PERTURBATOR "Dangerous Days" LP (2014)

We here at TZEEEAC love the whole new wave of 80s retro-synth, and with PERTURBATOR having ridden this wave to orgasmic proportions in the past with the beautiful "Terror 404" and the darker "I Am The Night", we all knew that his third record was going to be something of serene beauty. He was even cool enough to answer our dumb questions a while back, so we got you pretty much covered on this subject.

"Dangerous Days" starts out smoothly, with the opening track "Welcome Back" setting the game for us. After that the fortunately titled "Perturbator's Theme" kicks you in the nuts all of the sudden, making sure you feel like you're sinking in your chair from the sheer intensity and perfect synth hooks. There's a couple of songs on this LP that have some relaxing vocals added on them for good measure. Now, I haven't enjoyed this sort of experimentation on PERTURBATOR's behalf in the past (some songs come to mind from "I Am The Night" that really didn't do it for me) but shit, man, the vocals here just bring "Dangerous Days" even closed to the top spot on what will be this year's best album list. They really tie the whole thing together, like mayonnaise on some golden shaworma.

This album really stands out on two levels: hooks and emotions, and I'm going to talk about the latter. The fact that the instrumentals on this album give you so much energy and emotion is just something that really can't be that easily achieved using decades-old keyboards and loopers. Then there's the tracks with the vocals on them that bring about 10% of what DAFT PUNK have been doing since forever with the whole "human/robot" deal, they sound like robots playing synths and vocals, but feel very human alltogether and emotion-y, and I find that really really good.

I've enjoyed PERTURBATOR's early albums so much because they sounded very retro and to a certain small degree, pretty cheesy (songs about Linnea Quigley and Josh Holmes.. you know what I'm talking about), but with "Dangerous Days" this is most certainly not the case. The whole LP is way darker and way more deep and mature compared to his other work (this shit sounds straight out of Pitchfork but it's as accurate as I can say it) and for that I hold this album very very high. The evolution that this artist has come through is about as good as it gets.

9.5/10

UMBERTO - La Llorona (2014)

Oh man!

I've just stumbled upon this while casually browsing Facebook on the pooper: Matt Hill aka Umberto, one of my favorite synthwave musicians ever, has recently released a 7" on an obscure Franco-Japanese label. These two new tracks see Umberto going further down the path established in his latest LP, Confrontations. Hard-hitting distorted bass lines, elegant synths, unsettling drum beats and ominous vocal chants all work to conjure a dark, dystopian urban atmosphere. The songs evoke grim visions of a futuristic New Osaka where a totalitarian government is oppressing its citizens. The streets are overcrowded with miserable people; squalor and misery abound, but something's gotta give. Umberto paints a sorrowful landscape of urban decay and anguish and does so with flawless mastery of his means and instruments.

Once again, Umberto delivers the goods and retains his place as one of the most talented and criminally underrated electronic artists out there. If you're a fan of Perturbator and the bands from Aphasia Records, you must not miss out on this guy. 

Death of Lovers - Buried Under a World of Roses (2014)

Death of Lovers is the music you listen to when it's 5 AM and you're sitting by yourself in the dark, wishing the sun would rise sooner. I don't really know how to describe their sound - there's some goth-rock, some indie rock, a bit of punk sensitivity, grungy bass lines, moody synths and ethereal vocals whispering lyrics about love and loss. But most importantly, it's very atmospheric and a great soundtrack for introspective wanderings and contemplating the silence of the city. Cool cover art, too. 

Teledrome - Teledrome (2014)

It's 4:30 in the morning and I'm enjoying a quiet, relaxing evening/morning. I'm browsing weird music blogs, eating chips, drinking coffee and half-watching Ugly Americans on Comedy Central. Oh, and listening to this totally sweet album by Philadelphia's Teledrome, who play cold, futuristic, retro, soothing synth punk/cold wave full of buzzing synths and croaking, phoned-in vocals. Robotic drumming, distorted guitar riffs and weird noises complete the atmosphere. This is good. 

Arc Neon - Blood Sport 2092 (2013)

Arc Neon is an enigmatic '80s-style synthwave outfit who probably dial in the music from the distant future back into our day and age. If you follow us on Facebook at all, you're probably well aware of the tremendous love we have for artists like Umberto, Perturbator, Kavinsky and pretty much the entire Aphasia Records roster. We've all jumped head-first into the '80s synth revival current and never looked back, endlessly pleased with roaming around violent futuristic cities crawling with cyborgs, androids and laser-pistol wielding cyberbandits. We're pretty sure we would fit right in with them: we'd get some nanoimplants, some bitchin' sunglasses and blue jeans, steal a red sports car and wreak havoc in New Detroit.

Arc Neon also fits right in with this crowd: their newest EP is called Blood Sport 2092 and it paints the dystopian picture of a grim future where giant corporations rule the universe and the pass-time of choice is Blood Sport, a gladiatorial-like contest where slaves are dropped onto a deserted arena and forced to battle it out until a victor emerges. The album works like a movie soundtrack, weaving a compelling narrative within each of its seven tracks. We are taken through the dire mess of Blood Sport and the emergence of a hero who's destined to destroy Blood Sport Corporation once and for all. Each song is a shiny, futuristic, action-filled glimpse into this violent world where its kill-or-be-killed and the '80s are worshiped with due dilligence through superbly modelled synths and minimalistic percussion.

Although, if you're anything like us, you've probably already known this is a great album from the second you laid eyes on the cover art. Guns, robots, aliens and pink and cyan - if this isn't the indicator of some great tunes, I don't know what is.

Hotline Miami Soundtrack (2012)

I may have finished the gory Hotline Miami a couple of weeks ago, but its amazing soundtrack still haunts me to this day. These 80s-flavored electro retro tracks are extremely suitable for walking around a bright neon-lit city at night, pursuing criminals in cyberspace, solving mysteries on rainy days and every other enigmatic and deadly activity you can think of. All of the bands contributing to this soundtrack are seriously awesome on their own and you should definitely check them out. My personal highlights include M|O|O|N, Perturbator, El Huevro and Scattle. Vintage tunes for neon nights. 

Haemic - Fields of Sanguine (2012)

Haemic is a rather interesting band I might not have heard about otherwise, but guitarist Ray Heberer was gracious enough to post a link to the band's bandcamp on TZEEEAC's Facebook page, so here we are, I guess. Haemic is a collaboration between several musicians in different parts of the world: Adam Farkas (composition, programming) is from Hungary, vocalist and lyricist Mitchell Shinderman lives in the US and 17 year-old Ray Heberer currently resides in Taiwan. The band has its roots in a series of songs Adam Farkas wrote and recorded on synth years ago. After uploading them on YouTube, Heberer contacted Farkas and they started re-recording the songs with Heberer playing guitar. Later, the line-up was completed with Shinderman, whom the two also found on YouTube. Thus, Haemic's debut album came to be. The end.

Wait, no, I haven't told you anything about the music. Fields of Sanguine is a pretty difficult nut to crack, as it combines a slew of different metal genres into one, big, mind-fucking pot of sonic madness. At its core, the music is decidedly symphonic black metal, kind of in the vein of early Emperor and Limbonic Art, as the copious amounts of tremolo-picking, melodic leads and orchestral synth work would indicate. Other songs, though, seem to veer towards a more technical death metal approach, with intricate riffing, lots of sweep-picking and blast beats, while also introducing plenty of progressive and neoclassical guitar fiddling. Most of the guitar work, in fact, is pretty damn impressive. Despite his age, Ray Heberer certainly knows his way around a guitar and is perfectly capable of melting faces with his frantic shredding. The songwriting is also strong - the songs are skillfully crafted and effortlessly move through various tempo changes, always keeping things fresh and interesting. Mitchell Shinderman does a decent job providing vocals for this release, him being the one cloaking the music in a grim black metal atmosphere with his reverb-drenched growls. Bonus points go to the keyboard synths that permeate this release - they're beautiful, they're tastefully done and they never overpower the music, instead augmenting it and contributing to the lush atmosphere. My only gripe with this album is the drum programming because they sound weak and are never quite up to par with the rest of the instruments. The snare sound is particularly annoying, but thankfully, the drums are lower in the mix, so they're not detracting too much from the overall experience. The production quality is way better than you'd expect from three dudes recording their music at home. The album has a definite bedroom black metal aura to it, though, which I think is part of its charm. BEDROOM BLACK METAL IST KRIEG!

Featuring eleven songs and clocking in at a total of one hour and five minutes (including five instrumental versions), Fields of Sanguine is a consistent album and one that warrants multiple listens, as there's so much going on at all times that you can't absorb it all in one sitting. Luckily, Haemic are offering the album for free on bandcamp, so head on over there and give their debut album a listen. I think you'll be in a for a nice surprise.

   

Azi învăţ

Şi asta înseamnă c-o să ascult o grămadă de albume ambient/drone/synth/noise whatever, so why not share?

Wooden - Birch Boulevard (2011)

Acoutic/folk drone făcut de un singur tip pe nume Angelo McCulloch. Chitară acustică procesată la greu care zbârnâie melodii simpliste, field recordings zumzăitoare pe fundal şi un feeling general de vară şi căldură sufocantă. Nu-i rău, iar ziua abia a început. 

Streaming şi download: http://woodensounds.bandcamp.com/  
  
Saåad - It Was LP (2010)

Drone/ambient mai lo-fi ca un cuţit din silex, înregistrat cu un webcam şi o cameră digitală. Fuck knows how, dar mai lo-fi de atât nu se poate. Aparent, sunetele au fost create cu o grămadă de instrumente (pian, chitară, ukulele...), dar au fost procesate into fucking oblivion şi tot ce a rămas sunt nişte drone-uri lungi, repetitive şi hipnotice, asemănătoare cu nişte vapori sonici care te învăluie şi-ţi îneacă camera în reverb. Se simte bine. 

Streaming şi download: http://saaad.bandcamp.com/album/it-was-lp 

Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here? (2010)

Foarte faină coperta, iar muzica este un synth ambient foarte atent prelucrat, aproape prea "inginerit" pentru gusturile mele. Aproape. Nu-i chiar stilul care-mi place cel mai mult, dar este foarte puternic din punct de vedere al compoziţiilor şi prezintă un control foarte strâns al synth-urilor. Mi-aş fi dorit totuşi să fie mai puţin "strident".

Dalt Wisney - Lifetime Psychedelic Dance Lessons (2007)

 Electronic/chillout distractiv, amuzant, colorat şi de pe altă planetă. Un amestec foarte savuros de loops, samples şi beat-uri foarte faine, cu mult sirop de jazz pe deasupra. Este extrem de funky şi relaxant. Cred că-i cea mai faină chestie pe care am ascultat-o azi. "Dingbat the Singing Cat" este aur. Păcat că e foarte scurt.

Download 

Orange Crush - Autumn Reflections (2009)

Label-ul Archaic Horizon zice:

Orange Crush is the moniker of musician Karl Endreson from Norway and under which he brings us his latest album "Autumn Reflections". For fans of his previous works, this album won't disappoint; the same beautiful nostalgic melodies, wavering synths, and slow lo-fi beats are present and even further developed.

Revolving songs around various themes of nature, Orange Crush captures and freezes ephemeral moments, places where a listeners mind can wander through his hazy reverb drenched sonics. All of it is perfectly polished and mixed with samples and field recordings that give this album a brilliant atmosphere.
 
Eu am de zis un singur cuvânt: superb. 

Orange Crush @ Archaic Horizon  (download)

deadmau5 - 4x4=12 (2010) 

Not bad at all, actually. Mă aşteptam la ceva mult mai cocalaresc, dar 4x4=12 este un album house sau cum sânge se mai cheamă zilele astea chiar ok. Unele piese sunt mult prea lungi şi mult prea repetitive pentru binele lor, dar, în afară de asta, o dă destul de gravone deadmau5.