As post rock steadily descends into the maelstrom of predictable minor chord progressions and prosaic crescendos, it's always refreshing to see a shiner in the rough. A glimmer of hope for an unfortunately diluted genre.
Japan experimental jazz trio mouse on the keys transition from the resounding melodic poignancy of previous records towards a softer, minimalist and ultimately more somber territory in Out Of Body. It is a territory that comprises brooding post-punk synths in 'Earache'...
There are some album covers that seem to perfectly visually encompass the vibe of their record: Loveless, maybe, by My Bloody Valentine, its strummed guitar obscured by an obtrusive pink haze, or Geogaddi by Boards of Canada; its strangely unsettling art beset with very slightly off-kilter patterns and subtle symbolism, hinting of things to come.
Around 1991, Cardiacs members Tim Smith, Sarah Smith and William Drake collaborated to record material for their side project The Sea Nymphs. 25 years later, a core of their unreleased music has re-emerged from the vaults, which forms their new compilation On The Dry Land.
Since 2012, Brighton electronic artist Josh Trinnaman, otherwise known as Luo, has treated us with EPs that were enigmas. Trinniman built idyllic but undoubtedly jagged sonic landscapes, layers of ethereal musical textures built upon a bed of electronic percussion. Where did they fit? Jazz? House? The lambasted realm of IDM?
Someone in a state of fugue, they've typically wound up in a place or situation from whence they have no recollection of how they arrived. They are suffering an amnesia from identity. Thus, it may strike you as ironic that keyboardist Annis Saniee of the math rock band Fugue has wound up a completely new two-piece project.