Mar io – Twilight of Ages

Haunting, minimal and downbeat, such beautiful sounds filling my room…

‘Twilight of Ages’ is a brand new release from German label Broque, whom, Canned Static have covered a few of their excellent releases in the past. I guess I’m taken aback from the warmth of this production, I mean it is analogue warm, feels and sounds like it was recorded sometime in the 90’s although the music itself is certainly in our millennium it does lean to the previous generations of post rave chill and those side rooms for hanging around in the ecstasy starts to fall.

Title track (track 3) ‘Twilight of Ages’ does throw a slight curved ball with the change pace and mood. I wouldn’t put this on during the after party probably because it has a more serious edge with sense of urgency, still a cool track that sits nicely on this release. In reality, all of the tracks are different and contrasting but sit nicely together. I love the bass line on Son of the Morning and the ice cool vocoder that cuts through and interspaces the groove. All clever stuff and the rich variety keeps me plugged in listening for more.

There is a great sense of experimentation throughout the EP, pushing boundaries, exploring different avenues. I love the adventure of the whole thing, sort of a journey with those lovely warm sounds and a retro feel. Very much in the camp of 90’s legends such as the Orb (particularly with the voice samples). I even hear elements of minimal house creep in from time to time.

Mar io – ‘Twilight of Ages’ is a must have download to have in anyone’s ambient electronic music collection. Just great sounds and brilliant beats. Available from major platforms and even free direct from the broque site.

Tracklist.
01. Dimmer02. Come, Take Some03. Twilight of Ages04. Son Of The Morning05. A Part Of Past And Future06. The Space @ Night07. Tune Out

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Aili x Transistorcake – Dansu

Treat your ears to a Japanese invasion of the Belgium music scene…

So I’m sat here with my big cans wrapped around my head, listening to the debut single from Belgian/Japanese artist Aili who has teamed up with Transistorcake on the Eskimo Recordings label, resulting in a really cool sounding combination of indie electronica.

‘Dansu’ is a really cool sounding ‘late night after party’ sort of thing, oozing subtleties without breaking a sweat. Vocals come and go in and out of the music in a mixture of Japanese and English. There’s a lovely texture and grain to the whole sound, sort of lo-fi experimental experience in places but the whole thing is glued together with that groovy slowdriving bass line.

I could dance to this sat down, it’s that laid back. I love the dream like vocals that slowly evolve from the back of the mix and spring out on you late on. It has already been released on all platforms so go forth and add this to your play list, it’s a ‘must have’ thing to do, brilliant single…

Dansu is available from – Bandcamp – Spotify – Apple Music – iTunes etc…

Futhermuckers – Futhermuckers EP

Punk Rock alive and kicking …

The 3 piece from Benidorm release their debut EP of the same name featuring 4 tacks of raw ear smashing punk. My brain has been mashed and transported back to 77. The opener ‘Old But Still Handsome’ is short and sweet, straight up and honest just how punk was (and is). ‘Mandy’ quickly follows and continues the carnage in my cans. This is good stuff, its alive and banging, definitely 76/77 now.

Change of scene and pace with ‘Men on Pause’ but keeping the faith, with the rock n roll now with a hint of glam thrown in, yeah, “hot flush but not from a good rush”.  ‘Hey You’ brings my head crashing back to the old school shout out, all good and banging stuff.

This is like a breath of fresh air sticking out of a digital age. Old (and new) school punks will love it (as do I).  The Futhermuckers debut EP is available from their Bandcamp.

Death Threat Cassette – The Purge

Another YouTube visit and I sit here with distorted guitars bouncing around my skull looking at a dystopian scene reminiscent of the movie series of the same name. “It’s like I’m living the purge” sounds like it is spilling out on the streets of some futuristic lawless society.

Don’t get me wrong, this is far from an experimental sound or anything screwball and weird, it’s more akin to rock with bags of energy and a few killer hooks to pull you in. Great stuff, it’s on a loop at the moment and I’m looking forward to the full album release.

‘The Purge’ is taken from the forth coming album ‘Use Your Delusion’.

Death Threat Cassette – Web Site

Death Threat Cassette

Whorl Clock – Compilation Album

Debut compilation release from Three Eyed Cat Records.

Whorl Clock is a collection of electronic artists, each donating a track hoping to raise money for ‘Doctors Without Borders’, an international, medical humanitarian organisation working in more than 65 countries around the world. (Their medical teams work to save people’s lives in conflict zones, natural disasters and epidemics)…  Cool

It’s a ‘pay what you want’ download with a time travel theme running through the contributions, of which are all really really good. Did I say ‘really really’ twice? (oh yes, it is). Very difficult to pick a stand out track here because the standard is high with the contrasting styles moulding perfectly across the whole album.

Whorl Clock

Opening play is ‘School Night Dreams’ by Chorus 1986. A lovely rolling groove with arps and cool melodic saw, nice vintage feel too. SAZER contributes ‘The 61^st Second’ keeping a certain amount of vintage feel n the mix with a very ‘action thriller’ type sound. Elkingtit’s ‘Reverse Engineer’ bursts through my cans with industrial strength (almost jungle) rhythms and grinding synth bass followed by Spaceman 1981 with ‘One Night On Earth’. Head jolts back in momentary surprise…’Ooh Singing’. I sort of expected all instrumentals until this point and shift moves more in to the synth pop camp. Unexpected but very nice balance and still in the overall theme.

The 5^th instalment is a familiar name – Humm Bugg who has previously graced our Canned Static pages with ‘Charging the Chopper ray’ (Dec 2020) and ‘Blue Laser’ (July 2020). His 8bit madness returns with over 3 mins of ‘Primordial Ooze’, a lovely quirky bit squeak of wonderment. Petra Dish and the Nicotine Tingles, dish out ‘The Future of Petra Dish’. A nice follow on from 8bit to contorted experimental madness.

Second half of Whorl Clock starts with ‘Timefall’ by Endless Wires, a nice electronic groove that would sit nicely on the back end of sci-fi movie. Murgatroyd’s ‘Derailment’ brings back the experimental fused with chipset mayhem.  ‘Strawberry Galaxy’ by Reddlis reminds me of the  classic movie ‘Never Ending Story’ , it could have belonged in there.

Bitrotator – ‘Quite Simple’ switches genre yet again with some banging EDM/ just in case you’re too relaxed. Nice 8bit inclusion at the end and a great bridge for Creepy Pizza to sound out ‘4D NAUSEA’, an alarm clock of chip tune pop fusion. Aaaaand finally… Moths – Henry Hassel. Pure twisted experimentation just to send you on your way with a warped head.

Whorl Clock is a varied collection of electronic music that does not stick around too long on any of the sub genres. There’s enough here to keep your ears glued for a long time, I know I’ve loved the experience. Download/Stream here at Bandcamp

(Released January 11th 2021)

Tilo Voigthaus – Spacetime Continuum

“I have an undeniable feeling there’s something magical emanating from my speakers at the moment”.

All the way from Germany, Tilo Voighaus (no stranger to Canned Static – Mezza Luna, 17^th  December 2020) releases another wonderful EP on Bandcamp.  Spacetime Continuum is a two track, five part collection of pulsating electronics fused with fluffy warm pads. It’s a soothing, gentle experience guiding you on an inner journey of peace and harmony… At least that’s what is happening in my head space.

Part 1+2 saunters on through a cool rippling landscape of pulsating synths, obscure samples and flanging FX leading nicely to Part 3. Nice touch here having the drums and synth leads completely panned away from one another. My brain feels split in two with only the warmth of the Pad keeping it together.

The final two parts move further on in style and tempo keeping my interest and wanting more. All in, this is a very clever release both in arrangement and the beautiful programming. The intricacies are subtle in ways that you discover new micro sounds on every playback.

I love it, out today 1^st Feb 2021 Bandcamp

Distance From Zero – Sorry is No Apology (What the Papers Say January 2021)

An impromptu mini review here, could not resist….

DFZ are at it again venting frustration this time on the YouTube platform in the form of ‘Sorry is No Apology’. A side swipe at the insincerities emanating from our so called glorious Bozzer.

All sounds very much a DFZ track, all be it, a quick demo, minus the refinements but this adds to the overall feel. Great chorus and as always they have a valid point.

Interestingly, the band promise to release a series of YouTube videos to collate newspaper front pages for every day of this year. Stay tuned…