Browsing Tag

Neo-Classic

Basil Babychan cast a spectral shadow over his latest filmic score, Insentient Nature

https://soundcloud.com/basilbabychan/insentinent-nature/s-Zo5Ovv7zuQl?si=5165905864934628a4c17bc22fe9047c&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Insentient Nature is the latest cinematically sombre neo-classic score from the avant-garde ambient composer Basil Babychan, who has garnered international critical acclaim for his phantasmally affecting work, which entwines futurism with touches of classical orchestration to create profoundly reflective sonic spaces.

The darkly compelling minor key progressions against the spectral shadows cast by the classical strings and glitchy synths lead the instrumental soundscape into a brand-new depiction of dystopia; one which allows you to see the beauty beyond the consternation. Harbingering the age of the machine and a sense of detachment from the organic world, Babychan taps into our fears, while demonstrating everything has its place and a right to belonging and freedom.

Insentient Nature is due for official release on November 10th; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Peter Xifaras paid an impassioned ode to an icon with ‘While My Guitar Weeps for Mehdi Rajabian’

While My Guitar Weeps for Mehdi Rajabian, performed by Peter Xifaras and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, pays homage to the bravery and tenacity of an Iranian artist imprisoned for working with female dancers and musicians, something which has been banned since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

After a three-minute trial, he was convicted and tortured during his sentence, but that wasn’t enough to break his indomitable spirit that inspired this jazzy composition, which orchestrally berates the indignity and senseless oppression; it carries the quintessence of the Iranian protesters throwing away their headscarves in a bid to retaliate against regimented oppression.

While Les Pauls don’t often take the lead in orchestral arrangements, on this wild and jazzy contemporary ride, the sonorous sustain lends itself effortlessly to the instrumental piece as Peter Xifaras demonstrates his prowess as a guitarist, composer, and producer.

Stream the official music video for While My Guitar Weeps for Mehdi Rajabian via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mother Pangea followed the muse into unchartered territory with ‘tHE mISERABLE fOSSIL’

Mother Pangea captured the mystery of his Middle Eastern roots in his latest melodically enticing single, tHE mISERABLE fOSSIL.

The neo-classic electronic hip-hop score may reach the pinnacle of experimentalism, but the artist’s inclination to follow his muse into unchartered new territory didn’t diminish the accessibility of the release; to date, tHE mISERABLE fOSSIL has clocked up almost 40k streams, and counting.

After being fascinated by the way instrumentation drives our emotions, especially by the hand of Yanni, Hans Zimmer, and Tyler Bates, Mother Pangea was keen to awaken evocative impulses with his own compositions; never one to discriminate on genre, he often turns his talents to emanating elements of pop, RnB, Indie, House, and EDM in his hybridic compositions which break every mould known to man, and a few more that are beyond our consciousness.

tHE mISERABLE fOSSIL was officially released on July 28th; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The formidable queen of orchestral indie, Tabitha Booth, set a baroque score in her single, Silent Lucidity

Coming to you live from Cocoon Studios, Tabitha Booth set a baroque score in her evocatively artful cover of Queensrÿche’s hit 90s song, Silent Lucidity. The chamber strings carve through the indie artist’s neo-classic class, which effortlessly resonates through her Tori Amos-ESQUE vocal lines and the tension-fraught arrangements that stands as a testament to her ability to weave an intricate and picturesque narrative.

Amanda Palmer may be the ‘Girl Anachronism’, but Tabitha Booth established herself as the formidable queen of orchestral indie after unveiling the disquiet alchemy in Silent Lucidity. We are stoked to see her back on the airwaves after the reprieve that followed her 2020 single, Curiosity. Here’s to hoping that there’s plenty more poignantly pensive alchemy lingering in the pipeline.

The live recording of Silent Lucidity is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ernesto Nobili Melancholically Etched the Sweetest Ambient Neo-Classic Guitar Serenade with ‘Roma’

Ernesto Nobili

25 years as a composer, producer, and session musician, condensed into a poignantly ambient classical guitar score; Ernesto Nobili’s single, Roma, allows gentle tenacity to give way to intricately etched cinematic magnetism.

While I never thought I would hear a melancholia rival to Glen Hansard’s soundtrack to Once, the Italian composer took influence from the 60s and 70s Italian film to timelessly celebrate the style and soul of the breathtakingly romantic mise en scenes.

Throughout the entire duration, I found myself torn between the micro-expressions of ennui and the profound beauty within the instrumental piece. Nobili professes not to be a virtuoso, but I haven’t heard many guitarists out there with the same ability to pull emotion out of acoustic timbre quite so intuitively.

Check out Ernesto Nobili on SoundCloud, Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alex Spencer has released his arrestingly sinister neo-classic score, Tachycardia

Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Alex Spencer, made his debut earlier this year with his neo-classically polyphonic instrumental track, A Brief Intro; with his latest release, Tachycardia, he’s moved into trepidation-laden Bernard Herrman territory.

With the unnerving strings and bleakly carnivalesque arpeggios, Tachycardia is almost enough to do what it says on the tin and elevate your heart rate through the arrestingly sinister progressions. After hearing it, the fact that Alex Spencer bounces from one style to the next is almost disappointing. Yet, based on Tachycardia, we’re pretty certain that anything he brings to the airwaves will be nothing less than phenomenal. He’s set the bar exceedingly high for himself. We can’t wait to hear what follows.

Tachycardia is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Meet the Tom Waits of this Generation in Vince Chinaski’s Debut Album, Never Painted Black.

Vince Chinaski

Copenhagen’s most prodigal up and coming singer-songwriter, Vince Chinaski, has released his debut album, Never Painted Black, which opens on the title single and instantly arrests you in the Avant-Garde neo-classically inclined feat of psych, jazz and folk.

Without any hint of hyperbole, Vince Chinaski deserves to be just as revered as Tom Waits for the way he pulls new sonic intrigue from a timeless sound. With Louis Armstrong reminiscences in the cinematic jazzy score that flows at a teasingly mellow pace that leaves you desperately eager for the next note, Never Painted Black is beyond absorbing.

Its mind-meltingly artful gravitas becomes even more visceral towards the outro as the Chinaski’s crooning timbre starts turning dark and scuzzy vintage rock guitars feed kaleidoscopic discord into the release.

Chinaski’s debut album will be available to stream on all major platforms from November 26th, 2021.

Check out Vince Chinaski on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Soundcloud. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Unravel with a.patrick’s consoling modern masterpiece, fray

From the instant you hit play on the Minneapolis vocalist, pianist and producer, a.patrick’s, latest single, fray, your senses surrender to the ethereal quiescence that ensues through this modern masterpiece.

His artful neo-classic style is enough to bring tears to the surface as his accordant harmonies echo above his distinguished piano melodies that carry little, if any, assimilation. The way he leaves himself exposed through his lyrics and gentle vocal presence is enough to feel you feeling just as emotionally naked.

As someone who frequently finds themselves drawn to melancholia in music, I can earnestly say that you’d struggle to find another soundscape as captivating and consoling in equal measure as this beautifully scorned lullaby.

Fray is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Thomas Eggensberger explores the ‘Forgotten Universe’ in his latest cinematic score.

LA-based German composer, orchestrator and songwriter Thomas Eggensberger has composed for film, television, concert music and collaborative art; his accolades are endless and his latest score, ‘Forgotten Universe’, is sure to earn him plenty more.

Forgotten Universe exhibits all of the hallmarks of talent that you would expect from an artist that has toured globally and worked with high-profile names, including Wayne Sharp, Tom Howe and plenty more. But the emotion that bleeds from the wavering orchestral strings in the cinematically profound instrumental score is anything but predictable. The composer made light work of ensuring that by the time you reach the end of this bitter-sweet serenade, your rhythmic pulses will feel at a loss with the silence that follows.

Forgotten Universe is now available to stream via YouTube.

Connect with Thomas Eggensberger via Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Billy Moffat has released his symphonic masterpiece, Through the Eyes of God, featuring Davie Brockett.

Scottish-born composer Billy Moffat brought plenty of his experience touring the globe with the show, One Night of Queen, to his latest release, Through the Eyes of God, featuring Davie Brockett on guitar.

Starting with dramatic neo-classic keys, there are no hints in the production to warn that the stunning crescendos will soon give way to over-driven scuzzed-up guitar solos that easily match the furore in an Apocalyptica track. Davie Brockett’s searing solos blazon the professional instrumental score with even more virtuosic stripes.

Though the Eyes of God is, quite literally, a jaw-droppingly symphonic masterpiece that will easily leave you ensnared by the sheer nuance and Moffat’s ability to compose a score that will put your rhythmic pulses under instant command.

The orchestral release is now available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia