Meena - Different Now (2025)

A blend of genres that gives birth to a concoction that is as airy as it is catchy? Count me in! The Manchester-based Meena has released three EP before their long-play debut, but this is the day now! Or it was in August. Nevertheless, Different Now is hell of an album.

"An incomparably intricate wonderfully listenable burst of mayhem, beautiful delicate sounds woven in a cathartic wave" says the band when asked what they play. I say that the intimate layer of oneiric music, mostly due to the extremely ear-pleasing vocals, is definitely there, mayhem I don't hear. But it doesn't matter as the vocals are accompanied by an artistic blend of electronic music, rock music, trip-hop music, post-punk music. You know how sometimes you see something you know was made out of different elements, but you don't see it at first glance? I have this with this album. 

The electronic sounds in the backgrounds sometimes create melodies but sometimes give out some of the post-punk's roughness (like in Money), which sometimes feel restricted in the trip-hop-like beats. I like artful complications and this is exactly what I get here.

Different Now costs 12 EUR (9.99 GBP).

Check: Creation

Country: UK

Genre: airy electronic wave

Meena - Newspapers (2023)

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Fågelle - Den svenske vreden (2023)

It seems like Scandinavian countries are a limitless source of (usually female) artists who create music that is both exceptionally artsy and utterly atmospheric. Let's not waste space here on enlisting them, it's enough to say that Klara Andersson aka Fågelle is another one who is already well-known on the European music scene. This year she came back with her sophomore album called Den svenske vreden.

Although the title translates to "the Swedish anger", anger is not something the music itself conveys here. From the music perspective, it's more a melancholic, slightly dark kind of high-brow pop music that looks for new means of expression rather than choosing the easy ways to grab the attention of the audience. So it's less about the melodic music, it's more about employing such music items as "twisted field recordings, mobile memories, digital trash, dark electronics, and howling choirs while moving between harmony and noise" to create something memorable.

And this comes with Andersson's vocals that feel so very close to the audience, never hidden behind the music background, bringing tons of emotions to the table, although it doesn't feel like an over-the-top performance. They are quite surprisingly balanced at one point by the particularly male-deep vocals by Joakim Thåström  in Kroppen, but otherwise it really feels like it's a party of one artist with all the attention drawn to her.

Den sveske vreden costs 7 EUR.

Check: Ingenting

Country: Sweden

Genre: dark electronic pop

Label: Medication Time Records

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Cyberian - Dark Orphism (2021)

Stefan Bachvarov is another Bulgarian ambient artist who I got to know thanks to the amazing label Amek Collective. Better known as Cyberian, Bachvarov collaborated with Angel Simitchiev as Vague Voices and now shows his own album called Dark Orphism.

The album is filled with very fittingly dark music. It stems from the artist's interest in "paganism, nature, and the occult". The title suggests inspirations taken either form very psychedelic art (Cubism derivative so it must be veeery psychedelic) or Greek mythology (pretty dark part of it if you ask me). Anyway, it may be both, as Bachvarov's music is filled with trance-inducing soundscapes kept in a very bleak and gloomy atmosphere. But it's absolutely not all about homogeneous soundscapes; there's a lot of noise and a lot of broken rhythm that makes it almost danceable. Almost.

Dark Orphism costs 6 EUR.

Check: Seeds of Death

Country: Bulgaria

Genre: dark experimental electronica

Label: Amek Collective

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永遠の悪魔 Eternity Devil - 実存的恐怖 (2021)

Ethereal take on very modern electronic music, this is 永遠の悪魔 Eternity Devil, a Hungarian artist who makes "dreampunk and other aesthetic music". This year they released at least two albums, one of which is this highly interesting 実存的恐怖.

The album's title translates to "The horror of Existence" which neatly corresponds with the short poem included at the album's site. the inspirations taken from death and the fragility of human life are clear here. The artist uses them to make the most ethereal kind of electronic music that is close to vaporwave but also ranges from ambient up to heavier industrial sounds (especially in the great Vacuum of Space). And in every second it amazes with the ethereality and psychedelia, both dripping from this weird music. On one hand, the compositions seem to be kept in similar pace and are rather homogeneous, on the other, when dived deeper, the complexity and sweet chaos are staggering. 

実存的恐怖  costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Vacuum of Space

Country: Hungary

Genre: ethereal vaporwave

Label: vaporgaze

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Mint Julep - In A Deep And Dreamless Sleep (2021)

The Oregon-based duo Mint Julep has an already-established name within the dream pop music scene. It's Keith (a member of Sono but better known probably as Helios) and Hollie Kenniff who together make this very ethereal and very electronic haze of music. They have released already 5 albums (including last year's Stray Fantasies) but 2021's In A Deep And Dreamless Sleep may be their best yet imho.

The music here is so subtle, the melodies so intangible that in some parts it's closer to ambient pop than dream pop. Hollie's vocals flow somewhere in the background, very often completely drowning within the vast but peaceful sea of electronica (in tracks like Longshore Drift or Shores being basically ambient soundscapes) and supported by airy backing vocals that create the most ethereal experience in the finish of Lure. The amount of the dreaminess on this albums is truly impressive.

The electronica becomes more prominent (and beautiful) in Pulse, a song based on, well, a pulsating phrase that is both unnerving and completely mesmerizing. It's such a shame it doesn't last twice as long (or more). This may be applied to most of the tracks actually, they do such a good job in creating this trance-inducing synth passages that a listener could get lost in for hours but they finish after a disappointingly short time. Still, better to have loved and lost...

In A Deep And Dreamless Sleep costs 10 USD.

Check: Pulse

Country: Oregon, US

Genre: ambient dream pop

Label: Western Vinyl

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Occult Modem Settings - Like Like Like Like Like Like (2020) EN

It's not often that a music project's name so fittingly expresses its music content and it is so in the case of Steven Danglis and his project called Occult Modem Settings. Why? Because it's minimalist DYI electronics that at the same time is able to sound as if possessed by an evil spirit.

It's well audible on the new album called Like Like Like Like Like Like. It's filled with "stream-of-consciousness noisy drone pop" that in its diversity includes beautiful fragments filled with field recordings, tiny melodies and melancholic prettiness. But it can as well be brutal (Heave(n) or the sudden burst in Bird Brides) or subtly noisy (beautiful in A Very Watery River). And this is the clue of this beauty - that it includes so many approaches to itself.

Like Like Like Like Like Like costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: A Very Watery River

Country: New York, US

Genre: ethereal noise

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Occult Modem Settings - Like Like Like Like Like Like (2020) PL

Rzadko kiedy nazwa muzycznego projektu tak dobrze odzwierciedla jego właściwą zawartość, a tak jest w przypadku Steven Danglisa i jego projektu Occult Modem Settings. Dlaczego? Bo tworzy minimalistyczną DYI elektronikę, która jednocześnie potrafi zabrzmieć jak opętana przez złego ducha.

Słychać to na nowej płycie Like Like Like Like Like Like. Zawiera ona "strumień świadomości noise'owego drone popu", na który składają się fragmenty urodziwe pełne field recordings, drobnych melodii i smutnego piękna Ale który potrafi być też brutalnie (Heave(n) czy niespodziewany wybuch w Bird Brides) albo delikatnie noise'owy (piękny w A Very Watery River). I w tym zasadza się clue tego piękna, że zawiera w sobie bardzo wiele różnego do niego podejścia.

Like Like Like Like Like Like kosztuje tyle, ile chcesz zapłacić.

Sprawdź: A Very Watery River

Kraj: Nowy Jork, US

Szufladka: ethereal noise

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Grzegorz Bojanek - Lines (2020) EN

It's been a while since Grzegorz Bojanek was on this blog and since 2017 he managed to releas at least two albums. I'm coming back to his music with the release of a new EP as there's everything I associate his music with there.

Namely, a lot of industrial, not super quiet ambient and electronic sounds. In the EP's tracks it's the bass beats that rule the space, ones that tower over the electronics and samples like cliffs over a sea. Between and around them, there's a complex, multithreaded electronic music enriched with field recordings and a lot of the industrial, factory-like atmosphere. And also melodies as a song like Spectral Line simply begs for a couple of dance moves. It has to be stated though, that besides that, the music on the album is rather dark and not very optimist but perhaps it's just my feelings.

Lines costs 4 EUR (15 PLN) .

Grzegorz Bojanek - Stories of an Old Man (2017) EN

Sprawdź: Spectral Line

Kraj: Polska

Szufladka: industrial electronica

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Grzegorz Bojanek - Lines (2020) PL

Dawno nie było Grzegorza Bojanka na blogu, a przecież od 2017 roku wydał on co najmniej dwa albumy. Wracam do niego za sprawą nowej EP-ki Lines bo jest na niej wszystko z czym się kojarzy jego muzyka.

A mianowicie dużo industrialnego i nieprzesadnie cichego ambientu i elektroniki. W utworach na EP-ce królują basowe bity, które wybijają się na tle elektroniki i sampli niczym klify ponad morską taflą. Pomiędzy nimi rozprzestrzenia się skomplikowana, wielowątkowa elektronika wzbogacona o field recordings i dużo industrialnej, fabrycznej atmosfery. Oraz melodii bo takie Spectral Line prosi się wręcz na swój sposób o kilka tanecznych ruchów. Trzeba jednak podkreślić, że mimo to muzyka na płycie jest raczej mroczna i raczej nie zachęca do optymizmu, ale być może to tylko moje wrażenie.

Lines kosztuje 15 złotych.

Grzegorz Bojanek - Stories of an Old Man (2017) PL

Sprawdź: Spectral Line

Kraj: Polska

Szufladka: industrial electronica

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I Am Waiting for You Last Summer - Self-Defense (2020) EN

The Russians of I Am Waiting for You Last Summer make one of the most noticeable examples of well-done combination of post-rock and extreme electronics. The extreme here are both the sensations and the noise generated by the musicians but also the atmosphere. Self-Defense is their fourth album and quite possible that the most impressive one.

Obviously what draws attention from the very beginning is the monumental vibe of this enterprise. The first notes of the intro are made of crushingly massive organs that swiftly turn into what fans already know, the band's electropost-rock. It's guitar-fueled and loud but, first of all, based on computer-generated sounds what adds to its fresh modernity but at the same time doesn't reduce the atmosphere. There's less of the mathrock-like chaos and more of this consistent noise with Tides of Nebula and others' vibes.

As it is in the rapid sounds of In Circles, Faux Pas or very cinematic Boiling Point. A track that draws attention is, certainly, also Je Me Demande, very different form the rest of the album ballad with the vocals of the Saint-Petersburg-based artist Gdeto thanks to which, the track sounds absolutely dream pop-like. At least up to a point. The album is meant as a "metaphor for the struggle with the outside world and with oneself", no wonder that the artists add that this is their most emotional and expressive work. We owe it to the world of today.

Self-Defense costs 7 USD.

Check: In Circles

Country: Russia

Genre: electropost-rock

Label: trou blanc

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I Am Waiting for You Last Summer - Self-Defense (2020) PL

Rosjanie z I Am Waiting for You Last Summer to jeden z najjaskrawszych przykładów udanego połączenia post-rocka z ekstremalną elektroniką. Ekstremalne są tutaj wrażenia i hałas generowany przez muzyków ale też atmosfera. Self-Defense to czwarta płyta zespołu i możliwe, ze najbardziej efektowna.

Z pewnością to, co od początku rzuca się w uszy to monumentalność tego przedsięwzięcia. Pierwsze nuty intra to przygniatające dźwięki organów, które potem przechodzą w znany już fanom electropost-rock. Jest on gitarowo głośny ale przede wszystkim w dużej mierze oparty na dźwiękach generowanych przez komputer co dodaje mu odświeżającej nowoczesności a jednocześnie nie wpływa na atmosferę. Mniej jest tutaj chaosu mathrocka, a więcej właśnie konsekwentnego hałasu spod znaku Tides from Nebula i innych.

Tak jak w szalejącym gwałtownymi dźwiękami In Circles, Faux Pas czy kinowym wręcz Boiling Point. Z pewnością uwagę zwraca też Je Me Demande, zupełnie inna w brzmieniu ballada z wokalem petersburskiej artystki Gdeto dzięki której kawałek brzmi zupełnie dreampopowo, przynajmniej do czasu. Album ten jest w zamierzeniu "metaforą potykania się z zewnętrznym światem i samym sobą", nic dziwnego, że artyści dodają, ze to ich najbardziej emocjonalna i ekspresyjna płyta, zawdzięczamy to temu jak ten świat dziś wygląda.

Self-Defense kosztuje 28 złotych (7 USD).

Sprawdź: In Circles

Kraj: Rosja

Szufladka: electropost-rock

Label: trou blanc

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Polar Moon - As Above, So Below (2020) EN

Jonny Radtke is a pianist and neoclassical musician who makes music under the Polar Moon moniker. His, as it seems, debut album, As Above, So Below, was released back in June by the American label Past Inside the Present.

    

As the project's name suggests, Radtke's music makes a peaceful and atmospheric soundscape inspired by the Far North. His label adds that "from the opening notes (...) the listener can’t help but feel like everything is going to be ok". So it's quite funny that the album's title is also the title of a famous horror movie from before several years. However, this peace and optimism are somewhat weakened for example by the lively and unnervingly industrial electronic backgrounds of Floating. Still, it's mostly that the short tracks mesmerize with the neoclassical beauty of piano and strings like it is in Reminiscent of You, As Above, So Below or Ursa Minor.

And if anybody wants more music, Bandcamp offers the album enriched by every track's remix done by some interesting artists like for example Slow Dancing Society.

As Above, So Below costs 7 USD.

Check: Reminiscent of You

Country: US

Genre: piano neoclassical

Label: Past Inside the Present

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Polar Moon - As Above, So Below (2020) PL

Jonny Radtke to pianista i twórca neoklasyczny, który tworzy pod pseudonimem Polar Moon. Jego, jak się wydaje, debiutancka płyta, As Above, So Below, wydana została jeszcze w czerwcu przez amerykańską wytwórnię Past Inside the Present.

    

Tak jak sugeruje nazwa projektu, muzyka Radtkego to spokojny ale też klimatyczny pejzaż inspirowany daleką północą. Jego label dodaje, że "od pierwszych nut (...) słuchacz nie może nie czuć, ze wszystko będzie dobrze". Także dość zabawne, że tytuł albumu to również tytuł głośnego horroru sprzed kilku lat. Ten spokój i optymizm są czasem jednak nadwyrężane, na przykład przez żwawy i niepokojąco industrialny elektroniczny podkład we Floating. Na ogół jednak niedługie utwory hipnotyzują neoklasycznym pięknem pianina i smyczków tak jak ma to miejsce w Reminiscent of You, As Above, So Below czy Ursa Minor.

A jeśli komuś mało muzyki artysty to Bandcamp oferuje album rozszerzony o remiksy każdego kawałka przez takie osobowości jak np. Slow Dancing Society.

As Above, So Below kosztuje 27 złotych (7 USD).

Sprawdź: Reminiscent of You

Kraj: US

Szufladka: piano neoclassical

Label: Past Inside the Present

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Ten Sticks - T_S (2020) EN

Ten Sticks is a duo from UK's Newcastle (interestingly, there's another Ten Sticks but coming from Czech Republic) for whom instrumental improvisation is part of their nature. The musicians just released a collection of singles and remixes from 2014-18 entitled T_S.

Not to beat around the bush, for me the best improv music is one that doesn't show it's improved. And it's exactly in this example. The music of the band is based on the combination of guitar, drums and electronics including sometimes keys. And the whole thing sounds as if it was deeply thought-through aiming to create unique atmosphere in which everything is possible. Outstanding drums noise (The No.63 Bus Exploded into Light), electronic chaos (Line (Rail Cables)), subtle piano passages, this all can be found on the album.

And then, there are also remixes of songs from bands such as A Festival, A Parade and Ten. Undoubtedly they are some talented guys and although the albums is made as a collection of single tracks, it sounds like a well-constructed whole.

T_S costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: The No.63 Bus Exploded into Light

Country: UK

Genre: improv post-rock

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Ten Sticks - T_S (2020) PL

Ten Sticks to duet z angielskiego Newcastle (co ciekawe jest też zespół Ten Sticks z Czech), dla którego instrumentalna improwizacja to chleb powszedni. Muzycy wydali właśnie kolekcję singli i remiksów z lat 2014-18 zatytułowaną T_S.

Co tu dużo kryć, dla mnie najlepsza muzyka improwizowana to taka, po której tego nie słychać. Tak właśnie jest w tym przypadku. Muzyka zespołu opiera się na połączeniu gitar, perkusji i elektroniki, a do tego dochodzą też na przykład klawisze. I wszystko brzmi jak przemyślana robota mająca na celu stworzyć niepowtarzalną, abstrakcyjną atmosferę, w której wszystko jest możliwe. Wybijający się perkusyjny hałas (The No.63 Bus Exploded into Light), elektroniczny chaos (Line (Rail Cables)), spokojne pasaże wypełnione dźwiękami pianina, to wszystko spotkać można na albumie.

Do tego dochodzą też remiksy utworów takich zespołów jak A Festival, A Parade i Ten. Co tu kryć, utalentowane ziomki, mimo że płyta to tylko zbiór pojedynczych kawałków, słucha się jej jak dobrze skonstruowanej całości.

T_S kosztuje tyle, ile chcesz zapłacić.

Sprawdź: The No.63 Bus Exploded into Light

Kraj: UK

Szufladka: improv post-rock

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n-Sō - Out of the Valley (2020) PL

Kolejne odkrycie dzięki wspaniałemu labelowi Moderna Records. n-Sō to pseudonim sceniczny Nicka Angeloniego (tego, który nie jest zawodnikiem MMA) z Pensylwanii. Jego twórczość poznać można na płycie Out of the Valley.

Mimo, że album zaczyna AFM, kawałek na wskroś klawiszowy, całość już zdecydowanie nie jest tak jednoznaczna. Bo opiera się na pogodzeniu współczesnej elektroniki i ambientu z neoklasyką. Znakomicie widać to w finale tytułowego Into the Valley, gdzie na górach elektronicznych dźwięków wyrasta klawiszowy las - jednocześnie wyraźny i znakomicie wkomponowany w całość. I nie ma znaczenia czy elektronika staje się bardziej agresywna, jak w Drums and Drama czy mniej dostrzegalna jak w Mountain Song - balans jest kluczem do tej bardzo udanej płyty.

Out of the Valley kosztuje 30 złotych (10 CAD).

Sprawdź: Into the Valley

Kraj: Pensylwania, US

Szufladka: electronic neoclassical
Label: Moderna Records

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n-Sō - Out of the Valley (2020) EN

Yet another discovery thanks to the great Moderna Records label. n-Sō is a moniker of Nick Angeloni (the one who's not an MMA person) of Pennsylvania. His music can be appreciated on his album called Out of the Valley.

Although it is opened by AFM, a track thoroughly keys-based, the whole album is definitely not so straight forward. It is based on the cooperation between the modern electronics and ambient with neoclassicism. It's well audible in the title track Into the Valley in the electronic sound's mountains of which, woods of synth keys grow - and they're both clearly heard as well as integrated into the whole thing. And it doesn't matter if the electronics are getting more aggressive as in Drums and Drama or not so clear as in Mountain Song - the balance is the key to this wonderful album.

Out of the Valley costs 10 CAD.

Check: Into the Valley

Country: Pensylwania, US

Genre: electronic neoclassical
Label: Moderna Records

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le_mol - White Noise Everywhere (2020) EN

The Raimund Schlager and Sebastian Götzendorfers duo from Wien make up a project called le_mol, one of the most interesting on the Austrian electronic-instrumental scene. They just proved it with an album White Noise Everywhere.

The gentlemen don't seem to take the music labels seriously, they describe their own works as "post-whatever. ok, we play rock music". I like the other description better: "the self-defined two-man loop orchestra" that shows the repetitiveness and mesmerizing abilities of the project on one hand, on the other the grandeur and complexity of some of its fragments. The artists like to go from ambient landscapes up to climactic guitar compositions only to get back to delicate soundscape. 

I like Hands, a track filled with processed vocals that make up an ambiance of a modern ballad that eventually finishes in the guitar-filled beginning of Takotsubo in which, on the other hand, the floor belongs to the impressive drums and piano keys appearing out of thin air. This album is full of surprises of this kind and this is its strong side.

White Noise Everywhere costs 7.99 EUR.

Check: Hands

Country: Austria

Genre: eclectic post-rock

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le_mol - White Noise Everywhere (2020) PL

Duet Raimund Schlager i Sebastian Götzendorfers z Wiednia tworzy projekt le_mol, jeden z ciekawszych na austriackiej scenie elektroniczno-instrumentalnej. Właśnie potwierdzają to nowym albumem White Noise Everywhere.

Panowie z zespołu chyba nie biorą muzycznych labelek na serio, sami piszą o swojej muzyce "post-cokolwiek. dobra, gramy rocka". Bardziej podoba mi się jednak określenie "samozwańcza dwuosobowa orkiestra loopów", które oddaje z jednej strony repetetywność i hipnotyzujące właściwości projektu, z drugiej orkiestralny rozmach i złożoność niektórych fragmentów. Artyści lubią przechodzić od ambientowego pejzażu po zamaszyste gitarowe kompozycje i z powrotem w delikatny soundscape.

Podoba mi się Hands, utwór wypełniony przetworzonymi wokalami tworzącymi nastrój nowoczesnej ballady, która w końcu zakończona jest przez bardzo gitarowy początek Takotsubo, w którym z kolei króluje efektowna perkusja i pojawiające się znikąd klawisze pianina. Ta płyta pełna jest takich niespodzianek i w tym leży jej siła.

White Noise Everywhere kosztuje 36 złotych (7,99 EUR).

Sprawdź: Hands

Kraj: Austria

Szufladka: eclectic post-rock

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Beyond the Event Horizon - Leaving the 3rd Dimension (2020) EN

It's not so often that post-rock bands use so much of the electronic sounds. One of the exception is the Polish Beyond the Event Horizon. Their music appears on my blog for the second time, together with their third album, very fittingly entitled Leaving the 3rd Dimension.

Their music is made of very guitar post-rock bordering with progressive rock and even post-metal with a huge element of the electronic. But to be honest, the musicians are not keen on such labelling as they describe their works as "not quite fitting in clichés". However the electronics force their way to be talked about while listening to tracks such as Deep, the impressive and energetic finish of which is based on the synth sounds.

This mixture sounds great also in the title track Leaving the 3rd Dimension, in which the more traditional guitar post-rock is placed on the background of unnerving electronics/ Still, the best song here seems to be Away from Home with its unique sound put inside a corset of more traditional composition.

Leaving the 3rd Dimension costs 5 EUR (19 PLN).

Beyond The Event Horizon - FAR EP (2018) EN

Check: Away from Home

Country: Poland

Genre: electronic post-rock

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