WRUV Reviews

The latest from Blue Sausage Infant is titled Manitou.  The album is Experimental and according to the promoter is a patchwork of huge analog drones, mutant caffeinated space-punk, musique concrete, krautrock-style jams, distorted industrial stomp and deep electronic mind candy.  A bizarre yet accurate description that describes the different vibe of each of the songs themselves rather than an overall sound.  That said, you have some tracks that are mellow and drifting while others are completely noisy and rocked out.  This seems like an Experimental album that is trying to experiment with music, not noise and sound.  There is some inconsistancy in teh album by the fact that the tracks vary so much, but the music itself is creative and draws you in.  This could be considered a good intro to the world of Experimental music.

Tracks: 2,3,5,6,8,9

Robert Alfons and Maya Postepski from Austra have created the band Trust.  Their debut album, Trst, is all bout the Cold Wave/Gothic sounds of the 80’s.  Alfons vocals are creepy and slippery and there is a modern Dark Ambient vibe as well.  While the sounds here aren’t anything new, Trust has put together a sound that is dark and fascinating, full of mystery and allure.  An album for a dark cave of a club, filled with red velvet jacketsm black adn white stripped stockings and purple lipstick.

RIYD: Austra, warm Ghost, Big Black Delta, Cold Cave

Tracks: All Good

Battles’ latest is titled Dross Glop, a remix album of Gloss Drop.  Gui Boratto, The Field, Kode9 and Hudson Mohawke are some of the remixing artists here.  The music ranges from Electro House, Minimal Techno, Dance Industrial and Synth Dance (to name a few).  While many of these tracks sound nothing like the original album, they are nonetheless awesome electronica tracks that hook you in right away and get you grooving from the start of the album to the end of it.

Tracks: All Good except FCC #4

The latest from Blackburner is titled Feel The Burn.  The music is super crunchy, grimy, glitchy, wobbly Dubstep with elements of Big Beat, Metal and Rock (there’s a remix of AC/DC’s Back In Black and Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir).  There are a couple of “smoother” tracks to help balance things out but you will definitely need to wash after wading through this album.

RIYD: Huoratron

Tracks: 2,4,6,10

Let The Prophet speak is a remix album by Gloom Prophet remixing songs from Grand Duchy’s Let The People Speak.  Gloom Prohet’s style has been described as having rich textures and soundscapes laid atop groove-laden, post-dubstep beats.  That describes things pretty well.  The tracks have an upbeat vibe to them but also has a darkness to the in the vein of Burial or Jamie Woon.  Music is often described as ground breaking or revolutionary but often what that means is someone put two genres through a meat grinder.  Here, Gloom Prophet has really gone beyond the norm to produce a sound that is new, freash and captivating.  This is a must listen for Dubstep fans.

RIYD: Dam Mantle, Salva, Burial, Jamie Woon

Tracks: 2,3,5,6,7

Huoratron’s first full length album is titled Crytocracy.  The album is a mix of Dance Industrial, IDM and Dark Techno.  The music has danceable qualitiesbut is very hard edged and rough.  Very glitchy and choppy, it is almost too rough edged and some tracks can be grating and annoying.  Still there is something here that pulls you into the tracks and gets your toe tapping.  Perhaps this won’t appeal to the masses but it has a sound that’s worth investigating.

RIYD: Boys Noize, Noisia, Nutko

Tracks: 1,3,4,7,8,9

The latest from Brownout is titled Oozy.  The album is a mix of Latin Psychedelia with Funk and R&B.  This is all about the retro sounds.  It’s like watching the Streets Of San Franciso while listen to the radio in 1973.  Get your old school funky jams here.

Tracks: 1,3,4,6,10

Car stereos everywhere will be quaking in terror.  Why?  Bassnectar’s latest Vava Voom is here.  Wobbly bass lines and chruncht beats as always dominate the music but there does seem to be a smoothness here that feels new.  There are elements of Reggaeton, Big Beat, Techno, Glitch, Metal and Downtempo with some creative use of effects like in the track Ping Pong where the sound of a ping pong game turns into the beat of the song.  There are many contributors as well on this album like Lupe Fiasco, Amp Live, Jansten, Ill GAtes, Mimi Page and Tina Malia.  Bassnectar continues to evolve his sound and continues to impress.  This is (in my opinion) his best album yet.  Definitely check this one out!

Tracks: 1,2,3,4,7,9,10    FCC: 11

Pure Energy Output Sessions is an album from the group PAS.  The music is Experimental/Avant GArde with Industrial elements and has what you’d expect for Experimental music.  Blips and bloops with random samples, grinding drones and experimental use of instruments and voiceovers.  However, there is some fluidity here with some Ambient influences and the tracks are quite listenable.  This seems like it would be part of a performance art piece that you’d see in a loft somewhere with cables on the floor and shop lights lighting the place.  This isn’t for everyone but at the same time it won’t give you a headache to listen to it. 

Tracks: 2,3,,6,8,10,12,14,15,17

KAsper Bjorke’s third release is titled Fool.  This Dance album instantly pulls you in with catchy Disco hooks and equally catchy vocals from Jacob Bellens.  There are Minimal Techno, Synth Pop and Minimal Wave elements as well adding to the ultra catchy-ness of the album.  A bright and shiny album to warm you up for the coming Spring season.

Tracks: 1,4,6,7,8,9