Obscureish Music Volume II
Welcome to the second volume of the Obscureish Music series, this time I have brought three very different records. Rei Harakamis Unrest, Natural Snow Buildings Beyond the Veil and Eutopia by ヒッキーP (HikkieP). Enjoy!
Natural Snow Buildings - Beyond the Veil
Drone Ambient Free Folk
Psychedelic Folk
Beyond the Veil is an NSB record from the last third of their career released in 2012, about a year after Chants of Nilfheim. A lot of the NSB records from this time period are often criticised for not being innovative enough and repeating their established sound. While Beyond the Veil doesn't really reinvent their sound either, i think it's worth a listen and would probably rank second on a list of my all-time favourite NSB records, beaten only by The Winter Ray. The reason for this is how effectively they use their sound here no second feels wasted or loses my interest despite the runtime of over an hour and the minimalistic nature of the music. As usual the record gives you the feeling of being part of some occult ritual in the middle of nowhere, maybe it's snowing or there's a thick fog, while you slowly strum your guitar and listen to Mehdi Ameziane's voice pierce through the atmosphere. With each song you play, you get deeper into the trance until you can finally reach Beyond the Veil to fulfil your prophecy and be in the presence of God.
ヒッキーP (HikkieP) - Eutopia
Glitch Experimental Glitch PopFlashcore Noise Sound Collage
Everything about this record feels disjointed, like you have been dropped into a computer simulation but nothing is works and the machine is slowly destroying itself. This record feels almost entirely inhuman from the use of a vocaloid instead of human vocals to the glitchy instrumentals that seem to tripping over themselves. It's as if the record can never decide if it wants to be a catchy pop record or a cacophonous experimental glitch-fest. Every time the record finds a melody or an identifiable rhythm it's almost immediately replaced by some of the most abrasive noise and flashcore imaginable. Like on the track ハイブリッド幼女（第二形態) (Hybrid Youno 2nd Form), where you get a danceable bassline that comes in at about 40 seconds with somewhat catchy vocals until a flashcore rhythm comes in that gets faster and faster until the end of the song, overshadowing the initial bassline and vocals, becoming a glitchy noise just before the track abruptly ends. The track Mandara Berobero Haichatta Blues sounds like it's slowly being torn apart while trying very hard to stay intact, while on the track 六月病 (Kuukinogunka) after an atmospheric intro the music is almost completely dronwed in some loud feedback before breaking into absolute chaos. 投薬口 (Dosing Port) sounds like random bits of a marching band have been thrown into the mix. The album ends with the trio of 敗廊の音(The Sound of Distress), Neuter and 日記、日記、日記、白紙 (Diary, Diary, Diary, Blank), the first of which is an 8 minute piece with a lot of variety, muuch of which is taken up by straight up noise passages and nearly acapella singing over some very minimal instrumentation. At about the 4:30 minute mark the singer seems to suffer a complete mental breakdown before the song goes into an ambient passage before the vocals kick in again. Neuter serves as an interlude of sorts with what sounds like a ticking clock before the last track kicks in ending the record with some heavy distorted noise, screams and a short rather catchy vocaloid passage.
Rei Harakami - Unrest
IDM
IDM
Downtempo Ambient Techno
Unrest is the debut record by Rei Harakami, a Japanese electronic artists known for his solo musical work and as part of the art pop duo Yanokami. Similar to the other record of his i know [lost] this record presents a very relaxed and subdued take on early IDM infused with a lot of downtempo and ambient. As such it's a great introductory record for someone that might be looking to get into IDM without jumping immediately into the harsh madness of Autechre or later Aphex Twin. Even when the beats get more frantic the baseline of the songs is always kept steady by some synth hanging around in the background, giving each song a sense of grounding. This gives the record a very floating and playful atmosphere like you are walking across a field of newly grown flowers in the spring time, an atmosphere very well captured by the 2015 re-release cover, which you can see above.
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