Team Ghost - We All Shine (2011) (AWESOME !!!)

Genre : Shoegaze, Electronica, from France
Myspace
Buy

Tracklist :

01 – Lonely, Lonely, Lonely
02 – A Glorious Time
03 – Sur nous les etincelles du soleil
04 – Echoes
05 – Only You Can Break My Heart
06 – Colors In Time
07 – Deaf
08 – Red Light Corridor
09 – High Hopes
10 – Celebrate What You Can’t See
11 – It’s Been A Long Way, But We Are Free
12 – Signs & Wonders
13 – Into My Arms
14 – We All Shine

Team Ghost is a collaboration between Nicolas Fromageau, multi-instrumentalist composer Christophe Guerin and producer Jean-Philippe Talaga. Fromageau was originally one half of M83 on their first two albums (M83; Red Seas, Dead Cities, Lost Ghosts). Fromageau split with M83 in 2003, and emerged from his hiatus when he performed at 2009’s Midi Festival on the French Riviera, under the new moniker “Team Ghost”. Their debut EP “You Never Did Anything Wrong to Me” was released on April 26th 2010 by Kiss Me First Records.

Winterlight - Hope Die Last (2011)

Genre : Ambient, Electronica, Shoegaze, from UK
Myspace
Buy

Tracklist :

1. A Sky Full of Clouds
2. Between Joy
3. Your Wings Make You Fly
4. Awake and Sleeping
5. Suddenly Something Good
6. Nattvardsgästerna
7. Swept
8. Plattenbauten: Palast
9. Zvenya
10. Line of Flight
11. Of All the Things
12. I Still Hope

Winterlight combine shoegaze, ambient and electronic influences to make melodic ‘post-pop’ instrumentals.

Growing up in the Thames Valley in the UK, Tim Ingham stood shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Slowdive at local gigs but his own musical endeavours didn't get off the ground until he found he could use a laptop late at night once his family had retired for the night to create his own electronic version of the kind of warm, hazy sounds that he had gravitated to since his youth.

Joined live by additional member Jamie, guitars and keyboards melt together in a haze of delay, distortion and reverb soaked melodies which have been described as “…like Air playing krautrock”.

"Hope Dies Last" is the debut album from Tim Ingham's sun-kissed instrumental project Winterlight. Including new and previously unreleased material, the album also features a few reworked tracks from a limited edition album by Ingham's now absorbed Lightsway moniker, originally released in mid 2008 by Distant Noise. These older songs have been rebooted and recoupled with the new under the Winterlight name for his splashdown on the emotionally driven n5MD imprint . On several of "Hope Dies Last" songs Ingham has enlisted a few of his friends to provide some new angles to the music. A revamped "A Sky Full Of Clouds" sees Becca Riedtmann providing an ever expansive vocal delivery while Mike Cadoo (aka Bitcrush) supports with some bass and drum programing. In addition, on one of the album's most hopeful tracks, "Between Joy", Aidan Love, whose previous credits include Maps and Goldfrapp, provides a bit of his mixing desk skills. Ingham's brand of electronically shadowed shoegaze lays somewhere between the chime-y ethereal pop of Ulrich Schnauss and wide screen ambient of label-mates port-royal all done with some of the best delay and reverb adorned guitar work since Slowdive's shoegazer classic "Souvlaki". A great debut from an artist to watch.

Robin Guthrie - Emeralds (2011) (AWESOME !!!)

Genre : Ambient, Shoegaze, Ethereal, Post-rock, from UK
Official Site
Buy

Tracklist :

01 Digging For Gold 3:27
02 Radiola 3:48
03 Wishing 3:18
04 Torch 3:43
05 Warmed By The Winter Sun 3:56
06 Flower 3:35
07 Turn Together, Burn Together 4:48
08 Emeralds 3:43
09 The Blue Book 5:28
10 The Little Light Fades 2:57

Emeralds is the new album by guitarist/songwriter, producer and sound architect Robin Guthrie. Another uncompromising step along the path that is his vision, enveloping the listener with the aesthetic enchantment which has become his trademark.

From the opening notes of ‘Digging for Gold’ to the last echoes of ‘The Little Light Fades’, Emeralds takes us on a voyage which moves our emotions, stimulates our senses and leaves us feeling that the world must be a better place seen through the eyes of Robin Guthrie. The album provokes a whole range of emotions from joy to melancholy and back again, never once failing to arouse the imagination of those who become captured by it. With the joyously uplifting ‘Wishing’ and the evocatively haunting melody of ‘Torch’ Guthrie quietly coaxes beauty out of layers of echoes and seemingly invites the listener inside the music to become an integral part of the whole creation. Inspired by events, literature and travel while possessing an uncanny ability to translate his pure emotions into melody,

Guthrie is one of very few rare talents who can create instrumental music which the listener feels part of. His recent instrumental offerings, Sunflower Stories, Songs to Help My Children Sleep, Carousel and Angel Falls, among countless others, illustrate his flair for creating music which seems to touch at the very core of those who consume it. Emeralds follows the release of Bordeaux, an album recorded last summer when minimalist legend Harold Budd joined Guthrie in France for some concerts and recordings. Bordeaux, featuring the two absolute masters of sonic beauty and modern ambient, is quickly becoming acknowledged as a landmark work.

Guthrie has been a massive influence on everyone from My Bloody Valentine to M83 and School of Seven Bells however it's not surprising that as a guitarist and producer, though many people are aware of him as Cocteau Twins principal sound designer, his defining role in the, once again, fashionable shoegazing scene with his productions for the likes of Lush and Chapterhouse shouldn't be overlooked. His recent studio credits include Telefon Tel Aviv, Ulrich Schnauss and Heligoland. As a composer of soundtracks he has recently scored his third feature film: Gregg Araki's Kaboom; following Araki’s Mysterious Skin and Dany Saadia’s 3:19, both of which were released as soundtrack albums; he has performed live extensively with Lumière, and its successor Galerie, both short animated films that he created as backdrops for his atmospheric, hypnotic guitar-based instrumental concerts.

The Milo - Photograph (2011) (AWESOME !!!)

Genre : Shoegaze, Dream-pop, Ambient, Post-rock, Indonesia
Myspace
Buy

mediafire password : bnoise

Tracklist :

01 - Stethoscope
02 - For All The Dreams That Wings Could Fly
03 - So Regret
04 - Get Into Your Mind
05 - Dreams
06 - Dont Worry For Being Alone
07 - Daun Dan Ranting Menuju Surga
08 - Apart

Themilo formed in 1996 as a secondary band project of Ajie Gergaji while he was playing as guitarist in Cherry Bombshell together with Coro (ex-member of Cherry Bombshell), Upik and Uti (La Luna’s guitarist). Ajie decided to quit the band and focused on Themilo as his main project. The group made some lineup changes as Coro and Uti was replaced by new personnel, Themilo is now consisted of Ajie Gergaji, Upik, Suki (ex-member of Dua Sejoli), Budi Cilsen (ex-Frozen Head), and Hendi Unyil (ex-New Market) for most of the band’s recording career until today.

As one of many indie label’s band exist in Indonesia, Themilo is trying to establish music creativity upon its limitation. The boundaries itself doesn’t stop them to deliver new ideas in bringing their music. Satisfaction is the last thing they want to achieve because of its temporal nature and could become barricade to their creativity.
Themilo forever will be a process without boundaries, unstoppable contemplation, and dialectic without an end.

Last but not least, Themilo will remain exist and processing until time stops them from being creative…

"Photograph" is the 2nd album of the Milo. The long awaited album is finally released after 6 years pending.

Hypomanie - A City in Mono (2011) (AWESOME !!!)

Genre : Shoegaze, Atmospheric, Depressive Black Metal, Post-rock, Netherlands
Myspace
Buy

Tracklist :

1. You Never Gazed at the Clouds 8:19
2. She Couldn't Find a Flower, But There Was Snow 7:17
3. Smile 4:45
4. A City in Mono 8:54
5. A City in Stereo 10:20

A Dutch band started as a Melancholic Black Metal band at the first demo (I am Alone With You, 2008, Wolfsvuur Records) and first album (Sehnsucht, 2008, Affliction Records), now playing a faster, more atmospheric style of Black Metal, which is to be heard at the self-titled EP. (s/t, 2009, Valse Sinistre)

In January 2011 She Couldn’t Find a Flower, But There Was Snow (EP) and A City in Mono (album) were released, both by Valse Sinistre Productions.

Inspirative - Floating Down Through the Clouds EP (2008) (AWESOME !!!)

Genre : Post-rock, Ambient, Shoegaze, Thailand
Myspace
Buy

Tracklist :

01 – You
02 – KL Streets
03 – ระฆังลม

Inspirative is a post-rock band from Bangkok, Thailand formed in 2006. The band initially started as a solo project of Noppanan Panicharoen. All members joined in 2008 and turned into a full band consist of Noppanan Panicharoen (Guitar), Amornthep Masawang (Bass), Pongpat Phaukwattana (Guitar), Sirichai Chanmanklakul (Drums), Wuttipong Huangpetch (Piano, Vocal).
Tha band's music is composed of expansive melodic guitar based and ambient field recordings.

The band joined a label call FinalKid Group in 2007 and released 2 tracks "The Lost Moment" and "After Sunset" in the FinalKid Compilation 2. In 2008, Inspirative released a 3 songs EP "Floating Down Through The Clouds".

[me] I strongly believe that everyone should give this a go. “01 – You” is an awesome killer song. So Epic !!! Too bad, there is only 3 songs on this release. Lets hope they're release some new material soon.

Noise Project - Asuntos Que Se Resolven Co Tempo (2010)

Genre : Shoegaze, Post-rock, Spain
Myspace
Buy

Tracklist :

1. B (2:42)
2. Sempre me toca ser poli (3:58)
3. Que se pare o mundo cando me dea o sol (3:19)
4. A madalena (5:28)
5. Amok (3:48)
6. A casa do ancián (5:02)
7. Morte e destrución (3:39)
8. Gin tonic con Ali Agca (4:05)
9. Concerto de disfraces (3:23)
10. C (0:49)
11. Golfiños (3:55)
12. Deus (6:24)
13. 13 - Noise Project - ?.mp3 (6:24)

It was around 2004 when Raúl (guitar and voice) and Alexandre (guitar and voice) started to meet at the Teleclube de Cordeiro (Valga, Pontevedra, Spain) to try to compose something and pass the time doing what they liked the most, noise. Víctor (ex-guitar and bass on many local bands) soon joined them at the drums, and then Óscar (bass and voice) at the bass. With this line-up, they played their first concerts, making their début at Pub Shibulla (Valga), about the middle of 2005. At the end of the same year Javi joined them on the guitar (with experience in several bands of the zone). The current six member line-up was completed with the joining of Ernst (effects and arrangement) on the laptop.

Jаtun - Вlаnkеt оf Аsh (2010) (AWESOME !!!)

Genre : Electronica, Shoegaze
Myspace
Buy (Vinyl Only !!! Yay !!!)

Tracklist :

01. Blanket of Ash
02. Electricity
03. Try Me, Mental-A
04. Overhead The Air Waves
05. The King of Nostalgia
06. Circuit Eater
07. The Thin
08. Space Be Gone (Free Digital Bonus)

Jatun is Alan Grosvenor (guitar, keys, bass, loops) and Scott Worley (vocals, keys, guitar, laptop). Alan and Scott met in Portland, OR circa '04, and started writing the songs that would slowly form into the mish-mash of cables, circuits, ivory and alcohol known as "Jatun." They began recording their self-titled debut album in September 2005, and it's been engineered/mixed by Scott & Alan and mastered by Carl Saff of Saff Engineering.

Influenced by an expansive range of artists, genres and styles, Alan and Scott have learned to interpret and appreciate sound from a broad perspective. Such open ears have facilitated an understanding of sonic interplay, and acute attention to arrangement and detail. Armed to the teeth with an arsenal of quality, vintage gear and a penchant for capturing the resultant noises, they craft music thoroughly and thoughtfully. Lush, enveloping and hyper-textured, Jatun's songs blanket themselves around your ears and saturate your head with warm and intoxicating, Orange-tinged tones.

When Jatun's eponymous debut dropped in 2007, dream-pop enthusiasts and headphone purists alike were astounded by its thoughtfully detailed songs and meticulous textures. Subtle, distinct variations embedded in teeming walls of sound egged them on for a louder-than-loud listen. And there was just no denying the nuanced cycles of swarming and distnergrating buzz; conduits for robot melodies.

With Blanket of Ash, Jatun offers up another does of clandestine vocals, heavy layers and unmistakable intensity: A vinyl-only collection of metallic drone and spackjunk beats for the truly frequency-dependent.

"Take all the good things you like about M83, add some Album Leaf, throw in some delicate vocals, record it and play it back through Soundwave (Transformers reference guys) and you have Jatun." -Insound

“…stacked high and densely with melody, soundly sequenced and rarely unengaged." -Cokemachine Glow

"...does the M83 schtick better than M83." -Devil in the Woods

"Jatun creates for the listener an ambient playground that each listener can create his/her own games on, choosing whatever streaming sound to play and wade in next." –Treblezine

Kyte - Dead Waves (2010) (AWESOME !!!)

Genre : Ambient, Electronica, Dream-Pop, Shoegaze, UK
Myspace
Buy

Tracklist :

1. The Smoke Saves Lives
2. ihnfsa
3. You're Alone Tonight
4. Designed For Damage
5. Like She Said
6. Fear From Death
7. Each Life Critical
8. No-one Is Angry, Just Afraid
9. Guns And Knives
10. Fake Handshakes, Earnest Smiles
11. Dead Waves
12. Strangest Words And Pictures

A coasting and, at times, relaxingly cruising hybrid of Snow Patrol and Zero 7 with a few genetically implanted musical genes of Sigur Ros hurled in for good measure. Is the lasting impression left by Kyte after the first few listens to this earnest twelve track debut full length.

For the purists, further analysis of this Nick Moon led troupe, allows you to discover the fact that they take an early opportunity to prelude their melodious streak with some seeping ambience and generally manage to get the balance right, The Smoke Saves Lives. It makes Moons earnest and authoritative narrative that bit more striking.

Epic tendencies are intricately built in through weeping guitars and a seeping key element, ihnfsa and they sometimes swerve towards mm and Four Tet territory. Slightly spacey implants adds to the variety on display and Moons mild Bowie leanings come to the fore in the meditative melt, Designed For Damage. The increasing robustness of the percussion drive becomes noticeable, as the album progresses. It allows for a manlier vocal slant, helping to draw out the poetic intensity of some of the lyrics.

Each Life Critical, shows a trickling nourish leaning, before branching out into a digitally soulful direction. The tune is toed along by hushed vocals, instilling a calming and relaxed touch. This is juxtaposed by the soaring, disco kicking No-One Is Angry, Just Afraid. It then morphs into a deeply searching ambient epic. With the latter impact seeping into Fake Handshakes, Earnest Smiles to make for a poignant build up to a laid back soul dabbling, electro pop conjoining, almost meditative stroll.

Kyte seems to effortlessly show that they can do a broad range from disco-pop and indie to mood climbing ambience, as well as most things in-between. It all provides for a debut album that has something for nearly everyone.

Also, M83 listeners will be pleased too.

Kyte manage to create the type of music that takes you somewhere else and leaves you in awe. (4.5/5) -
ALTERTHEPRESS.co.uk

Korine Conception - Glow In Transparancy Aurora (2010) (AWESOME !!!)

Genre : Shoegaze, Indonesia
Myspace
Free Download

Tracklist :

1. Lost Imaginary
2. Like A Ghost
3. Glow In Transparancy Aurora
4. Eleanor Whisper
5. The Moon With A Melody
6. Unexpected Secret Story
7. This Mess Around
8. Sillhoute Of F'ie Dansi

A wonderful emotive album. Both delicate and powerful. Hints of Slowdive and Sigur Ros - which can't be a bad thing. More fantastic shoegaze influenced music from Indonesia.

Ever try to find the right lullaby? Why don’t you just try these songs from Korine Conception. Founded in Medan, North Sumatra September 2003 from the ashes of the bands such as The Wardoyo (Dandy Angga), Kolam Renang (Boby) and two other players (Citra and Opin). They also got help from Fandhy (at this time he stil the additional player). Because of the same musical direction they choose to formed a band that could play dreamy and powerful music.

From the influences of Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, Malory, My Bloody Valentine and Sigur Ros they made their first song called Like A Ghost. Along the way the band lost their member Citra and Fandhy, he joined 70’s Pop. The band did not make any progress for months because they didn’t find the right drummer to fill the position. After their both return to Medan, they join Korine Conception again and until now the member still have not change. The band did not have a lot of chance to perform in Medan Scene because of the music may sound weird for the casual ears in Medan.

Thank God, they found Huria! Records to support them. They gave their songs called “The Moon With The Melody” and this song appear in compilation “Let’s Push Things Forward” by Huria! Records and released in February 2006. This was their first single, amazingly this song got a lot of airplay in local radio. In May 2007 they song “ Like A Ghost’” made it in Traxound2 (A compilation from Trax magazine), so their song could hear in whole country (Indonesia) because this magazine sold nationally.

[me]Great album, Guys!!! Salut gw sama kalian. KEREN !!!

Air Formation - Nothing To Wish For (Nothing To Lose) (2010) (AWESOME !!!)

Genre : Shoegaze, Ambient, Dreampop, Space-rock, UK
Myspace
Buy (Pre-Order Now !!!)

Tracklist:

1. Three Years Pass
2. Stars And Knives
3. Low December Sun
4. Alone At Last
5. Don't Wait 'Til Dawn
6. Meltdown
7. Until Today
8. Like I Hold You
9. Cut Through The Night
10. Outro
11. Distant Silhouettes

Air Formation have been creating music since 2000..... Their aim is to write songs awash with depth, emotion & darkness whilst at the same time radiating a glimmer of hope, of what could be.... The band has released three albums, ‘Ends in Light’ (Drive-In Records 2002), ‘Stay Inside/ Feel Everything’ (Clairecords 2004) & 'Daylight Storms' (Club AC30 2007). Other releases include the debut 'S/T Mini Album (Drive-in Records 2000) and the Pat Collier produced '57 Octaves Below' EP (Club AC30 2005). Check out www.airformation.com for a full discography.

NEW ALBUM "NOTHING TO WISH FOR (NOTHING TO LOSE)" WILL BE RELEASED BY CLUB AC30 IN MARCH 2010.

In this photo: Start Tagging

Lymbyc Systym - Shutter Release (2009) (AWESOME !!!)

Genre : Electronica, Post-rock, Shoegaze, Experimental
Myspace
Buy

Tracklist :

01 Trichromatic
02 Ghost Clock
03 Interiors
04 Bedroom Anthem
05 Kubrick
06 Contemporary Art
07 T-Ball
08 Shutter Release
09 Teddy
10 Late Night Classic

Heres the second full length from one of the most innovative and hypnotizing postrock bands out there. If you ever get a chance to see them live they will absolutely blow you away. Buy it !!! because it really is one of the best albums of 2009.

With a touring schedule that keeps them on the road seemingly more than it gives them time at home, Lymbyc Systym have miraculously completed their second full-length album, entitled Shutter Release. Magnifying the already giant sounds of Love Your Abuser was not an easy task, but with Jeff Zeigler behind the boards recording the album and John Congleton (Modest Mouse,
Explosions In The Sky) shaping the mixdowns, theyve managed to do just that. Instrumentation has become broader, arrangements more grandiose, and melodies more focused, resulting in a sublime second album.

A New Silent Corporation - Everything Is Exactly As It Seems (2009) (AWESOME !!!)

Genre : Post-rock, Electronica, Shoegaze, Experimental, Italy
Myspace
Buy

Tracklist :

01. Time Discipline
02. Hiver
03. Will Noise
04. Reprise
05. WOTGG
06. Maple

If you are looking for a description of A New Silent Corporation’s sound, and are familiar with the works of Maybeshewill, then you need investigate no farther than that. Though this band is from Italy, rather than the United Kingdom, and is putting out their first album now, rather than in 2006, the differences seem to stop there. Both play a similar brand of 65daysofstatic-influenced neo-post-rock, where electronics live side-by-side with standard guitars/bass/drums and spoken-word clips of people decrying the status quo. If you count yourself among Maybeshewill’s fans (and the band certainly has a fair amount), then you should probably run out and grab Everything is Exactly as it Seems right away; the album sounds nearly exactly like where Maybeshewill might have gone after last year’s Not For Want of Trying (as opposed, that is, to where they did go). And if you aren’t among the Leicester-based band’s fans, then there’s probably not much that will win you over here.

For the rest of you, those who are unfamiliar with Maybeshewill, A New Silent Corporation presents a debut post-rock album with just enough pizzazz to inspire interest, but not enough to maintain it. If there is little to overtly criticize, it would seem that there is also little to explicitly praise. The track lengths are appropriate, the instrumentation is well done, and the samples, though perhaps adding rather little of substance to the music, at least do not intrude annoyingly upon our listening experience. Moments of excitement exist, and the opening track “Time Discipline” was rightly recommended as a TSB Track of the Week a few weeks back. Opening with record scratches set against developing guitar arpeggios before breaking off around the two-minute mark to move into a more standard post-rock style build-up, the track is nothing we haven’t heard before, but it shows a very nice development of technique.

At the risk of sounding excessively snarky, Everything is Exactly as it Seems is perhaps the most honestly-titled album I’ve come across in quite some time. The album carries itself with almost no pretension, and makes no claims for being more than what it appears at the surface. If A New Silent Corporation (which, incidentally, is a great band name) wishes to leave a more lasting mark upon the instrumental rock community, then they will need to develop their own personal approach to the genre. As it is, we’re left with a solid neo-post-rock debut, but one which could easily be mistaken for outtakes from another already established band (which, in turn, has been accused of being no more than a collection of 65daysofstatic outtakes). In a way, the album is like a reproduction painting of Starry Night which one might hang on the wall: nice technique, zero personality. Is this album bad? Certainly not. But is it any good? Well, I suppose so; but I can do no more than that.

by Tom Butcher thesilentballet

[me]Damn, this is good. It's reminding me a bit of 65dos. But not as heavy nor fast.

Aarktica - In Sea (2009) (AWESOME !!!)

The Link Has Been Removed by Request =)

Genre : Ambient, Post-rock, Shoegaze, Experimental
Myspace
Buy (PO)

Tracklist :

1. I Am (The Ice)
2. LYMZ
3. Hollow Earth Theory
4. A Plague Of Frost (In The Guise Of Diamonds)
5. In Sea
6. Onward
7. Young Light
8. Autumnal
9. Corpse Reviver No. 2
10. Instill
11. When We're Ghosts
12. Am I Demon

Aarktica was conceived in the winter of 1998 with Jon DeRosa’s permanent loss of hearing in one ear as a distraction from his other musical interests. As his hearing loss became less of a distraction and more of a new way of listening, Aarktica became a means to execute the soundtrack of the life in mono now thrust upon him. One of audio distortions, aural hallucinations and a reliance on painkillers. The first album No Solace in Sleep was recorded on a dying 4-track cassette recorder in various NYU dorm rooms and released on Silber Records in 2000.

After releasing the now out-of-print Morning One EP on Ochre Records in the UK, Aarktica signed to Darla Records and released Or You Could Just Go Through Your Whole Life and Be Happy Anyway, Bliss Out v.18 in 2002 and Pure Tone Audiometry in 2003. These releases would combine lo-fi electro and shoegaze with the ambient textures of modern composers like Morton Feldman and Ingram Marshall, defining Aarkticas innovative drone pop hybrid.

During the years 2003 - 2008, Aarktica transformed from a solo project into a collective. The project featured a revolving lineup of musicans, with DeRosa as the mainstay. The ensemble created drones and textures from the timbres of instruments, not soley from reverb units and delay pedals. Members included Aaron Spectre, Chris Carrico, Oliver Chapoy (Saxon Shore), James Duncan (of Le Systeme Records), Mike Pride and Seth Misterka (of Dynasty).

Aarktica’s fourth full-length release Bleeding Light was released in April 2005 on Darla Records, followed by a limited split 12” with Aaron Spectre on Berlin’s Moonbunny Records.

After Bleeding Light DeRosa took time off to collaborate with former Flare bandmate LD Beghtol on some songs for the new Flare album, Cut (Affairs of The Heart, 2009), as well as sing a lead role on Stephin Merrit’s theatre album Showtunes (Nonesuch, 2007). Aarktica relocated to Southern California in Summer 2007 and released its fifth album Matchless Years on Darla Records in Fall 2007. In 2007 Aarktica also finished work on a film score for the indie feature film “Apology”.

In Summer 2008, DeRosa moved back to Brooklyn, NY. With the goal of bringing Aarktica back to its roots, he began working on the sequel to Aarktica’s 2000 debut No Solace In Sleep. It is titled In Sea and to be released on Silber Records in October 2009. The album features Aarktica’s cover of “Am I Demon?” by Danzig.

A Dancing Beggar - What We Left Behind (2009) (AWESOME !!!)

Genre : Ambient, Electrocoustic, Electronica, Experimental, Post-rock, Shoegaze, UK
Myspace
Buy

Tracklist :

1 Prelude
2 The First Day of Spring
3 Sand Between Our Toes
4 Branches and Nettles
5 22 Summers
6 We Flew Over England's Fields
7 Daytrip to Glynde
8 Our Distant Memories, Our Idle Dreams
9 Dawn Breaks, New Beginnings
10 Skinny Trees
11 Llywelyn's Remorse

A Dancing Beggar is the musical project of 21-year-old musician, James Simmons. Having played a mixture of drums and guitar in previous bands, a solo project seemed the next step in achieving other creative goals. Using just a laptop, a couple of guitars and a cheap microphone, everything is written, recorded, mixed and produced in his bedroom.

Influenced by seminal post-rock artists like Maps, Sigur Ros, Amusement Parks On Fire, and Epic45, A Dancing Beggar began in summer 2007. After the purchase of some recording equipment a number of songs were written, recorded and distributed across MySpace. It wasn’t until early 2008 that a collection of songs seemed to link together for a possible release. These were recorded and subsequently turned into the 5 track EP ‘How They Grow’ which has been described by The Stool Pigeon as a ‘post rock treat’. In late 2008 the entire EP was re-mixed, and on the 23rd February 2009 Grand Independent released ‘How They Grow’, as a 6 track EP on iTunes. ‘How They Grow’ takes elements of post-rock and shoegaze and has been compared to the sounds of Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Ulrich Schnauss and July Skies.

As of March 2009, work had begun on new songs for A Dancing Beggar’s eagerly anticipated full-length album, ‘What We Left Behind’. These songs are more acoustic based, less distorted and euphoric with emphasis on a more organic sound. Composed and mixed by James, all eleven tracks were recorded in James’ bedroom again using an acoustic and electric guitar, microphone and laptop, between November 2008 and June 2009. This time incorporating field recordings by artists Peter Caeldries, Adam Danz and Cynthia Lawson, samples of which can be heard on ‘Our Distant Memories’, ‘Skinny Trees’ and ‘Branches and Nettles’. Notably an extract of ‘Day 16 - Recall Your Favorite Childhood Memory’ by Cynthia Lawson, a story about how she nearly jumped into a swimming pool with no water in it when she was very young. Such samples only compliment the ethereal sounds of ‘What We Left Behind’, marking a turning point in the maturity of A Dancing Beggar’s music which in most parts navigates around the concept of nostalgia.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea - Eight (Pieces) (2009) (AWESOME !!!)

Genre : Post-rock, Piano, Shoegaze, Experimental, UK
Myspace
Free Download

Tracklist :

01 Cough
02 Hammers
03 Learn Italian
04 Wolves
05 Out! Out! Out!
06 Glory Pt. 2
07 Floor Essence
08 Roundabouts

One boy from England manages to sound like everything you’ve ever heard before, nothing new, but fresh at the same time. Producing all the songs from home between the hours of 12-2am on his laptop whilst trying to avoid studying for exams and sleeping, aided by consuming coffee and energy drinks in amounts which any doctor would strongly recommend against. Sounds a little like The Octopus Project if they ever had a fast, dirty fuck in an alley with Errors, whilst Fridge looked on with envious eyes and bitched about the moment to Foals.

Layers upon layers of attention holding guitar hooks, catchy rhythms, and other oddities. Awesome driving music.