Posts Tagged ‘electronic music’

Monthly playlist-Favourite albums May 2025

Posted: 22nd June 2025 by blaue-rosen in Music News,press releases
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logo playlistWhat can be more exciting news than the release of a new album by SWANS? Well…the release of a new solo album by Peter Murphy, and the resurfacing of These New Puritans, Somatic Responses and DARKWOOD is the answer. If, like us, you enjoy music that could be considered mutually exclusive, and despite this, you can still identify the common thread that ties all of these albums together, then I think we need to sit down and have a beer with you 🙂

Birthing‘ the new offering by SWANS is everything that is expected by the band. Apart from  ‘Red Yellow’ all the other songs in this album are over 10′ long. This is a slow burner, with a tried and tested recipe that the band has refined over the years. Michael Gira, a summoner like those very few out there, is giving the signal needed for each song to open its tentacles to all sorts of dimensions. In his own words Gira has said about this album: “In all cases the material began with me sitting in my office with an acoustic guitar, singing and dreaming about what would become of these skeletal songs…” just before he throws a sort of bombshell: “We’ll do a final tour in this mode towards the end of 2025, then that’s it.” That’s IT? “After that, Swans will continue, so long as I’m able, but in a significantly pared down form.” We shall take this with a pinch of salt…for now.

Moving towards a less dark sonic part of this monthly soundtrack, we encounter ‘Crooked Wing‘ the new album by These New Puritans. Alternating tracks that bring to mind pre-classical compositions, others that belong to the sphere of dreamscapes, and others that explore krautrock dimensions, the band has offered us a lot of food for thought in this album.

In the realm of post-punk, we had the pleasure to enjoy really nice albums by Shad Shadows, No and The Discussion. ‘wunderhammer desire‘, ‘Desire Kills‘ and ‘All the pretty flowers‘ will definitely keep any dancefloor that hosts them very busy. With addictive and melodic synthwave soundscapes and motivating rhythms all three albums will keep fans of coldwave and darkwave music inspired.

Finally a special mention is due to Nytt Land who have reimagined Shamanic spells and set them to a different sound than they had in their original form. ‘Songs of the Shaman‘ is an album with an inspiring collection of positive spells employing throat singing and text in its original language. We believe this is the best way to prepare you for the upcoming Summer Solstice so…enjoy them with a shovel at hand or with your poison of choice in an unusual chalice.

 

 

 

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Dead Space Chamber Music live photoTime is a weird dimension in the universe; its effect is always remarkable but never under anyone’s control. The effect of sound through time and the way it influences its perception is mind-numbing.

The performance of Dead Space Chamber Music made us think about all this, and we will try to unpick the ways they achieved that.

Seaming To live photoFirst, let’s talk about the meditational opening act by Seaming To, a composer and classically trained pianist with a degree from RNCM. Whether referred to as ‘Seaming’, ‘To’, or ‘Seaming To’, this is a performer who can create calmness in an energy field. She moved in complete silence, and her performance had perfectly orchestrated moments of controlled tension and elegance. Apart from playing the piano, she also played the flute and, at one point, Seaming To live photosang into two microphones. She introduced each song in a whispering voice as if the whole world is a fragile thing and nothing should cause more disturbance and reverberation than is required.


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Monthly playlist-Favourite albums March 2025

Posted: 24th April 2025 by blaue-rosen in Music News,press releases
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Monthly playlist- Favourite albums January 2025

Posted: 16th February 2025 by blaue-rosen in Music News,press releases
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Monthly playlist-Favourite albums September 2024

Posted: 26th October 2024 by blaue-rosen in Music News,press releases
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logo playlistPerhaps we can admit at this point that this is the best month of the year in terms of its music output and the best playlist of the year in terms of the variety of styles and energies that our favourite releases represent.

The debut albums of this month, from Virgin Vampires and Dreamless Veil, have maintained our interest in great gothic rock and extreme metal music. The former has songs infused with macabre theatricality, and the latter has bone-cracking/grief-infused vocals followed by frantic guitar solos that make us wonder how it might feel to disappear fully.

The new offering by ABU NEIN, coming from a place of profound sadness as the band has admitted, continues to haunt us with melodies that touch some very well-hidden dark chords in our psyche. The punk section of the month’s soundtrack was powerful and socially perceptive as it should be with a new single by SPRINTS, and a new album by Golpe sending rare political resistance vibes to the world from Italy.

Perhaps the most powerful noise/industrial release of the year, is the new album by Dame Area which manages to bring back the (now) rare qualities of dynamin non-hypnotic, non-repetitive industrial music. Alongside it we can enjoy the new album by Phobos Reactor, taking inspiration from powerful old-school industrial rhythms and aesthetics.

This month’s post-punk section includes powerful entries by CROWS, kontrolle and Chain Cult who stress the melodic, the vindictive and the noisy aspects of post-punk.

We believe that the darkest sonic colours were used by the releases of Diablation , Tribes of Medusa and A Swarm of The Sun this month. We believe that only a lived experience can give to people the wisdom of the layers and textures of sadness and darkness and these two albums explore all of them!

Finally, a special mention is necessary for the new albums of The Beauty of Gemina and Tindersticks. The return of Tindersticks revealed a preference for soul-infused songs and an exploration of animation and humour in their video clips.

The new album by The Beauty of Gemina, sounds very personal as if coming from a place of sadness. We have welcomed the return of the melancholic post-punk melodies in the band’s songs also evident in their visuals.

 

We hope that you enjoy listening to this playlist as much as we did while preparing it.

 

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Monthly playlist-Favourite albums June 2024

Posted: 22nd July 2024 by blaue-rosen in Music News,press releases
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logo playlist The month after Wave Gotik Treffen is always one that perceives music under the prism of the festival. Our favourite albums and releases of June 2024 helped us make a trip into a mysterious landscape, still full of the darkness of the colder months. Our soundtrack of the month forms an IDM, post punk, dreamy, hazy and neoclassical path full with twists and turns and a lot of sonic texture.

We were delighted for the return of Camerata Mediolanense (which we had the pleasure of interviewing) with their album ‘Atalanta Fugiens‘ inspired by an enigmatic book written around 1617 by Michael Maier. The album fits well within the band’s discography and has subjects that place it in the heart of modern discourse around change and transformation at many levels. The return of The Revolutionary Army of The Infant Jesus with their new album ‘The Dream We Carry‘ after four years was both unexpected and truly exciting!

We were also pumped by the new album of Bleib Modern, a post-punk/darkwave band whose career we have followed since its beginning. Their self-titled album is the best of their career so far and you will probably find that you will enjoy it from start to finish without any interruptions. Talking about an album that one can listen on repeat from start to finish, I am sure that those out there who appreciate dystopian punk, deathrock and krautrock will agree with us for featuring Allarme‘s self-titled album in this soundtrack. The addition of a ‘dancing’ saxophone adds an air of dystopian cabaret atmosphere to the whole experience too.

WHOLE‘s ‘Hydra‘ and ‘Mesmerism‘ by Lucid Dreams, were two special releases for different reasons. The former because unlike most of Blackjack Illuminist Records releases, this one explores more prominent punk paths and creates a hybrid result where darkwave and post-punk give way to rather vindictive punk. Lucid Dreams on the other hand, combine a very evocative/dystopian cover with a free jazz/idm/experimental sonic environment, which manages to transfer the listener to an environment where excitement for decay and imminent danger prevails!

A special mention is due to the return of Anathema’s Vincent Cavanagh with a new project called The Radicant. We read that the name of the project relates to the word “radicant” which describes organisms that create their roots gradually as they advance, allowing species to mobilise, adapt and grow on any surface. The name also relates to the way Vincent perceives his journey into music and composition and his experiments with creating compositions for visual art/tech. The Radicant release their debut single in June and we expect the full length album in the following months.

Finally, we cannot express our happiness after the announcement of an upcoming release by Chrystabell and David Lynch – offering to us their captivating dreamy, ethereal wickedness that has enveloped David Lynch’s films in the past – a disquieting aura that is hard to ignore. The first single from this release is entitled ‘Sublime Eternal Love‘.

We hope you enjoy listening to our playlist as much as we enjoyed creating it!

 

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Monthly playlist-Favourite albums April 2024

Posted: 2nd June 2024 by blaue-rosen in Music News,press releases
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Monthly playlist-Favourite albums November 2023

Posted: 27th December 2023 by blaue-rosen in Music News,press releases
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logo playlistOne month before the end of the year, our favourite albums covered all the colours of the industrial/noise music spectrum offering a lot of room for self-reflection. There were some very memorable come backs during this month and the first was the new album by Riotmiloo, probably the conceptually darkest release of the band so far. Taking inspiration from bands like Haus Arafna and Monolith, and developing their sound in such a way so that it reached the depths of their existence, the band has created an almost autobiographical album that has a very strong grip around one’s heart.

Another surprising come back, was that of Lebanon Hanover, who released the EP ‘Better Than Going Away’ and seem to have altered their sound in such a way that the neofolk/militaristic references have become very prominent.

 

The synthwave music spectrum was covered fully with the trippy and very memorable release by Nick Carlisle ‘Bloody Saturnalia’ while the album ‘The Most Dangerous Machine In The World’ by strom|morts can clearly be characterised as the weirdest, experimental release of this month. Next to this, sits the mesmerising storytelling album of Edward Ka-Spel, ‘Tease, Seize…Apply’. We can never get enough of sonic wizard Edward Ka-Spel’s otherworldly stories who always manages to make everything feel lighter and manageable!

Lastly we would like to draw your attention to the forceful ceremonial atmosphere created within the latest dark ambient gem released by Atrium Carceri. This is an album that will immediately transfer you into the dimly lit, mystic corridors of some far away castle and it should not go unnoticed.

We hope you enjoy this playlist as much as we did while preparing it.

 

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For some reason, we have always thought that reviewing a personal album, like this one, would never do it justice. We overcame these hesitations, and this had everything to do with the album’s particular atmosphere created by the music.

Nick Carlisle coverWe have been trying to think of another album we have come across that had so much light amidst so much darkness…nothing comes to mind and, with every new listening session, we are getting more and more reassured about this. But let’s take things from the beginning.

Bloody Saturnalia‘ comes after the release of a haunting soundtrack to celebrate 100 years from the release of the movie ‘Hӓxan’. It is an album inspired by and dedicated to Nick Carlisle’s father, who sadly passed away on New Year’s Eve 2023. The title of this album and the subjects of its lyrics also relate to the book ‘Defying Hitler: A Memoir by Sebastian Haffner’ whose theme, the rise of Nazism in Germany, is a timely one as we see the rise of populism around the world today. Kenneth Clarke’s documentary series ‘Civilisation’ also fed into the themes of various songs on this album (e.g. ‘Another Level Down‘, ‘Life in A Major Key, ‘Bloody Saturnalia‘).

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Monthly playlist-Favourite albums June 2023

Posted: 17th July 2023 by blaue-rosen in Music News,press releases
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logo playlistHeavy guitars, grinding synths, industrial textures, and captivating post-apopalyptic folk were the order of this month. Our favourite albums and music releases seemed to respond to some sort of ominous call. Maybe it’s Johny Brown ‘s poetic farewell to an imaginary Babylon or even the title of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s self-released album, but in any case we feel that there is something sinister in the air, something close to what this band describes through heavy psych rock music as a petrodragonic apocalypse.


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