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]