One-hit wonder: Babylon Zoo - "Spaceman"

A one-hit wonder is a person or act whose only reason for visiting our world is to record a one special song before sinking into oblivion. Special, because it is much much better than the rest of works of a particular artist. And because of its enormous awesomeness it manages to storm the charts and gain the unknown artist immortality. The song I present below went straight to number 1 on the UK singles chart on 21 January 1996, selling 418,000 copies in the first week of release. At the time it was the fastest selling single by a debut artist in the UK. The single remained at number 1 in the UK for 5 weeks, selling 893,000 copies in this period. The single also went to number 1 in the single charts in twenty-three countries. Babylon Zoo released two more singles from the debut album and the next album followed three years later, but they never repeated this success and eventually they broke up. The song is undeniably great, but two more factors helped with its success. One was a brilliant video, put on heavy rotation on MTV. And the other - it was used in a popular Levi's jeans ad. Finally, another reason to praise Babylon Zoo for this song is that it kicked out Coolio's shameful rip-off "Gangsta's Paradise" from the top spot on several charts. Thank you, guys. By the way, do not buy this track. If you like it, just download it from the Internet and use your money on another artist. These guys would not see a single penny, as all the rights belong to the fucking EMI, who is not interested in profiting from this song anyhow. If they were interested they would not block this video in some countries on YouTube and DailyMotion.

Babylon Zoo - "Spaceman"

Disclaimer: No Wikipedia articles were hurt in making of this post, but some of them were extensively used.

Bobywan - "Be My Boby"

Interesting electronic tunes (8/10) Interesting instrumental tunes, balancing on the border of electronica and rock. What a pity the album is only 5 minutes long. SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation on this page - use the button "Donate" in the upper left corner. [mirror @ archive.org]

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Placid - "Sound Lake City"

Very good techno (8/10) Schaut mal vorbei! mit placid versuche ich meine art von musikalischem experimentalismus auszuleben. es handelt sich vorwiegend um melodisch angehauchte elektronische musik, zu der aber auch getanzt werden darf. Mehr kann ich dazu erst mal nicht sagen! Hörs dir an und schreibe deine Meinung! Es handelt sich hier um frühe Werke, die ich mit einem Yamaha CS1X, Cubase, Rebirth und einer Roland TB303 gefertigt habe. Very good techno. Intelligent tunes, professional production. Keep up the good work. SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation on this page - use the button "Donate" in the upper left corner. [mirror @ archive.org] | [Artist's Website]

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Why so serious: Tenacious D - "Kickapoo"

Some actors are also fans of music. And the success in the movie business allows them to bring their hobby (and sometimes talent) out of the closet. In this episode let me present you a comedy actor Jack Black, who successfully combines both of his talents, because not only does he rock as hell, but at the same time his lyrics and music videos are insanely funny. Further, in the below video you will see guest appearances from two famous rockers: Meat Loaf and Ronnie James Dio.

Tenacious D - "Kickapoo"

Snakehips - "Minnow Johnson, the" [EP]

Bland RnB (5/10)

SNAKEHIPS is the music of Ollie Dickinson from North London. For live or DJ Bookings, Remixes, Collabs, a chat or hate mail: omdickinson@hotmail.com Soundcloud / Facebook / Twitter Rather bland, boring and repetitive minialbum by a British DJ, exploring the abyss of generic RnB and hip hop. It is available as a free download on mediafire.com, but really... just go somewhere else. There's too much good music everywhere to waste time on this. Of course, a truly dedicated fan of these genres may choose this over good music - everyone has a free will, after all.

Kill your popularity or kill yourself, part 2: Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

In the previous articles I showed you videos of two artists struggling with their enormous popularity. Both of them decided at one point to stop showing themselves in music videos, in order to save their sanity. And here is an artist, who chose a different path. This artist is Kurt Cobain, the lead singer, guitarist and primary songwriter of the band Nirvana. After the hell broke loose over the song you are just about to hear (and see) they tried to bring the Nirvana-mania to manageable levels by making the next record rougher and less accessible. But at the same time they kept the big budget videos coming. Of course I don't say that not having stopped making videos was a major factor leading to Cobain's suicide. There were many more things wrong in his life apart from the insane popularity - from heroin addiction to marital problems. But I am sure that fame played some role too and good videos always had great potential for inducing popularity. Nevertheless, the theme of dealing with one's popularity is only a pretext to tie this article to the previous ones. The true reason this music video just had to find its way to this blog is that it is without a question the most important music video created at least from the beginning of the nineties. And maybe even the most important music video ever created. And why is it so? The short answer is: because it single-handedly killed the infamous sound of eighties. Those dark ages in popular music, when this thing was called metal and that thing was dubbed rock. Don't get me wrong - both these songs are great. Great pop songs. The idea that such overproduced keyboard-infested plastic tunes played over inevitable primitive disco beats (what's the difference if played on real drums?) can be called "rock" or "metal" is repulsive on its own. And the fact that the whole generation of teens has been brain fucked by the music industry into thinking this is rock music is the crime for which the responsible motherfuckers should burn in heaven for at least half of the eternity. But one day in late 1991 the world as the kids knew it - ended. They turned on MTV to feed on their daily dose of hair "metal" and synthpop only to find this:

Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

It was fresh. It was infinitely different from the omnipresent pop. But most importantly, it sounded honest. The famous line: I feel stupid and contagious Here we are now, entertain us immediately found its way into these kids' minds, to that day tube-fed with pop. Entertained to death. The fact that Cobain wrote the lyrics for this song right before the recording session, just to fill the space, is quite irrelevant. It's not the first time that the work of art starts a life of its own, regardless of the creator's intentions (or lack of - like in this case). Unintentionally and quite reluctantly Cobain overnight became the voice of the generation. The video is not less impressive than the catchy song itself. It is brilliant in visualizing - or rather predicting - the impact the song would have on the world. In the beginning we see dull and bored teen public, barely listening to the band. But as the song progresses, something strange happens. Those apathetic brainwashed kids gradually start to wake up, open their ears and minds. The video ends in a regular riot. The teens simply cannot control themselves, having felt for the first time in their life the power of rock music. The power so great that even the school janitor starts to dance with his mop. We realize we have just watched the beginning of the musical revolution that within two years would cause the total and so well-deserved extinction of hair "metal", as it would send plastic keyboards and disco beats back where they belong - to the pop genre. The video was directed by Samuel Bayer and it was his first one. Bayer stated he believed he was hired because his test-reel was so poor the band anticipated his production would be "punk" and "not corporate." Inspiration for the video was taken from Jonathan Kaplan's 1979 movie Over the Edge, as well as the Ramones' film Rock 'n' Roll High School. The demolition of the set captured in the video's conclusion was the result of genuine discontent. The extras that filled the bleachers had been forced to stay seated through numerous replays of the song for an entire afternoon of filming. Cobain convinced Bayer to allow the extras to mosh, and the set became a scene of chaos. "Once the kids came out dancing they just said 'fuck you,' because they were so tired of this shit throughout the day," Cobain said. Like the song itself, the music video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was well received. In addition to a number one placing in the singles category, "Teen Spirit" also topped the music video category in the Village Voice's 1991 "Pazz & Jop" poll. The video won Nirvana the Best New Artist and Best Alternative Group awards at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, and in 2000 the Guinness World Records named "Teen Spirit" the Most Played Video on MTV Europe. In 2001, VH1 ranked the video fourth on its "100 Greatest Videos" list. But enough with figures. What really counts is that the video brought music back into the "music business", showing moronic executives that millions of people want something more than bland plastic pop disguised as rock or metal. And as for Cobain himself... In the previous episode I described the story of a boy, who blew his head off to get revenge on the cruel world only to end up as a short paragraph in a newspaper. Cobain did better. A suicide committed at that particular moment in time granted him immortality. It would not have happened if some day in the past he had not smelled like "Teen Spirit". And if MTV had not decided to show a certain video on some cold October evening. Disclaimer: No Wikipedia articles were hurt in making of this post, but some of them were extensively used.

Kill your popularity or kill yourself, part 1: Pearl Jam - "Jeremy"

Continuing the subject of artists overwhelmed by their popularity, let's stay in the beginning of the '90s, but move from England to Seattle. In 1992 Seattle, the United States and soon the whole world exploded in the revival of classic rock sound in the form of the so-called "grunge", which really was not a genre of its own, but rather a way of saying "we can't call it classic rock, 'cause it's modern, so let's make up a new stupid label". And in the very eye of the storm was a band calling themselves Pearl Jam. At first their debut album Ten had not received too much attention. But then MTV came to the rescue. My younger non-existent readers may not be aware of that, but at that time MTV was able to create a superstar overnight, just by putting a music video on heavy rotation - much like the Internet of today does, when a video goes viral on YouTube. And Pearl Jam went viral as hell. And all of this mainly because of the video you are just about to see. Other singles from Ten had accompanying music videos too, but nowhere near as spectacular as this one. And at that time MTV... wait, I already said that. The breakthrough single was Jeremy. The song and consequently the video are inspired by a story of a 15-year-old boy, who shot himself in front of his classmates. As the vocalist and lyricist Eddie Vedder explained: "It came from a small paragraph in a paper which means you kill yourself and you make a big old sacrifice and try to get your revenge. That all you're gonna end up with is a paragraph in a newspaper." Well, in the next episode I'll tell you a story of a gentleman, who had more success in that department. But now back to Jeremy. Powerful lyrics and passionate delivery of Eddie Vedder, backed up by the emotional video helped catapult Pearl Jam to fame. The song reached the number five spot on both the "Mainstream" and "Modern Rock" Billboard charts, received nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Hard Rock Performance at the 1993 Grammy Awards and the video won four MTV Video Music Awards the same year, including Best Video of the Year, Best Group Video, Best Metal/Hard Rock Video and Best Direction. Vedder's indirect, poetic style of writing climaxing with a chilling line "Jeremy spoke in class today..." was illustrated well by the video, focused more on suggesting events than explicitly showing them. The interesting thing is the director Mark Pellington decided to show the boy putting the barrel of the gun in his mouth, closing his eyes, and pulling the trigger. MTV's censors deleted this scene as too drastic. Ironically, the ambiguous close-up of Jeremy at the end of the edited video, combined with the defensive posture of Jeremy's classmates and the large amount of blood, led many viewers to believe that the video ended with Jeremy shooting his classmates, not himself. The great passion in Vedder's voice is not surprising, because apparently he could easily relate to this story, having had a difficult childhood himself. Many of his songs tell stories of troubled youth and child abuse, including Why Go?, Daughter and the famous Alive. His sudden popularity that had skyrocketed over the period of just months (if not weeks) was too much to bear for him and he did not want to end up like Jeremy. The rest of the band fully agreed on this subject, so they did the most obvious thing to do at that time for someone wanting to lower his popularity. I bet that having read about George Michael, you already guessed. And you guessed correctly. They stopped making music videos. The band did not release another video until 1998's Do The Evolution, which was entirely animated. And their popularity slowly declined, indeed, despite the fact that subsequent albums kept the same top quality and hit potential. Real life has written a sad epilogue to this story. Less than two years later a suicide of a certain musician confirmed that Pearl Jam's choice of shunning popularity in order not to fall insane was a good decision after all. As strange as it could get, the musician - obviously a troubled kid himself not so long before - shot himself in the head, following in Jeremy's footsteps.

Pearl Jam - "Jeremy"

Well, you expected to see the bottom of the page here, but I have another (hopefully) interesting story. The above video was not the only one made to this song. In July 1991, Eddie Vedder became acquainted with photographer Chris Cuffaro. Vedder suggested Cuffaro film a music video for the band. On Vedder's insistence, the record label Epic gave Cuffaro permission to use any song off Ten. He decided on Jeremy, which was not intended to be released as a single at the time. Epic refused to fund the clip, forcing Cuffaro to finance it himself. Cuffaro raised the money by taking out a loan and selling all of his furniture and half his guitar collection. By the time Cuffaro finished his music video, Epic had warmed up to the idea of releasing Jeremy as a single. Music video director Mark Pellington was brought in to handle the project. I don't know if Cuffaro shot himself too, after learning he had just spent all of his personal money and got screwed. Below is the original video. And yes - Pellington's is better.

Pearl Jam - "Jeremy" (original version)

Disclaimer: No Wikipedia articles were hurt in making of this post, but some of them were extensively used.

To eat a cake and have it too: George Michael - "Freedom! '90"

After the uncompromising video for Praying For Time, George Michael continued deconstructing his previous image, by not appearing also in the next music video from the album Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. However, this video was nowhere near as radical as the previous one. While George does not appear in the video at all, it features several supermodels lip-syncing the song's lyrics. So the video is a pure feast for the eyes, even if not because of George's looks. Beautiful supermodels are not the only reason this video is interesting. It was directed by David Fincher. Yes, this David Fincher. The one, who moved to Hollywood to direct Alien 3 and then the best thriller in history of cinematography: Seven.

George Michael - "Freedom! '90"

They don't exist when you don't see them: George Michael - "Praying For Time"

Not having enough time to write reviews as often as I'd like, and being inspired by the fellow blogger EYE Listen To the Music, I decided to slightly broaden the scope of the blog - to keep it alive. From now on, I will also post my favorite music videos. Like I said, I have been inspired by EYE Listen To the Music blog, which I highly recommend as a source of carefully selected artistic music videos. The author of this blog has an exquisite taste for music video art. You may not like a particular song, but you'll surely appreciate the picture. Of course, it would be pointless to simply copy her blog, so I will use different selection criteria. Her blog is focused on recent videos and I will try to present mainly my favorites from the classical (for music videos) period of '80s and '90s. Further, I will post not only the greatest videos, because the priority for me is music, so occasionally you'll find a mediocre video for a great song. Very rarely I may post the opposite - a great video for a mediocre song - if I decide this was a real milestone for this genre of visual art. Well, enough with this explanation. I forgot I don't have any readers anyhow. Except for myself. So, off we go! The obvious choice would be to start with Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles, the first music video shown on the then brand new TV channel MTV (yes, they played music back then - this rumor is actually true). And not because I want to copy MTV, but because of its prophetic lyrics. But being obvious is the last thing on my mind. I always preferred being original, so I chose a different video. Much different. A video of the artist tired of people interested in his image rather than his music. People who did not really listen to what he actually had to say. For this artist, releasing in 1990 - in the middle of the golden era of MTV - the music video you are just about to see, was the act of suicidal bravery. And despite that, the single promoted with this video went on to become the no. 1 in the US and many more countries. He proved that what really matters is the music itself. Well done. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Mr. George Michael!

George Michael - "Praying For Time" Apparently, after a legal battle with Fucking Sony Music, George lost rights to use the above video, because now his official YouTube/VEVO webpage features a remake of this video with a different font and a different flow of words / verses. Oh, I just love how the major record labels screw their artists, at the same time pretending they are representing their interests. Fuck you, Sony! I boycott Sony anyhow because of their virus-infecting infamous scandal, but if not for that, this could be another pretty good reason. What? You say the case has been wholly rejected? Oh yes. The judge held that Michael's contracts were reasonable and fair, especially because the terms were comparable to the industry standard. I couldn't agree more... Screwing their artists is their industry standard up to this day and one should be aware of that when deciding to sign that devil's pact. *** And now for something not completely different. If you like music video art, you may be also interested in my other blog, where I present a selection of interesting (in my opinion) short films: http://justmakeitshort.blogspot.com/.

Abogix (J.K.), the - "George Bush's great adventure between war and horror"

Great electronic tunes with unnecessary speeches (7/10) Ok...this album i don't like it! But other poeple love it...so i leave it here! I love the melodies on this album. What a pity they are spoiled by mumbling of that moron George of the Jungle. All these speeches are completely unnecessary and spoil all the fun one could have from listening to this album. I understand the reason for that, but it just doesn't appeal to me. If I was keen on GWB or just wanted to listen to talking heads, I would turn the TV on. But I wanted to listen to beautiful music. So my rating is 7, while it could have been 10. SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation on this page - use the button "Donate" in the upper left corner. [mirror @ archive.org] | [Artist's Myspace]

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Various Artists - "Fonoteka 7 (Remixed)"

A quality compilation from a Polish retro netlabel (7/10) Związek Kompozytorów Polskich i Zakład Nagrań Dźwiękowych Estrady informuje: koniec z szeroko propagowaną akcją popularyzowania ckliwych serenadek czy wesołych uwerturek w rytmie polskich tańców ludowych. Istniejące i powstające nadal kompozycje rażą szablonem, banałem oraz żenującym poziomem artystycznym. Nie chodzi tu wcale o tytuły granych pozycji – bądź ich brak – ale o styl interpretacyjny, który nawiązuje najczęściej do najgorszych tradycji muzyków estradowych. Wśród nadesłanych do nas materiałów niewielu kompozytorów pokusiło się o wykroczenie poza zwykłą przeciętność, co najwyżej poprawność, graniczącą jednak z monotonią, szablonem i sztampą. Postawa wielu wykonawców trąci abnegacją i rutyniarstwem. Wieje nudą i szarzyzną. [...] Przed państwem ci, których wszystko co napisaliśmy nie dotyczy. [Read more --->] This is a quality compilation of contemporary club music: from electronica and nu jazz through hip hop to disco, all with a nice retro feeling, typical for productions coming from Estrada Nagrania netlabel. The retro feeling is strengthened through masterful mixing, blending modern tunes with sampled fragments of Polish radio programmes from the 1970s - often to very funny and surreal effects. Only several of these tracks suit my personal taste, hence the rating of "7". However, trying to adopt a more objective view, I have to admit all of this material is top class and should satisfy a more club-music-oriented listener. And for people longing for "good old times", ready for a nostalgic time travel back to '70s - this should be a masterpiece. If somebody is interested in my choice, here is the list of my favorites: 04 - Symbiotic Sounds - 1987 08 - 2 Pac - Thug Style (produced by ylaib) 15 - Printempo - Szarosc poniedzialkowego popoludnia 17 - Ortalio - Cynematyka 19 - Graf Cratedigger - Lotniskowiec 21 - Sawersky - Spectral Type 1 22 - Synnc - Nights Of course, the clear winner is the one and only Printempo, whose new track is equally fabulous to the material from the debut album of this act, which I reviewed earlier. The album has been released by the Estrada Nagrania netlabel and you can download it for free in mp3 format. The lossless version is available in the netlabel's Bandcamp store under the "name your price" scheme. You can also listen to the full album online on Bandcamp. Of course, if you like this album and you intend to keep it, I encourage you to make a donation (purchase) through Bandcamp, even if you need only a free mp3 version. After all, "name your price" means any amount you can afford. PLEASE SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS.

Magnetar / Toltek Industries - "Liftoff"

Mixed feelings... (5/10) This is a collection of tracks dating from 2000-2004. I called the project Magnetar. I have plans on releasing another album of tracks from this period. Phineous I have mixed feelings after listening to this album. Some tracks are very good, some are rather boring for me. But overall, the album would earn maybe even 7 points, if not... two issues. Firstly, the sound volume variations. Some parts are so quiet, you must turn the volume up to the maximum. Then, you are attacked by sounds so loud that you cannot hear your own thoughts. So listening to this album requires constant struggle with a volume slider. It is a very stupid and annoying "feature" of some records, which on this one is pushed to extremes. Secondly, who in their right mind would name such song as no. 3 on this album "Elven Lore"? What these guitars, drums and dark mood have to do with elves? "Orcish pit" would be a much more appropriate name. If the dear author wants to hear music that fits a theme of elves, I will recommend albums of Enya or "Robin Hood" by Clannad. Of course I did not really lowered my rating because of the name of the track, but because of the sound volume problem. The album has been published under the Free Art License, which is more or less equivalent to the CC BY-SA license. SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation on this page - use the button "Donate" in the upper left corner.

Royalty-free music for professional licensing [mirror @ archive.org] | [Myspace]

Hype - "Just A Catwalk From Heaven"

One great track + four decent ones (7/10)

[Artist's Myspace]

"Parfaite alchimie de lyrisme pop électrique, rageuse et entêtante grâce à un songwriting subtil, des gimmicks et un chant à vous coller des frissons…" c'est ainsi que les premières chroniques ont définies la musique de HYPE.

Grâce à un chanteur franco-allemand, un batteur britannique d'alliance et deux "frenchies", HYPE est riche tant par ses origines que par ses influences.

Le groupe qui a déjà 2 EP à son actif, s'est forgé une solide expérience "live" en défendant ses titres avec rage sur les plus prestigieuses scènes de la capitale (Elysée Montmartre, Maroquinerie...).

"Ain't That Far" - I recommend this track to every true rock fan. Really great song. The others are nice, but not so catchy. They are just ordinary rock songs lacking freshness but "Ain't That Far" definitely will stay for good on my 'Favorites' playlist. Although I must say that after several times I started to like all the five. I just had to give the others some time, because they are not immediate hits.

The album has been published on Jamendo under the Creative Commons license and later removed from this website. Fortunately, a CC license is irrevocable and the recording has been archived by the one and only archive.org Internet library. You can listen to the album online or download it in mp3 or ogg format - all of this legally.

Hype - "Lies And Speeches"

Very good REM-like and Live-like rock (9/10)

[Artist's Myspace]

"Parfaite alchimie de lyrisme pop électrique, rageuse et entêtante grâce à un songwriting subtil, des gimmicks et un chant à vous coller des frissons…" c'est ainsi que les premières chroniques ont définies la musique de HYPE.

Grâce à un chanteur franco-allemand, un batteur britannique d'alliance et deux "frenchies", HYPE est riche tant par ses origines que par ses influences.

Le groupe qui a déjà 2 EP à son actif, s'est forgé une solide expérience "live" en défendant ses titres avec rage sur les plus prestigieuses scènes de la capitale (Elysée Montmartre, Maroquinerie...).

Association with REM is obvious. But I do not say these guys are plagiarists. I say that to get them people's attention. They just explore a similar area of rock music and the vocalist has a voice resembling that of Michael Stipe. I will not be original either, saying that I agree with everybody that "My Innocence" is definitely the greatest song on this album. But I will say more - it is so awesome that it would be high on any list of the greatest rock hits of all time - if only more people had a chance to listen to it.

Apart from REM, several tracks remind me of Live and I think Hype is even more similar to Live than to REM. Especially with regard to "My Innocence", but also "Anybody here", which is almost as good as "My Innocence". Both songs could be placed on "The Distance To Here" right beside "The Dolphin's Cry" and nobody would notice any difference in quality. In my opinion Hype has a potential for a big career - not only in France but on international scale.

And one more thing - how stupid one has to be to rate the music album by the quality of the cover? Maybe such people should move to the graphical arts website? So, 10 points for "My Innocence" and "Anybody here", 7 points for the rest. Overall: 8,5. I must choose 8 or 9 when rating, so I choose 9 - those two songs are REALLY great. Check them out - it is free, remember? And also check out their second album "Just A Catwalk From Heaven", especially track no. 2 "Ain't That Far". One more precious gem.

The album has been published on Jamendo under the Creative Commons license and later removed from this website. Fortunately, a CC license is irrevocable and the recording has been archived by the one and only archive.org Internet library. You can listen to the album online or download it in mp3 or ogg format - all of this legally.

Akusto, Ben - "Ambience Session"

Really great ambient (8/10) This album was kind of an experimental in 1997. It was never released until now. Some of you have maybe heard the Enharmon in some of my gigs. Once again, thanks to Al Cabaro being with me in these studio sessions as a mental help and co-drinker. And thanks to all my friends for just being there all the time. Please sit down in a peaceful corner, take a deep breath, relax and press play. This is a really great album. I recommend it to every fan of the darker side of ambient. I also recommend it to people who think this is a boring genre. It sometimes happen - with bad ambient albums. But Ambience Session definitely belongs to this genre and it is not boring even for one second. Boring ambient is just bad ambient. [mirror @ archive.org] | [Artist's Website] | [Myspace] SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation on this page - use the button "Donate" in the upper left corner.

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Subterrestrial - "Goddess of Atvatabar, the"

Interesting but too repetitive dark ambient (6/10) The debut album from this San Francisco Bay Area artist, The Goddess of Atvatabar is inspired by the 1891 hollow earth adventure novel by William R. Bradshaw and leans heavily on dark ambient, tribal ambient and middle eastern musical themes. The Goddess of Atvatabar is a self-released web album and is available as a free download. This is an interesting dark ambient recording, although too repetitive for my liking. I like experimenting with dark atmosphere and strange sounds. The drawbacks are the said repetitiveness and absurd sound volume differences, forcing a listener to adjust the level throughout the album. For me the best tracks are nos. 01, 02 and 07, because they are not overly repetitive. If you like highly repetitive type of ambient, you can safely add 2 or 3 points to my rating. I guess using a word "repetitive" in every sentence, when reviewing a repetitive album is somehow repetitive, I mean, is somehow OK, isn't it? Apart from Jamendo the album is available at archive.org on Subterrestrial's own "netlabel" channel - possibly in better quality, because Jamendo is notorious for very low quality of their mp3 files. Please note that this edition is governed by a different CC license: . I guess it means you can choose the one that better suits your needs. [Jamendo mirror @ archive.org] | [Artist's Website] | [Myspace]

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Akusto, Ben - "TeddyBear Trilogee"

Very good album (8/10) This single was originally published somewhere between 1996 ans 1997. Can't remember exactly when. Some of these songs were also made together with Al Cabaro alias Parametric. Thanks to AC and thanks to all my friends. Republished May 2007. Have fun! Very good album. Interesting electronic tunes plus one of the funniest parodies I've ever heard (07 - Sick Ted). It's completely crazy and I love it. [mirror @ archive.org] | [Artist's Website] | [Myspace] SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation on this page - use the button "Donate" in the upper left corner.

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DJ Blackwidow - "North Star"

Very good, creative electronica (9/10) This album was composed January 2006 - August 2006. I was on a creative high after finishing up the BlackJaq CD with my collaborator. I really went into this CD with an idea to create a more straightforward electronica sound. I kept some of the ethnic influences and added elements of space music and chanting (listen for Catholic and Ba'hai faith chants). If Leaving Town was a more personal album, then this one is more broad in it's mission. Some aspects are cold, while others seem personal, yet at a distant. The song, Jupiter, was originally composed in October 2005 and was originally written to be a new track on the original BlackJaq Cafe CD. The song, Again, features my BlackJaq collaborator, DJ Jax and this song is actually a special remix created exclusively for this release. The song 2012 was my highest and longest charting song on AcidPlanet. It was also the most reviewed and downloaded song I've ever released on the site. This is the first time this album has been released in its entirety. Thank you for your support of my music. This album is dedicated to my dad. He was the one who inspired the title song. Copyright 2007 BlackJaq Studios

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Straightforward electronica of superb quality. Calm downtempo tunes sit next door to nu jazz flavored tracks, followed by disturbing sounds of breakbeat. Despite the diversity of used styles and techniques, all these songs have one thing in common - the highest quality. Pure pleasure for ears - do not miss this one!

[mirror @ archive.org] | [Myspace]

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation on this page - use the button "Donate" in the upper left corner.

Embolism - "This Means Fucking War!"

Speedcore classic (7/10) Early Embolism speedcore action! 6 tracks built on an Amiga 500. released 15 December 1995 Written and produced by a 14-year old Ryan Leeman in his bedroom on an Amiga 500 running through a small television speaker, whilst bunking off school in mid-1995. Originally released on 12" vinyl December 1995. A speedcore classic written by then 14-year old Ryan Leeman, one of the pioneers of hardcore techno, recording for the famous label Bloody Fist Records. It is not a secret that hardcore techno is not my favorite genre of electronic music, because of its repetitiveness, monotony and overuse of irritating sampled speeches. Yet this album is another proof that with enough talent, one can write great tunes in each and every style. Only the final track Pillow Talk suffer from these weaknesses. All the rest is great - original, creative and catchy (in the wicked "hardcore techno" sense of this word), while still being fast, aggressive and uncompromising. And it was made by a 14-year old kid on an Amiga 500 computer. Wow. The album is available on Bandcamp for 6 Australian dollars in a variety of formats, including a FLAC version. You can also listen to the full album before making a decision on purchase.

Various Artists - "Newcastle Sampler"

Interesting hardcore techno compilation (6/10)

All Tracks Built In Newcastle, Australia Published By Len & Jen Music (ASCAP) Distributed By Soundbase Music Germany Newcastle Sampler is a compilation released by the label Bastard Loud Records, presenting several acts from the Newcastle hardcore techno scene, recording for the famous label Bloody Fist Records. This is an interesting album, offering quality tunes, and although I personally dig only two tracks out of six, the compilation remains a great insight into the history of hardcore techno. My favorites are Nasenbluten - Treadmill and Disassembler - Ants. They are fast, aggressive, disturbing, but without being too repetitive and without overuse of speech samples - two weaknesses of so many hardcore techno tunes. The other four do not fit my taste, being haunted by the said flaws. They represent the type of hardcore techno, which is totally boring for me, despite its aggressiveness and high tempos. Still, they should appeal to hardcore hardcore techno fans out there. If you happen to be one, you can safely add some points to my 6/10 rating. I guess this album is very rare now, but if you happen to run into it somewhere along the links, be sure to check it out, if you are a fan of hardcore techno. And do not forget to visit the official Bandcamp website of Bloody Fist Records, where you can listen to and buy some other releases from this label.

scal.g - "Open World"

Calm electronic music with rock influences - very good! (8/10) Calm electronic music with rock influences. Many tracks remind me of Moby, but I don't say they are just copies. Rather than that, both artists have similar approach to creating their music and they both use the same pieces of puzzle - just place them in a different way to compose a different picture. In brief: very good album for both electronica and rock fans. [mirror @ archive.org] | [Myspace] SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation on this page - use the button "Donate" in the upper left corner.

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Sans Bagage - "Tant pis pour la lune"

Mostly boring tunes... Easy to listen, easy to forget... (6/10) Voici le nouvel album de sans bagage "Tant pis pour la lune" Nous l'avons enregistré assez rapidement puisque nous avons débuté en Juillet 2006, pour aboutir au mix final débur Décembre. Le mix a été réalisé indépendemment par un professionnel (merci Mathieu) qui a apporté une oreille plus objective et pas mal d'idées pour la dernière touche... Nous en avons fait graver 500.... alors n'hésitez pas à nous le commander (sur www.sansbagage.com)... c'est important pour nous de pouvoir en vendre un minimum pour pouvoir assurer la production du prochain.... et afin de remercier ceux qui voudrons bien nous aider en l'achetant, il y a quelques morceaux en plus sur le CD.... Sinon, je crois que nous avons pas mal progressé par rapport à l'album précédent (dont nous étions et restons très fierts). en espérant que cela vous plaira ..... bonne écoute.... Definitely better than their previous album. Professionally played, sang and produced, but still lacks the main feature of good poprock albums - catchy melodies (although one can see a development here). Easy to listen, easy to forget. [mirror @ archive.org] | [Myspace] SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation on this page - use the button "Donate" in the upper left corner.

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Sans Bagage - "Sans Bagage"

Boring tunes... Easy to listen, easy to forget... (5/10) Cet album est le second de Sans Bagage. Contrairement au premier album réalisé en prise live c'est un vrai travail de studio, avec un mix et un mastering pro... le son est donc au rendez-vous ! Professionally played, sang and produced, but lacks the main feature of good poprock albums - catchy melodies. The songs are just boring, unoriginal and banal. Easy to listen, easy to forget. [mirror @ archive.org] | [Myspace] SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation on this page - use the button "Donate" in the upper left corner.

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Narcis - "Shining"

Quite good mixture of grunge, punk, metal & pure rock (6/10) Narcis, groupe alternatif de la scène alsacienne, a écumé bon nombre de concerts dans l'Est, se forgeant une solide expérience (première partie d'Eiffel à la Laiterie, festivals divers) avant de s'éteindre en 2002... Il était formé de Manu (Guitare-chant), Nico (Basse-chant) et Sam (Batterie)... Cette page Jamendo est donc pour vous, auditeurs, afin que ce groupe ne tombe pas dans l'oubli, et qu'il garde une trace sur la toile de son activité à travers les deux albums proposés ci après. Le premier, eponyme (surnommé le "poisson rouge"), date de 1999, le second, Shining, est beaucoup plus abouti et montre les reelles orientations du groupe, entre Smashing, Nirvana et autres groupes des 90's... Quite good tunes. One thing I didn't like much, were vocals, especially on track no. 2, which is almost unlistenable. But all the others are definitely worth listening. I would especially recommend tracks 01 (really great riff here) & 08 (instrumental, with a catchy semi-oriental melody). SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation on this page - use the button "Donate" in the upper left corner.

Royalty-free music for professional licensing [mirror @ archive.org]

Nasenbluten ‎– "500 / 600 / 1200 EP"

Pioneer of hardcore techno (6/10)

Nasenbluten were a Newcastle, Australia recording and performance group, who pioneered hardcore techno, gabber, amigacore and cheapcore music. The group was founded in the early 1990s by Mark Newlands, Aaron Lubinski and David Melo. Nasenbluten take their name from the German word for nosebleed, a reference to the phrase "nosebleed techno" that was then used to describe the harder and faster variants of the genre. [Read more --->] Nasenbluten were pioneers of hardcore techno, so this is the first reason this recording is interesting. The second reason is they are talented pioneers. Maybe their tunes are not too original, but on the other hand, the very genre was original back in 1994. Hardcore techno is not my favorite type of techno / electronica, as I find many songs too monotonous for my liking. But I have to admit all the songs on this album are full of energy, straightforward and well produced (especially considering the limited equipment of the band). And some of them are still catchy (in the hardcore techno meaning of the word, of course) and creative. I particularly dig the following tracks: A1 - Garbage; A2 - Painbringer; A3 - Skullbash; B2 - Disassembler. The other three are less successful, with a notably bad B3 - We've Got The Balls being worth a special mention for awful use of samples from Metallica. To summarize, if you are interested in history of electronic music or if you are a fan of the genre, check this album out (if only you manage to find it somewhere). Fans can easily add 3 points to my rating.

[Artist's Myspace]

Sinewave - "Zombastic? Fantastic!" [SP]

Catchy instrumental rock single (9/10) Sinewave, the one-man studio project of Vancouver's Mark Wiebe, has been on the cutting edge of underground Canadian electronic music since the 2001 launch of Interplanetary Ridicule, an album of "weird space lounge", b-movie samples and finely diced drum-and-bass beats. It caused an instant sensation on campus radio stations across the country, closing out the year as the number one album of 2001 at University of Manitoba's UMFM, placing eighteenth on !earshot's top 200 of 2001 and receiving airplay around the globe on Solid Steel Radio. [Read more --->] Music from the game Zombie Minesweeper. A catchy little song that is used in the very enjoyable free online flash game Zombie Minesweeper. The disturbing atmosphere corresponds well with the game's theme and the way of playing. For those that played the game extensively it may be a little bit too much to hear it again (and again and again...), but all the others should definitely check it out, because it is a very fine piece of electronic rock. The album is available on Bandcamp for USD 1 (yes, for one dollar!) in a variety of formats, including a FLAC version. You can also listen to the full album before making a decision on purchase. [Artist's website]

Various Artists - "Newcastle Hardcore Vol. 2"

Interesting hardcore techno compilation (7/10)

Bloody Fist Records was an independent record label based in Newcastle, Australia. Bloody Fist was one of the most prolific labels involved in hardcore/gabber, industrial, breaks, noise, and related genres. Founded by Nasenbluten's Mark Newlands (formerly known as Stigs/TDU) in 1994 as a platform for local artists, the label initially began distributing cassettes and moved on to become a major label in the hardcore techno scene. Newcastle Hardcore Vol. 1 & 2 [1994] was a first vinyl release of this label, presenting a compilation of artists from the local Newcastle hardcore techno scene. Vol. 2 supposedly contained 7 tracks from 6 acts. The version I had a chance to listen to included only 5 tracks: a1 - The Shaftman - Shaftman a2 - Xylocaine - Luftwaffe a3 - Pendulum - Uncle Sam b1 - Overcast - Rougher b2 - Syndicate - M'shit Hardcore

The album is very interesting, as they all are quality offerings, and although I personally dig only two of them, the compilation remains a proof that the guy behind Bloody Fist knew what he was doing right from the start.

My favorites are Pendulum - Uncle Sam and Overcast - Rougher, two fast pieces reminding me of The Prodigy from the Experience period. Even if they are not the most original songs ever recorded, they are catchy, energetic and never venture near the border of plagiarism.

The other three do not fit my taste, being comprised almost exclusively of samples from other songs or speeches mixed with extremely fast techno-style drums. This is not creative, this is not catchy, this is not original, this is not anything interesting - for me this type of hardcore techno is totally boring. Still, I guess all three acts are good at what they are doing, so for the purpose of such a compilation they are suitable.

I guess this album is very rare now, but if you happen to run into it somewhere along the links, be sure to check it out, if you are a fan of hardcore techno / breakcore. And do not forget to visit the official Bandcamp website of Bloody Fist Records, where you can listen to and buy some other releases from this label.

Various Artists - "Newcastle Hardcore Vol. 1"

Interesting hardcore techno compilation (6/10)

Bloody Fist Records was an independent record label based in Newcastle, Australia. Bloody Fist was one of the most prolific labels involved in hardcore/gabber, industrial, breaks, noise, and related genres. Founded by Nasenbluten's Mark Newlands (formerly known as Stigs/TDU) in 1994 as a platform for local artists, the label initially began distributing cassettes and moved on to become a major label in the hardcore techno scene. Newcastle Hardcore Vol. 1 & 2 [1994] was a first vinyl release of this label, presenting a compilation of artists from the local Newcastle hardcore techno scene. This is an interesting album, offering quality tunes, and although I personally dig only two tracks on each of the two records, the compilation remains a proof that the guy behind Bloody Fist knew what he was doing right from the start.

My favorites on the Volume 1 are Pendulum - Feel The Pain and Syndicate - Lower Level. The latter reminds me of the early The Prodigy from the Experience period, but while the inspiration is very clear, this is not a blatant copy. The former has great disturbing dark atmosphere. Both songs are catchy, energetic and just pure fun to listen.

The other six do not fit my taste, being comprised almost exclusively of samples from other songs or speeches mixed with extremely fast techno-style drums. This is not creative, this is not catchy, this is not original, this is not anything interesting - for me this type of hardcore techno is totally boring. Still, if they are typical for 1994 Newcastle hardcore techno scene, they fit this compilation.

I guess this album is very rare now, but if you happen to run into it somewhere along the links, be sure to check it out, if you are a fan of hardcore techno. And do not forget to visit the official Bandcamp website of Bloody Fist Records, where you can listen to and buy some other releases from this label.

Moving Sand - "Secret Garden"

Jazzy P.J. Harvey (9/10) Le genre est plutôt multitendances, un peu de jazz, de folk de blues, la toile de fond est intimiste .le groupe est composé de quatre musiciens venants d'univers musicaux très différents.La toile de fond du groupe est la création d'une ambience intimiste. I don't know where others hear folk on this album. It's ridiculous. I feel as if I listened to a different recording. It's a jazz rock album without even smallest traces of folk. Nevertheless, it's really great rock album. Instrumental parts are very fine. The singer reminds me of P.J. Harvey and I love such dirty way of singing. So much is happening throughout each track that you want to listen to it again immediately after the album ends. Well done! [mirror @ archive.org] | [Artist's Myspace]

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Nationale2 - "Painful Experiment"

Intelligent minimalistic electronica (8/10) Painful Experiment is a resolutely electronica album. It was entirely composed with a Roland MC-303, a vocoder MAM VF-11 and a speak and spell. Painful Experiment is probably, to date, the concept of the more intimate Nationale2. Folded back on itself after the loss of two years' compositions, because of the crash of a HDD, he began a return to the source with the machine's most controversial by the purists when it was released. Intelligent minimalistic electronica. When someone is creative, he does not need much equipment. Thank you for sharing your work. [mirror @ archive.org] SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation on this page - use the button "Donate" in the upper left corner.

Royalty Free Music - Stock Music Library | Jamendo PRO

Moving Sand - "Gray Cell"

Dolores O'Riordan meets P.J. Harvey (9/10) Album a tendance accoustique mettant en avant l'harmonie du chant et les textes. Creé dans un petit home studio avec du matériel plutôt sommaire.Vous souhaitons un beau voyage dans le monde de Moving sand A very powerful recording. I recommend it to every fan of intelligent rock music (I do not like a word "alternative" - who said crap is "regular" and good music is "alternative"?). I love the way everything is mixed on this album - an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, great percussion work, a Jew's harp, great female vocals, traces of jazz, instrumental improvisations. Oh, and one more thing - this whole "folk" thing. This album has nothing to do with folk music. Use of an acoustic guitar and a Jew's harp does not turn something into folk. I wonder if these "folks" ;-) that tag it as "folk" listened to a single one folk album in their life. I doubt it. [mirror @ archive.org] | [Artist's Myspace]

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Nationale2 - "19901999"

Nice straightforward techno (8/10) The album entitled 19901999 is a compilation of songs composed between 1990 and 1999 that were never marketed. N2 has selected titles that took the most heart and not lost any of their power despite the passage of time. Nice straightforward techno - minimalistic, but not primitive. Just check it out. [mirror @ archive.org] SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation.

Royalty Free Music - Stock Music Library | Jamendo PRO