She Past Away - Belirdi Gece (2013)

Tracklist:
1. Sanrı
2. Ritüel 
3. Monoton
4. Kasvetli Kutlama
5. İnsanlar
6. Belirdi Gece (Musallat)
7. Ruh
8. Kemir Beni
9. Bozbulanık
10. İçe Kapanıs

I absolutely love everything related to post-punk and/or coldwave. There's something about these genres that fills my heart both with joy and sweet melancholy. The music paints images of urban desolation and angst, but at the same time it creates an antithetic atmosphere of joyful simplicity. It's monochrome, bleak, yet utterly beautiful.

She Past Away is no exception to that. Once again recommended by Spotify, I firstly listened to their debut album on my nightly way home in the metro which turned out to be a perfect setting. As is usual in this genre, the drumming follows rather simple, thus very catchy and danceable patterns. Which really stands out on "Belirdi Gece" is the perfect use of synthesizers without sounding too cheesy and the reverberating, atmospheric guitar melody lines. I seldom listened to a release so packed with tunes you catch yourself whistling over and over again in your head. The vocals, too, do their part since singer Volkan Caner has a very distinctive, deep voice and the turkish language has its very own melody (though I have to admit that I don't understand a single word that he's singing).

My favorite tracks are by the way 'Sanrı', 'Ritüel' and 'Kasvetli Kutlama', although I don't think there's any particularly weak song on this record.

Recommended If You Like: Soror Dolorosa, Der Noir, Joy Division, Lebanon Hannover

Turkey, 2013

Post-Punk, Coldwave

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4.75/5.0

Junius - Days of the Fallen Sun (2014)

Tracklist:

1. (Meditations)

2. The Time of Perfect Virtue

3. (Shamanic Rituals)

4. A Day Dark With Night

5. (The Purge)

6. Battle in the Sky

7. (Nothingness)

8. Forgiving the Cleansing Meteor

I came across Junius whilst listening to a post-rock genre radio on Last.fm a few years past. The first song I ever heard of them was 'Hiding Knives' off their first EP "Forcing Out the Silence" and it completely enthralled me. Since then I'm a huge fan of their constant beautifully atmospheric work. Both music and lyrics have such a fascinating surge to them that totally gets me. It's hard to describe, but let's just say Junius may be my all-time favorite band. Ever.

So no wonder I was quite thrilled as I heard a new EP was released on 18th February. And I wasn't disappointed.

"Days of the Fallen Sun" consists of four ambient tracks and four apocalyptic hymns that are mostly in the same (fantastic!) line as their older material but at the same time explore new avenues like screaming vocals and more hypnotic drum patterns. It is hard to analyse the EP track by track because the atmosphere builds up throughout the whole record (just like it's meant to be) and finds its epic climax in the closing track 'Forgiving the Cleansing Meteor' with one of the best outros I may have ever heard in my life - and, I have to add, this was by far the best song during their recent tour with Long Distance Calling and Wolves Like Us (if you get the chance to catch any of these live - do it! Brilliant live bands).

All in all, "Days of the Fallen Sun" is a perfect interlude to an upcoming album that will hopefully be released in the near future. See for yourself as the complete EP is free to stream on their bandcamp and make sure to pick up a physical copy of it, if you like it!

Recommended If You Like: Kyte, Khoma, Constants, *shels

United States, 2014

Atmospheric Post-Rock

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4.75/5.0

Ben Lukas Boysen - Gravity (2013)

Tracklist:

1. Only in the Dark

2. Nocturne 1

3. To the Hills

4. You'll Miss Us One Day

5. Gravity

6. Eos

7. Nocturne 2

8. The Behinian Gospel

I came across the new release of Ben Lukas Boysen via Rise From the Ashes a few days past. I must admit that I never even heard of him before, although I really like (dark) ambient and other slowpaced electronic music. So I was relatively unbiased as I listened to it for the first time, apart from being keen to do so because of the very atmospheric cover art. And I must say that 'Gravity' completely enthralled me from the very beginning to the very end.

The record varies different styles of soothing and relaxing soundscapes like pure piano tracks ("You'll Miss Us One Day", "Eos") and more synth-layered, electronic-focused songs that mostly contain some piano parts too. It's difficult to describe 'Gravity' track by track because it's a coherent aural journey that unfolds its beauty in its entirety.

Recommended If You Like: Eluvium, Hammock, Helios, Ulrich Schnauss

Germany, 2013

Modern Classical, Ambient

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4.5/5.0

2:54 - 2:54 (2012)

Tracklist:

1. Revolving

2. You're Early

3. Easy Undercover

4. A Salute

5. Scarlet

6. Sugar

7. Circuitry

8. Watcher

9. Ride

10. Creeping

Recently, I tried to disengage from my usual listening habits and listen to music way more concentrated. And to give the same release more attention in terms of listening to it several times before heading to the next album. I believe that was one of my biggest problems because I felt like missing a whole lot of potential brilliant releases just by giving them too little attention.

The self-titled debut album from 2:54 was one of these albums that I discovered in this process. It is very well executed, builds a melancholic, sometimes eerie atmosphere and let's my thoughts drift - that's what I like about music the most. The vocals of Colette Thurlow reminds me of Shirley Manson's of Garbage at some places, which is a fairly good thing. You can also hear distant influences of some post-punk and shoegaze although they proclaim themselves as alternative rock. My favorite tracks of this release are 'Sugar' and 'Creeping' but essentially there are no bad or mediocre songs.

Recommended If You Like: Garbage, Exitmusic, Tamaryn

United Kingdom, 2012

Alternative Rock, Shoegaze

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4.5/5.0

Ulrich Schnauss - Goodbye (2007)

Tracklist:

1. Never Be The Same

2. Shine

3. Stars

4. Einfeld

5. In Between the Years

6. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

7. A Song About Hope

8. Medusa

9. Goodbye

10. For Good

In the last few weeks I especially enjoyed low-key and relaxing music, kinda to compensate the fucked-up heat. Because that's a genre I never had much contact with (apart from some post-rock acts but none pure-electronic artists) I stumbled across a whole bunch of musicians via Spotify. German electronic music producer Ulrich Schnauss was one to make a lasting impression on me, especially his 2007's album "Goodbye". Schnauss excels in composing soothing ambient landscapes that simply don't bore the listener. It's a constant up and down in tension and an overly dynamic record. Absolute highlights are the tracks 'Stars' and 'Goodbye' because of their appropriate usage of vocals and catchy tunes. If you're in search of chillout music that doesn't necessarily just ripple away in the background, I can clearly recommend all of Ulrich Schnauss' work.

Recommended If You Like: July Skies, Lights Out Asia, Hiatus, A Shoreline Dream, Tycho

Germany, 2007

Ambient, Chillout

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4.25/5.0

Implodes - Recurring Dream (2013)

Tracklist:

1. Wendy

2. Scattered in the Wind

3. Sleepyheads

4. Necronomics

5. Zombie Regrets

6. You Wouldn't Know It

7. Ex Mass

8. Dream Mirror

9. Melted Candle

10. Prisms and the Nature of Light

11. Bottom of a Well

Implodes are a fairly new band to me, although they've been around for quite some time. Thus little expectations did I have. But regardless whether you already know this band or you haven't ever heard of them: "Recurring Dream" is a very pleasant album to listen to. At least if you like very drawn out, reverb heavy shoegaze music (yeah, even for shoegaze) with some drone influences. Especially the second track 'Scattered in the Wind' is absolutely astonishing and definitely one of my all-time favorite songs in this genre (and quite suiting for road trips). The whole album has a very interesting psychedelic feel to it that enables the sometimes repetetive songs to sustain tension. All the while it's very soothing and invites the listener to some daydreaming disgress. Well, what more can I say... time for you to see it for yourself.

USA, 2013

Psychedelic Drone/Shoegaze

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4.5/5.0

Arvorar - Fragments of Solitude (2012)

Tracklist:

1. Diffuse Winter Sun

2. Esquecimento

3. Forlorn

4. Trepidation

5. Angústia

6. Last Tree

7. Aimless

In the last few days I've been listening to a lot of black metal and ambient with a certain space feeling. Darkspace, Alraxis, Cold Womb Descent and stuff like that. During my research for new material I stumbled upon a split release with Arvorar, Carcharoth Λ.V. and The Descent of the Sun ("And The Stars Obtain The Beauty Of The Forlorn"). The opening track of Arvorar ('Distante Obscurecer') immediately caught my attention because of the excellent blend of harsh black metal and soothing ambient music. Curious as I am, I started searching for other releases of the band and finally found "Fragments of Solitude" on the label's Bandcamp (Domestic Genocide). Although this release doesn't have the same vast, eerie atmosphere as the aforementioned track, it's overall a pretty damn good album. The songs are very melancholic and longing, mostly thanks to the very well used synthesizers. The guitars and drums create a very fuzzy and monotonous soundscape whilst the synths add nuances of melody without sounding cheesy. Also, I really like the pure ambient tracks that support the overall atmosphere. "Fragments of Solitude" is a very solid release but unfortunately it is not much more than that. It lacks some really outstanding tracks that make you go "Damn, I want to listen to that song again!". Nevertheless a clear recommendation for anyone who likes atmospheric black metal with an ambient touch (e.g. All the Cold, Paysage d'Hiver or Karg).

Brazil, 2012

Atmospheric Black Metal/Ambient

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3.75/5.0