Category Archives: Reviews

Reblog – Kate NV ~ WOW — a closer listen

Thanks to A Closer Listen for todays escape from a drab Tuesday : )

pop, electronica, synthpop

Ridiculously happy, relentlessly upbeat, WOW is a sonic sugar rush, a candy-coated confection topped with syrup and sprinkles.  Kate NV‘s energy never seems to flag, nor does her creativity ease.  Breaking with previous recordings, her voice is diced, chopped and splattered; her prior guise as singer-songwriter is almost completely obliterated.  Whenever her words are discernible, they […]

Kate NV ~ WOW — a closer listen

Reblog- Deborah Fialkiewicz – Daughters Of The Industrialists — Aural Aggravation

Thanks to Aural Aggravation for tonight’s reading and listening.

14th February 2023 Christopher Nosnibor Having first encountered Deborah performing as one half of dark ambient noise duo Spore, I’ve discovered she’s nothing if not prolific, and having hit the classical charts with one recent album and released not one, but two new albums in the last few weeks, it’s hard to keep up, not […]

Deborah Fialkiewicz – Daughters Of The Industrialists — Aural Aggravation

Reblog – Nyokabi KariÅ©ki ~ peace places: kenyan memories — a closer listen

The first major release from Kenyan sound artist Nyokabi Kariũki follows a beguilng pair of videos and a number of works for everything from choir to marimba trio.  peace places: kenyan memories is not only a reflection on her home, but on all homes, echoing the writings of Pico Iyer.  Travel restrictions locked her in Maryland, unable […]

Nyokabi Kariũki ~ peace places: kenyan memories — a closer listen

Reblog – ACL 2021 ~ The Top 20 Albums of the Year — a closer listen

And if you can’t find anything on the I Don’t Do Lists , try this collection from A Closer Listen-

If 2020 was the most surreal year in recent memory, 2021 was the runner-up.  A rollercoaster of emotion was supplanted by a mountain of malaise.  And yet, many artists broke through with the finest albums of their careers.  Some of these were direct responses to the world as it was, while others were simply written […]

ACL 2021 ~ The Top 20 Albums of the Year — a closer listen

REBLOG – ACL 2021 ~ Top Ten Field Recording & Soundscape — a closer listen

If you still want some listening suggestions, there are some great one’s here –

The natural world existed long before the creation of instruments: music made by wind and waves, birds and beasts.  During the pandemic, many people have rediscovered the aural joys of nature: music that is always playing, and that can best be heard without headphones.  Field recording artists capture these sounds like others do photographs, and […]

ACL 2021 ~ Top Ten Field Recording & Soundscape — a closer listen

REBLOG – Yuko Araki ~ End of Trilogy — a closer listen

Sunday reading and one of the best overviews of Yuko Araki’s work –

End Of Trilogy
by Yuko Araki
2021

dark ambient, electronics, noise, noizu

It is common to read about the mind-obliterating qualities of noise and its negative paths towards selfless meditation, but there is another undercurrent in its stark associations with bodily harm and the possibility to access some sort of outside within: a psychic reality that does not flow into oneness, but that violently multiplies every time […]

Yuko Araki ~ End of Trilogy — a closer listen

REBLOG – Else Marie Pade – Electronic Works 1958-1995 — Yeah I Know It Sucks

Artist: Else Marie PadeTitle: Electronic Works 1958-1995Keywords: electronic, avant garde, experimental Else Marie Pade brings us on a journey through her electronic works made in 1858 to 1995. I guess we could ask uncle Google to spot out more information about this artist, but let’s be an alternative in the information age and just be […]

Else Marie Pade – Electronic Works 1958-1995 — Yeah I Know It Sucks

As usual a different take on the works of Else Marie Pade but this is one of the best descriptions of her music…

Dangling on the fine line of enjoyment and captivating interest. Things ploink and plink like smooth lines of water drips with enough sparkles to widen up your iris. Things play like electronic breaths that give life to the silence, that shovel around the furniture of vibrating sounds with great expense, leaving you in a state of mind that is equally reached when listening to the soundtrack of a strange movie in which you feel disoriented and yet firmly at home.“…

Yes…Indeed.

Reblog – Xyla ~ Ways — a closer listen

Can’t better the review….Thanks ACL for pointing me in the right direction again : )

Electronic music is cold and soulless. You’ve heard this truism from an acquaintance. They are wearing a Pink Floyd shirt. They refuse to believe that knobs and buttons have the same emotional capacities as strummed guitars. Point them to this debut album from San Francisco’s Xyla. This gorgeous record serves a kind of sonic affogato. […]

Xyla ~ Ways — a closer listen

REBLOG – Francesca Heart – Ianassa Alga Miraggio — Yeah I Know It Sucks

Artist: Francesca HeartTitle: Ianassa Alga MiraggioKeywords: experimental ambient drone electronic new age vaporwave FairfaxLabel: ingrown records Francesca Heart lets us dive in the music with our beautiful bathing costumes, properly decorated with a designed pattern of colorful flowers and starfishes. Oh we feel so delighted as the music twinkles around our healthy body lines, how […]

Francesca Heart – Ianassa Alga Miraggio — Yeah I Know It Sucks

Another ‘find’ from YIKIS and a lovely Sunday afternoon listen. Reposting some YIKIS posts here as they have an interesting take on sounds, as well as a platform that actually supports artists that would never get a lot of attention otherwise. I’m all for that : )

Ianassa Alga Miraggio
by Francesca Heart

experimental, ambient, drone, electronic, new age, vaporwave

Reblog – Amy Cutler ~ Örö Tape: Fieldtrips of the Damned / Marina Rosenfeld & Ben Vida ~ Vertice — a closer listen

Reblog – Amy Cutler ~ Örö Tape: Fieldtrips of the Damned / Marina Rosenfeld & Ben Vida ~ Vertice — a closer listen

What is the purpose of recorded sound? As music lovers, we live and breathe it. But what is its raison d’être? Recordings transport us into distant places or timeframes. They prompt emotional and intellectual responses. The aural can complement visual and spatial arts. It can be raw material for further sonic explorations. Perhaps multi-disciplinary artists […]

via Amy Cutler ~ Örö Tape: Fieldtrips of the Damned / Marina Rosenfeld & Ben Vida ~ Vertice — a closer listen