Willamette - always in postscript (Own Records, 2012)

It is a virtually absent record, within a genre suffering from a plethora of releases.  You can fail to notice it so easily. 

Even if you give it an ear, the  lock is so thin that you may try so slip under the door instead. 

Like the cover art, it is a dream in black and white, an empty room, which is both an invitation to sit down and an imaginary, unreal space.  You may need several decompression valves, in order to escape of your ordinary daily routine and embrace their meticulous evocations. 

Wil Bolton - under a name that hides her (Hibernate, 2012)

It's not the first record by Wil Bolton that I listen to but it' the first one to capture my attention and to feed my imagination so I keep on playing it.

There are a few reasons for that. First nostalgia is the main theme so it is filled with intimate partially blurred and dissolved melancholy. Secondly he found inspiration in the guitar bands he listened to as a teenager, like The Cure, The Smiths, The Velvet Underground and My Bloody Valentine, and thirdly as a consequence he gives more space to the guitar and to his manipulation and less place for digital processing and conception.

Kate Carr - summer floods (2011, Flaming Pines)

While her second EP "Brisbane River" is a true overwhelming beauty, delicate and somber, with a length of 16 minutes giving the time to go deeper in a subtle way, this previous one seems to belong still to her formative years. 

He Can Jog - norwood, wisconsin (2011, Nomadic Kids Republic

He Can Jog is project of Erik Schoster, a computer musician from Wisconsin.

"Norwood, Wisconsin" is an album he released on Nomadic Kids Republic.

Narrative - artefacts (2012)

New delivery of tracks by Narrative, solo project of Lewis Gorham from Melbourne Australia, and my third review for him too.

But this time I'm not getting it completely as a whole.

Crywank - narcissist on the verge of a nervous breakdown (2012)

Listening to Crywank, aka James Clayton who is now residing in Manchester, is at first a story of pros and cons.

There is the very basic nature of the song, straight vocals, a rough acoustic guitar and nothing else, recorded mostly as first takes and thrown away on his blog as a free download without self propotion or so few. 

There is a very self-centered style of approach, even if it can be tagged as anti-folk, acoustic emo, folk-punk, indie, lo-fi or even sadcore...

sink \ sink - the darkest dark goes (Feedback Loop, 2012)

Hangover type of album, as I never really know if their songs makes me feel high or just saturate my brain, as "The darkest dark goes" is both intense and badly balanced as a whole. 

Sometimes it sounds like 4AD ethereal stuff but witohut really embracing the genre, as there is something from The Cocteau Twins, from This Mortal Coil or more or less related bands like Shelleyan Orphan, or even Mazzy Star, while in fact it mostly fits along much more recent bands like Memoryhouse or Au Palais in their songwriting and directions.

Moon Bear - ep (2012)

Jamie Waggett, from Strout, UK, is playing into some serious noisy, post-punk, screamo-hardcore, crust and even worse bands. Sometimes he seems to also record experimental ambient stuff.

I could never, never, really never ever could imagine he was also behind such a project like Moon Bear. Moon Bear reminds me of the most intimate side of projects such as Songs of Green Pheasant, Hood and Chuzzlewit, featuring the type of sweetness you would expect on records by Brian, or Brighter / Harper Lee, and the delicious warm melancholy of songwriters such as Talons', Owen or Vio/Miré.

Deep Waters - endless winter (2009)

It's really mysterious why this spring 2012, David Spalvieri-Kruse finally digs up and share on his facebook page a collection of seven lo-fi  folk songs he recorded on a 4-track with his acoustic guitar during the winter of 2009. 

The Azraels - the worrying kind (2011)

It feels strange when you realize you are the first one to listen to an artist on Last.Fm, for a record which was released almost one year ago, available for free on SoundCloud, but which generated so far just a few downloads.

Willamette - echo park (2011, Infraction)

Willamette river is 301 km long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon, mostly known for the beauty of its valley. Echo Park is a hilly neighborhood in Los Angeles , California, mostly publicized for its park and particularly its small lake, which at one time was said to contain the largest planting of lotuses outside Asia before they suddenly all died.

Pale Seas - something or nothing (2012, Fear & Records)

They remind me of Galaxie 500. Let me repeat it, "They remind me of Galaxie 500". Yes, unbelievable.

Last time I must have used this sentence, it was in 2009, for Snowtorm.

Megan & Amelia - haiymakks (2012)

I will not start worrying. Megan & Amelia is not for everyone. If you're a fan of Talons', Vio/Miré, The Love of Everything or Carissa's Weird, you should envisage making a stop here.

Narrative - morning haunt (2011)

Seven minutes, a single track, now available as a free wav download, and one of my favorite compositions by Lewis Gorham so far, like a more intimate and emotional version of the kind of atmospheres The Stars of the Lid or William Basinski are exploring.

Refreshing like dew, moving like dawn lights, fragile, melancholic and pure, with peacefulness and fulfillment.

Marcus Fischer - willamette River (Flaming Pines, 2011)

This is very much like the other releases by Marcus Fischer, bright but austere, not for the headlights but dedicated to semi-shade areas

As part of the 10 three inch CD series "Rivers Home", it is dedicated and inspired by " the path of the Willamette river through Portland, where it passes under a series of bridges, homes and industry before the two rivers meet."

Gareth Dickson - quiet a way a way (12k, 2012)

When folk music meets introspective intimate ambient music you find "Quiet a way a way". With the guitar still playing the first role, so it's mostly a stripped down collection of folk songs complemented with sparse ambient elements in the background, and with some reverb adding a constant foggy blur.