It's been a long time journal, it's time to update you.
Dark Ambient:
Desiderii Marginis - The Ever Green Tree
Label : Kaosthetik Konspiration
Release : June, 2005 (LP) May, 2007 (CD)
Other Songs : Hibernation, Legends, Stalkinghorse, Hallmark, The Vale of Tears
As I slowly learn about more and more weird and obscure genres, I find that there's a "dark" version of Ambient; a genre I liked when I was younger. Trance was my forte, but I dabbled in other things as well. Desiderii Marginis is a one man band by the name of Johan Levin. His sound is, as you can imagine, quite dark and caliginous in tone. Some songs are more accessible than others, and I find this one to be pretty easy to listen to even if you aren't into ambient. The song begins with a simple piano melody put over bizarre sounds that I liken to moving around a piece of sheet metal. It has a very crisp and defined sound, like slicing instead of banging on something. It's quite mysterious and I have no clue what it is but I like that. Then out of nowhere the piano drops away and you are met with a gorgeous acoustic guitar melody bolstered by classical music. Every now and then you are still met with that bizarre sound introduced in the beginning. Out of nowhere the beauty fades and you are once again met with the very simple piano melody and odd noises. It creates a very anxious feeling as if something is about to happen; an impending event that you can't see coming. It's songs like this I thoroughly enjoy. They're not "pop" and made for thousands of people to enjoy, it's more like true art and expression. I'd say an 8+/10
Electro:
Sound of Stereo - Velcro (off of their Zipper E.P.)
Label : Lektroluv
Release : November 24th, 2009
Other Songs : Zipper, Button
The Belgian duo are at it again. As many know, I'm a huge fan of Electro but my tastes are quite picky. I either need something aggressive and brash like The Toxic Avenger, or something infectious and danceable that will get stuck in your head for long periods of time. This is the latter. The track has a very cheeky sounding tribal melody that sounds like it came out of an Casio CZ-101. "It's not just a synthesizer, it's a rocket launcher". In this song though, it works. I've always loved the tribal sound but never heard it in an Electro song and enjoyed it. I usually stuck to stuff like Randy Katana or something. On top of the weird melody there's also what sounds like some guy saying "WOOF" and a weird, seemingly outdated vocal sample with the cliche words you would expect in a song like this: "turn, turn turn it up". I think this would belong in this resurgence we're having with things that sound like they're outdated, but producing them in a way that you can tell they're current. I usually hate it, but with a song this catchy I can't say no. I would suggest checking out Zipper as well, but Button is not my thing.. way too minimal. Overall, an 8/10