Michael A. Muller is a co-founder of Balmorhea who have released six albums over the last 13 years. ‘Lower River’ is the title track of his solo album and it’s a wonderfully immersive and hypnotic piece of ambient, droning music that hangs in the air, draped in resonating, melancholic chords. The press releases describes the track as being inspired by his own remote travels throughout … Continue reading Michael A. Muller – Lower River
Christopher Tignor is a New York composer with an impressive CV. In his early days he mixed sound at CBGBs, was an assistant to La Monte Young. He gained a Masters in computer science from NYU, proceeded through Princeton’s PhD program in music composition, and was later recruited for a software engineering position at Google. He’s released nine albums and collaborated with a range of other … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Christopher Tignor – The Resonance Canons
Nina Harries is a British double bassist and vocalist hailing from Northampton and trained in classical music at the Royal College of Music. She dials into a nice dark and moody trip-hop vibe on this track. “I’ve got a bad feeling” she sings in a haunted, Portishead style before the skies darken and thunderous percussion arrives and her vocal is blasted with distortion. The production comes … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Nina Harries – Will, I’m Not
‘Pink Frost’ stands as one our favourite singles, certainly a contender for our favourite New Zealand song of all time. With that in mind we approached this cover by Mexican quartet Mercvrial with caution but they definitely pull it off. They retain that haunting, swirling melancholic mood, inject some electronic elements (sounding like mid-period Depeche Mode) but without sacrificing the sad heart of the song. The … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Mercvrial – Pink Frost
Short-circuiting digital post rock and scattered fragments of jazz inhabit this track from Intenso, a trio from Perth, Western Australia. ‘Meek’ starts glitchy – insistent yet tentative – before swelling and morphing into a heaving polymorphic mass of synthetic scree and noise manipulation. Fascinating, disturbing and hypnotic sounds that will pummel you into sonic oblivion over seven intense(o) minutes. Continue reading MEW MUSIC: Intenso – Meek
For fans of Four Tet, dub techno, Burial, Photek These days our electronic music tastes veer towards the avant garde, experimental, dark and ambient end of the spectrum. This recent release from UK producer Mazoulew hits the spot, nimbly managing to combine a four to the floor rhythm with some sci-fi programming and textures that conjure up late-night, streetlight-lit city streets. It’s alive and vibrant … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Mazoulew – Shogun
Texans Reunion Island (now based in Brooklyn and Dallas) deliver a finely tuned and sparkling synth swathe on this track of instrumental electronica, recorded at Soma Studios with John McEntire (Tortoise), who also contributed drums to the album the song comes from – Collapse. There’s a Krautrock and kosmiche vibe to the song with it’s metronomic rhythm but over the top of that digital sounds spark and … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Reunion Island – Erasto Dream
The smooth sailing prince of low-slung synth pop and disco funk is back with a new single Second Dinner’. It’s another winning slice of coy 80s electronic pop with shades of Bryan Ferry fronting a sultry disco house band with Giorgio Moroder producing. TOUR DATES: 04 Oct – Fat Controller, Adelaide, SA 10 Oct – The Zoo, Brisbane, QLD 11 Oct – Beach Hotel, Byron … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Donny Benét – Second Dinner
Deep rhythms, warm tones and hypnotic glitches collide with hypnotic synth mantras and smears of post-rock guitar on this track from German composer Bensnburner. It comes from his new album (late September release) which was recorded in an empty 400 square metre hangar with a 30 metre high ceiling that created a seven second reverb. Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Bensnburner – Meanwhile
It’s hard to ignore the killer groove and minimal exotic funk of this track from Norwegian trio Orion’s Belte. They released their debut album Mint last year and have already followed it up with the EP Slim in 2019. ‘Cherchez La Ghost’ is their brilliant take on the Ghostface Killah track, mixing a great breakbeat with effect-laden pedal steel and an nervous twitch of a … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Orion’s Belte – Cherchez La Ghost
New Zealand musician and ambient/electronic composer Rhian Sheehan has built a name for himself with nearly a dozen releases plus a wealth of soundtrack work and appearances on numerous compilations. Fans of Nils Frahm will appreciate the nuance and blending of organic and synthetic elements in this piece. The way it pushes and pulls with it’s drifting piano melodies and mechanically-inclined rhythmic pulse. ‘Last Time … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Rhian Sheehan – Last Time We Spoke
Lambchop This (Is What I Wanted To Tell You) Merge Records The band Lambchop is a very different beast these days, compared to a decade ago when they numbered up to 12 members with more of a conventional country soul sound. Now Lambchop is essentially Kurt Wagner with a small coterie of collaborators – a much more intimate proposition yet still possessing the gorgeous and … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Lambchop – This (is what I wanted to tell you)
Doubtful Sounds 