Back catalogue: Post Rock/Experimental

Review: The Tetine trio started writing and composing together in the lockdowns of 2020 - no doubt observing all the arcane rules about hands, face and space as they did so. They have an intuitive style that now translates to this record which was written for cello, voice, piano, organ and electronics and was born as "a respiratory, meditative, and improvisatory piece of DIY tropical-mutant-punk "chamber music". They have succeeded in their mission to subvert here with plenty of subtle background sounds bleeding in from the nearby street as themes such as hearing loss, menopause, pollution and respiration all come up.

Review: Tokyo-based post/math-rock noodlers Toe have a habit of cleansing the palette of each subsequent full-length they release with a follow up EP. Just like 2005's debut album The Book About My Idle Plot On A Vague Anxiety was followed up with 2006's New Sentimentality EP, the group would return three years on from their stellar 2009 sophomore effort For Long Tomorrow with 2012's The Future Is Now. From the twinkling emo-inflected shoegazing noodles of 'Run For Word' to the more acoustic-driven psych-jazz of 'Ordinary Days', the four cuts purposefully meander and fuse differing elements from the band's arsenal whilst somehow increasing the dense technicality to absurd, near impenetrable levels.

Review: A collaborative EP between 2 Australian rock giants, this limited one-sided collectors disc comprises the 19 minutes long 'Satanic Slumber Party' split into three sections. 'The Chairman's Portrait' intro is a dark, heavily distorted spoken-word piece backed by dark rumbling guitars that explodes into the head-banging electronic banger 'Midnight in Sodom'. The angry lyrics are paired with awesome melodic guitar solos and chiptune noises, before shifting into noise rock territory. 'Hoof and Horn' takes up most of the runtime at a hefty 12 minutes, in which ambient drone begets experimental sound effects that are reminiscent of the liquid bass and synths favoured by producer SOPHIE. The track evolves into a demonic lullaby that wouldn't feel out of place in an episode of American Horror Story, and fans of 2 Mello's 'Atmospheric Horror Music Vol.1' will greatly appreciate this track. The EP is all-in-all a camp experience. An Avante-Garde, quintessentially fun blend of two incredible groups.

Review: Rhode Island post-metal avant-garde duo The Body have made a name for themselves due to their caustic maelstrom of harsh, brutalist experimentalism as well as their prolific output and collaborative nature, releasing collab albums with the likes of Full Of Hell, Thou, Uniform, and most recently, Dis Fig. Their latest endeavour sees the pair link up with another duo of musical extremity, Toronto, Canada's recently reformed industrial two-piece Intensive Care. Was I Good Enough? has been on the cards since the artists first began making plans as far back as 2018, trading, warping and ruining mutual sessions with layers of loops, distortion, samples and even dubs, constantly striving to find the ideal haunting balance between both of their sonically hideous, oppressive worlds. For all of our ears' sakes, they just might have succeeded.

Review: British conspiracy thriller Utopia follows a group of young adults who, after discovering a mysterious comic book - The Utopia Experiments - embark on a manic quest for corporate restitution and prophetic fulfilment. As a shadowy government organisation detects their plans and resolves to track their every move, we watch an empathic but deadly game of cat-and-mouse; and Cristobal Tapia de Veer's acclaimed score only heightens the tension. This new 2xLP edition includes such instantly recognisable motifs as 'Brainwave Playground', 'Satan's Waltz' and 'The Monarch's Pyramid', capturing the series' eerie and intense atmosphere. The score continues to resonate to this day, following Tapia de Veer's success with The White Lotus and Babygirl.

Review: Renowned for his seminal work with acts such as The Moody Boys, 400 Blows, and The KLF, the incomparable Tony Thorpe compiles this astutely curated, meticulous collection of 16 rare and sought-after post-punk era cuts that the maestro would regularly spin at parties, making them his personal pile of niche gems. Featuring tracks from Public Image Ltd, Mark Stewart and The Maffia, Basement 5, 23 Skidoo, and African Headcharge, to name but a small handful, Post Punk Theory arrives spread out across 2xLP and includes a 40-page fanzine booklet written by Matt Annis with photographs by Simon Pyke and Ian Brodie. A unadulterated true post-punk time capsule for both lifers and studious newcomers alike.

Review: Even if you've not heard Three Quarter Skies yet, this one should already be in the shopping cart. They had us at 'new project from Simon Scott of Slowdive', and we're not sure anybody has bothered to look back since. Eight gorgeous tracks that have grown out of last year's Universal Flames EP, which introduced this new moniker to the world, and was itself based on a semi-improvised live recording session. Here, though, things are resolutely more focused and planned. Depth of sound is a big aspect, with plenty navigating similar cosmic territories to the shoegaze Scott built his stellar reputation on. Close your eyes to the world then, and allow these sounds to wash over and immerse you - there's little chance you'll find anything quite so powerful this week.

Review: Club scene doyen, dance music veteran, and rave culture hero Johannes Auvinen opts to depart from the dance floor, at least for the time being, and deliver Arles - an ode to the other side of the electronic-acid scene, those sounds that make most sense after the chaos and carnage of a party have subsided and you're safely home on the couch with you and yours and all dearest.
And it works as well as it should, with the experience both of living in that world and making anthems for it clearly evident in the overall production quality and ideas. Arles is a warm blanket, that friendly therapist, an album that understands where you've been because it was there too. Remarkably, despite what that may suggest, this is not ambient or particularly leftfield stuff. Instead, it's rhythmic, pop-infused electronica goodness, for want of a more succinct, less awkward turn of phrase.

Review: Few cities rival Portland in terms of the concentration of top quality independent record labels. And its native Topshelf Records is an absolute treasure trove of local and international talent, with the likes of Cool American, Eerie Summer and now Toe from their roster real standouts. The Tokyo-based post rock band - who produce mainly instrumental music - started out in the year 2000 and have gone on to release half a dozen EPs and four albums. It was obvious from the start that they had what it takes to be in this game for the long haul. This, their first EP, originally released in 2003, is now getting its fourth pressing. It's an idiosyncratic listen: there's nods to the likes of the genre's trailblazers (Explosions in The Sky and Mogwai), but also a truly distinctive drumming style. It's almost as if polyrhythmic legend Tony Allen was behind the kit at times. You hear these unorthodox, stylish fills underpinning the contemplative, beautifully affecting guitar tones and it works brilliantly.

Review: Purely democratic bands are hard to come by, but Tortoise might just be a known exception to that rule. 'Rhythms, Resolutions and Clusters' is probably ther best LP in their lot to encompass this outlook; a well-rounded album of trudging quasi-electronic codi, released in 1995 as part of the industrial and post-rock scenescape. It hears 7 tracks nod to wonky, pained, muddy dub in the vein of 23 Skidoo, This Heat, Pole or Muslimgauze, and this new cream reissue of course contains all the remixes; Steve Albini, Jim O'Rourke, and Bundy K. Brown et al.

Review: Brighton-based Australian vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Penelope Trappes drops her fifth full length album and invites us on a bare bones, spiritual journey. Making herself incredibly vulnerable in the process, these are the kind of tracks that induce meditative and psychedelic trains of thought, haunting and beautiful, blissful and tense. Cello drones, gothic aesthetics, a king of futurist folk, at least some of the inspiration for which has come from time spent in isolated corners of Scotland. You can almost feel the wind blowing through the room as A Requiem lures and entices, breaks and mends hearts. Ambient, neo-classical, trance inducing works of wonder. This is the kind of record that can help make you see the world for what it is, and realise just how lucky we are to be here at the same time.

Review: London-based Australian vocalist, producer and multi-instrumentalist Penelope Trappe has always made immersive, enveloping and deeply atmospheric that sidesteps convention. It was that uniquely haunting and emotive approach to ambient and electronica that earned her deals with Optimo Music and Houndstooth, amongst others. Now signed to One Little Independent, Trappes has pushed the boat out further on Requiem, a mournful and bittersweet musical meditation in which her distinctively sweet-but-drowsy vocals rise above manipulated cello textures, hushed field recordings, ambient textures and intriguing electronic sounds aplenty. It's bold, beautiful and at times breathtakingly brilliant, once again marking Trappes out as an artist with a genuinely unique musical vision.

Review: Tropicantesimo's Session 3 is the third in what is a trio of EPs that all come ahead of and tease a new Gitania album. This is a collection of sounds steeped in ritual, in healing and celebration of self through sound and dance. Tropicantesimo was originally a party in Rome that soon became a "collective listening experience" which now has its own studio. DJs Hugo Sanchez, Lola Kola, Rocco Mago, Gabor, and Egeeno are behind the sounds and they all bring a mix of world rhythms, messages and sounds that are steamy, deep, languid and alluring.