Browsing Tag

Experimental Electronica

Meet the Einstein of IDM in Bitvert’s latest soundscape, wasted states

Posted on 1 April 2024
Wasted states by bitvert

Bitvert’s latest offering, ‘wasted states‘, is a testament to his profound understanding and innovative approach to electronica. Trained as a painter and skilled in music production, projection, 2D artwork, and visuals, Bitvert brings a unique perspective to his musical creations, evident in this captivating track.

‘wasted states’ draws listeners into a monochromatic techno landscape that is as dark and harbingering as it is transcendently liberating. Bitvert’s mastery in creating a soundscape that is both oppressive and enchanting is unparalleled. The backbeat, demanding and unyielding, forms the backbone of this auditory experience, compelling submission with its rhythmic magnetism.

As the instrumental progresses, haunting violin strings weave in, adding an exotic beguile that juxtaposes the track’s oppressive nature. This element of contrast is a reflection of Bitvert’s ability to allow his audience to profoundly feel what he visualises sonically.

Bitvert’s background in various artistic disciplines enriches his music, allowing him to create multi-dimensional experiences. His work with The Light Surgeons and performances at The Big Chill and Glastonbury Festival’s Gas Tower stage, as well as a groundbreaking VR set at The Lost Horizon Festival, showcase his versatility and commitment to pushing the boundaries of electronic music.

Wasted states was officially released on March 15; stream the single on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Astro Spectacular – He Has Risen: Witness the Deep House Resurrection.

Posted on 7 May 2022

Astro Spectacular brought the eccentricity of a renegade to their latest deep house track, He Has Risen, which was penned on Easter eve, and performed with a little help from The Conservative Pygmies.

80s synths, funk-riding grooves, and sporadic bursts of otherworldly influence make He Has Risen a deep house track like no other. The producer and songwriter, also known as Mooney Star, started his Astro Spectacular project as a result of the lockdown restrictions that prevented him from getting together with his band, Warm Leatherette. Going forward, Astro is set to take his cosmic take on deep house on tour across Long Beach, CA and release a string of new singles to follow He Has Risen.

You can witness the resurrection for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

shoegazer brings in the future of bass house with his latest single, ‘Modest Revolt’.

Posted on 3 July 2021
shoegazer

Tokyo-based music producer shoegazer’s eclectic style fuses ethereal ambience and unbridled energy with aggressively caustic textures to deliver a multifaceted sound that is only synonymous with his moniker.

His latest release, Modest Revolt, is a progressively electrifying hit that doesn’t discriminate on the genres under the EDM umbrella it draws from. With euphoric bass house-style drops and glitchy increments of dub house, Modest Revolt is an aural force to be reckoned with.

Many artists may have started to take the multi-genre approach, but very few can seamlessly meld the contrasting textures and make a hit that would make a dancefloor writhe like shoegazer can.

Modest Revolt is due for release on July 16th; check out shoegazer on Soundcloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

RICKY delivers ethereal futurism in his latest electronica track, ‘Absentee Landlord’

Posted on 29 May 2021

Ahead of his upcoming EP, Nottingham, UK-based artist and producer, RICKY created plenty of appetite for his modernistic, future bass  mixes with the release of his single, Absentee Landlord.

With angsty vocal samples thrown into the complex layers of pulsing indietronica around the future pop female vocals, you can’t help but be endeared by the personality on offer here. Although, you won’t quite be able to pinpoint at which moment your rhythmic pulses became interconnected with the trappy bass-soaked beats and hazy synth-driven melodies.

Before making his solo debut, RICKY was one-half of the electro-punk outfit Battlecat; the duo toured alongside Two Door Cinema Club, Future Islands, Hadouken and plenty more before disbanding due to personal commitments.

With his solo project, Battlecat fans are sure to be appeased, but there’s an inexplicable ingenuity to his recent material that is sure to leave you hooked.

Absentee Landlord is now available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nick Tello brings his stunning, ambitious signature with ‘The Artist’

Posted on 18 May 2021

‘The Artist’ is six minutes fifty-two seconds of jazzy, (initially) lounge-bar piano-led (mostly-) instrumental composition, part musical movement, part art piece, rotating its way through guitars, samples, and orchestral instrumentation and percussion, always with the same repeating melody-line. It’s freeform, experimental, and hugely ambitious, with multiple layered tracks compounding that repetitive ostinato phrase; apparently three years in the making and a month to mix, with ambient background-chatter samples, reverb-soaked drums, strings, and that constant piano, programmed TR-808 patterns and electronic instrumentation, and even the smash of a glass. There’s twists and turns, rests and pauses, pitch-shifts and tempo and timbre-changes, classical finger-picked guitar mixing with engineered notes and sampled speech, but always a return to the familiar, beautiful piano refrain. It’s an absolute work of art, delicate, potent, and powerful, and a definite labour of love. A stunning, sublime achievement.

You can hear ‘The Artist’ on Spotify. Follow Nick Tello on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Tranquil Peace: King Zausage is effortlessly excellent on ‘Near Bonix’

Posted on 6 May 2021

As the peaceful soundscape unravels before your willing earlobes to send a sensation that is supremely exciting, King Zausage kindly filters out all of the noise for us, with the exhilarating new single that will have you in a cat-nap type of mood with ‘Near Bonix‘.

King Zausage is a multi-talented and deep-thinking Hong Kong experimental electronica producer, music journalist, composer, guitarist, tour manager, PhD researcher in theology, rock music and spirituality, at the University of Birmingham.

He makes that deep type of soundscape that is rather rare as it has so much pure soul, as he started his career in this world of entertainment as the music show curator in a mountain of the 2012 Shan Zhai Music Festival. The bug soon bit and hasn’t left him since — instead of taking the bite out of his veins — he has instead only forged onto greater heights and might be one of the most intriguing humans around.

You feel like you are in another planet here, each second feels like it has been carefully meshed into a story for us to hold onto, for our hearts to heal with.

‘Near Bonix’ from the fascinating and uniquely focused Birmingham-based, Hong Kong-born electronic producer King Zausage, is that peaceful trance that you needed after all the madness around. This is a world class artist who is so in tune with the needs of the world and brings us an ambient masterpiece, to treasure wisely here.

Stream this new single on Spotify and see more on IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Zachary James & Rene Orth – Jabberwocky: A Harsh Electronica Sci-Fi Serenade

Posted on 14 January 2021

Electronica artists generally fall into two categories, the assimilators, and those who throw their authentic expression into their projects to create mind-blowing feats of indulgent insanity, ‘Jabberwocky’ from Zachary James’ 2020 album ‘Call Out’, definitely falls into the latter camp.

‘Jabberwocky’ is a theatrically enticing Sci-Fi laden hit which Zachary James created in collaboration with Rene Orth and Lewis Carroll. The progressive track runs through teasing melodic increments before crashing into tremulously bass-drenched Industrial electronica. It doesn’t matter which extreme the tempo is sitting at; you’ll be transfixed from start to finish in the mix which gives Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds a run for its money.

The multitalented artist’s experience as a Broadway actor discernibly fed into the monumental 7-minute visual single which becomes so much more than a soundscape as you embrace the chaos, imagination and cinematic style.

Jabberwocky is available to stream with the rest of the epic 25-tracker album via Spotify.

 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

People Of The Parallel drop classy new single ‘Eyes And See’

Posted on 1 January 2021

Electro-pop in a dubstep/dance-pop style from Nashville Tennessee, People Of The Parallel is the brainchild of vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Justin Michael, and new single ‘Eyes And See’ is a properly mature, extremely well-put-together piece of work. A mix of styles and influences here, but not jarring or lacking in cohesion, Michael takes inspirations as diverse as Billy Joel, Skrillex, Dr. Dre, and Glitch Mob, mixing them up to create a cracking piece of EDM-pop.

The production skills on display are masterful, the track rising and falling to create an airiness and space whilst never dropping away or losing energy, the vocal-line carrying the track alongside the synths and beats to create a track oozing personal style and character.

Check out ‘Eyes And See’ on Spotify, and follow People Of The Parallel on Twitter and Instagram.

Mike Soto drops beautiful trance-y electronica with new single ‘Leslie’

Posted on 15 August 2020
https://soundcloud.com/mike5oto/leslie/s-MdXSzptbyU2

It’s 40 years since Brian Eno’s ‘Music For Airports’, but Eno’s notes around form and atmosphere still hold true; ‘Leslie’, then, is the lead track from Mike Soto’s debut album ‘Memories’, 2’44” of downtempo, chilled wandering piano phrases over a background of electronic beats, swells, and trance-y ambience.

It’s reminiscent of the more melodic parts of Eno, Helios’ ‘Caesura’,  or Anitek’s ‘The Refractory’; downtempo but not downbeat, uplifting but not overpowering. It’s a nicely crafted piece, quiet and unobtrusive, the kicker at 1’39” catching you unawares and snapping your attention back to the repeating piano motif before it fades away to nothingness at 2’44”.

Tastefully done, Lo-Fi, and subtle, Mike Soto’s debut album ‘Memories’ is on iTunes; check out Mike on Facebook here.

Review by Alex Holmes

Laceouss has released their progressively entrancing Alt EDM Pop single “Love”

Posted on 30 July 2020

With more artists releasing music than ever before, it’s getting increasingly harder to find a truly authentic sound. But every now and again you’ll encounter artists such as Laceouss who remind you how mind-blowing the feeling of striking aural distinction is.

Laceouss has recently released their album Platinum Spce. Eery track is a masterfully crafted immersive gem, yet the best introduction to their sound is undoubtedly Love.

While you’re still wondering which genre hole Love falls in, you’ll realise that you’ve already been captivated by the entrancing mix. By the time the progressive soundscape fades out, you’ll realise that Laceouss’ sound transcends the notion of genres whilst flirting with elements of Pop, Hip Hop and Darkwave Electronica.

Despite the smooth, polished and radio-ready production, there’s a dark and gritty feel to Love which sets Laceouss leagues apart from any other artists I’ve heard this year.

You can check out Laceouss’ standout single Love along with the rest of their 2020 release on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast