Tag Archives: avant-garde

Review: Marena Whitcher’s Shady Midnight Orchestra – Ghostology

by Dæv Tremblay
Lost between the realms of opera, jazz, and avant-garde music, Marena Whitcher’s Shady Midnight Orchestra‘s what seems to be debut album Ghostology is a real gem of experimentation in popular music, although what’s left of pop music is so altered in the process that it can barely be called that. However, the avant-pop label seems quite fitting, even more so when followed by the ghost jazz speciality. What is ghost jazz? I don’t know, but I’m looking forward to it.

With an orchestra comprising of many instruments, from glass harp to bass clarinet, and from glockenspiel to “toys”, the … Read more

News: Rise, the romantic band

by Dæv Tremblay

Rise is a French band, probably rooted in black metal, but with very few of it in its music. There’s alt sounds, indie, and other styles of metal mixed together in such a way as to, like the band itself puts it, subordinate form to content, encourage freedom of treatment, emphasize imagination, emotion, and introspection, and seek and ecstasy through dreams, morbid and sublime, which is the very definition of “romanticism”. That’s why they call themselves romantic, in the literal sense, and I agree with that, listening to their song About Duality.

And I think you should, … Read more

Schoenberg ‘Ice Cream Truck’ Is the Best Thing Ever

by Ben Norton
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951), one of the most important figures in the history of Western art music

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951), one of the most important figures in the history of Western art music

Arnold Schoenberg revolutionized music. There is no other way to articulate this fact—Schoenberg instigated a musical revolution. 12-tone serialism, or dodecaphony, the style of atonal composition the Austrian composer invented in 1921, was without a doubt one of the most important developments in the history of Western music. The reverberations (pun-intended) of Schoenberg’s works are still loudly resonating with us today.

Naturally, then, a scholar had the stroke of genius to immortalize the musical legend in the way all brilliant composers should be immortalized: … Read more

News: Superzero, making superb glitch/avant-pop

by Dæv Tremblay

A collaboration between the stellar Vishal Singh, Derick Gomes, and Venkatesh Iyer is giving us a really interesting piece of music to forebode their upcoming EP. The avant-pop trio uses to great efficiency glitch techniques into an experimental pop sound that, while retaining its pop qualities: inherently good-sounding, concise and easy to approach, it still provides us with an interesting listen, and a definite breeze of fresh air!

I’m excited for their EP to come out!… Read more

Review: Laksamana – Antagonist

by Dæv Tremblay
Well, that’s something strange as I’ve not seen in a while. Describing itself as a “computer metal” one-man project, Laksamana, from Des Moines, Iowa, sounds like Jute Gyte’s more experimental, barely-even-metal albums, with vocals added on top. And this one truly reflects the spirit of our blog, which you can grasp by reading our name out loud.

The aim of the album was to make it abrasive and unpleasant, as a warning of what could happen if all the world lived in computers. The music was made so that it would be impossible to play without the aid of … Read more