Lars HaurThe Fringes - On the Radar - September 19
Garmonbozia - For the Glory of Nothing
Release date: September 22
This upcoming release through Ukhan Records marks to debut EP from dark electronic artist Garmonbozia. From what can be heard in the preview we're given, this looks to be a dark exploration of themes that range from nefarious conspiracy theories to occult practices. This EP doesn't look to hit you over the head with these themes, however, Instead they are presented in a subtly textured manner that utilizes a variety of techniques, including a well-placed saxophone piece by guest musician Fabio Di Gregorio that feels well at home within the tight electronic percussion and droning pad textures. Currently available for pre-order with one track available for listening now.
Headboggle - Digital Digital Analog
Release date: September 24
If there was one thing that I could definitively say sets this upcoming album apart, I would actually have to point at a great deal of elements all at once. First, there the compositions themselves which seem to borrow from weird and unexpected places such as ragtime music. If that didn't sound odd enough, there's also the instrumentation itself which seems to borrows heavily from old-school wavetable synthesis. The result is something strange and otherworldly that I am compelled to describe as playing a licensed NES game of some old cartoon while feeling the full effects of a sizeable bag of mushrooms. This combination makes for quite a quirky listen. Currently available for pre-order with five tracks available for listening now.
Enofa - Borderlands
Release date: September 24
This upcoming debut from Enofa on Waxing Crescent Records has actually thrown me for a bit of a loop. For starters, the stated atmosphere is there - the atmosphere of 1970s British horror. The textures are odd and have an air of tension in them that is repeatedly undercut in clever ways to keep it from sounding like its trying to hard to be scary. The tone will shift almost randomly from intense and dramatic to suddenly light and somewhat comical, then right back to dramatic again. On top of this, Enofa intersperses these oddly placed vocal snippets from old films that more often then not serve to transition between movements across tracks or within the same track. I truly don't know what to make of it, but I think I like it. No pre-order is currently available but you can save the link below to purchase when released or follow Waxing Crescent to be notified.
*Note: link will not be active until release date
Dark Fidelity Hi Fi - Migration of the Meaning
Release date: September 24
Soon to be released through Bricolage, this album effectively combines influences from and array of genres into an album that is simultaneously calming and energizing at the same time. DFHF utilizes shimmering pad textures and combines them when rhythms sourced from deep house, minimal tech, with just a spritz of glitch thrown in for good measure to create introspective compositions that make for a dream of a soundtrack for late night car rides. What's even more, at multiple points DFHF dispenses with the rhythm altogether to give us something closer to pure ambient with a glitchy undercurrent as can be heard in the preview track "Broken Neon." It is quite the assemblage of tunes. Currently available for pre-order with three tracks available for listening now.
Goodparley & Poppy Jennings - Enjoying Nature
Release date: September 24
This upcoming EP from the Strategic Tape Reserve sees Goodparley & Poppy Jennings continue the somewhat tongue-in-cheek Learning by Listening series in which the musical contents are presented as long-worn educational tapes with a psychedelic bent (we covered the first in this series here). While the first was much more vocal-based, this entry in the series leans much more heavily on field recordings of natural environments and effected versions of classical instrumentation such as violins and pianos. Of course the vocals are there, but the vocal contents presented here are much more meditative and poetic in quality. Will you actually learn anything? Who knows. Currently available for pre-order with two tracks available for listening.