Kismet - 3 Albums

Genre: Rock: Indie

Kismet are a indie rock quintet from the Netherlands. Influenced by Cursive, Blonde Redhead and Depeche Mode, these guys formed the band back in 2002. Producing 2 EPs, they found their sound and released their debut album Hiatus on the Beep! Beep! netlabel.

The EPs show the beginnings of the band. The production is a little rougher, but the tracks still shine. Tracks of note include Voice Like Vomit and Empathy.

The debut album Hiatus is a solid release. Nothing is amiss here, from the production to the song writing skills to the individual talent of each band member. Tracks of note include Brighter, Weather, White Castle and Same Story, Different Name.

All albums may be downloaded from the Beep! Beep! netlabel by following the links below:

Hiatus

4 Track EP

3 Track EP

Superbus - 3 Albums

Genre: Ambient, Jazz: Nu Jazz, Electronic

Superbus are a Polish duo of producers that combine nu jazz with ambient and electronic music. The 2 EPs by Superbus, namely, No Porno Please and The Place have excellent title tracks of ambient, calming music. I also recommend What About The Deep (Headache Version), althought I warn you, it does manage to induce a headache in people.

The album Debut contains a higher influence of nu jazz however. Examples of notable tracks from the album include Finest Morning, which starts off with blazing percussion, and Han Solo.

All 3 albums may be downloaded from the Sojus Records netlabel from the links below.

Debut

No Porno Please

The Place

Particle Blue - Dubbien

Genre: Electronic, Experimental

This release is by a local artist. Visit this page for more information.

Particle Blue is a Maltese experimental electronic band. This album, available on the Pinkpube netlabel, is called Dubbien, which is Maltese for “flies” as in the insect. This album was apparently also the official soundtrack to a performance at St. James Cavalier in 2005.

The music itself is excellent electronic music, sometimes bordering on electro, and other times bordering on ambient, but one thing is for sure: it is experimental. The recurring theme of flies appears throughout the EP, with fly-like sounds making an appearance in songs such as Il-Firroll. Other tracks, such as Inevitabbli, showcase the experimental sounds of Particle Blue, as it crescendos into noise at the end of the track.

The EP may be downloaded from Pinkpube from this link.

Cie - bonbon

Genre: Electronic: Techno

Cie manages to release some very melodic techno in this EP, released on the Broque netlabel. Standard four-to-the-floor beats combined with melodic riffs make up for some very interesting and layered music.

My personal favourite tracks include schwedische gardinen, pulver and privileg. mike bob remix has a certain dub feel to the track, whilst privileg introduces some very calming sawtooth sounds.

The EP may be downloaded from the Broque netlabel by following this link.

Julien Petitjean - 2 Albums

Genre: Folk

Well, this was a surprising find. Two albums of acoustic medieval folk music played either on a guitar or on a mandolin and sung in French.

If this is your type of music, you’ll be pleased to know that the music has excellent production and is of a certain quality, both sound-wise and artistically.

12 Petits Chants starts off immediately with La Marchande de Foie and from then on, it’s simple, calming folk music. One particular striking is Des Vacances Comme Ca, which has a certain jazzy feeling to it. Petitjean’s voice also fits in well to this type of music.

Jean Qui Rêve is an instrumental take on medieval folk, and after listening to the opening track, Theme de Combat, you really cannot disagree with me. It actually does sound like a medieval duel is about to take place. Other highly recommended tracks include Theme de la Taverne and Reveil des Guerriers.

Both albums may be downloaded from Jamendo by clicking on the links below.

12 Petits Chants

Jean Qui Rêve

Crete Boom - 2 Albums

Genre: Rock, Jazz

Crete Boom are a 7 piece Irish band that play a combination of rock, jazz, blues, rock and roll and God only knows what else. They have 2 EPs released through Jamendo, these being Ne’er Do Well and Navy and Grey.

I personally prefer Ne’er Do Well’s overall sound and feel. My favourite tracks include Sleeper and Flatline. The tracks on their debut album sound much livelier and appealing. However, I am in no way detracting from their second album, Navy and Grey. It has a much jazzier feel to it, especially their last track Broken Teeth.

Both albums may be downloaded from Jamendo by following the links below:

Ne’er Do Well

Navy and Grey

. - 4 Albums

Genre: Metal: Drone

Yes, the name of the artist is just a dot. Maciej Koper, a Polish artist, is the brains behind this project. He has crafted 4 albums of fine drone metal, calming, yet haunting.

Although the project has changed its name to Dronehouse, .’s work is still freely available from Soundclick. The four albums available are: Anatomy of Drone, FaceSitDown, IHI and ON.

I suggest that you start from 59.40 from IHI and work your work through Koper’s music from there.

All albums may be downloaded from Soundclick from here.

The Mocks - M is Correct

Genre: Electronic, Pop: Indie

A strange combination of indie pop and electronic has produced, at least in The Mocks’ case, a calming hybrid of the two genres.

The band is actually a duet: Mario del Angel and Ela Gonzalez, a married couple, who compose the music and provide the vocals respectively.

This EP, released in early 2008, is a serious approach towards creating music and is highly recommend. Tracks of note include Inamorata, Reprisal and My Heart

The EP may be downloaded from The Mocks’ official website over here.

Imachi Akira - Lycoris Radiata

Genre: Acoustic, Ambient, Electronic: Glitch

I downloaded this EP while being assured that it was amazing. And how right they were.

Imachi Akira has released this EP on the Electronica net label, located in Siberia, Russia. It’s their ninth release over all and the content of this EP is simply sheer bliss and relaxation.

Akira uses elements of haunting ambient, ethereal sounds, acoustic guitars as well as noise samples, simple clicks and ticks. I suggest you listen to the whole EP from start to finish; you will not be disappointed.

The EP may be downloaded from here in 320kbps.

Antonio Olivari - Dark Ages

Genre: Pop: Dream

This release is by a local artist. Visit this page for more information.

The album Dark Ages apparently was an unreleased album before it was picked up by the Maltese netlabel Pinkpube and released recently.

This release is well named. The songs, which mainly feature an acoustic guitar accompanied by ethereal guitar effects in the background, sound otherworldly and dark; a very good dream pop album.

Tracks of note include The End of Time and The Clown Song.

You may download the album from the netlabel Pinkpube by clicking here.

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