heard it in June. It's a masterpiece. I don't know what else to say about it, really. Make sure you get the real version of the album, if you check it out. Most of my friends have a bootleg copy and it sounds like shit. Perfect.
EPs:
5. Shigeto - Semi Circle:
Shigeto dabbling with glitchy madness. Super unique and innovative sounds. A producer to continue watching out for.
4. Sister Crayon - Enter Into Holy (Or)ders:
Very atmospheric Dream-Pop. Their lyrics slice into your soul and let it spill out. Listening to it is rewarding, and finishing it is redeeming. It's easy to get caught in a cycle of listening to this EP 10 times over before you ever consider not listening to it another time.
3. Have A Nice Life - Time of Land:
This is a flawless, sincere, release bursting with a bleak, hard-to-understand radiance. Perfect.
2. Deafheaven - Demo:
The first Black Metal release to really really convince me that BM can be, and IS, worth my time. Highly Post-Rock influenced. One of the most emotionally charged releases of the year. This shit could move mountains.
1. The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die - Formlessness:
The pinnacle of Midwestern style Emo. Amazingly creative guitar work, intricately placed drums, and some of the best lyrics I have ever heard. No review I can write will do this EP a favor. Probably my very favorite release of 2010.
Honorable Mentions:
Adebisi Shank - This Is The Second Album of A Band Called Adebisi Shank:
Even better than their first release. A solid performance that rarely comes up short.
Domination Through Impurity - Masochist:
Brutal Technical Death Metal. In a lot of ways, an extremely contrived genre. But not here. These guys know how to do what they want to do without sounding like the rest of the crowd. Killer slams, amazing riffs. check it.
In Her Own Words - Brand New Me:
I hate pop-punk/easycore/etc. I fucking love this EP.
Listen to it.

Memoryhouse - The Years:
Rivaling Sister Crayon as my favorite Dream-Pop act of the year. The strong songs are really strong, but there's one or two empty, more boring tracks on this release, which isn't acceptable on an EP.
Pretty Lights - Spilling Over Every Side:
Funky-Ass Electronic. Wonderfully fun.
Sleep In - Carnival:
Another ELHR act. Another perfect ELHR act.
Wormed - Quasineutrality:
Brutal Technical Death Metal. Again, they do what they do well, but like Masochist, it just hardly missed the mark when stacked up against Defeated Sanity's newest release.

Monday 20 December 2010

News

    LOVE AND LIGHT



      Love and Light have an EP coming in late January, featuring tracks from the Santa Cruz show such as "Heart", an extra slippery breakbeat wet dream. A comment received from the artists themselves on the release sums it up best: SlooooperySlopSludgePopJunktastic BOING."
Can't wait.

DOEO

     New D414 mix. So good. Free download. SC represent.

Wednesday 15 December 2010

Tunes ahoy, Blaptain!

  
All kinds of stuff on the mellow end of the spectrum. Garage, Glitch, and Downtempo. Some delicacies.









ILL-ESHA
      Newest release from the SF glitch mistress. Super mellow, super ornate production, bass-line sensibility. Killing it, she is.

Circadian Rhythms

And perhaps some bay area cross genre collaboration?
Antiserum & ill-esha - Lightning (clip) by ill-esha



YOUNG MONTANA?
     British lad is killing it with his crunchy sound-scapes. Release in 2010, highly anticipated.
Listen&Download:
Kuhn - Quiet Nights (Young Montana? Remix) /// Free Download at 
Astronautico.bandcamp.com by Young Montana?



H.U.D.
     H.U.D. is an interesting one. He's been in the scene for decades, starting in the warehouses of South Detroit as a house DJ in the early techno scene. His sounds are crisp, his mixing fluent and aesthetically gorgeous, and his selections are diverse. Background character, very talented, this mix is essential and the interview is good too.
FRITENITE005



LOCAL LOVE
     New track from Sirr Paul, new killer roots machine from Fish Finger, and one from SCs own Christian Gunning aka Superman Fast, comin' through with some nifty beats as of late. New house track from D414 aka Doeo, super slippery funk business. Good stuff, gents.

Fog by Sirr Paul
Fish Finger & Dread Foxx - Fund Raisers [1st Edit] by Fish Finger
JOin YOur ENEMY (produced By SUperMAN FAST) by Superman Fast
MORPHINE (PREVIEW) by D414


PROFRESHER
     Dope Psy-Crunk track from Profresher, aka Billy Blacklight. Good stuff, great producer. Troll his soundcloud.

Psyentific Eyedealism by Profresher





ROBOT KOCH
     Yes, yes, and yes. A new release. Yes. Completely essential.
Robot Koch - Songs For Trees and Cyborgs



LOW LIMIT
     A new Low Limit mix, super tasty. Spacey sounds, ridiculously head bobbing groovy, emotive and relaxing. Comical at moments, flowing always. Get it Get it.
Brainfeeder Mix

Friday 3 December 2010

Razor Clean Bass Machine.




     The results of the latest trolls, some new stuff, some old stuff, some spold stuff. These songs hurt you.


TOM ENCORE
       Some seriously tasteful, technical filth. The sounds are extra clean and the sub bass is calculated.
His mix from May is one of the best I've ever heard, blending his thick glitch repertoire with his original and selected dubstep in a manner displaying a most sensuous set of mixing skills. The thing flows like a river.
I also have a few select songs from that mix for download, my personal pickings, set below this tasty mix:

MAY 2010 MIX by Tom Encore

Brokenhaze - Block
Calypso (Tom Encore Remix) - DatsiK & Excision
NastyNasty - No Names

...You'd better troll his soundcloud, too. All of it.

Masala - As One (Tom Encore Remix) by Tom Encore

BASSEL
     Bassel has a super clean sound, similar to the crystalline high end sweeps and cleanly bit-crushers witnessed in Tom Encore's tunes.
Rusko & Sub Focus - Hold On (DJ bassel Remix) by DJ Bassel
Usher - DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love (DJ Bassel Remix) by DJ Bassel

GLŸPH
      Some old stuff from Glÿph, one of my all time favorites, which has resurfaced after learning that my two favorite tracks are being coupled for an EP out on Krypled Brain in 2011. The tracks, and a mix.
Glÿph - Purple Bear in the Brain Forest by Glÿph
Glÿph - Mind World (Clip) by Glÿph
Glÿph - The Bassfuckers Deep Mix by Glÿph



SIRR PAUL
      Local delicatessen, glitch madman, gentle mole-friend. The future lies here, in Paul's razor clean bass.
Tell Me When To Go (sirrpaul remix) by Sirr Paul


BULLWACK
      This next ripping filth construction arose from the bowels of tasty trash electro technician Bullwack. It is but a preview. I suggest you prowl this man's other work, it's quite something. Free DL.
Bullwack - My New Best Friend by BULLW∆CK

HELICOPTER SHOWDOWN
      The SF boys have done it, with their new Ultragore release, the Wrestler EP, smashing all conceivable expectations. It is a machine. From strictly the thirty-seven second clips, I can already tell this release is going to be one of the hugest of all time. Made me all but forget about Whistle Tips. These tracks are completely rounded, completely huge, completely tasty, tech-filth-to-the-tenth.
"The Wrestler" (Ultragore) by Helicopter Showdown


And to top it all off, thirteen tracks from hell, or Rottun records, rather:
Liquid Stranger - Mechanoid Meltdown


Sleep Easy.