Lee Zangari – Safe and Sound and Fury

Gorgeous neo folk from a charming singer-songwriter with deft fingers and an enchanting voice. Beautiful, minimal arrangements of solo acoustic guitar, mountain dulcimer and a vocal don’t leave any room for nonsense but no nonsense is needed. 

A high, clear voice and skillful but unflashy playing get the job done just fine, because the songs are heartfelt and well written. That said, your appreciation for this is going to be contingent on how well those songs resonate with you, but this is definitely worth a listen if this style of music appeals to you at all. 

(Listened to tracks 1, 4, 5, 6, 7)

This Occasional Society and James Hastings – Impossibly Impermanent

Absolutely minimal ambient made of not very much guitar and piano along with a few smears of synth or fx feedback here and there. Glacially paced and minimally arranged, these tracks fit the classical definition of ambient perfectly: they’re worthy of attention, but are so unobtrusive as to be easy to forget it’s playing. 

Each track offers its own mood and sound, a range that spans from the opener’s almost horror score vibe to the delicate and wistful sound of “A Temporary State of Grace.” It’s remarkably concise for ambient, too – just four tracks, two of which are under five minutes – yet it expresses plenty in that short span of time.

(Listened to entire EP)

Doors in the Labyrinth – In the Shadow of the Monolith

A set of dramatic, even epic, goth-steeped tunes that incorporates elements from classic, art and prog rock; post rock; and more. How much more? Hope about a little film score, maybe some lite prog metal, a touch of post punk, hints of dungeon synth and probably several others I didn’t pick up on. 

Some genuinely inventive guitar work and a heavy, vital atmosphere tie these songs together, and the emotive goth vocals give them their purpose. It’s an interesting sound, one that will surely appeal to anyone that loves both goth and a ton of other styles, and always wondered how well they’d fit together. 

(Listened to tracks 2, 3, 4, 5)

MagiK – “Deadline”

Tight slice of downtempo breaks that dips into jungle/DnB and electro to richen the sound palette. Specifically, there’s a really nice electro lead that comes in almost as soon as the track starts. It’s phat, funky and irresistible in its short time soloed at the front of the track.

After a brief absence, it comes back in in a more subdued way. A very ‘90s jungle/DnB string pad glides over everything for atmosphere and some guitar like tones and processed voices round things off. A fun little track that is over too soon.

Apex Creditor – Beloved by 3 People on the Internet

A set of loose, experimental jams that plays in the realms of soundscape, ambient and minimal IDM. There are melodies here, but you might have to poke around in the heavy textural elements and at-times harsh sound design to find them. 

That said, this isn’t a particularly challenging listen – tho the sounds can get a little hairy at times, mostly this floats along in a pleasant little cloud of lo-fi electronics and abstract harmonic structures. Overall it’s an interesting document of electronic exploration and a few of the myriad possibilities the medium offers.

(Listened to tracks 1, 2, 5, 6)

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A parting note: Running this blog/newsletter takes a tremendous amount of time and energy, and a fair bit of money (my hosting is ~$13.50/month). I don’t intend to charge for it ever, but it would be great if those of you who appreciate it would consider the occasional donation/tip. If you can spare a few dollars, maybe hit my Ko-Fi page and show your appreciation? Alternately, you could always buy some of my music


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