Bonniesongs, Black Midi, Ensamble Peripecia, Broken Fall, Alexander Noice, and Dreare

Bonniesongs – Energetic Mind (Small Pond)

Bonniesongs already released some hot fire in the past, but her latest effort, Energetic Mind comes on top of it all. The Sydney-based singer and multi-instrumentalist showcases her newest compositions, and they are truly fabulous. The style she’s working in I would describe as “indie folk”, but it has more depth than a mere two words, and ties you into venomous pop melodies, complex layered instrumentation, and a whole lot of atmosphere. Just listen to the single “Barbara” for a prime example of what I’m trying to convey, here. The album comes out in August, so you’ve got quite a long while to wait, but be patient, it will come, and it is good!


Black Midi – Schlagenheim (Rough Trade)

Black Midi‘s newest effort departs from their free-rock improvisation-fuelled fever dream with Damo Suzuki and into the realm of composition once again. On Schlagenheim, they move easily from math rock to noise rock to experimental pop to post-rock to—I don’t know—other stuff! It’s a brilliant and amazing album, but one that is pretty hard to categorize and to describe. Well, I would expect no less from the band! That album is prog as hell, always flowing from one place to another, and it’s weird. You’ll love it! I do.


Ensamble Peripecia – Cataclismo

The Argentine Peripecia ensemble offers us a surprising and delectable experimental post-rock opus with Cataclismo. The group uses extended instrumentation and creatively so! Their six compositions on the full-length are diverse and most interesting in various ways. From the atmospheric crescendo of “Kinoglaz” to the more melodic and melancholic “La niebla”, to “Sun Girls”, which is more like a progressive rock tune, you’ll find great music. On top of it all, it’s a name-your-price release!


Kid Millions & Sarah Bernstein – Broken Fall (577)

Bandcamp page

Kid Millions is a drummer well-known in experimental music circles of Brooklyn, and Broken Fall is his latest collaboration with Sarah Bernstein, a violinist-singer from New York who’s also well known for avant-garde jazz. On this album, the two clash violently and amazingly. They offer us seven songs, or improvised sessions, adding up to almost forty minutes of mind-bending, ear-challenging, and neighbours-calling-the-copsing noise. Their synergy is bewildering and necessary in one’s life.


Alexander Noice – Noice (Orenda)

Okay, this has got to be one of the best experimental pop albums of the year. Is it even that genre? I cannot tell. It definitely has pop sensibilities and deep roots in it, but it also has the backbone of avant-prog, such as Yolk or jazz like Freaks. It also has the pomp of The Knells but without the full choir . . . In the end, it’s an astounding album perhaps more fitting alongside Zappa than Coltrane or Björk, but at home anywhere near those three.


Dreare & Izanasz – Portaali

The Czech post-metal trio Dreare collaborates with musician and visual artist Izanasz for a forty-five-minute single track coupled with a forty-page art book. With such a length, “Portaali” has more than enough atmosphere to engulf the whole solar system in it. The song goes from one drone to another and sprinkles polyrhythmic post-metal riffs throughout the ordeal as a way to spice things up and keep the rollercoaster going from intense highs to dreadful lows. It’s an absolutely superb track-album and an amazing addition to the genre. It should be regarded as a necessary listen for instrumental post-metal, and perhaps atmospheric djent would fit the bill as well.

On June 24 2019, this entry was posted.

3 comments on Bonniesongs, Black Midi, Ensamble Peripecia, Broken Fall, Alexander Noice, and Dreare

  1. […] post rock noise and thumping electronic drums.” So, yeah, if you’re thinking Cassels, Black Midi, or Black Country, New Road, you’re not far off. What surprised me, however, is the breadth […]