Category: post rock

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Kwoon Performs “White Angels” at Galaxie Amneville

Created and led by a mysterious and enigmatic, French-born multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer, only known and Sandy, Kwoon sees the French-born artist specializing in a dreamy take on post-rock and prog rock that’s seemingly inspired by Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, and Pink Floyd through the release of three albums: 2006’s Tales & Dreams, 2009’s When the flowers were singing and 2011’s The Guillotine Show.

Over the past couple of years, the JOVM mainstay shared a series of live performances filmed in some gorgeous and mesmerizing locations, including a cliff on the island of Lanzarote, the Tévennec Lighthouse, on the stormy Breton sea, where he performed an early version of “King of Sea,” and Quiberon Airport, in Quiberon, France for the slow-burning and shoegazey “Stratofear.” 

The studio version of “King of Sea” continued a run of slow-burning and cinematic material, while featuring an orchestral arrangement of thinking and looping piano, dramatic drumming and percussions, soaring backing vocals and textured, swirling guitars drenched in delay and reverb pedal paired with Sandy’s David Gilmour-like delivery. Sonically, the song seems to nod at The Wall-era Pink Floyd (think of “The Trial”) or A Momentary Lapse of Reason-era Pink Floyd. 

Written while staying in the Tévennec Lighthouse in Finistere, France on the Breton Sea, the song is inspired by the lighthouse, which has a lengthy and terrifying reputation among sailors for strange and terrible phenomena that have happened around the site. In fact, many sailors have referred to the lighthouse and island as “the gateway to hell.” 

His latest single, “White Angels” is a slow-burning and cinematic track that continues a lengthy run of post rock material that seemingly nods at Sigur Ros, Collapse Under the Empire, and in the case of the new track, a bit of Kid A-era Radiohead but with swirling, shoegazer like guitar textures. The track’s arrangement serves as a lush and dreamy bed for Sandy’s dreamy, Thom Yorke-meets-David Gilmour-like delivery. The song manages to evoke a heavenward yearning and a sense of awe and smallness in a vast, indifferent cosmos.

“‘White Angels’ is the story of a man, who as a fan of astronomy and spacemen, looks up to the night sky to see white lights shinning in the distant cosmos,” Sandy explains. “What are these white lights that are there every night?”

The accompanying live footage was shot at Galaxy Amneville.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: VAAMP Shares a Cinematic and Minimalist Composition

VAAMP is the solo recording project of a mysterious composer, multi-instrumentalist and creative mastermind, who actively attempts to push limits of creativity and genre. Sonically, the project sees its mysterious mastermind employing multiple layers of synths, drums, bass, keys, guitar and experimental sounds to create a captivating musical experience.

VAAMP’s latest single “New Way of Being” is the first bit of new material since the release of his debut EP, Time Sensitive Material earlier this year. “New Way of Being” is a cinematic and minimalist composition featuring twinkling and reverb-soaked keys, fluttering synths and a supple bass line. The result is a song that seemingly channels a synthesis of Collapse Under The Empire and John Carpenter, complete with a retro-futuristic feel and vibe.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Norway’s Helsinki Horizon Shares Anthemic “Tie Them To The Mast”

Norwegian outfit Helsinki Horizon — founding member Snorre, (guitar, bass, keys) along with Öllegård (vocals), viNd (guitar) and Geir (drums) — can trace their origins back to 2008 as a solo recording effect with Snorre began writing music and recording demos. By 2012, viNd and Geir joined the project, and the band, then a trio began playing live shows.

Citing the likes of Radiohead, Mogwai, M83 and Max Richter as influences., the band also incorporates Tesla coil emulated Cello distortion and 8-bit crushed bass harmonica in a genre-defying sound and approach. Their debut EP, 2021’s Signal Flares drew from the band’s experiences in the underground metal scene, and received critical praise and attention across the post rock scene.

Released earlier this year, the Norwegian band’s full-length debut Sirens sees them collaboration with Stockholm-based avant-garde pop artist Öllegård contributing vocals while drawing from Homer’s Odyssey. Thematically, the album’s material touches upon existentialism, human facade, contemporary global politics, climate and environmental destruction and the consequences of all of these on us as a whole.

Sirens‘ first single “Tie Them To The Mast” is a seamless and slick synthesis of shoegaze, post rock, rock and electro pop anchored around a propulsive and swaggering rhythm section, atmospheric synth oscillations, and bursts of expressive guitar. The song’s arrangement serves as a dramatic bed for Öllegård’s earnest delivery — while revealing a band with an uncanny knack for a catchy hook and a big, sing-along worthy chorus.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Tilburg Shares Cinematic “The Whale”

Dutch prog rock duo Tilburg — Timo Janse (guitar), Whisper of the Dragons’ M Hopkins (keys) — released their full-length debut, Tales of the Spanish Kings last year. The album is a concept album influenced by 70s prog rock movement — but with harder, more modern metal-like guitar and electronic sounds. As the duo explain, “The goal of the album was to bring a new progressive rock sound along with honoring the greats who came before us.”

The album can be traced back to recording sessions that began in late 2009 with a band named Kinder Voss that featured M. Hopkins, along with Kiwi guitarist Brendon Wright and German vocalist Gabby Koss, who had stints with Haggard, Nota Profana and Equilibrium. Because of Koss’ scheduling conflicts, recording sessions were faulted and the album was eventually shelved.

Hopkins went on to do soundtrack work but he decided to revisit the album. eventually recruiting Janse to complete the material. By last Spring, the duo had finally finished the album and decided to call their project Tilburg, after a town known for being a populate site of rock shows in The Netherlands.

“The Whale” is an expansive and cinematic composition that meshes elements of prog rock, progressive metal and post rock in a way that recalls German post rock outfit Collapse Under the Empire while sounding as though it would be part of the soundtrack of a post apocalyptic sci fi or action film.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Paris’ Autómata Shares Cinematic “Mad Motor”

Paris-based quarter Autómata formed back in 2019. And since their formation, they’ve specialized in a post-rock sound that blends elements of metal, pop, prog rock and electronic music.

The French quartet’s recently released sophomore album sees the band crafting a dark and brooding sound that blends elements of post-rock, prog rock, pop and metal. The album’s latest single “Mad Motor” is a slow-burning, meditative composition featuring shimmering guitar work, a supple bass line, twinkling keys paired with dramatic drumming and a sultry vocal sample. Sonically speaking, “Mad Motor” sees the French outfit channeling Public Service Broadcasting, Mogwai, Collapse Under The Empire and others, while possessing a similar cinematic quality.

The accompanying video is comprised of slickly edited stock footage from the early days of The Space Age with cigar-shaped space ships, astronauts landing on new worlds that dimly resemble Earth and more.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Chicago’s The Color of Cyan Shares Cinematic and Shoegazey “Egress”

Chicago-based post rock/post-metal outfit The Color of Cyan — Henry Cole (drums), Jorge Santana (bass) and Eduardo Cintron (guitar) — originally formed in San Juan, Puerto Rico back in 2000. The band re-emerged during the height of the pandemic as a solely instrumental project that created intricate soundscapes with aggressive guitar.

The band wrote and recorded their full-length debut, 2021’s Agape, an album that featured multi-layered material that patiently built in pressure and impact.

The act’s sophomore album, Egress, which was recorded between Puerto Rico, Chicago and Mexico City will reportedly see the band blurring the boundaries of a sound that feature elements of post metal, post rock and neo-classical while introspectively exploring emotion through delicate layering,. “Our music arrangements are purposely in constant motion, guided by emotions, impossible to replicate perfectly, like waves in the sea. Nothing is ever the same as before,” the Chicago-based outfit explains.

Egress‘ latest single, album title track “Egress” is a brooding and cinematic composition that brings Collapse Under The Empire and others to mind — but while having a painterly, A Storm in Heaven-like textured quality. “‘Egress’ embodies the pursuit of happiness, no matter the obstacles in life,” the band explains.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: rhythmspitter Shares Minimalist and Vibey “First Movement”

Best known for his work playing bass in Red Thread Theory, Michael Mosley is the creative mastermind behind rhythmspitter. Conceptually inspired by Bill Laswell‘s Material and Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart, Mosley’s rhythmspitter sees him combining various world instruments and rhythms to create instrumental, lo fi, beat-driven indie rock meant to vibe with and chill.

rhythmspitter’s latest single “First Movement” is a decidedly minimalist yet composition built around glistening and looping guitars, atmospheric synths and a sinuous bass line paired with a motorik-like groove. The result is a song that reminds me of Minimal Compact — but much more laid back.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: BMA Shares Meditative “Beyond The Hope”

Bruno Margiotta is a French-born, Canadian-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and creative mastermind behind the post rock instrumental project BMA. After the release of his self-produced debut EP, 2020’s Asynchronous, Margiotta world with local and international studios to produce his full-length debut, Ephemeral.

Released earlier this year, Ephemeral draws from post-rock, classical music and electronic music. Album single “Beyond The Hope” features twinkling piano, a sinuous and propulsive bass line, soaring and swelling bursts of synths, and gently padded drumming in a meditative yet cinematic composition that reminds me a bit of Collapse Under the Empire and others.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Silver Moth Shares Gorgeous “The Eternal”

This week will be extraordinarily as I’ll be covering the fourth edition of The New Colossus Festival this week. Look for various portions of my coverage to be coming within the upcoming weeks — including some potential interviews, live concert photography and other thoughts. But I’ll be trying my best to squeeze in my regular coverage of all things within my world — musically and otherwise.

So let’s get to the business at hand . . .

Silver Moth is new collective featuring a celebrated cast of musicians and artists, including Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite singer/songwriter and electro pop artist Elisabeth Elektra, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Evi Vine, Abrasive Trees‘ Matthew Rochford, Burning House‘s Ash Babb, Steven Hill and Prosthetic Head’s Ben Roberts, who has also worked with Abrasive Trees and Evi Vine. The collective can trace its origins back to a Twitter exchange between Matthew Rochford and Elisabeth Elektra about the Isle of Lewis. A couple of Zoom meetings would subsequently lead to Rochford, Elektra, Vine, Braithwaite, Hill, Babb and Roberts visiting Black Bay Studios on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, a dramatic location, where they recorded the collective’s full-length debut, Black Bay. 

Slated for an April 21, 2023 release through Bella Union, Black Bay reportedly is a testament to connectivity and receptivity and captures a union of disparate minds committing to something to something greater than the sum of its individual parts. Capturing the sound of seven storied musicians yielding to shared goals, the album ranges between hushed incantations and molten guitars, 15-minute noise rock epics and healing psalms. 

Last month, I wrote about Black Bay‘s first single, “Mother Tongue,” a slow-burning and sprawling song centered around swirling shoegazer-like guitar textures, twinkling reverb-drenched keys, ethereal and plaintive vocals paired with jazz-like drumming. While sounding like a synthesis of A Storm in Heaven and Dark Side of the Moon, the band explains that  “Mother Tongue is a song about women and other marginalized people rising up in the face of oppression.”

Black Bay‘s second and latest single “Eternal,” is a slow-burning, breathtakingly gorgeous hymn featuring shimmering and looping guitars, twinkling synths, military-like drumming, Elisabeth Elektra’s ethereal and yearning vocal paired with a soaring chorus that arches heavenward. Written by Silver Moth’s Elektra and Vine, the song is simultaneously a tribute to Elektra’s late friend Alanna, an invitation to listen deeply and carefully and a paean to female equality that’s fueled by “the need to reclaim and remember and give voice to those who are silenced,” Evi Vine explains.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Church Shares Cinematic and Glam Rock-like “No Other You”

Founded back in 1980, the Sydney-based ARIA Hall of Fame inductees The Church — currently founding member Steve Kilbey (vocals, bass, guitar); longtime collaborator and producer Tim Powles (drums), who joined the band in 1994 and has contributed to 17 albums; Ian Haug (guitar), a former member of Aussie rock outfit Powderfinger, who joined the band in 2013; multi-instrumentalist Jeffery Cain, a former member of Remy Zero and touring member of the band, who joined the band full-time after Peter Koppes left the band in early 2020; and their newest member, Ashley Naylor (guitar), a long-time member of Paul Kelly’s touring band and one of Australia’s most respected guitarists — was initially associated with their hometown’s New Wave, neo-psychedelic and indie rock scenes. But they became increasingly associated with dream pop and post-rock as their material took on slower tempos and surreal, shimmering soundscapes paired with their now, long-held reputation for an uncompromising approach to both their songwriting and sound. 

1981’s full-length debut Of Skins and Hearts, was a commercial and critical success thanks in part to the success of their first radio hit, “The Unguarded Moment.” And as a result, the legendary Aussie outfit was signed to major labels in Australia, Europe and The States. However, their American label was dissatisfied with their sophomore album and dropped the band without releasing it in the States. 

Although being dropped from their American label managed to slow down some of the international momentum surrounding the band a bit, 1988’s Starfish managed to be a smash hit, thanks to their only US Top 40 hit, “Under the Milky Way.” “Under the Milky Way,” received attention once again with its appearance in 2001’s cult-favorited film Donnie Darko.

Further mainstream success has been a bit elusive, but since the release of Starfish, the acclaimed Aussie outfit have developed a devoted, international cult following while also being incredibly prolific. The bands 25th album, 2017’s Man Woman Life Death Infinity was released to critical praise from the likes of PopMatters, who called the album “a 21st-century masterpiece, a bright beam of light amid a generic musical landscape, and truly one of the Church’s greatest releases.” 

The highly-anticipated follow-up to 2017’s Man Woman Life Death Infinity — and their 26th album —  The Hypnogogue is slated for a February 24, 2023 release through Communicating Vessels/Unorthodox. The album is the band’s first full-length concept album: Set in 2054, the album follows its protagonist Eros Zeta, the biggest rock star of his era, who travels from his home in Antarctica to use the titular Hypnogogue to help him revive his flagging and moribund fortunes. “The Hypnogogue is set in 2054… a dystopian and broken down future,” The Church’s Steve Kilbey explains. “Invented by Sun Kim Jong, a North Korean scientist and occult dabbler, it is a machine and a process that pulls music straight of dreams.”

“The Hypnogogue is the most prog rock thing we have ever done,” Kilbey says. “We’ve also never had a concept album before,” he says. “It is the most ‘teamwork record’ we have ever had. Everyone in the band is so justifiably proud of this record and everyone helped to make sure it was as good as it could be. Personally, I think it’s in our top three records.”

So far, I’ve written bout two of the album’s released singles:

  • The album’s expansive and brooding title track and first single, “The Hypnogogue.” Featuring the band’s swirling and textured guitar-driven sound paired with Kilbey’s imitable delivery, the song introduces listeners to the album’s characters — Eros Zeta and Sum Kim. The song follows Zeta, as they’re traveling to meet Kim, to go through the titular hypnogogue. But during the toxic and weird process, Zeta winds up falling in love with Kim. As Kilbey says, “. . . it all ends tragically (of course . .. as these things often do). 

  • The jangling and deceptively upbeat “C’est La Vie,” which continues the album’s narrative. Zeta’s agent warms him not to mess with the hypnogogue. “His manager has heard some bad rumors about it, and he doesn’t want his boy all strung out on this unknown thing,” The Church’s Steve Kilbey explains. The song ends with a gorgeous, shimmering fade out. “Musically, the song is a fast-paced rocker very much initiated by our guitarist Ian Haug. But it has plenty of twists and turns and ends up fading away in a delicate and winsome way.” 

The Hypnogogue‘s third and latest single “No Other You” is a glittering glam rock-like ballad with some Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie guitar work and a cinematic quality paired with Kilbey expressing an aching, almost desperate longing. “No Other You” may arguably be the most straightforward and earnest song of the band’s extensive catalog. The song continues the album’s narrative — but on a more personal level. The Church’s Steve Kilbey explains that the song is an “ultra-romantic song that Zeta writes for Sun Kim Jong, who is the inventor of The Hypnogogue. It’s a heartfelt song about an irreplaceable woman. And the Church gets to explore a slightly glam rock feel to boot.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Silver Moth Shares Slow-Burning and Cinematic “Mother Tongue”

Silver Moth is new collective featuring a celebrated cast of musicians and artists, including Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite singer/songwriter and electro pop artist Elisabeth Elektra, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Evi Vine, Abrasive Trees‘ Matthew Rochford, Burning House‘s Ash Babb, Steven Hill and Prosthetic Head’s Ben Roberts, who has also worked with Abrasive Trees and Evi Vine. The collective can trace its origins back to a Twitter exchange between Matthew Rochford and Elisabeth Elektra about the Isle of Lewis. A couple of Zoom meetings would subsequently lead to Rochford, Elektra, Vine, Braithwaite, Hill, Babb and Roberts visiting Black Bay Studios on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, a dramatic location, where they recorded the collective’s full-length debut, Black Bay.

Slated for an April 21, 2023 release through Bella Union, Black Bay reportedly is a testament to connectivity and receptivity and captures a union of disparate minds committing to something to something greater than the sum of its individual parts. Capturing the sound of seven storied musicians yielding to shared goals, the album ranges between hushed incantations and molten guitars, 15-minute noise rock epics and healing psalms.

“Mother Tongue,” Black Bay‘s first single is a slow-burning and sprawling song centered around swirling shoegazer-like guitar textures, twinkling reverb-drenched keys, ethereal and plaintive vocals paired with jazz-like drumming. While sounding like a synthesis of A Storm in Heaven and Dark Side of the Moon, the band explains that  “Mother Tongue is a song about women and other marginalized people rising up in the face of oppression.”

Directed by Maddie Burton, the accompanying video features the gorgeous scenery of the Isle of Lewis superimposed with footage of women and other marginalized groups protesting and standing up in the face of oppression and cruelty across both time and space. “We were really excited as a band to work with video director Maddie Burton for the accompanying visuals.Maddie’s work is so beautiful, textural and evocative, all the members of Silver Moth felt her art harmonized with our music perfectly, ” the band says of the accompanying video. “Evi Vine had the idea for Maddie to include archival footage from feminist marches around the world in the video, and Maddie then overlaid the march footage with archival footage of the island of Lewis where we recorded the album. Maddie also wove in other images of nature, which felt like it added an extra layer of meaning considering the climate emergency we are all currently navigating”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Brighton’s The Fuchsias Share Dynamic “Elephante”

Brighton UK-based ambient music/post rock duo The Fuchsias — Bobby Fage and Stephen Ingham — can trace their origins back almost 20 years: Fage and Ingham played together in a now-defunct ambient collective that played in venues across Brighton, as well as The Big Chill Festival and Beautiful Days Festival. Ingham went on to tour with Dark Horses for over a decade. Fage worked on several songs on Towards Nova Zembla’s 2005 full-length debut, and did compositional work for installation artist Sean Kubsia’s Mysteres des Memoires and Recall, which displayed his fascination with utilizing experimental methods.

The duo wound up reconnecting over a mutual desire to create new minimalistic material — with live electronic elements. The British duo’s recently released four-track debut EP Isle sees them delving into modular guitar experimentation while simultaneously reflecting their unique tastes and passion for expansive, immersive music.

Isle EP‘s latest single, the expansive and cinematic “Elephante” alternates between glistening and looping guitar lines paired with tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap and ambient sections with twinkling electronics. While being decidedly beat driven, “Elephante” is rooted in the sort of patient, patiently textures of Mogwai, Public Service Broadcasting, and others.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Atsuko Chiba Shares a Cinematic, Mosh Pit Friendly Ripper

With the release of two albums and a couple of EPs, Montreal-based psych outfit Atusko Chiba — Karim Lakhdar (guitar, vocals, synthesizer), Kevin McDonald (guitar, synthesizer), David Palumbo (bass guitar, vocals), Anthony Piazza (drums) and Erik Schafhauser (guitar, synthesizer) — have developed and honed a reputation for crafting a cohesive and hypnotic blend of post-rock, prog rock and krautrock paired with offbeat, subversive songwriting. 

The members of Atsuko Chiba pair their unique brand of experimental rock with video and light installations trigged in real time by the band, creating an immersive multimedia, multi-sensorial environment. Over the past few years, the band has toured across Canada, the States and Europe, sharing stages with  . . . And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, Big Business, Duchess Says, King Buffalo, and others. 

Atsuko Chiba’s highly-anticipated third album, Water, It Feels Like It’s Growing is slated for a January 20, 2023 release through Montreal-based purveyors of all things psychedelia, Mothland. The album reportedly finds the Canadian quintet crafting a collection of drone-driven yet bombastic material that may draw comparisons to the likes of The Mars Volta, Beak>and Spirit of the Beehive among others. 

“As opposed to our last album, which was about introspection, spacetime and the personal journey, the themes explored on this new album are related to our environment and our reaction to it,” the members of Atsuko Chiba explain. “Though not meant to be strictly political, our references stem from highly politicized movements and ideas. Division and group ideology are heavily explored. A prime example is the weaponization of vocabulary used to distract, displace and alienate us, forcing us to pick sides on every front. Our lyrics also strongly denote our innate love for all living things, encompassing a hopeful, if somewhat violent, plea for change.”

Earlier this year, I wrote about the album’s expansive, slow-burning A Storm in Heaven-meets-Dark Side of the Moon-like “Seeds.” Clocking in at 7:45, the track is centered around lush, glistening synths, swirling guitar riffs, tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap-like drumming paired with heavily distorted vocal harmonies. The single also features a gorgeous contribution from Montreal-based string quartet Quatuor Esca, who perform an arrangement by Gabriel Desjardins. While possessing a sprawling, widescreen atmosphere, “Seeds” evokes a creeping sense of impending uncertainty and doom but with the tacit understanding that perhaps not all is lost — at least not yet. 

Water, It Feels Like It’s Growing‘s second and latest single “Link” is rooted in a chugging and aggressive rhythm section, scorching and blaring alarm-like synths, buzzing poly harmonic guitar lines paired with booming vocals. While sounding a bit like it could have been recorded during the Trace sessions, “Link” is an urgent, mosh pit friendly ripper — with a widescreen, cinematic quality.

“’Link’ is about judgement; how we often tend to judge and belittle others to prop up our own self worth,” the members of Atsuko Chiba explain. “It’s about the lengths we go through to destroy others, while not taking the time to look inside.“

Directed by Laurine Jousserand, the accompanying, animated video for “Link” is mind-bending and trippy visual that sees the protagonist become their own enemy. “We wanted to create an evolving picture based on implicit concepts; a metaphorical narrative through contemplative representation,” Jousserand explains. “The challenge became addressing themes such as sterile conflict or false pretense from an internal point of view while using minimal movement. Lyrics and visual elements immerse us within an accusatory monologue, the enemy taking on the form of the narrator, though their identity bears no importance. Nature becomes increasingly uncomfortable, eventually engulfing the subject, stripping them of their humanity until they are quasi-vegetal and ultimately linked to their doubles. These ghost-like twins are hostile yet passive, mimicking their every movement. The final scene takes the rhetoric out of its intimate and personal confines, giving it different identities, expressing a general state of being, a shared reality.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JAMBINAI Teams Up with K Pop Legend swja on a Brooding and Forceful Ripper

South Korean outfit JAMBINAI — currently founding (and core) trio Bongi Kim (haegum — a Korean fiddle-like instrument), Ilwoo Lee (guitar and piri — a Korean flute, made of bamboo) and Eun Young Sim (geomungo, a Korean zither). Jaehyuk Choi (drums) and B.K. Yu (bass) — can trace its origins tow hen its founding trio met while studying traditional music at Korea National University of Arts. Kim, Lee and Sim bounded over a mutual desire to present traditional music in a new way, “to communicate with the ordinary person, who doesn’t listen to traditional Korean music,” Ilwoo Lee, JAMBINAI’s principal composer and songwriter explained in press notes.

JAMBINAI’s approach manages to eschew several generations of Korean modernists and post-modernists and leans much closer to Western styles with Korean instrumentation — with their sound drawing from Western classical music, jazz, jazz fusion, post rock, prog rock and experimental rock. The then-trio further established their unique headbanging take on traditional Korean music with 2010’s self-tiled debut EP and 2012’s full-length debut, Differance.

While their sound and approach does manage to shock Korean audiences, the band has seen critical and commercial success: Differance was nominated for Best Crossover Album and Best Jazz and Crossover Performance at the 2013 South Korean Music Awards, and won Best Crossover Album. The band used the album’s success as a springboard for several critically applauded, international tours as a quintet.

2016’s Hermitage was released through Bella Union Records, The album featured “They Keep Silence,” a song that sonically brought  Tool and Ministry to mind while tapping into a seemingly universal feeling of anger and isolation — especially those, who are growing both impatient and suspicious of the forces that are influencing and controlling their daily lives.

For the South Korean post rock outfit, the past couple of years have been the best of times and the worst of times: The outfit released their third album ONDA back in 2019. Just a few months later, in February 2020, the quintet won Best Rock Album and Best Rock song for album track “ONDA” at that year’s South Korean Music Awards. Of course, the pandemic struck in March 2020, throwing a monkey wrench into both people’s lives and their plans.

The band’s latest EP Apparition is slated for a Friday release through Bella Union. The EP reportedly captures the depth and range of emotions that the band has felt and experienced over the past couple of years, from anxious lockdowns and the disappointment of thwarted plans, to the thrill of renewed creativity, hunger and hope. “After ONDA we saw 2020 as a new opportunity to work on a bigger stage,” JAMBINAI’s Ilwoo Lee recalls. “I personally wanted to release a new album and tour to exhaust the energy of ONDA and find new inspiration, but it didn’t work out that way. We didn’t find enough energy to make a full album yet, so for now we are releasing four songs.”

The EP’s title is derived from Lee’s perception of the band,. “JAMBINAI have been making intense music for an intense group of devotees in invisible places,” he says. “Overall, I have tried to express a message of comfort to everyone living in a difficult time due to the pandemic and what’s going on in the world.” 

The EP reveals a band that’s more energized than ever, making up for lost time and momentum: Their appearance at the Seoul 2018 Winter Olympic Games Closing Ceremony set up the forward momentum that produced ONDA. Their South Korean Music Awards wins upped the ante for a prospective follow-up. Even after winning the Asia category at the 2020 Songlines Awards, they felt that the thrill and force of new music and performance would be the only thing to really count. By the end of 2021, they had started to record the material that would become Apparition — but they managed to be be busy: They released four acoustic performances. They collaborated with Soojung Baek’s boutique Craft Codes to combine two of her seats “that seemed to match our music the best,” Lee says.

The urge to create has pushed the band’s core trio creative energies into new territories: In September, JAMBINAI’s Lee worked as a metro of the traditional Gyeonggi Sinawi Orchestra for performances in Poland, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. Just last month, he collaborated with PAKK at London’s K-Music Festival. And he wrote the music for the first season of the BBC’S Korean-set crime podcast, The Lazarus Heist. The band’s Kim and Sim co-wrote the music for a modern art piece in South Korea’s National Museum of Contemporary and Modern Arts. Sim also released a solo album back in 2019 — and wrote and performed the music for a piece by choreographer Jinyeob Cha earlier this year, Kim also currently DJs for a Korean traditional music broadcast.

The band’s core trio, along with Choi and Yu will embark on a tour in may 2023, “and when there’s an empty space, I want to make a new album,” Lee adds.

Apparition‘s latest single “from the place been erased,” features guest vocals from K Pop legend swja (also known as sunwoojunga), who has worked with 2NE1, Blackpink and a little known outfit by the name of something like BTS. swja’s ethereal and achingly delicate delivery i paired with a brooding and expansive arrangement that alternates between dreamy and atmospheric passages and stormy power chord-driven sections that rip hard. Sonically, the song is a seamless synthesis of trip-hop, shoegaze, doom metal and post rock — with Western and Korean instrumentation that captures intense emotion: unease, frustration, anger and hope within a turn of a phrase.

“I thought swja’s voice would go well with our music,” says Lee, “so I asked her for help. I am honoured that she willingly participated. Despite our heavy and strong sound, she understood its inner emotions.”

Directed by Jinho Park, the accompanying video features swja and the members of JAMBINAI performing the song together in intimately shot footage paired with some gorgeous and trippy lighting.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montreal’s Atsuko Chiba Shares Sprawling and Cinematic “Seeds”

Through the release of two albums and a couple of EPs, Montreal-based psych outfit Atusko Chiba — Karim Lakhdar (guitar, vocals, synthesizer), Kevin McDonald (guitar, synthesizer), David Palumbo (bass guitar, vocals), Anthony Piazza (drums) and Erik Schafhauser (guitar, synthesizer) — have developed and honed a reputation for crafting a genre-defying sound with a cohesive and hypnotic blend of post-rock, prog rock and krautrock paired with offbeat, subversive songwriting.

Live, the Montreal psych outfit pairs their unique brand of experimental rock with video and light installations trigged in real time by the band, creating an immersive multimedia, multi-sensorial environment. Over the past handful of years, the band has toured across Canada, the States and Europe, sharing states with the likes of . . . And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, Big Business, Duchess Says, King Buffalo, and others.

Atusko Chiba’s highly-anticipated third album Water, It Feels Like It’s Growing is slated for a January 20, 2023 release through Montreal-based purveyors of psychedelia, Mothland. The album reportedly finds the Canadian quintet crafting a collection of drone-driven yet bombastic material that may draw comparisons to the likes of The Mars Volta, Beak> and Spirit of the Beehive among others.

“As opposed to our last album, which was about introspection, spacetime and the personal journey, the themes explored on this new album are related to our environment and our reaction to it,” the members of Atsuko Chiba explain. “Though not meant to be strictly political, our references stem from highly politicized movements and ideas. Division and group ideology are heavily explored. A prime example is the weaponization of vocabulary used to distract, displace and alienate us, forcing us to pick sides on every front. Our lyrics also strongly denote our innate love for all living things, encompassing a hopeful, if somewhat violent, plea for change.”

Clocking in at 7:45, Water, It Feels Like It’s Growing‘s first single “Seeds” is a slow-burning and brooding bit of A Storm in Heaven-meets-Dark Side of the Moon-like psychedelia centered around lush, glistening synths, swirling guitar riffs, tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap-like drumming paired heavily distorted vocal harmonies. The single also features a gorgeous contribution from Montreal-based string quartet Quatuor Esca, who perform an arrangement by Gabriel Desjardins. While possessing a sprawling, widescreen atmosphere, “Seeds” evokes a creeping sense of impending uncertainty and doom but with the tacit understanding that perhaps not all is lost — at least not yet.

Directed by longtime friend and collaborator Rodrigo Sergio, the accompanying video for “Seeds” shows performing artist and dancer Jade Maya embodying the song’s themes through physical movements that are subtle or violent in a variety of environments — both natural and man-made.