OPM: Paths Less Taken

Sivko-Burko – Omni Plus Ultra

Baroque chamber prog with genuine ambition and a wide-ranging, wild range of influences. A folky Americana is the main ingredient, but with plenty of ‘00s indie rock, some hip hop, several moments that sound like the Tolkieny bits of Led Zeppelin, chant-style vocals, and more. 

This diverse set of sounds get united by some suitably cryptic-sounding songs that “take us from what is knowable to what is beyond,” as the liner notes put it. Another delightful example of people taking the weird mix of things they love and forging unique and compelling music out of it.

(Listened to the entire album)

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Kumikäki – ESPERE PEATÓN PEATÓN PULSE 

Funky rock and roll instrumentals that feel like they belong to another time, or even another timeline. Some of these tracks sound like they come off the soundtrack of an obscure European crime film from the late ‘70s. Others would have been right at home in the ‘90s indie scene. 

Still others, especially those that dip into more overt electronics, sound like alien transmissions or discards from Pink Floyd’s experimental early days. All of them have a loose-limbed and freewheeling vibe, and a punchy but lo-fi production style, but they’re certainly not sloppy or imprecise. It’s an interesting collection that distinguishes itself nicely by just doing its own thing.

(Listened to the entire album)

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BAGAT – Interplay

A high energy, high-impact collection of dance music and dance-music adjacent tunes with a psychedelic sheen. The artist calls it “hopetronica” and honestly that’s a decent encapsulation. Various strains of house and trance intermingle with smoky downtempo vibes, intense electro and more, all of it hung with trippy flourishes and good vibes. 

There’s even a kind of happy hardcore/synth pop anthem with Psychic TV/Jack the Tab style production touches – not something you see much. Big and fun and not at all dumb – quite clever actually!

(Listened to the entire album)

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Dominique Cyprès – Hartford, Providence and Fishkill

A nicely varied collection of short and sweet electro primitive instrumentals. It utilizes a limited but expressive sound palette that encompasses elements of chiptune and dungeon synth/General MIDI type sounds as its core. The few bits that move outside this range, including a potentially real trumpet (along with a few other interesting things), provide a nice contrast and add real nuance to the material. 

The tunes themselves don’t really fit neatly in a genre – they’re videogame-music adjacent and influenced, certainly, but there’s a lot more going on than that. Case in point: there’s a couple arrangements of classical and traditional tunes included in the mix if you appreciate that.

(Listened to the entire album)

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MagiK – “Peace Dub (Beetlecrab Mix)” 

Nicely produced and darkly groovy slab of bass-driven breakbeat. A light touch on the breaks – it hits hard enough but it never gets all that busy – lets the atmosphere and sound design really shine thru. Some dub touches, a wiry synth lead, and a nicely chosen spoken word sample tie it all together. Could definitely see it as a change of pace tune/interlude for an adventurous progressive house DJ.