More albums, the album mountain grows, by the time one has been digested another five have landed and another pile of tabs opened and what’s words worth? And really there’s no time to go visit old things but then instrumental duo Lyndhurst only just came our way and well…

Lyndhurst – Caves – Now this is a rather beautiful blend; Platforms, the debut E.P. from UK instrumental duo Lyndhurst, arrived back in July 2023, seems “lots of people were very pleased with its blend of electronica, post-rock, soundtrack, lo-fi, psych, drones, jazzy weirdness, hooky melodies and strange noises”, they followed Platforms in February ’24, with a second EP, Caves, more a six track twenty-four minute mini album than just an EP. Caves passed our way for the first this week, passed our way is this almost midsummer week of heat and rather pleasantly bright sunshine (the calm before the heatwave) as a result of them following our Bluesky feed (see we do take notice and check things out when we can). Caves might be sixteen months old now, it is still worthy of a little better late than never coverage as the band threaten new music though. Caves is beautifully mellow, crafted, warm, breezy, uplifting, Lyndhurst consists of two people; Dan Carney and Oscar Ball, I know little of either of them, I know there indeed is a ‘lightness of touch’, a warm welcome extended, anyone remember Lemon Jelly? I rather like this, right now, as we gently flow through a piece called International Headmaster it feels like mellow Kraut Rock and if we are on the Autobahn, then we’re in the slow lane and in no real rush to get anywhere, we’re taking it easy as others rush by, Virtual Boy is a slower, more reflective, never obvious enough to be dismissed as post rock. Caves sounds like a midsummer album rather than a February album, right now Curves feels just right, Clay Tablet is just gorgeous…

Linktree / Bandcamp

Komara – Komara II (7D) – “The genre-defying trio Komara return with Komara II, a powerful new release that pushes sound boundaries and challenges musical convention. Featuring King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto, avant-garde guitarist David Kollar and visionary trumpeter Paolo Raineri, the album blends ambient textures, industrial grit, and jazz-infused improvisation into a haunting, cinematic experience” and well, not sure about the ground breaking genre-defying bit, it kind of sounds like a lot of things that were floating around on the edges of the free festival scene of the 90s mostly on bills featuring ex members of Gong or bands opening for Ozric Tentacles, that isn’t to dismiss Komara though, this is a rather fine, rather mellow album that does hint at an experimental edge or two. “Special guests include Arve Henriksen, Deborah Carter Mastelotto and sound designer Bill Munyon, adding further depth to the album’s rich, experimental palette. As with their first album, this release is visually anchored by a striking cover design from Tool guitarist and visual artist Adam Jones” and well we’ll politely ignore that rather cliched rather awful album cover and note the rather filmoid post rock Godspeed flavours of opening track Gerund before we get the dub-ish hints of Allina Day and the Ullulators/Oroonies/Better Days feel of Relocating Children. The album really comes into its own with the nine minutes of smouldering midsummer late night heatwave Post Rock atmospherics of Gray Apples Fall and the equally evocotive Judgement Day before what is probably the stand out track on this mostly instrumental album, a  rather colourful rather clever (never too clever) piece called Utorok Cowboy. This is an album that could very easily be dangerously muso, that could be about nothing more than just accomplished musicians showing of technique, thankfully, as impressive as they are in terms of playing, it never ever feels like a show-off album, Komara II has warmth, soul, spirt, feel and when the jazz-infused improvisation is allowed to flow underneath the bones of it all then it is all rather beautifully experimental. Not sure about ground breaking or genre-defying but this is a fine album. You might like to note that the band will be performing  several shows this summer in Europe with Pat Mastelotto’s former King Crimson bandmate Trey Gunn joining the band. Find more via Bandcamp. (sw)

And while we’re talking about the 7D label and Komara, there is an excellent album sampler that’s free to download and comes loads with things to explore, a highly recommended compilation, find that on Bandcamp as well.

“Immerse yourself in the experimental world of 7D Media with this carefully curated 30-track sampler, spanning almost three hours of boundary-pushing music showcasing the innovative artistry that defines the label. Featuring contributions from Tu-Ner, SONAR, original Santana drummer Michael Shrieve, Happy Rhodes, Stick Men, Kansas violinist Joe Deninzon, Crystal Beth, Jason Blake, Matt Dorsey (Sound of Contact, ProgJect), and many more…”

Me Lost Me – This Material Moment (Upset the Rhythm) – There’s a new Me Lost Me album, that has to be a good thing, her last one did figure on our end of year lists of good things, this one has just appeared without warning or fanfare. Me Lost Me is the rather beguiling deceptively powerful project of Newcastle-based artist Jayne Dent, this is her fourth album, it is essentially rather forward looking folk music with an experimental edge and a need to not just repeat things in that ‘nice’ way that English folk so often does. She is very much about the songs, the emotion, the tales to be told, the experimental edge is in the detail, the added colour, song writing is the important thing here. And it is emotional, it is beautiful, now and again it is rather raw, a touch of darkness now and again. “This is an album which uses words as a material, a playful tool for experimentation, full of metaphor, abstraction and analogies.” Jayne says, “it has softness and anger, humour, hope and despair, intensity of feeling in all directions expressed as textures, objects, places.” There’s an honesty to her music, her words,  I say a delight nut she almost feels vulnerable at times, fragile even though it a strong album, a strong sentiment. This Material Moment is an album that feels like it really means something, it feels like an album to spend a lot of time with, that more will be revealed with every careful listen, This Material Moment is , as we expected it would be, a rather beautiful album.   

Previously – ORGAN THING: The speculation from Me Lost Me feels hopeful. Displaced maybe, scattered, a joy all the same, song titles like The Oldest Trees Hold The Earth give you more than a pointer…

Peretsky – It Doesn’t Get Cold In October Anymore (Whited Sepulchre Records) – “Following his 2023 EP Pianovoz Electroacústica on seminal experimental imprint Deathbomb Arc, composer, educator, and technologist Max Alper, known to many online for his commentary on the state of music education and the industry at large as La Meme Young, returns for a biting full length collection of minimalist songs for piano, voice, and electronics under the Peretsky moniker”.

We did feature the lead single off this album a few weeks ago without really hearing anything else off it. Alas, over the length of a full album these rather quiet rather inward looking slightly Radioheadish post-rock flavoured things are a little lost in a touch too much autotuned machine-voiced ‘perfection’, a ‘perfection’ that sucks the soul that’s clearly trying to break free here. Hey, Imight be missing the pointhere, but we don’t want ‘perfection’ or the musical equivalent of painted photo realism do we? We want heart, soul, the rawness of a flaw or two, the honesty of a note not quite hit, we want that mark or that blemish, we want the bravery of  imperfection. That rather one dimensional piano becomes way too ‘nice’ after a handful of tunes that all identically paced and downbeat have passed by, and that auto-tuned voice really does need to be a little more honest to pull off the no doubt heartfelt lyrics and the colours that don’t even match and if we are honest here, if we hadn’t already featured the single, then we would have politely ignored this album and, as is the review policy here, just not mentioned it… 

Here’s the Bandcamp once more, there is soemthing trying to break out, the good bits aren’t too far from Kayo Dot or Extra Life, it just needs to not be so damn ‘perfect’ and he surely needs to be brave enough to lose the soulless autotuned vocals that really do let him and this down. Or maybe I did miss the point?

Tan Cologne – Unknown Beyond – Rather uninspiring cover art aside, this is a rather beautiful album. True, it is in danger, once more, of being a little one dimensional and all at the same pace, it is rather like a lot of floaty fluffy shoegazerish dream pop that has drifted our way over the last gawd knows how many years, it does only really have one texture all the way through and it is all extremely mellow but there is something rather beautiful about it, a little touch of something extra. 

“Tan Cologne are the duo of Lauren Green and Marissa Macias based in Northern New Mexico. The two artists work in tactile and sonic modalities inspired by both Earthly and otherworldly landscapes. Tan Cologne often explore the mysteries and oddities of New Mexico, alongside spatial inner-workings of growth and spirit”.  Find it and them via Bandcamp