10.04.2025-SUSANNA HOFFS Bright Lights (Baroque Folk,2021)

 

POP ROCK

   Bright Lights is a cohesive set of emotionally dense material that pays homage to what she and her friend, the late David Roback (of Mazzy Star), listened to in their formative years. That angle is given further weight by the fact that so many of the original artists represented — like Nick Drake, Chris Bell, and Prince — died relatively young or, like the Velvet Underground and Emitt Rhodes, had very small but impactful catalogs. Hoffs is in fantastic voice throughout the album, capably managing the rangy melody of “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight,” putting her natural rasp to fantastic use on the harder-edged “Time Will Show the Wiser,” and conveying a youthful playfulness on “You May Just Be the One.” Producer Paul Bryan keeps a light hand at the mixing board: The relatively lo-fi arrangements of Bright Lights are a far cry from Different Light, but they’re well-matched to Hoffs’ unfussy performances.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/ur6fsn

09.04.2025-CHARM OF FINCHES Marlinchen In The Snow (Spunk,2024)

 

FOLK

   Marlinchen In The Snow is a record of continued evolution, which doesn’t sound sexy as a marketing tool, and the accretion of small moves, which doesn’t sound like insurgency. But it is lush when it needs to be, poetic when it should be, and compelling when it wants to be, and those are subtle victories that arrive at something quite grand really.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/w2zssm

08.04.2025-PORCELAIN RAFT Permanent Signal (Secretly Canadian,2013)

 

ALTERNATIVE ROCK

   Mauro Remiddi, the Italian producer behind Porcelain Raft, said that he wrote ‘The Way Out’ – the lead single from his second album Permanent Signal - during Hurricane Sandy, inspired by how nature was able to survive amid human artifice, how “life can find a way”. On the face of it, such a sublime reference could hint to a hidden greatness or uplifting power running through his album, but instead Permanent Signal explores ideas of loss and feelings disconnectedness that Remiddi felt whilst on tour removed from family and friends. The result is a lyrically and musically quiet little piece that has you wishing he was around a stronger mobile signal.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/vm2zlc

07.04.2025-KIRLIAN CAMERA Hologram Moon (Dependent,2018)

 

DARKWAVE / SYNTHPOP

   Hologram Moon reveals all the greatest qualities of this legendary Italian electro dark wave act; their songs are melodically rich with great synth arrangements, they are catchy, seductive, mystical and melancholic.

   The album shifts from the more quiet and introspective moments to more danceable tunes. Such diversity makes the album an unpredictable and intriguing listening experience.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/4i8fdb
https://www.sendspace.com/file/u5ri9g

06.04.2025-RICHARD BONE Involution Vol.1 (Quirkworks Laboratory,2015)

 

AMBIENT

   Involution is described as the process by which the Divine manifests the Cosmos. I humbly feel as though some small part of this process was occurring in the studio. I could not help but feel that I was experiencing inspiration from an energy beyond myself. I find these theories to no longer be the purview of the new age movement. Hopefully in the not too distant future it will be a widespread understanding.

     Many more than 30 songs were written in this manner over the course of less than a year. So many that I found it necessary to refer to this collection as “Vol.1” because, by the end of sessions, so much music had arrived that two volumes at least would clearly be needed! Without realizing it, I had slowly begun to be influenced by the books I was reading on Cosmic Consciousness, Quantum Theory and the non-physical realms. It seemed the deeper my meditations, the more effortless the recording sessions became. This time more than ever I felt as though I was not working alone. The melodies, choice of sounds and even the song titles and sequencing are presented just as they came to me. The experience was so far beyond ’new age’ but rather more like “old age”, a system that had been available to all since humankind first became self aware.
     I know that there are those who will completely understand what I’m trying to say, while others will think I’m nut case. You’re probably both right!!! 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/zadzco

05.04.2025-BREAKBOT By Your Side (Ed Banger,2012)

 

FRENCH HOUSE

   An unashamedly upbeat, hopeful and happy debut from the French DJ/producer.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/35q7nx

03.04.2025-SALLY ANNE MORGAN Thread (Thrill Jockey,2020)

 

FOLK

     On her debut solo album recorded across Virginia and Georgia, US multi-instrumentalist and visual artist Sally Anne Morgan (Black Twig Pickers, House and Land) brings together odd ends, overheard stories, personal and borrowed memories. Drawing from traditional Appalachian music and experimental folk, Thread decidedly belongs to a time before time.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/vxkh69