PROUD CREATURE: Opening Creature EP

Todd Brozman is a multi-instrumentalist and music producer with roots in piano. He started playing piano at age 6 after convincing his mother to buy him a little demo Casio at an electronics store. At Wesleyan University, Todd had a radio show which exposed him to a lot of new electronic music and he got more involved in creating new music, fusing electronics and improvisational jazz. Proud Creature is his solo musical project, presenting ethereal and otherworldly compositions informed by jazz, ambient, electronica and psychedelic music.

The EP is mostly down-tempo and ambient, which I can really appreciate with all the noise in the world. Put this one on and you are transported to another dimension, one with muted colors and weird sights to behold, all while this amazing soundtrack is playing and blowing your mind. The EP shows what he can do when left to his own devices and really gets the layering of many sounds to flow onto one another with such ease and skill that you will want to put the headphones on and be selfish and not let anyone else into your headspace while listening to this EP.

Song after song just gets into your head and makes you want to hit replay on this EP over and over again. For his first solo recordings being so good, I can’t wait to see what he will come up with next.

https://www.facebook.com/proudcreature/

 

THE COOL MOONMIST MOUNTAIN BAND: Fire Sign EP

The Cool Moonmist Mountain Band is the brainchild of Jared Sand from Seattle, WA who wrote, recorded and produced this trippy collection of songs that are heavily layered with synths and beats. The Fire Sign EP is a perfect follow up to his last recording, Live in Studio 11/14 showing off the fact that Jared has much more to offer by doing things on his own.

The sound is a mix of up-tempo trip-hop, ambient, and electronic that flows from track to track with a consistency and smoothness that really makes it feel like one idea, but not a one-note song. The dubby sound really makes the tracks have a fantastic effect that shows a real talent because there is no extended wanking and overlong songs, matter of fact, it’s almost too damn short and there needs to be more on here. All of the songs are great; especially last song “Let the Dust Settle.” Trippy, psychedelic and just amazing! So much going on that all flow and work together perfectly.

If you want something to put on and give your mood a jump start, this is the EP for you. So much to like on here and so much to look forward to in the future…such a great release.

http://thecoolmmmband.epk.fm/

https://facebook.com/thecoolmmmband

 

HEALING SPELLS: Sanctuary E.P.

Hailing from Tokyo, Japan, Healing Spells is the solo vehicle of electronica music producer Past Lives. This is his second E.P., and only three months later than his debut, and contains 4 songs of ambient music.

Chock full of trippy and environmental sounds; this is a great little taste that will satisfy your hunger for well done and intriguing music. The album feels like going on a journey into the stratosphere and floating around all blissful and then touching down and having the greatest rest possible. The journey takes you to places that you never thought existed and into new realms that you will want to revisit time and time again. All of the tracks are magical and one stands out now, then the next time you listen to it, another one grabs your attention.

If you are a fan of the golden days of ambient house, think The Orb and you will have a general idea of not just the sound, but of the quality of this E.P. Take a journey and find a new place to hide from the world when you put this one on.

https://www.facebook.com/HealingSpells.music/

BOOZOO BAJOU: 4: CD

It’s been more than twelve years since the duo of Peter Heider and Florian Seyberth put out their  first record, and sixteen years since they got together. This album also features the guitar of Frank Zeidler, the violin and viola and mbira thumb piano of Stefan Pötzsch, the flugelhorn of Markus Stockhausen, and the Armenian duduk of Frank Freitag, as well as the synth playing of Max Loderbauer.

This is not a dance floor shaker of an album, it’s more of an album to put on at night when you come home from work or clubbing. Turn the lights down, grab a glass of wine, or brandy, sit near the fireplace, look out the window at the rain or snow, plug-in the headphones and let the sounds wash over you. The relaxed feeling on this album really takes you away from the crap that life can throw at you and get your mind into a clearer place. Track after track of layered sounds take control of your ears and set a course for pleasure, all except the first track “Jan Mayen” which reminded me of a Herb Alpert track with the horn playing, but I can always skip that one. I can use the word lush for the sounds on this album of interesting and well done instrumentals.

I really enjoyed this album, and will let my wife listen to it, as she has started to have a love affair with ambient music. This makes me glad that there are still people out there doing more than the minimum amount of work to create music, and succeeding so very well at the hard work that they have put in.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Boozoo-Bajou/30340212833

http://www.boozoobajou.com/

https://www.facebook.com/randsrecords

http://www.randsrecords.com/

http://apollorecordings.tumblr.com/

OUR SOULS EVOLVE: Origins: Download

This metal band based in Montreal, Quebec plays a mix of ambient, Djent and metalcore that blends together a lot better than you would think. This debut EP contains eight songs, three of them instrumentals that show a ton of talent.

The band gets hings started with an instrumental intro that has a nice light ambient feel to it before blazing into “Wasteland” and getting right down to the nitty-gritty. Lots of riffing, growled vocals, and hammering drums get things going. This continues throughout the rest of the songs with the vocalist actually growling at times during songs like “Evolve” and making the album an angry, wild ride, but hold on kids because all of a sudden the band throws in some mellow playing to bring things down on the instrumental “Just A Memory.” Just as you bask in the serene sounds, the band kicks things back into high gear with the heavy-hitting “Afraid.” The album also concludes with an instrumental version of this song, while being cool, it would have been nice to have another new song instead.

Other than one tiny complaint, this was a very cool album, with tight playing, crisp production and it shows a lot of potential that I hope will be carried over to a full-length album.

https://www.facebook.com/OurSoulsEvolve  http://oursoulsevolve.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/silverwingsstudios  http://www.swstudios.ca/

FORTUNE HOWL: Earthbound: Digital Release

Orlando, FL’s FORTUNE HOWL has put together a new album of experimental electronic music. There have been some previous releases before this one, but this one shows a bit more maturity in the songs and moods.

The album has a lot of connections to the trip hop of MASSIVE ATTACK, and some hints of ambient all mixed together to create a masterful creation that gets stuck in your head and in your music player. It also has a world music feel to it that gives the album a bit more depth to it. Even though this is an electronic album, you get warmth and a sense of emotion coming through the sounds. With the album being such a cohesive piece, I really don’t have tracks that just jump out at me, instead I took the album as a whole and let the songs wash over me and take me on a trip.

This is a great album that would be perfect for listening on headphones or putting on after coming home from a night out. It’s not mellow enough to totally chill out to, but not energetic enough to dance to, it’s a perfect relax with yourself or share with friends album.

https://www.facebook.com/fortunehowl  http://fortunehowl.bandcamp.com/album/earthbound

https://www.facebook.com/reliefinabstract  http://music.reliefinabstract.com/

http://www.reliefinabstract.com/