Browsing Tag

Leftfield Electronica

Timothy and the Apocalypse took his listeners to alt-electro ‘Nirvana’ with his latest release

Posted on 15 September 2023

The Australian alt-electronica augmenter Timothy and the Apocalypse took his sound to new celestial heights with the release of his latest single, Nirvana; the merit of it is almost enough to dissipate the synonymousness between Kurt Cobain and the track title.

With the opening vocals resounding with a spiritually ceremonial timbre across the lush layers of reverb, the artist and producer set the bar transcendently high from the intro, and still managed to rise above it with the shoegazey dream-pop guitars which bring introduce the solid backbeat that affixes a strong gravitational pull to the ever-ascending melodic lines.

Midway through the track comes a euphoric uplift, which defies all expectations of Timothy and the Apocalypse. Since 2021, he’s held dominion over the ambient trip-hop scene and dominated the associated playlists. With Nirvana, he broke new ground by progressing his new release into a track that could fill a floor and rhythmically drive it into fervour. Amalgams of IDM and deep house don’t come much more electrifying than this.

Stream Nirvana and the THOLEMOD Remix, which hit the airwaves on September 8th via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Manchester-based producer Tao Mitsu liberated his listeners with his transcendent mix, Just Let Go.

Posted on 20 August 2023

With textures and melodic progressions that go beyond immersive to offer aural escapism, when you’re enmeshed with the pulsating rhythms in the latest instrumental mix, Just Let Go, from the Manchester-based producer Tao Mitsu, space and time may as well cease to exist.

By starting with emotional impulses and constructing musical landscapes around them, each creation of Tao Mitsu is an evocative trip tinged with the full spectrum of human emotion rather than just riding euphoric waves. The fragments of melancholy within the groove and bass-driven ambient techno beats in Just Let Go capture the bittersweetness of loneliness, encompassing the primal pain of heartbreak and the first teasings of hope that appear on the periphery.

Just Let Go may not carry the definitive Manchester sound, but with the cover art depicting one of the cosy corners of the iconic Night & Day Café, Tao Mitsu succeeded in paying homage to the vibrant and eclectic music scene via his nostalgia-driven, transcendently liberating leftfield electronica anthem.

Just Let Go reached the airwaves on August 13th; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

CONT4MIN4TED – This is the Way: An Alt-Electronica Journey for the Mind, Body, Soul, and Rhythmic Pulses

Posted on 16 May 2023
https://soundcloud.com/cont4min4ted/sets/this-is-the-way/s-lYo30PwNNHK?ref=clipboard&p=a&c=1&si=67a3e5c169854d6d9ec28a67dcadf4b6&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

After aurally relinquishing their emotional baggage via their debut LP, the Gainesville, GA alt-electronica producer, CONT4MIN4TED, went even further leftfield with their sophomore album, This is the Way, which will take you on a journey of the mind, body, soul and rhythmic pulses.

I could dissect each of the 16 singles that were intuitively curated to orchestrate the ultimate sonic experience, but perceptibly, the greatest achievement of this LP is the cinematic journey it will take you on straight from track one, Stuck, before the stagnation lifts in the fervidly exhilarating soundtrack, Drifting.

Even with the chillier tones and ethereal vocal lines in the cinematic slices of synthesised soul, you won’t fail to find the impassioned warmth in the emotion and experience-driven soundtracks to vignettes that are universally shared. The album is enough to make you forgo your usual vibe-out electronica playlists; it is a smorgasbord of constantly in-flux electronica ingenuity. For your sanity’s sake, sink your teeth into the catharsis.

Stream This is the Way from April 28 on SoundCloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

End credits roll for humanity in Timothy and the Apocalypse’s latest alt-electronica release, Ready for the End

Posted on 29 September 2022

For his latest single, Ready for the End, the epochal producer Timothy and the Apocalypse collaborated with the LA-based singer-songwriter 9 Theory to rekindle their alchemic chemistry for the third time.

The end credits for humanity roll in the soulfully sombre timbre of the single, which entwines lament with the last light of humanism that shines through the jazzy complex time signatures. As existential as it may be to consider the demise of everything that you’ve ever known, Timothy and the Apocalypse offers a placative and meditative reprieve from the anxiety in the form of Ready for the End. There is a reason why 46k listeners are glued to his discography. Hit play to find out why.

Ready for the End is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Timothy and the Apocalypse – Voice Like an Echo: Meet Your New Favourite Trip-Hop Raconteur

Posted on 25 August 2022

After racking up hundreds of thousands of streams since his 2021 debut, the fatalistically monikered experimental electronica artist, Timothy and the Apocalypse has unveiled his latest leftfield single Voice Like an Echo.

With his knack of adding soul to synthetic textures, Voice Like an Echo is yet another trippy triumph, which carries the trip-hop gravitas of Portishead and the ardent downtempo allure of Massive Attack’s most grippingly progressive productions.

If the endlessly imploring vocals finding synergy with the mellifluous glitches (yes, I know that should be a paradox, he’s THAT good) don’t move you, you can probably consider yourself emotionally paralysed. Who would have thought end times would sound so sweet?

Voice Like an Echo is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The anonymous electronica collective, Formanteau, detonated a bomb of colorful euphoria in their debut single, In Your Hands

Posted on 17 August 2022

In Your Hands is the debut mellifluously melodic feat of electronica from the collective, Formanteau, headed by a veteran underground music producer who has appeared in multiple film and TV credits for his compositions.

There is something incredibly reassuring about an anonymous electronica collective running in the same vein as 21st-century enigmas, such as Gorillaz and Sault. There is the immediate affirmation that the motivation behind the electro momentum is in no way egotized, and that is exactly how In Your Hand sweetly runs through.

The innocence in the reprise of “my life is only in your hands” made an unforgettable production out of the colourfully euphoric release that runs at the perfect tempo to leave you as invigorated as mellowed.

Get In Your Hands on your playlists by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Glock-9ne – II Tempo Delle Sirene: A Meditation in Trip-Hop

Posted on 26 July 2022

The independent Italian multi-genre producer, composer, arranger, and graphic designer, Glock-9ne, AKA Mirko, built a flourishing new world with his latest composition, II Tempo Delle Sirene.

The Verona-born and raised artist who founded the GLK Production company switches it up with every new release. This time, he dripped sun-bleached ambience into an artfully upbeat feat of trip-hop, which flirts with the sonic signatures of leftfield electronica and blissfully unravels as easily one of the most meditatively immersive tracks that we have heard this year. Music may only be a competition in our late-stage capitalist world; regardless, his instinctually sublime melodies are a cut above the rest.

The instrumental, II Tempo Delle Sirene, is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Time Meddler – Folks Want Blood: The Tranquil Trip-Hop Enigma Returns

Posted on 13 July 2022

If you prefer your trip-hop on the more temperately exotic side, The Time Meddler’s latest orchestration, Folks Want Blood, will happily assist in your sun-bleached transcendence.

The cinematic Timothy and the Apocalypse Remix tears away from the electronica mould, before boldly roaming into avant-garde textures, kaleidoscopic tones and a sense of intrinsic soul that brings you right into the tranquil heart of the mix.

You scarcely need the producer’s bio to tell you that he’s been making beats since the 90s. It is written within the mellifluous leftfield gravitas that throws right back to that era.

The Timothy and the Apocalypse Remix of Folks Want Blood is now available to stream via Spotify. Hit play; the cathartic payoff is instantaneous.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Renowned indie DJ and producer, Paul Allen Wright, went back to his rock roots with the arrestive rhythms in his EP, Voices

Posted on 17 June 2022

The indie DJ and music producer Paul Allen Wright returned to his rock roots with his riff-driven EP, Voices, featuring the standout single, I’m Walking, which has already racked up over 120k streams on SoundCloud alone. The hypnotically tribal guitar-led rhythms leave little room to wonder why I’m Walking has become a fan favourite.

His aversion to genre specificity gave I’m Walking a similar structural feel to a chilled indie leftfield electronica record. Instead of synths sitting prominently in the mix, Wright opted for acoustic strings to guide the desert-y and sporadically blues-y progressions. With the choice of the Stevie Nicks-ESQUE female vocals, I’m Walking was ethereally complete.

Hear I’m Walking for yourselves on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Grant Dudson goes leftfield with their latest EDM release, ‘Taming Tincture’

Posted on 2 April 2021
https://soundcloud.com/grant-dudson-997532712/taming-tincture

UK-based producer, Grant Dudson, has released his latest cinematic EDM mix ‘Taming Tincture’; the melodically leftfield mix teases orchestral nuances but never leaves its gritty urban essence far behind.

For any true aficionados of bold and modernistic electronica, the artist who started their career in RnB and Hip Hop is one for the radar. Everyone’s a producer in 2021, but producers with the ability to evoke so much emotion via electronic sequences are few and far between; Grant Dudson’s sound fills the gap nicely.

You can check out Grant Dudson’s futuristically psychotropic track for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast