From Middle Earth to Outer Space: The Phoenix Foundation - "Hitchcock"

One more lucky find. It was posted on the channel presenting short films, which it is indeed. But at the same time this is a video to a song by a New Zealandish band The Phoenix Foundation. I've never heard of them, but judging from this song, this is a mistake I have to correct as soon as possible. This is a truly brilliant video, combining very original animation with perfectly corresponding music. It was directed (or in this case rather "made") by Reuben Sutherland, a visual artist specialising in mixing up live action and animation. And the music is also original. I guess it could be labeled "post rock", but it wouldn't do justice to this great piece. This is a combination of atmospheric instrumental rock fueled by prominent guitars with electronic sounds straight out of Jean-Michel Jarre's most "cosmic" tunes. The result is something I would call "space rock". OK, enough talkingwriting. I have to book a ticket for a nightflight to Venus.

The Phoenix Foundation - "Hitchcock"

A higher quality version can be found here.

TAT - "Quinta Essentia"

Good gothic album (7/10) D-SIDE n°32, Emmanuel Hennequin - Septembre 2006: "Les canevas acoustiques et hors classe du projet français TAT conduisent à une première oeuvre autoproduite d'envergure et de grande personnalité, au fil de laquelle s'expriment les voix et instruments de talents divers et variés (parmi lesquels AlBéRiCk de .cut aux mots, et la basse de Cypher d'Omnicore). Les thèmes musicaux investissent des décors acoustiques rituels et mortuaires, parsemés de cloches ("Quinta Essentia : Part 1") mais sans y voir une limite. Et la sévérité des sujets ("Thalidomide", du nom du médicament ravageur) se confronte en permanence à la douceur poétique des cordes classiques. Dès lors, l'acclimatation nécessaire à une entreprise poly-linguistique, créant un univers fait de subtils reliefs et mû par le paradoxe. Formellement, TAT crée une musique d'un nouveau genre : folk, progressive, post-classique et expérimentale. A la fois limpide et ténébreuse, elle ne veut pas tromper sur la marchandise. L'expérience auditive, captivante, est donc proposée en download libre, et ce préalablement à tout achat. La beauté et la culture de l'objet nous font dire ici que sa survie aux tentations de la musique libre de défraiement doit s'organiser. C'est un appel à l'achat, oui, car de disques comme ceux-ci sont durs, et rares. Ils sont beaux." Lacrimosa meets Dead Can Dance meets Einsturzende Neubauten - these are the first associations that came to my mind after listening to this album. But TAT is still quite original. For example, use of a classical guitar gives a very interesting effect. Dark ghotic tunes - very haunting. The only downside is the terrible French accent in English songs. 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] [Artist's Website]

Abogix (J.K.), the - "Fantasmagoria"

Good psychedelic electronica (8/10) Mein viertes Album. Hypnotized Part II und III sind die nachfolger von Hypnotized aus dem Album "Signs". Wiederum zwei stücke die extrem psychedelisch klingen und ...wer weiss, auch eine Hypnotisierende wirkung haben? Wake up!...bringt euch dann wieder zurück aus der Hypnose. ;-) Ich hoffe es wird euch gefallen! The Abogix (J.K.) Abogix doesn't drop below a certain level (a very high level for many others). However, I consider this album to be weaker than "Tales of mystery and imagination" and "Signs". I don't know why... Maybe there are too many elements that distract you and you cannot simply drift with a melody. Or maybe some of these elements just don't fit...? But still - 8 points. And of course I still recommend it to all fans of intelligent electronic music. 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] [Artist's Myspace]

Skala - "Zaslona"

Great experimental rock (10/10) W przeciwieństwie do poprzedniego albumu zespołu Skala "Lumina", który był projektem mocno studyjnym, na płycie "Zasłona" większość kompozycji powstała podczas wspólnych improwizacji. Ostateczny ich kształt nadano podczas masteringu starając się nie ingerować zbyt mocno w naturalne brzmienie instrumentów, w tym elektronicznych. Ideą było zachowanie naturalnego, nieco garażowego brzmienia. W nagraniach udział wzięli: Roger - gitary, bas, elektronika, Maya - bębny, perkusjonalia, elektronika, Lechu - djembe,didgeridoo, GBart - elektronika. Patronat nad płytą objął świetny polski netlabel 49manekinow - http://www.49manekinow.net/ Great experimental rock (or post rock, as electronic instruments are heavily used here). It's instrumental music, but despite having no vocals it's never boring. The tunes are atmospheric, the band is very creative in finding original sounds, so the result is very diverse and full of bright ideas. I highly recommend this album. Apart from Jamendo, the album has been also released by the 49manekinow.net netlabel and is available for downloading at archive.org in mp3 format. Strangely, this release is governed by a different CC license:

Royalty-free music for professional licensing

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation.