EP Grab Bag vol. 97

This might've been the longest hiatus the blog has taken all year. However, I have been sick for well over a week and trying my damnest to keep up with the work from my paying job. Sadly this meant the enjoyable, unpaid duty of writing up music had take a backseat. However, I seem to be on the mend now, even though chunks of nasty lung butter are still flying out in coughing fits. Needless to say there is a metric fuck ton of submissions I've yet to get to, but this is what I was able to chip off so far.

To be had here:

Nicholas Fair - Small Songs (2015)

Three tracks released as an EP, really serving as a demo for this musician from Corpus Christi, TX. These tracks fall very much in with the folksy, lo-fi bedroom sort of music I've been spouting off about for the last few weeks. They're piano-heavy, which is all too uncommon and done quite beautifully by Mr. Fair. Musically it's all rather airy, but his singing is deeply resonating. Creates a wonderful contrast to hear. He's got a whole series of releases all the way back to 2002 on his bandcamp if these interest you enough to check out more.

The Pretty Greens - Lonely Hearts Club "No Jerks Allowed" (2015)

A garage pop outfit outta Philadelphia. This all-female three-piece that makes use of the girl group pop sound of the 60s, but rely upon it. Musically the Pretty Greens are akin to Peach Kelli Pop, Bruiser Queen and Silkies. However, they don't lack in individual flare, especially in the song "Once Before" where I dude throws in some fast Sir Mix-A-Lot style singing the middle. Can only hope they don't dally too long in producing an LP. However, this EP is being put out by Negative Fun Records, an indie label with a fine looking roster even beyond this ladies from Philly.

Timberwolf - Flux (2015)

An extremely well-produced folk project of the Adelaide-based musician known as Timberwolf. The songs are full with accompanying musicians on strings and drums along with a range of background singers. At times has a ghostly feeling, but it really blows up into a much larger sound quickly. It's impressive how good this all sounds in fact. I wouldn't be surprised to see this guy spreading around into ambient music selections of trendier business's like Seawolf. Wait... Seawolf, Timberwolf... connecting dots.

Piglet Outlet - Paradise in Progress (2015)

Now this is a far more decidedly unconventional sounding EP. The band hails from Malmö, Sweden and has members that've belonged to notable regional acts prior. They make experimental indie pop, with many strange instrumentation choices, quirky singing and lyrics and frequently changing rhythms. Fucking great stuff if your a fan of the Unicorns, most E6 or any number of strange indie pop bands. Finally, this has been released via Shallow Shit Records, a new label started by Martin M Sjöstrand (aka This Heel).

Malka - The Constant State (2015)

The album art of this EP really explains a lot. The rising sun in a bucolic forest. Doesn't matter where the band is from, and this time it is from New York City, album art like that symbolizes an effort to make something epic. I wasn't disappointed to hear some long, meandering and well-composed shoegazey post-rock. The songs are excellently put together and I found myself rather entranced even on the first listen. Also, my neighbor is doing work on his house and I can hear the drills going with my windows open but its too hot to close them, so I got to hear an industrial remix the second time I heard the EP.

EP Grab Bag vol. 95

A heavy, lo-fi and strange Grab Bag today. Mixture of American and European bands, a few of them previously featured and others are new outfits to keep on eye on. Just the beginning of an absolute deluge of submitted material I came back to after taking even a few days off from writing this blog. Man can't work on labor day after all, not a good socialist like me, nor the couple of days after seemingly.

To be had here:
Cavedweller - Small Wonder EP (2015)

The return of the Texan who records as Cavedwelller. Last I wrote this guy up was when they had a couple of EPs out in 2012, but I am glad he thought to send me this latest effort. The main tone, that of a laid-back psychedelic sound, is consitent with what I was familiar with from him. However, this time I get a much more punchy, indie pop feeling, something like Apples in Stereo with much more garage rock influence. Beautiful EP anyway you wanna describe it.

The Beardy Durfs - Poppy (2015)

First band I've written up from Copenhagen in many years (I should look into rectifying this). The Beardy Duffs are a fine band to break this terrible streak with however. Their songs are eclectic, but all veering toward the unconventional. The first track "Get Back in Line" is a real gem, selling me on the band straightaway. The rest of Poppy does a fair enough job at maintaining the weird noise rock thereafter, especially with the bizarre and charming "Fat Cat." There'll be more to come, as this is purported to be the first of a three EP series.

Monster Surprise - Joie EP (2015)

The freaky French outfit Monster Surprise has a new two track EP, again from the Parisian label/blog, With A Messy Head. Keeps the weird psychedelic tone that's been the theme of this Grab Bag so far as well as what I was prepared for from Monster Surprise. Yet I wasn't expecting to be so enamored with these two short songs. Both of these tracks are out there and in markedly different ways. "Manège"is very brief and jaunty, while "Le Sens Contraire Des Aiguilles Du Monstre" is rather ethereal and experimental. Fine work all the way around.

Salem Wolves - Black Books (2015)

Unadulterated garage rock from Salem, Massachusetts. The album art and lyrics are referential of their town's puritanical/occult history but musically they remind me a great deal of Midwestern garage rock bands. This is no slight, for Midwestern lo-fi rock is by bread and butter music and what I spent much my adolescence and adulthood listening to. The outright catchiest songs are probably "Rumblr" and "There Be Wytches," though my ears always perk when I hear a lyric about a 'Southern Michigan town' in "Black Books."

Vespa Woman - Never Louder Than Lovely (2015)

Speaking of Midwestern garage rock, here is some of the genuine product. Wisconsin-based Vespa Woman makes some righteous guitar-driven rock ('alternative' as some may say, but that term means nothing to me). As it leans toward the punk end of the garage spectrum as far my ears go, and does a good job a laying everything on delightfully heavy. A compelling debut EP, and I hope I get to hear more of them as they hone their sound further.

Brother Low Elephant Grass - Alien Anarchy (2015)

I've been thinking about places lately. Places I'd like to live, places my friends tell me they're planning to move to, places I'll only get to see via photography. As I'm pondering all these locations there's a large oversight. I'm only looking at Earth, and if it is all fantasy in the end why not throw in outer space to the pondering? At least, this is what Brother Low Elephant Grass inserted into my mind as I heard their very weird music.

Alien Anarchy isn't simply a creative title. Rather it particularly describes the sound of the album. It truly contains an incredibly far out avant-garde sound, full of prog-like guitar, an massive amount of effects and a very competent composition of all these multifaceted parts into enjoyable songs. The experimental nature of this album is what prodded my brain out of considering various exotic locales and straight into the limits of what science fiction has to offer. In a quite brief time period at that. What I'm trying to say is, this album is transportive. It'll take you to some legit cosmonaut nightmares if you want. That said, the tracks "Monk" and "Reality Clashes With The Content Of My Mind" are some spectacular lo-fi tunes that I'm ever so eager for everyone to hear.

To be had here:

Brother Low Elephant Grass - Alien Anarchy

EP Grab Bag vol. 88

EPs from four different nations of various genres. I guess I get around, at least in my music listening. Anyhow, all of these are recommended listening, and the European features are particularly good for expanding one's musical palate.

To be had here:

Kemialliset Ystävät - Kultaista kaupunkia etsimässä (2012)

I am still planning to write up a bunch of Finnish music, I just need to get over the motherfucking cold I have got and get the motivation to hunt all the albums down. In the meantime, I am gonna reiterate how good Kemialliset Ystävät is. This is an EP from 2009 that went unreleased until 2012, but is shows off the very unique experimental electronic-acoustic folk of this most magnificent band. It isn't downloadable unfortunately, but hopefully the stream will convince you to find and get 2004's Alkuhärkä, my favorite of all their releases.

The First Part - The First Part (2104)

Indie rock/power pop outta San Angelo, Texas. That they've heard a good deal of 90s rock is a near inescapable conclusion, and this places them right into my range of nostalgic listening. They're good rock tunes, from the time when the term "alternative" might have retained some meaning. Yet these dudes are doing it now, and it is never too late to do something well, which these guys certainly have. The track "The Catalyst" stood out as my favorite of the four songs, but I recommend giving the whole EP a good listen.

The Rashita Joneses - The Rashita Joneses (2015)

These guys picked a good name, who doesn't love Rashita Jones? This Wisconsin-based garage rock outfit has put out three tracks of lo-fi bliss. The songs are fast, loud and exactly the sort of messy garage I like to hear from young bands. As I've stated many times before, this is my bread and butter sort of music and I can't doubt that the Rashita Joneses will enter into my driving rotation with Yelephants, the Prude Boys, and King Cayman. Can only hope the produce more.

B.M.C. Big Mountain County - 7" BMC (2013)

Saw this group on the twitter, and very much liked what I heard from these Roman garage rockers. Their sound is lo-fi and of that bluesy, punk style of garage that I often associate with the middle of the United States (i.e. Memphis, Chicago, Detroit). Enjoyably abrasive singing and loud instruments in un-complex tunes. You've got to hear the organ in "1945." In fact you've got to hear everything in that track. This is exactly the kind of EP that ends up in my driving rotation, which it already has as of this morning. After hearing A Big Silent Elephant, the Vickers, IL CULO DI MARIO and this I am not sure if there's anything these Italians can't do fantastically.

Love, Hippies & Gangsters - Sun Over Babaluma (2015)

Psychedelic rock from Dalston, London. It blows my mind that London is so huge that merely saying the city isn't enough. Also, this music is blowing my wine-riddled brain. Let's start with the fact that the guy responsible for writing, singing and recording these songs goes by the name Yiğit Bülbül. The tracks are anything but a let down even after learning that information. Swirling, lightly droning and showing off skills in both rock and electronic composition. So settle the fuck in and get ready for a far out sonic treatment.

Paavoharju - Joko sinä tulet tänne alas tai minä nousen sinne (2014)

I've long held a theory that my musical tastes are cyclical and that I loop back around to things I recall ever so fondly from months or years ago start digging around in a genre, scene or even a particular artist's discography. While, I have been remembering my affinity for Finnish experimental music. It can be hard to describe with a mess of adjectives, but what's for certain is that it's unique to Finland, rather like the Finnish language itself. As these returning obsessions burn rather strong I will doubtlessly share several of my favorites that have new material out, in fact it was already begun my Finnish campaign with mentioned Joose Keskitalo (a member of Paavoharju that has wonderful solo albums) in the Ellis Swan post and sharing Lasten Hautausmaa (a labelmate also on Svart Records) in the last Grab Bag. As such, each were preludes to the album I share today, Paavoharju's third album and the first full-length release since 2008's Laulu Laakson Kukista, the even longer-titled and mind-blogging to pronounce, Joko sinä tulet tänne alas tai minä nousen sinne.

For those that are familiar with the prior output of both Paavoharju and Joose Keskitalo this will have recognizable traits, but it is overlain with one of the more drastic of changes in style I can recall a band undertaking. Essentially, they kept their ethereal, psychedelic folk instrumentation, even retaining the Finnish chanting that made the previous albums so mesmerizing, and laid hip-hop on top. The hip-hop is in Finnish, which is something I've never experienced and can't compare to anything I've ever heard before. It isn't everywhere, they've classily spread it throughout the album and not made it the sole focus, though you will most certainly notice it. At first I was bewildered, but as I kept listening I found myself digging what Paavoharju was up to. It's a ballsy move, and it is rather well executed. It is undeniably a fine example of the Finnish avant-garde to which I am so deeply endeared, and different enough that it has achieved what good avant-garde should, making the listener re-assess their preferences and expand their palate.

To be had here:

Paavoharju - Joko sinä tulet tänne alas tai minä nousen sinne

Brigitte Roussel - Amber Hole (2014)

The experimental music has been getting submitted frequently lately, and it isn't something I'm gonna complain about. The Italian musician Brigitte Roussel has been featured on SRM, but it was some time ago and with her band known as Nac/Hut Report. While they've put out releases since then it seems it is what must be many albums that've slips through the cracks in my highly imperfect system of arranging write-ups. So my bad on that, but at least I get the pleasure of sharing Brigitte Roussel's solo work on her new album Amber Hole.

It is difficult to place Amber Hole into a genre beyond experimental or avant-garde. It is a dark, strange series of tracks, with an eerie mood predominating. That said, it is tastefully done, like watching a good horror film, it is capable of unnerving and entertaining the consumer in equal measure. Not that Brigitte Roussel is scary, but she certainly isn't aiming to be comforting. Amber Hole can seem like a lost recording, distorted and tracks layered upon on another with static bursts, faint vocals and humming electronic noises. Basically, it is the sort of album one can imagine being played at a contemporary art museum with a projection of grainy black and white footage on a wall playing in a loop. Sure, it is a wee bit pretentious, but all art is if you're not into it. Personally, I am into it and thought it was a fine thing to experience.

To be had here:
Brigitte Roussel - Amber Hole

Lucas Brode & Bubba Crumrine - 'doggone' // Shedding Those 11ft Wings (2014)

A spilt LP by two fellas hailing from the state of New York. Both can easily be considered experimental, though of differing varieties. Lucas Brode makes use of a guitar as his certain instrument, indeed at times the only instrument to be heard, with gesticulating, angular playing to which the best comparison I can summon is Ecstatic Sunshine, but toned down and with one guitar. Doesn't need accompaniment, he does just fine at producing remarkably stark, subtle and evocative tunes all on his own with his "mostly tapped guitar lines." I don't know tapped guitar lines are because I'm a fool, but he said it and I liked it.

Bubba Crumrine seems to a man to know in Ithaca, NY and is in the mathy post-rock band Mouth to Mouth to Mouth. His solo work beings rather towards ambient but quickly jumps headlong into noisy avant-garde experimentation.  Even delves into creepy, effected spoken word over strange instrumentation on the track, "Iridescent & Gold," to move to intense noise during "Acme" just thereafter. Both of the musicians are out of a limb in the way I really appricate, totally worth hearing if you're in the mood for something unusual, gloomy and loud.

To be had here:
Lucas Brode & Bubba Crumrine -  'doggone' // Shedding Those 11ft Wings

Florida=Death - Post Information (2013)

Besides having a very awesome name, Florida=Death is a experimental music project from New Haven, Connecticut. The general feeling I got from the album was something between an existential crisis and watching art films while on sedatives, which really could be the same thing. The songs are a combination of electronically created effects and rhythms (or un-rhythmic sounds), spoken word and music samples, and ambient noise. How chaotic this comes off varies throughout the album, with it getting pretty bizarre at times. However, there are some calmer and more conventional sorts of tracks with even some having singing in the usual sense. Together this provides the album with a fine balancing act of tension and release but basically demands that it be heard in entirety or at least several songs in a row to begin to understand what Florida=Death is really like. I took the plunge, in fact I have taken several times over, listening to the whole album and each time it seems to show a bit more and get more interesting from it. Finally, they're put out by the very nifty Connecticut-based label Obscure Me Records, the same folks that released J. Chance and, with Double Pony Records, Spectral Fangs.

To be had here:
Florida=Death - Post Information

La Piramide di Sangue - Tebe (2012)

Here's a belated treat. Belated because I missed it's submission in the pre-organization days where my inbox was truly the wild west, but a treat as in this avant-garde album is incredibly exciting no matter when you first get to hear it. As many could have guessed, La Piramide di Sangue is an Italian band, and they play a bizarre sort of psychedelia that combines a melody with dissonance to create a maze for the mind become increasingly lost in. It is jazzy, noisy and tribal somehow all at the same time. The album gets rather close to noise, as in the genre, but will loop back around with reframes to more melodic music. Overall it's trippy as hell and an album I regret not getting to sooner, but that'll be the case for everyone older I post on here I suppose.

To be had here:
La Piramide di Sangue - Tebe

Painted Faces - Tangleweird (2012) & New Jams (2012)

It seems that mail that isn't a bill or junk is rather hard to come by, and in my neighborhood even harder to insure it'll be there at all if it doesn't fit in my tiny mailbox. Yet the best scenario is to find a package containing cassettes tapes, and I've been lucky enough to have this happen for the second time this month, this time with three tapes. From the Brooklyn-based label Cookies N' Creme Records there were two tapes of experimental music by Painted Faces and one by Michael Amason and DENSITY (which I'll go into more detail about in the next Grab Bag).

As mentioned Painted Faces (really the solo project of a dude called David Drucker) makes experimental music, of a pretty fantastical and outlandish sort. I listened to Tangleweird first so I'll start with noting the intense use of noise and disordering feeling it lays on like mole sauce on a wet burrito. Dissonance is the game and they've got a cacophonous strategy. In contrast, New Jams seems much more subtle; coming closer to ambient for long stretches than any part of Tangleweird. In fact a whole range of experimental music appears, from slow droning to avant-garde art-rock complete with guitar riffs and crazy vocals. I've found the variety and the uniqueness to be quite endearing, especially if repeated listening is undertaken. Thanks for the tapes, keep on freaking me out just a bit and see a promising future for us all. Final note, each of these is $3 to  download via bandcamp, but obviously streamable and like 90% of the tracks are downloadable for free individually.

To be had here:

Tangleweird

New Jams

The Golden Growth - October 12 2011

This is a cassette I recieved from the same fella in Arizona who submitted the Dual Mausoleums (now called People's Temple, I believe) album last year. I think, not with complete confidence, that they're labelmates rather than the same person behind this project. Either way, this is a related sort of sound, namely dissonance. The whole thing appears as a half-jest regarding the rejection of rock and roll, which is in fact played out avant-garde noise contained on the cassette, and more obiviously pointed out by the label's site: I Sold My Soul To Destroy Rock and Roll. Also found the note on the tape stating, "In October of 2011 the mentally ill joined forces and cut a hit record," to be rather enjoyable. However, it doesn't really matter all that much how you feel about their stances being a joke or honestly held, the fact is they've given you some noise music to consume if that's your thing. Goddamn fit perfectly with the latest extentialist novel I've decided to torture myself with this month.

To be had here:
The Golden Growth - October 12 2011

Brainiac - Bonsai Superstar (1994)

Brainiac were a band from Dayton, OH that made some of the most innovative synthpunk that has ever been created. Tragedy forced the band to break up in 1997 after their charismatic lead singer, Tim Taylor, died at the age of 29 when his car crashed and burst into flames(thought to be a mechanical malfunction). Their influence was surprisingly far reaching, as everyone from Death Cab For Cutie to Trent Reznor site them as having inspired certain elements of their own music making. There's even a story on the internet claiming that, 3 days after the car accident and 3 days prior to his own accidental death, Jeff Buckley, during what would be his last performance, lamented on stage about the passing of Tim Taylor... seemingly foreshadowing his own death by asking, "Is that how you like your rock heroes - dead?"


Brainiac were a force to be reckoned and were on their way to big things. They'd gone on tour as an opener for both The Breeders and Beck and were being groomed by major labels. This is their second record, released in 1994, the first to feature John Schmersal who would later go on to form Enon and act as touring musician for Caribou. Bonsai Superstar was where their sound started to take on a more definable shape, one that some liken to Devo on amphetamines. The band walks confidently, with swagger, on the lines between accessible and inaccessible("Transmissions After Zero"), ugly and sexy("Flypaper"), dangerous and nerdy("Hot Metal Dobermans"). From here on in, synthpunk experimentation would remain at their core. Moog synthesizers chirp and buzz along with the band. Guitar lines hint at melodies, while each chord seems to include one note that makes it intentionally and unapologetically dissonant. Singer Tim Taylor is an extension of that same formula, veering in and out of key as he growls and screams, at times through heavily effected processors. What's most remarkable about his voice, however, is his searing falsetto, which brings to mind Ian Svenonius of The Make-Up.


This record is, unfortunately, out of print. Hard copies can be found at crazy prices, so until someone is able to rerelease it, I feel it's important to get it out there. For anybody who's already a fan (and anybody else) make sure to check out this full Brainiac show that some saint recently posted to youtube.

Brainiac - Bonsai Superstar

WET PAINT DMM - DMM (2009)

Wet Paint DMM are a now defunct Seattle 3-piece who are too good to not share with you, though I'm having difficulty describing their sound in a non-convoluted way. I keep wanting to say "deconstructionist post-punk performance art" but then I immediately want to punch myself in the mouth.

Their sound is minimal - one drummer, one guitarist, and one singer - but what they achieve is quite dynamic.

The drums provide a brutal, dark and tribal canvas over which the guitarist paints strange and dissonant colors. At times, like on "IT IS THERAPEUTIC"  and "LION TAMER", the guitar sounds like it's being played through circuit-bent effects processors. The most striking element of Wet Paint, however, is their powerful vocalist. Her dramatic delivery is just that: part poetry, part performance. At times she sings, but mostly it's a very animated and urgent one-sided conversation that sometimes devolves into moaning or animal noises ... like she's either having an orgasm or killing someone. Maybe she's doing both. Her contribution alone would put Wet Paint's non-existant record into the "Kabuki theater performed in an insane asylum" section of the record store.

Long and short of it is... Wet Paint's sound is dichotomous and treads lines between art and rock; sex and nightmares; blood/soil and extraterrestrial mechanics. It's intellectual meets visceral, the line between which lies the heart. It's postmodern, I suppose, but without pretension because what they achieve is very authentic and full of heart.

This is aortic music ...bubbling up from a prehistoric stew.

Wet Paint DMM - DMM

Zloty Dawai - Torso Apart (2011)

As promised here is Germany's Zloty Dawai. Submitted by their drummer, who's solo project R3000 I posted in the last Grab Bag. There music is, like R3000, is rather far out. However, it's dissimilar in that instead of being electronic, Zloty Dawai is improvised, free jazz. Now, if you've been following the blog I've been trying to understand and enjoy jazz more lately, and this was like jumping into the deep end, in a good sorta way. It is wild, gloomy, and energizing in a manner that's unique as far as the fare on this blog goes. Moreover, they got play on the influential independent radio station WFMU. There is a previous album from 2006, Dada Work Chant, that is worth checking out as well.

To be had here:
Zloty Dawai - Torso Apart

Treasure Hunt - Seatec Astronomy (2012)

This is the second Treasure Hunt album posted on Spacerockmountain. Another of the fresh releases to come out with the changing over to a new year. Seatac Astronomy has a far more mellow mood. I'd easily place this as chillwave/glo-fi material whereas the last album was far more experimental, noisy and frantic in style. Nature sounds (largely chirping of birds), squeaking instruments, and light choir-like vocals fading in and out of the background all add up for a hypnotic listening experience. Mostly I find I'm pleased with the music submitted, but this certain exceeded by expectations for the band. To listen to the changing and developing group of artists that've chosen to repeated send in their releases has proven to be the best part of the blog. Top notch, fellas.

To be had here:
Treasure Hunt - Seatec Astronomy

East-Ra - Cold Summer (2008), Sutra (2009), & Substitute 3 (2011)

These guys dropped a psychedelic bomb on me last week. Three albums of lo-fi psych-rock for writing up at once is a doozey, and normally might've taken longer for me to post it up if it wasn't that I enjoyed the albums so much I've had no problem listening to them repeatedly. East-Ra are from Croatia, but if you heard their first album, Cold Summer, you could easy be made to believe they're a British psychedelic act that rose and fell in the late 60s. Even reminds me of Detroit's late 60s psych band, The Index. Absolutely mesmerizing and a wonderful representation of what psychedelia can produce. The second, Sutra, has a large difference insomuch that it's sung in their local dialect, which they told me is unique to their town. Also has some recognizable krautrock influences. Finally, there is Substitute 3 sounding more experimental. The exotic instruments and echoing chants caused me to think of the Finnish avant-garde music I love so much. Got hooked with the first track, "Amanita," and though the rest isn't as avant-garde it kept my interest steadfastly. All their albums are free on their label's blog, OSA Media, and I've linked to the albums directly below.

To be had here:




Cold Summer













Sutra











Substitute 3

Kemialliset Ystävät - Kellari Juniversumi (2002)

Constant sleepiness has been a fixture of my life lately, and I'll be damned if I've even stopped to wonder why. What I can report is that now I don't wish to resist the drowsiness. Been throwing on some strange sounds and letting myself move in and out of consciousness. In the mood I listened to nearly my entire collection of Kemialliset Ystävät. Dulled awareness doesn't diminish the unworldy beauty of Finnish avant-garde electronic-folk. Kellari Juniversumi was the album playing when I had my longest bout of alertness, so the selection thereof was easy enough. However, the randomness in picking to share this now shouldn't be confused for a lackluster endorsement, for this album is a spectacular release by the band I consider the paramount example of a unique style from Finland. Be sure to grab 2008's Harmaa Laguuni and 2010's Ullakkopalo, which I've posted up already. This won't be the last from these guys though as I've got more albums by them just waiting for the right time to be thrown up here.

To be had here:
Kemialliset Ystävät - Kellari Juniversumi [192 kbps]

Kemialliset Ystävät - Ullakkopalo (2010)

Kemialliset Ystävät are the bee's knees. Really I should've been more on top of getting this up sooner to its release, but my shit is done scattered all the time if you haven't noticed. Regardless, I doubt enough of the people that read this thing have followed my advice and grabbed up enough Finnish pscyh/folk/drone music. Seriously, these Finns know the score and Kemialliset Ystävät is the top of the stack, along with Paavoharju naturally. Ullakkopalo is more of the band's amazingly eerie songs that employ electronics and acoustics in equal vigor to create an otherworldly soundscape. While this sounds like a good deal of ambient and post-rock, I do have to same the favor of this and like acts is so much more the sum of the parts. Perhaps what sets Ullakkopalo apart is that it has some degree of video game-ness to the sound. Almost like they took sounds from an unreleased dungeon crawler and twisted it nearly beyond recognition and then plopped nature on it. Some of the very best in avant-garde.

To be had here:
Kemialliset Ystävät - Ullakkopalo [256 VBR kbps]

Natural Snow Buildings - Waves Of The Random Sea (2011)

Natural Snow Buildings, I think I had misplaced them in my mind for some time. I think when the blog was younger I had a real heavy post-rock phase and I found Natural Snow Buildings and listened to repeatedly several releases. Well, in this snowbound suburban morning I see that they've release a new album and it is reminding me so eloquently why this band was so mesmerizing. Far less daunting to undertake than The Dance of the Moon and the Sun with only six tracks on Waves Of The Random Sea, admittedly though they're damn long for the most part. The French duo of Mehdi Ameziane and Solange Gularte really demonstrate how droning, avant-garde post-rock can be masterfully done. The epically long tracks take their time in building and evolving the sound, but this is where much the enjoyment can be derived. The lengthiness gives me time to get lost in the music and really relax in a way the is best done with a cup of tea and window to aimlessly stare out of. If you're willing to take the time for it this album is outstanding.

To be had here:
Natural Snow Buildings - Waves Of The Random Sea [256 VBR kbps]

Yamamoto Seiichi - Nu Frequency (2003)

A change of pace of with this album. Yamamoto Seiichi is a Japanese musician that is a fixture of the independent scene in Osaka and he gained some notability when he worked with the illustrious noise rock group Boredoms. This is merely one of his several solo releases that he's been actively producing for over a decade. It is closer to this blog's namesake in that it could actually be classified as space rock. Naturally, as much space rock can be described it is like a crossing of ambient and noise without really being either genre, instead demonstrating something unique. Nu Frequency sounds like a collection of samples until you give it a long enough listen, so be warned. It has been really going well with my homemade wine I've been drinking due to lack of funds these days. Because it is instrumental it is a really good album to play when reading or writing, which I have trouble listening to lyrical driven songs during. Calmer than most of the things I have been posting lately yet not devoid of liveliness.

To be had here:
Yamamoto Seiichi - Nu Frequency [192 kbps]