Fragments Volume 1
Spiros Politis – The Man Machine – 2015
WL//WH “Fragments” series is a bunch of great releases from the past months that I couldn’t find the time to review due to a heavy schedule at work during the summer. This new title in WL//WH does not replace the “Reviews” section but I want it to work as an addition to our “library”, as something extra for you, and as a big Thank You to all those artists and the record labels that sent us all these promos. Listen Loud!!!
A CLOUD OF RAVENS – “The Blackest Mantra” single
How much we love this band from Brooklyn is no secret. We have featured them in the TOTD section, we have interviewed them too, and we listen to their darkwave stories with great interest all the time. Their new single “The Blackest Mantra” is the first single from A Cloud of Ravens‘ new album ‘ LOST HYMNS ‘, out 2.24.23 on Nexilis / Schubert Music Europe. Always with solid performance and a really compact sound all the time (now with Jason Corbett from ACTORS who handled the mastering) this band is like reciting the new gothic; lovely dark rock music and addictive from the first listen!!!
TESS PARKS – “And Those Who Were Seen Dancing” LP [Fuzz Club Records / Hand Drawn Dracula / Levitation]
This is one of the records that I listen to very often in the last few months. It was released on May 20 via Fuzz Club Records (as well as Hand Drawn Dracula and Levitation), and Tess Parks convinced me immediately. She is like an alloy of 60s lo-fi music with spirit from the current indie shoegaze at times, psych also, and altogether through her private rock and roll prism. I like her songs, I like her voice, I like her style as she sings her things, and by all means, this is a brilliant album!!!
BRING HER – “Comfort In The Shame” LP [Knife Hits Records]
Another stunning act that we have mentioned a lot in WL//WH is Bring Her from Pennsylvania. They are noisy and groovy and dark and so-so fresh in all. Combining a few noise rock blows with heavy post-punk and with a singer with disarming immediacy, Bring Her must stop being a well-kept gem in the dark crypt but must shine their darkness right away and all over. Here is their new album “Comfort In The Shame”, I am talking to you DJs, radio hosts, bats and stray cats, listen!!!
EX-HYENA – “Moon Reflections” LP [Brutal Resonance Records / Hush Club LTD]
Ex-Hyena from Boston have also seen their name a lot of times before in WL//WH, and the clear reason is that we like their music a lot, yes! “Moon Reflections” LP was published earlier on June 24 through Brutal Resonance Records/Hush Club LTD and it is a must-listen for all of you dark disco electronic freaks. They play almost synthwave music but with a quite peculiar twist and are keen on the new wave approach to things in life, which means in their 10 new songs it is impossible you won’t find (a lot I hope) things that have passed through your vast mind. Ex-Hyena like have heard (y)our thoughts and they did put it all down orchestrated and stardusted, check this album!!!
SOCIAL UNION – “Fall Into Me” EP [Blackjack Illuminist Records]
Debut self-release last July 6 by Social Union from New Zealand through Blackjack Illuminist Records in Europe and this duo is a magnificent relapse to the realism of the old new wave only that they play (mostly) post-punk with care, yes! Lovely first handshake with the band and their lovely first record where you will find all things you adore; romanticism, straightness, the groove, and the undeniable charm of everything from Down Under that is always strange or weird, and in our case here-so amazing. Good luck Social Union, you have it!!!
SOLOIST ANTI POP TOTALIZATION – “In The Beginning Of A New World” LP [TONN Recordings]
When you see TONN Recordings the first things that come to mind are; analog sound, minimal things, production, and Belfast! Soloist Anti Pop Totalization is a person from Tokyo, Japan who recently published his new work through that precious boutique record label from N.Ireland. Here, the music is the warm analog minimal wave with the expected twists from the acknowledged Japanese fame. The more I listen to this album the more I like it as it reveals indeed different sounds and shades every time, and funny, some even cinematic soundscapes; or is it only my self-submission that I picture the city of Tokyo as I’ve seen it in the movies when all that music from this album fill my speakers? Strange album but I like it, have a taste, especially you electro minimalists!!!
Written by Loud Cities’ Mike
