Akusto, Ben - "Disturbance"

Great electronica (9/10) Rare "Golden Oldies" saved from c-casettes, dat-tapes and old harddrives. Just counterplay it very loud next time your neighbour downstairs is banging the roof with the broom. However, these are old and rusty songs made late 90's or in other words 10 years ago. About same time as the two previously published: TeddyBear Trilogee and Ambience Session. I just didn't dare to mix&master any track anyhow (except the Camel Boost just a little bit) - so don't expect too high quality and don't ruin your hi-fi stack. I still hope you like what you hear. It's not pure ambient. At least it's not so simple and quiet as typical ambient tunes are. Nevertheless it's a very very good album. It's not rusty at all, but colorful and brilliant. [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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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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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.

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]

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.

Abogix (J.K.), the - "History Of The Necronomicon, the"

Too ambient for me (6/10) BITTE SPENDET FUER MENSCHEN DIE AN TOURETTE ERKRANKT SIND! JEDEN CENT WIRD VON MIR AN DIE HILFSORGANISATION "CANNABIS PATIENTEN GERMANY" WEITERGELEITET! Necronomicon-the book of all evil! Tja,was gibt's da noch zu beschreiben? Reinhören und die Geisterbahnfahrt kann loshegehen! Ach ja,das Cover wurde auch diesmal wieder von WarMock ...diesmal aber in zusammenarbeit mit mir selbst gemacht...also ich machte die Teufelsfratze auf dem Buch das auf dem Cover zu sehen ist...ja und der rest,der grossteil übernahm dann wieder mal der gute WarMock! Thank's Amigo! Of course Master Abogix never goes below the certain (high) level. However, this album is too ambient for me - saying ambient I mean calm and monotonous. Not much is happening throughout some tracks, apart from the diabolic speeches - what is another drawback for me. I am definitely not keen on including speeches in musical tunes. It distracts attention from the music itself. Nevertheless, I encourage you to check it out, because as I said the quality of this recording is still very high and it can appeal to you, if you are an ambient fan and inclusion of speeches is not a disadvantage for you. 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 [Artist's Myspace]

Floating Mind - "Krak" [EP]

Interesting minimal techno (7/10) Floating Mind is Roberto Vitali, the man behind monoKraK. first release on the netlabel from Geneva (Switzerland) mainly oriented in ambient and minimal techno music. Interesting minimal techno, characterized by repetitive sound patterns. Making such music is difficult, because it is easy to fall into boredom, if things get too repetitive. Floating Mind succeeds in almost all the tracks utilizing broken beats and strange samples - successfully building disturbing atmosphere. The one exception is the tune "Loving U", which seems to drag on forever with annoying vocal samples in the front (if I hear "I'm still loving you" one more time I'm gonna go postal). The album has been released by the monoKraK netlabel in mp3 format and is available for a direct download as well as at archive.org.

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apijamm - "Gitarrensolo"

Interesting but unlistenable experiment (5/10) Minimal weil eine Kindergitarre,Aufnahme mit digitaler Kamera,abgemixt mit laptop,Aufgenommen mit Audiograbber,only gitarre.....Viel Spaß ! This is an interesting experiment. The music is extremely repetitive, monotonous and lo-fi. The effect is quite distracting and intriguing. It's of course minimal but because of its repetitive nature it strongly resembles some industrial works, despite using very different technical means. Having said that, I must remind you that it's a musical - not experimental - website. Therefore, I base my ratings on musical qualities of the presented recordings. This album - for me - hardly qualifies as music and definitely is not suitable for repeated listening. Hence the rating. Of course that's just me - if even such artists as Merzbow have their fan base, I'm sure this work may also appeal to a (rather small) number of people. [Artist's website]

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SaReGaMa - "Spirits Of Ancestors" [EP]

Very fine dark ambient (8/10) Slow meditative soundscapes inspired by Native American culture. Spirits of Ancestors EP was selected for the soundtrack of OCEAN OF AN OLD MAN - an award-winning film that represented India at International Film festivals in Pusan, Cairo and Breda. 3 additional tracks that were composed especially for the film are available here. The audio quality of music offered on Jamendo in best case reaches 190 kbps, which is quite reasonable for evaluational purposes but definitely not enough to experience the richness of original sound (1411 kbps). If you'd like to feel how this music sounds for real you can obtain a lossless FLAC versionof this album on my website. This album is slightly different than other SaReGaMa's works - that is for sure. But, firstly, different does not mean worse. This recording is of equal very high quality. And secondly, this difference is not so big. Therefore, in my opinion, there is nothing to justify the harsh and dissapointed review of KraftiM and people who agreed to his review. KraftiM's arguments are absurd when one takes into consideration that he likes other works of SaReGaMa. He was nearly put asleep? This album is far more varied and dynamic than e.g "Bodhi Tree". It is "darkish experimental"? What a crime! Is it bad to experiment? Should all SaReGaMa's albums be identical? Is all dark music bad, simply because it is dark? Should all tunes in the world be full of pink fluffy bunnies and shiny happy faces? THIS would surely put ME asleep. KraftiM complaints about "annoying crickets"... Hello, anybody home? Aren't sounds of nature one of the most common and widely used features of ambient music? The tuba-like flute fits the other elements perfectly. And so on... So, to sum up, this is a very successful attempt at creating slightly more dark music, in accordance with the title. When you close your eyes you can almost feel those spirits gathering around you, which is the clearest evidence that SaReGaMa succeeded in what he had planned. Thank you for sharing your beautiful music. One thing I don't like is the fourth track, but the reason is it is too short, so the tune doesn't last long enough to develop properly and listeners don't have enough time to feel the mood. The album could end after the third track. You can also obtain a lossless FLAC versionof this album from the artist's website for a small donation.

Royalty free music for professional licensing [Artist's website]

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Hoffmann, Michael - "Ruff-Stuff Edition"

A massive dose of experimental ambient (9/10) RUFF-STUFF Edition is a documentation of live-sampling experiments, which I produced in 2009 on a period of 12 months. All tracks are pure improvisations by using live-sampling work and were occasionally grafted by carefully additions (add. Instuments, Efx, mixing). I pondered for a long time how to review and rate this album - over 5 hours (!) of experimental improvised ambient. It is hard to comprehend, it is hard to listen in one take. It requires a lot of attention to catch the subtleties of particular tracks, which all are slow-paced, quiet and drum-based. For people that don't have much experience with such music it would be probably a torture. Of course, its inaccessibility for general public should not influence an opinion on music as such. So what is my opinion? I'm still not sure. I guess you won't be very surprised if I write that it's too long and it'd profit from some selection of the recorded material. However, you'll probably be very surprised when you read that I'd delete only three tracks. In all the rest the artist somehow managed to include enough interesting ideas or to produce fine disturbing atmosphere to keep my attention focused. This fact only deserves the highest praise, because it requires a true genius to improvise such massive dose of ambient music without making it boring or too repetitive. One must also have a lot of courage to publish such unconventional work. On the other hand I won't give the highest rating just because of the qualities of the artist himself. This is a review of music, not of the artist's talent as such (which is - without any doubt - enormous). I also won't rate the originality by itself, just like I refused to lower the score because of inaccessibility. What truly matters is if it is good music, enjoyable (in a broad sense of the word) and worth of repeated listening. The answer is of course "yes", but at the same time it is not perfect recording for me. I truly appreciate the artist's mastery as well as novelty and originality of this work, but I cannot give full 10 points. Anyhow, this is an exceptional album and should be on a "must-listen" list of every true fan of ambient. Apart from Jamendo, the album is available for downloading at archive.org in mp3 and ogg formats.

Royalty free music for professional licensing [Artist's Website]

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Keiner, Fabio - "Heavy Waters II"

Extremely calm dark ambient (9/10) all tracks are remixes and reworkings of free samples provided by JOVICA (www.freesound.org) with best regards and many thanks to jovica storer! This is extremely calm and quiet ambient. Totally orthodox (that is - completely devoid of rhythms). I usually don't like such music, as it is often boring - I think it is very difficult to make such music interesting. But Mr. Keiner succeeds. His method of keeping the listener's attention focused is to break long quiet drones with very disturbing, dark sounds. It introduces a disturbing atmosphere to the whole recording, 'cause you listen carefully thinking what lurks around the bend. It's like a sonic version of a scary horror movie. Well done!

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Abogix (J.K.), the - "Domino Labyrinth, the"

Masterpiece with a single flaw (9/10) Abogix at his best... except for the track no. 2. The singer's voice isn't interesting, the melody is dull. The instrumental version (no. 8) is great, so it's the singer, who ruins everything. Experiment failed, Mr. Reznamor. ;-) But it's the only flaw on otherwise perfect album. Other tunes are great - dark, psychedelic, creative, entertaining. Abogix is a master of such music and this album only confirms this. You can also buy a lossless version of this album on Jamendo for 10 euros. [Artist's Myspace] SUPPORT INDEPENDENT ARTISTS If you like this album and you can afford it, consider supporting the artist by making a donation.

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FusionArt - "FusionArt" [EP]

Classy electronica (10/10) Piece of beautiful music introducing into the world of senses and instincts. Beautiful intelligent dance music straight from capital city of Poland. FusionArt is an duo from Warsaw which decided to takes you for a short trip (20 minutes) over the most tasty pieces of IDM style. As opposed to style created by our artist Grammar, FusiosArt didn't construct claustrophobic spaces, there is no cavalcades of irregular beats (maybe sometimes, but they are not chaotic). Every little sound creates a new beautiful landscape. Sometimes you can see cloudness, serene skies, sometimes you can see beautiful places, forests, valleys, combs and foreign cities from the bird's-eye view. Sometimes this music reminds box full of birds, sometimes reminds abandoned, old, sad house...but you can only hear and see those things... you can't touch them. It's look like a guys from FusionArt strikes a funny medium between happy, heartsome, jocund idm and his unhappy, melancholic, deep side. This fusion art release reminds us best works such giants of glitch / idm / ambient as proem, phonem or arovane. Highly recommended piece of sounds. Classy intelligent electronica, combining ambient, glitch, breakbeat. Catchy tunes, good production, interesting ideas. Go for it! The album has been released by the 49manekinow.net netlabel and is available for downloading at archive.org in mp3 format. [Myspace]