TranscendNoise

50. Kadhja Bonet – Childqueen Childqueen might be the closest expression of an “Alice In Wonderland” like fairy-tale done by a black woman. By way of her vocals, her musical influences and lastly her virtuosity of never being bogged down by making “funk”, “RnB” or “experimental” music, Bonet transgresses realism in favor of surrealist sound-collages and expressions befitting a magical drink that shrinks and enlarges your view of the world – to push you to explore and understand your own viewpoint being a mere slice of a whole world. Playing every instrument herself, producing the whole thing and doing her own artwork, there is no gap, no place where the vision ends, even a slight flute detail, synth rise or string section are born from the same mind that hits us with psychedelic heart piece “Delphine”. Throwback might be a part of the message, or a modus Bonet is familiar with, but for my part, these sonics and compositions stem from a time where I wasn´t alive or conscious enough...

60. James Ginzburg – Above Water, Inside (Six Correlations) As on half of emptyset, the modus operandi of Ginzburg on Six Correlations might sound familiar if you listened to their last album Borders in 2017. Here Ginzburg tones down the distortion and emphasis on colliding organic and synthetic for a different relation of these two parts. There is no dichotomy between them, yet Six Correlations was born as part of a performance that deals with the disappearance of an analog and natural world in favor of the digital and networked. Maybe it is the intrinsic failure of this theme that sets "Above Water, Inside" and Six Correlations in motion in the first place. Build from a simple drum pattern, clear drone, and white noise weave and breathe around to convey an effect of overtaking the organic sounds. Still, as in Borders and Ginzburg and Paurgas concept of overriding electronic sound made through acoustic means of triggering sounds, there is no part overtaking the other,...

60. Explosions In The Sky – Disintegration Anxiety ( The Wilderness )  I had the ultimate honor of finally seeing Explosion In The Sky live and it was one of the best shows and hands down the best performance I ever witnessed. It especially helped me understand the progression of the band from their greatest albums to their newer work on Take Care, Take Care or The Wilderness . As post-rock had to come to reach a dead end in its formula of the early 2000, it was hard to imagine most bands moving on, expanding their sound and making good on staying relevant without falling into a cycle of repetition. "Disintegration Anxiety" shows EITS going deeper into a narrative and more imaginative kind of songwriting, playing on the themes of nature’s grandeur and ever-changing flow, furthering the bands own sonic palette. There is no need for great crescendos anymore, for minutes of washed out distortion. This is aging gracefully and finding the voice to tell a story with more deta...