Category Archives: Review

EXCLUSIVE STREAM: The Mercury Tree and Cryptic Ruse – Cryptic Tree

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

It’s here! It’s finally here! Listen to the Cryptic Tree EP in full right now, 24 hours before its official release! Let’s bask in the glory of heptadecaphonic music, and the occasional polyharmonic passage with icositritonic tuning, crafted in collaboration by Portland, Oregon’s The Mercury Tree and Seattle, Washington’s Igliashon Jones of Cryptic Ruse.

I shan’t say more! Let the music speak for itself. This record is mind-blowing, so check it out!

The Links

Bandcamp – The Mercury Tree
Facebook – The Mercury Tree

Bandcamp – Cryptic Ruse
Facebook – Cryptic Ruse

The Recs

Cryptic … Read more

Sectioned – Annihilated

by Lewis Edwards

The Music

The Words

A cursory glance at the cover art for Annihilated, by Edinburgh’s Sectioned, might fool you into believing that this is some sort of sappy indie folk record; with its earnest depiction of what is presumably an area of rural Britain, the tones and hues of the photo seem to give a wistful, bittersweet atmosphere. However, much like the history surrounding Scotland’s beautiful capital city itself, a closer inspection reveals a much more sinister underbelly, with a hollowed out car in the foreground and lifeless winter trees in the background. It’s as if the chaotic … Read more

Pale – EP

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

You might remember when we wrote about Pale‘s Demo, promising a bright future for the Tokyo band. Well, this future is now, as the Japanese blackgaze entity just released their debut EP through Pest Productions! I do take quite a bit of undeserved pride when seeing bands which I talked about in their early stages sprout and become ever so slightly recognized in the music community. The previous one, if I remember correctly, was Sunless and their 2016 demo, a year before they released their widely beloved debut Urraca. But enough patting … Read more

Shishko Disco, Sloth Racket, Rytmigeneraattori, Tim Garland, Echo Pearl Varsity, Mimika Orchestra, Spurv, Actias Luna, and Anicon

by Dæv Tremblay

Shishko Disco – Shishko Disco

Berlin’s Middle-Eastern funk crew Shishko Disco was a pretty and nice surprise in May. Their full-length debut combines the traditional and recognizable melodies of Arabic music with Western and modern jazz. The result is truly impressive and endlessly replayable. Listen to a few seconds of it to succumb to its charm!

Sloth Racket – A Glorious Monster

Sloth Racket is a band bringing forth a slow burn type of jazz, almost akin to doom music. The saxophonist’s compositions are complex and quite close to free jazz, which is really impressive and interesting. The four songs … Read more

Peter Evans & Weasel Walter – Poisonous

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

Poisonous indeed, the newest release from free, avant-garde jazz duo Peter Evans & Weasel Walter is a journey into the delirious mind of a poison-afflicted would-be mycologist. In forty-four minutes, the two seasoned musicians craft an album obsessed with venenous fungi that sounds as lethal as its subject. I don’t know how many layers of improvised or forethought material have been arranged to create this fever dream, but the result is a dense hallucinative soundscape as heard through thick forest haze.

Some parts are almost metal in just how harsh and intense they are–see “Sulfur Tuft”. … Read more