TranscendNoise

5 0. Vacant Gardens – Under The Bloom / Obscene Re-released in 2022 after flying under my radar in both 2020 and 2021, Vacant Garden’s provided two albums of delightful shoegaze / dream pop. The last time a band sounded this ethereal as the greats such as Cocteau Twins or Slowdive, must have been Asobi Seksu. Vacant Gardens pull together the sweet mixtures of fuzz, gloom, and vocal transcendence. There is rainy melancholy in the guitar hazes, counteracted by flourishes of powerful chords, arpeggios, and gentle strumming, all coming together in the float of Jem Fanvu’s ethereal vocals. Atmospheric density does not need to be inventive as such, it just needs to be well made and full of intricacy. Seldom do albums capture the yearnings of youth I encountered when first making contact with shoegaze. While nowadays most find the best conflation of dream pop and shoegaze in Beach House and their synthetic rhythms and uplifting haze, Vacant Gardens deliver a proof of concept in striking gre...

50. OG Keemo – Geist | Whole Discography OG Keemo´s debut album Geist was released towards the end of 2019 and passed over by my usual reluctance to give German rappers a real chance. Trickling word of mouth made me listen in. Keemo´s music, carried by his partner producer Funkvater Frank makes Geist and all of his previous mixtapes and EPs a must listen, a lesson in the energy and vigor a German rap story can carry without catering to current tendencies of trap-crooning or misshapen attempts of making dancehall. If anything, OG Keemo is the only German rapper you need to know in 2020! Simply for his banging delivery of tales surrounding poverty and racism which revel in depression without diving into sadness. The agency of Keemo in capturing his past, his bravado in taking a stand in today´s gangster rap, are flawless over the Funkvater Frank´s varied production. While other German contemporaries might appeal to easier sentiments or remain functional as hit-makers, everyone with the G...