OPM: New Weird Age

Nullstring – Nullstring’s Favorite Music Time Beats

Intriguing collection of weird sampledelic beats that mashes up pop-culture bits into catchy but twisted grooves. Its closest popular analog might be the sort of sample-heavy trip-hop/downtempo tracks of the Avalanches; 

Alternately, imagine Negativland dipping into lo-fi hip-hop beats. The tracks are short, almost invariably catchy and frequently have a message to impart as well. That’s a solid trifecta of reasons to give it a listen, don’t you think?

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Lars Haur – Csasiodiskk

Experimental electronic minimalism with roots in ambient, IDM, noise, and early academic electronica. Literally skippy rhythms and tiny snippets of sound rule the day here – this isn’t a place of expansive synth pads or pulsing drones. 

An extremely limited sound palette – a cheap Casio keyboard, a reverb/delay pedal and software that simulates the sound of a CD skipping – are explored in great depth, and to great effect. A fascinating exploration of the intersection of rhythm and texture. 

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Solace Road – Escape to Dream

A peaceful and oceanic set of ambient and New Age that creates a comfortable space to decompress within. Timbres both icy and warm are deployed in the service of this creation, along with impossible choirs, celestial synths, sweeps of filtered noise and other mostly soft-edged sounds. 

Rhythms are minimal, beats nonexistent – tho many of the songs feature a steady pulse that wouldn’t feel out of place in some chill kosmische. Even those tracks are more about being enveloped in a sonic space than propelling you thru it – this is music to slow down and just BE to. 

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(cutaia) – Instinct

Polished alt-rock/pop with a generally stripped-down approach and a deep love of the ‘90s. Lots of echoes and influences here – the poppier side of grunge, the coffeeshop balladry that TV shows loved, Britpop and early indie rock and flirtations with the electronic stuff that was going on. In many ways, this is a kind of fascinating meta take on late ‘90s and early ‘00s alternative. 

In the actual era of which it seems enamoured, a band that integrated bits of trip hop atmosphere and MTV Unplugged-style rockers’ soft-side performances and guitar-led power pop would have been revolutionary. Thirty-some years later it feels natural – an obvious and welcome integration of parallel trends that make perfect sense viewed from a distance. 

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Dufourd & Demoulin – Michrochimères

A diverse and exciting collection of post ambient tunes built from widely variegated tones and sound sources. Found sound/field recording, drones, noise and other soundscape staples make appearances, as do uses of guitar and saxophone that wouldn’t feel out of place in a post rock setting. 

For all the variety in timbral color and source, the mood is much more consistent – a sort of dreamy, soft-edged vibe with some dark, but not unpleasant, undercurrents. It’s an album full of surprises with a consistent mood and energy – no small feat!

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