Review: Alcest's latest album Les Chants de L'Aurore' is a transcendent journey amidst the chaos of modernity. Originating in the quaint French town of Bagnols-sur-Ceze, Alcest, led by the visionary Neige, defy the confines of heavy music by blending darkness with radiant light. Since their groundbreaking debut in 2007, they've captivated with a unique fusion of beauty and extreme metal, influencing a generation of "blackgaze" artists. Released amidst global turmoil in 2019, Les Chants de L'Aurore now arrives on vinyl and emerges as a beacon of hope. Recorded intimately yet expansively, it reinvigorates Alcest's signature sound for a new era. Amid existential reflections, Neige crafts euphoric melodies, counteracting darkness with love and positivity. Five years in the making, this album represents a profound evolution, resonating with both gentle charm and fierce conviction. In a world hungry for solace, Les Chants de L'Aurore offers a sanctuary of beauty.
Review: South London's potent indie auteur Heartworms unveils her highly anticipated debut album here on Speedy Wunderground. It has been produced by longtime collaborator Dan Carey and fuses the driving, motorik energy of Depeche Mode with PJ Harvey's sharp lyrical prowess, and is finished off with the offbeat rhythms of dance-punk favourites LCD Soundsystem. The result is a dark, intense sonic assault that is unmistakably Heartworms in the way it blends gothic post-punk with unashamed emotion and relentless momentum. It once again proves why Heartworms is one of the most exciting new voices in alternative music.
Review: Some albums deserve to stay buried, but Hydroplane's 1997 debut album is not one of those. An alternative project from shoegaze-influenced indie band The Cat's Miaow, the self-titled album offered a uniquely hazy, spaced-out blend of lo-fi dream pop vocals, atmospheric guitar textures, DJ Shadow style sample collage, stoned beats, Radoiphonic Workshop style electronic experiments and '90s ambient tropes. It's an unusual but hugely alluring musical melting pot that went largely overlooked at the time - hence this first ever vinyl pressing of the previously CD-only set. We'd recommend giving it a listen because it really is in a genre sub-category all of its own.
Review: Cindy Lee's Diamond Jubilee invites listeners to experience an exquisite journey through sound and emotion. Hailed as a major contender for the 2024 Polaris Music Prize, this album offers a fascinating tapestry of ethereal melodies and haunting reflections. Crafted over countless hours in studios stretching from Toronto to Montreal, Patrick Flegel channels a unique blend of nostalgia and longing. With infectious hooks wrapped around evocative arrangements, Diamond Jubilee is a striking embodiment of innovation in experimental pop, solidifying Cindy Lee's position as an important figure in contemporary music.
Romance Of The Black Pain Otherwise Fallin' Love With (12:29)
Reapers Of The Night (1993) (16:31)
Darkness Returns (part 1) (15:00)
Darkness Returns (part 2) (15:24)
Review: Japanese psych rock icons Les Rallizes Denudes originally formed in 1967, led by enigmatic frontman Takashi Mizutani and famed for their fearless embrace of distortion as a vital component of their sound. Through the decades the band went through many iterations and pauses, but they made a vital comeback in 1993 after five years of silence. Baus '93 captures the band in full flight at Baus Theatre in Tokyo, with Mizutani joined by Katsuhiko Ishii on guitar, Kiyohiro Takada on bass and Toshiro Mimaki on drums. Restored from original multitrack tapes and audience sources, it's a visceral document of the band's abrasive, hard-rocking sound captured here on red velvet double vinyl.
Review: Something of a best-kept-secret in the drone hinterlands, France's Natural Snow Buildings have quietly been making avant-garde masterpieces that delve into nocturnal dreamscapes and otherworldly sonic textures for the best part of two decades. Moreover, with as little fanfare as we've come accustomed to, they've come up with a masterstroke in 'Terror's Horns', which blends psychic assaults that would satisfy fans of both Skullflower and the Kranky Records stable with both folk-tinged delicacy and macabre atmospherics. Haunting, harrowing and possessed of a strangely understated intensity all the band's own. this 21st album, were there any justice, would elevate them from slef-imposed obscurity forthwith.
Review: Australian minimalist-jazz trio The Necks return with a powerful exploration of stillness and decay in the for of their new album, Bleed. The record features one lone 42-minute composition in which the band masterfully delves into the beauty of space and subtle transformation. Through their unique blend of minimalist jazz, The Necks continue to craft a distinct sound that shows subtle evolution and makes for another striking chapter to their extensive body of work. Bleed is all about giving over to the meditative journey where every note and pause evokes the profound complexity of time and impermanence, all while showcasing the trio's remarkable ability to evoke plenty of very real emotion despite the minimal nature of their evocative sounds.
Harry Plunket-Greene - "The Hurdy-Gurdy Man" (2:40)
Review: Searchlight Moonbeam is the new narrative compilation from Time Is Away (Jack Rollo and Elaine Tierney), whose eponymous monthly NTS Radio shows - tinctured fusions of fugitive sounds and reverie-inducing archival speech - have won them an ardent following. It follows from the London-based duo's Ballads, a remarkable driftwerk released on A Colourful Storm in 2022. Searchlight Moonbeam is an autumnal dreamscape, intimate and vespertine, pensive and irresolute. An imagined community where differences drop off and resonances emerge.
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