Saturday, May 30, 2015 0 Engineers

EP: Lowercase Noises - James


Band: Lowercase Noises
Album: James
Label: Self Released
Year: 2015








Tracklist
01. The First Glimmer Of Wind
02. Almost So Clear
03. It Reminded Me Of A Very Old Place
04. The First Wink Of Dawn
05. A Return
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"My name is Andy. I'm interested in playing the guitar as slow as possible. This is my music.
This album is for my new son James. It's a gift to him on the day of his birth."

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Video: Violetic - Evil


Wednesday, May 27, 2015 0 Engineers

Streaming: 昴宿 Pleiades - M45


Band: 昴宿 Pleiades
Album: M45
Label: Self Released
Year: 2015








Tracklist
01. 一起上太空吧!! (Fly To The Space Together)
02. 我的青春還有178年 (178 Years Left For My Youth)
03. 冬之晨 (Winter Morning)
04. 最後一回春雷 (The Final Spring Thunder)
05. 奉獻者 (Dedicator)
Streaming

No matter how long the time flies or how hard our life is we see the essence of living, a ray of hope. Pleiades are a post-rock band from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, formed in Jun. 2013.

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Tuesday, May 26, 2015 0 Engineers

Video: Summon the Octopi - It's Been Sick, So I Tried To Feed It Some More...


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The Inquisition: 053.Maïak


1. How did you came up with the name of the band? 

We've been trying to come up with a name for ages. « Maïak » was one of the first ideas and with time, we decided to adopt the name. It means « lighthouse » or « beacon » in Russian, but we choose it for it is the name of a nuclear plant that was the site of one of the worst accident in history. It’s morbid, but we like to associate our music with symbols of disasters in a mixture of tragedy and irony. You can see that in our tracks titles as well…

2. Do you have a standard procedure of creating a song? Do you just jam around or is there a main riff and the track is build up on it? 

A bit of both, usually someone -usually Marc- comes with a melody or a riff and we jam around it. We spend quite some time improvising when we compose and there have been many moments of pure harmony that we have lost forever for not having recorded them. 

3. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home? 

Antoine: I think we all are influenced by progressive and independant rock from the nineties, bands like The God Machine and Sonic Youth. I listen to all lot of post-rock these days (from Slint to Russian Circles), but I am also a big fan of John Coltrane! 
Stéphane: The Notwist, Mogwai, GY!BE… 
Marc: Impure Wilhelmina, Noir Désir, Ennio Morricone, Neurosis… 
David: The Evpatoria Report 

4. Which is the one album you can't live without? 

Marc: « Remué » (Dominique A) 
Antoine: « Spirit Of Eden » (Talk Talk) 
Stéphane: Chopin’s « Nocturnes » and « La Polonaise », by Martha Argerich or Sviatoslav Richter David: « Golevka » (The Evpatoria Report) 

5. What's the first record you've ever bought? 

Stéphane: « Breakfast in America » (Supertramp) 
Marc: « Music for the Masses » (Depeche Mode) 
Antoine: « Diesel and Dust » (Midnight Oil) 
David: « The Evpatoria Report EP » (The Evpatoria Report)... no seriously it’s « Outlandos D’amour » (The Police) 

6. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with? 

Marc: Any band, as long as they are cool people doing interesting stuff… The thing is more to find one that would like to share it with us ;) 
David: The Evpatoria Report 
Antoine: We have recently discovered another post-rock band from Switzerland, Darius, it would be great to share the stage with them. 

7. Did the internet and specially the blogs helped to spread your music around the world? Name a place (country) that you were surprised to know your music has reached to?

Definitely! Our album has been shared by bloggers throughout the world. We suspect it to be the fruit of Taner Torun’s work, the founder of our label Fluttery Records. Bloggers from Russia and the Netherlands have been very positive about us and 3 internet radios have us on their playlist now. But the most surprising was to have a review in a printed media: The New Zealand Herald, which is the first daily paper in New Zealand!! 

8. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide the price or services like Spotify? 

Yes, it’s cool 

9. Where do you see yourselves in 5 years? 

Still on stage and enjoying it… 

10. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era? 

Yes, it still is the best way to catch someone’s interest. What has changed with the internet is that only the front page matters now. A pity, because for our new album, the cover picture (a beautiful photograph by our friend Raphael Weber) that we chose continues on the back of the sleeve also… 

11. What is your favorite album cover? 

Antoine: « Fixed Water » (Sophia)


Marc: « Hail to the Thief » (Radiohead)


Stéphane: « Rage against the Machine » (RATM) 


David: « Maar » (The Evpatoria Report)

12. It seems that a lot of people are turning on vinyl again. Why do you think that is and which is your preferable media format? 

Vinyl remains the purest and warmest support, but it is also a beautiful and tangible object that one can touch and won’t disappear with your hard drives. We are working with Urgence Disk records, a Geneva based label, to issue a vinyl version of the album soon. 

13. What's the most vivid story or moment as a band? 

A few weeks ago, a guy asked our label to get a signed photo of the band! The guy seems to have already gathered quite a collection of autographs from French pop and movie stars, including Brigitte Bardot. Or maybe the fact that we struggled for so long to find a name we all agree upon. When we came in the studio to record our first album (in 2011), the sound engineer asked us for our name and we couldn’t give him any answer….

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Sunday, May 24, 2015 0 Engineers

Video: Matter - A Voice


Thursday, May 21, 2015 0 Engineers

Album: Chan Is Swimming - Big Turbidity - BBQ Rock


Band: Chan Is Swimming
Album: Big Turbidity - BBQ Rock
Label: Self Released
Year: 2015








Tracklist
01. Kato's Toe
02. Chan Is In The Ocean
03. Operation Caroline
04. Professor Caligari
05. Joanna's Night
06. Kurt Is Hurt
07. PC1679
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Chan Is Swimming is a post-rock band from Hong Kong, China.

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Tuesday, May 19, 2015 0 Engineers

Streaming: Spurv - Skarntyde


Band: Spurv
Album: Skarntyde
Label: No Forevers Records
Year: 2015








Tracklist
01. Passacaglia (Fugler Med Ord I Nebbet)
02. Mellom Broen Og Elven
03. Lyden Av Løv Som Biter Seg Fast Til Sin Egen Kropp
04. Hvorfor Er Det Noe Og Ikke Ingenting
Streaming

Spurv is an instrumental rock band from Oslo, Norway.

After their amazing debut EP, Spurv are back with another masterpiece! "Skarntyde" is their second release, mastered by Magnus Lindberg, which proves that they're worthy to be amongst the top post-rock bands and that "Blader Som Faller Til Jorden Og Blir Til Nye Trær" wasn't just a firework! Spurv are here to stay, haunt us with their melodies and make us eager for bigger things to come!

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The Inquisition: 052.SVK

1. How did you came up with the name of the band?

Claus: I think it was Håkon that had the idea originally, it's the title of a childrens book by the author Roald Dahl. In English it's called "The BFG" - The Big Friendly Giant", SVK - Store Vennlige Kjempe in Norwegian. We all thought the mood of the book was a nice fit with our brand of instrumental music. 
Håkon: I think it was Kristian. 
Kristian: Yeah, I think I actually called Håkon a big friendly giant for some reason, and it just went on from there. 

2. Do you have a standard procedure of creating a song? Do you just jam around or is there a main riff and the track is build up on it? 

Claus: Sometimes one of us will have an idea; a riff, melodic figure or something, and we build on it from there by jamming. But mostly we just start jamming and playing, and see what comes up. Sometimes we'll do some improvisational exercises, just to take us in a different direction. It's very easy to fall into doing the same thing over and over when you're so dependent on improvisation in creative process, and limiting your options within that context can often give a spur of creativity and take you places musically that you otherwise wouldn't have gone. 

3. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home? 

Claus: I think all of us have a musical taste that is first and foremost characterized by it's variety, not by any predominant genre. That said, I've always had a fondness of music with guitars (surprise-surprise, a guitarist that likes guitars…), but not the flashy Steve Vai-kinda guitarplaying. I'm more into stuff like Built To Spill, Neil Young, Motorpsycho and Wilco. Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarseth has been a pretty heavy influence as well. But I listen to everything from jazz to classical to metal to weird electronic. 
Kristian: As Claus points out we all basically share the fondness of music not really caring about genres. It really changes from week to week, where I can go from metal, rock, ambient and electronica to hiphop, funk and jazz. So pretty much everything as long as it’s good. My main big influences might be stuff like Tool, Mogwai, Motorpsycho, Nils Petter Molvær, Sigur Rós, The Roots, and recently Nils Frahm and Ólafur Arnalds. 
Håkon: Yeah, it’s difficult to categorize personal taste like that. But in terms of what influences might shine through in SVK, I think of ambient/jammy/rocky(?) stuff like Mogwai, Motorpsycho, and maybe Do Make Say Think and Eluvium? Our tastes are pretty diverse, but I think the music we make together is a pretty good indicator as to where our interests converge. 

4. Which is the one album you can't live without? 

Claus: That's an impossible question to answer. I think I'd get sick of any album if I was doomed to listen to just the one. But there are a few albums that keep coming up, again and again. Jeff Buckley - Grace, Mogwai - Young Team and Motorpsycho - Timothys Monster, to name a few. 
Kristian: That’s hard. It would have to be either Tool - Lateralus, Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway or The Avalanches - Since I Left You. 
Håkon: Didn’t It Rain by Song:Ohia, maybe? Jason Molina is probably the one musical influence I wouldn’t live without. 

5. What's the first record you've ever bought? 

Claus: Haha, Iron Maiden - Powerslave. On tape! Bought it a couple of years after it was released, think I got it in -88. 
Kristian: Supergrass - In It for the Money, which I still kinda like. 

6. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with? 

Claus: Last year we did split gigs with Spurv, Caves of Steel and 1099. All three are great bands and great guys, so I wouldn't mind touring with any of them. Another band I've been into lately is Finnish slugde-doom-drone-guys Mr. Peter Hayden. That would be an awesome band to tour with. 
Kristian: My friend Lars has a band called Blåtime. Other than that maybe Cult of Luna. That would be crazy fun. 

7. Did the internet and specially the blogs helped to spread your music around the world? Name a place (country) that you were surprised to know your music has reached to? 

Claus: Certainly. But I don't feel we've really gotten any big attention out there. We've gotten a few reviews, and some mentions here and there. A few podcasts have had us on some fairly heavy rotation, so yeah, it all helps. There are just so many bands out there, it's kinda hard to get heard. But you just gotta stay at it. 

8. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide the price or services like Spotify?

Claus: I don't see the problem in supporting both, at least streaming as a model for distribution. However, I don't think all the services out there now contribute to a fair cash-flow for the artist, or to what's better for music in the long run. 
Håkon: I agree. As an end user I love the likes of Spotify, but as an artist I believe their payment model could be more fair, and do more to promote diversity and creative new voices. 
Kristian: Yeah. Just as a footnote I think streaming is too cheap as it is. 99NOK(13-ish american dollars) a month is not very much for unlimited music, when one single CD often costs more than that. 

9. Where do you see yourselves in 5 years? 

Claus: Somewhat bigger fan base, a couple of more releases under the belt, probably done a couple of European tours. Hopefully, we'll have evolved quite a bit musically as well. 

10. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era? 

Claus: Yes. 
Kristian: What he said. 

11. What is you favorite album cover? 

Claus: Oooo, that's a tough one. Off the top of my head; Tao of the Dead by …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead. They have GREAT artwork.


Kristian: Converge - Axe To Fall has some great artwork. Their vocalist Jacob Bannon makes some amazing stuff.


Håkon: Spirit Animal by Zombi has a pretty great cover.


12. It seems that a lot of people are turning on vinyl again. Why do you think that is and which is your preferable media format? 

Claus: I think it's human nature, to want to collect and own the things you like and are into in a tangible fashion. As long as music continues to be a very large part of many peoples identity, I think we'll see some sort of artifact-collection connected to it. An iTunes library or a Spotify playlist just doesn't have the same effect as walking into someones home and seeing their record collection. It's much the same with books, I think. Even if we have Kindle and iPads and whatnot, people are still buying books and putting them in shelves (probably even reading them as well). As for what format I prefer; for ease of listening it's streaming, hands down. No contest. For enjoying the full experience (music, artwork, liner notes, lyrics) vinyl is unparallelled. 
Kristian: It might also have something to do with people realizing that with lossless streaming you kind of get the same as you would when buying CDs, at least musically. Vinyl is quite different, so the crowd that likes to buy something tangible and love artwork might turn to vinyl instead. I mostly use lossless streaming, but when I really feel like owning an album I buy the vinyl. I used to buy a lot of CDs but that kind of stopped a couple of years ago. 

13. What's the most vivid story or moment as a band? 

Claus: For me, the best moments as a band is during improvisation/jamming, when everything just fits, and all of a sudden you become aware of the magic that's happening. That's such an elevating feeling, and deeply terrifying as well. It's kinda like being on the edge of a really tall cliff, it's exhilarating, but your really scared of fucking it up too… One specific great moment was after a show last year. This guy came up to me as we where getting of stage, with tears in his eyes, shook my hand, hugged me, and thanked me for a deeply emotional and profound experience. To be able to stir that kind of emotion in people is a really powerful and humbling thing. 
Håkon: Cramming all our gear in the car, putting Kristian to sleep in the backseat and then driving for about 13 hours straight through the harsh Norwegian winter to go record our album in Copenhagen is a memory that’ll stay with us, I’m sure.

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Monday, May 18, 2015 0 Engineers

Video: Lights & Motion - Reborn


Sunday, May 17, 2015 0 Engineers

Streaming: Red Forest - 13​.​10​.​16 EP


Band: Red Forest
Album: 13​.​10​.​16 EP
Label: Self Released
Year: 2015







Tracklist
01. Raha
02. Dernier Souffle
03. Vésuve
04. If I Was In L.A.
Streaming

Red Forest is a post-rock/post-metal band from Caen, France.

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Friday, May 15, 2015 0 Engineers

EP: Glasir - Unborn


Band: Glasir
Album: Unborn EP
Label: Self Released
Year: 2015








Tracklist
01. Precipice
02. Until We Dissolve
03. Into The Void
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Glasir is an instrumental post-rock band from Dallas, TX. For fans of This Will Destroy You.

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0 Engineers

Video: Hammock - In the Middle Of This Nowhere & My Mind Was A Fog...My Heart Became A Bomb




Monday, May 11, 2015 0 Engineers

EP: Coastlands - Milieu Archives : One


Band: Coastlands
Album: Milieu Archives : One EP
Label: Self Released
Year: 2015








Tracklist
01. Harper's Ferry
02. Elk Rock
03. Oleander
Download

"Milieu Archives : One" is a collection of unstructured and spontaneous ambient songs recorded over the course of a week. The main goal was to simply hit record and let creativity flow. No obsessing , No writing. 

The entire recording process was finished in approximately two hours and mixing/arranging was completed the following day.

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Friday, May 08, 2015 0 Engineers

Streaming: Glass Harbours - History Trails EP


Band: Glass Harbours
Album: History Trails EP
Label: Self Released
Year: 2015








Tracklist
01. History Trails
02. Step Back In To The Past
03. Falling/Horizons
Streaming

Glass Harbours is an instrumental rock group based in Halifax, West Yorkshire. History Trails is the band’s second self-financed DIY EP. History Trails combines a love of bands like Shellac and Slint with an equal love of melodic indie and post-rock. The lead track ‘Falling/Horizons’ perfectly showcases Glass Harbours musical ambitions. ‘Falling/Horizons’ features paranoid guitars, epic rock riffs with a stunning post-rock coda.

After ten years apart the members of Glass Harbours came back together to record their first EP in 2014. Subsequently, the band had the honour of being featured by Simon Raymonde on Amazing Radio. This gave Glass Harbours the confidence to produce their best work to date, History Trails.

Glass Harbours sincerely hope you like their new EP and thank you for your time.

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Video: Envy - Ignorant Rain At The End Of The World


Thursday, May 07, 2015 0 Engineers

Streaming: SVK - Avernus


Band: SVK
Album: Avernus
Label: Doognad Records, Pug Nose Records
Year: 2014







Tracklist
01. Parched Rivers, Branches Bare
02. Abandoned Houses
03. An Altered Perspective
04. Tarpeian Rock
05. Road To Avernus
06. Into The Void
Streaming

SVK was formed in 2010 by Music Technology-students at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Today, the band consists of: Amund Ulvestad (synths/cello), Håkon Nybø (bass), Kristian Mäkinen (drums) and Claus Sohn Andersen (guitar).

The wide range of influences (post-rock, progressive rock, jazz and experimental electronic music) is plainly evident in their recordings. Still, there is a sort of coherent method to the madness, which makes their music distinctly “SVK” however we approach the making of it.

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Buy Bandcamp | Doognad Records | Tiger

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Video: Exxasens - My Hands Are Planets


Monday, May 04, 2015 0 Engineers

Video: Tidings - On His Wings Hung Regret and Remorse


Sunday, May 03, 2015 0 Engineers

Album: Tidings - Death Leaves A Bright Trail


Band: Tidings
Album: Death Leaves A Bright Trail
Label: Self Released
Year: 2015







Tracklist
01. On His Wings Hung Regret And Remorse
02. The Bone Orchard I - Across The Plains
03. The Bone Orchard II - At The Gates
04. Mighty Fallen
Download

Tidings are a four piece, instrumental post metal band, based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

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Saturday, May 02, 2015 0 Engineers

Album: Siberia* - Kaleidoscope


Band: Siberia*
Album: Kaleidoscope
Label: Self Released
Year: 2015








Tracklist
01. Winters
02. Forest Cowboys
03. She Is The Universe
04. Lost In Wars
05. Valkyrie
06. Daybreak
07. Smells Like Spring's Coming
08. Purple Fluid
09. Boomerang
Download

Siberia* is a Russian electronic/post-rock band.

"This is our first full-scale record. On this album we showed a wide spectrum of material which was studied within several years. Experimenting different genres of instrumental music, we created breaking off post-metal compositions, wraparound and placatory ambient elements and melodies reflecting the real human happiness which, we hope, will inevitably switch on light and will lodge hope in each needing soul. "

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Friday, May 01, 2015 0 Engineers

Album: Gordon's Tsunami Week - The Farewell Paradox


Band: Gordon's Tsunami Week
Album: The Farewell Paradox
Label: Through Love Records
Year: 2015








Tracklist
01. There
02. Is
03. No
04. Particular
05. Reason
Download

Gordon's Tsunami Week is a post-rock, instrumental band from Munich, Germany, founded in 2001.

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