Swan Dive - Fly Towards the Sun (2013)

Genre: Shoegaze, Punk Rock
Country: United States/United Kingdom

So Brandon Setta of shoegaze band Nothing and Joey Bayes of melodic hardcore band More Than Life got together and wrote some grungy, punky, shoegaze songs back in 2013. Expect something akin to Nothing rather than More Than Life, especially to songs on the Whirr/Nothing split. It kinda sounds like something that would be written in the 90s but by no means is it a poor form of worship from bands in that era. Reverberated vocals are still in play, a hint of angst and melancholy maybe, and some basic elements from shoegaze can be found. If you like Nothing at all, you'll probably find some enjoyment in this.

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Avzhia - Key of Throne (2004)

Genre: Symphonic Black Metal
Country: Mexico

Firstly, I would like to a)apologize for my lack of activity and b)thank Rhyme for staying trve and keeping it alive. Back when I was a youngin', I would be salty as hell when a blog didn't update regularly, but now that I'm an adult I kind of get it. Also, writer's block has been killing me, but FUCK IT, I don't need to overly describe anything to post excellent music. First up is Avzhia, and their 2004 opus Key of Throne. You can tell by the broken English of the title that this absolutely rules. I generally find symphonic black metal to be a little kitschy and over-dramatic for my tastes, but the orchestrations here are perfect; they perfectly accentuate the darkness of the music without adding any unnecessary cheese. The production is excellent, dirty but not TOO dirty, allowing the atmosphere to truly operate at full capacity. Overall a worthwhile release.

yo quiero Avzhia

Gas Chamber - Hemorrhaging Light (2014)

Genre: Powerviolence
Country: United States

This one kind of reminds me of Bucket Full of Teeth's IV. Like in IV, these guys don't play it straight; rather they include sections outside of hardcore. Gas Chamber however chooses to add a psychedelic and progressive flair to their brand of powerviolence to switch things up. These sections aren't as jarring as Bucket Full of Teeth adding ambient sections since they feel more in place so I think this is a lot easier to get a feel for.

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Kairon; IRSE! - Ujubasajuba (2014)

Genre: Shoegaze, Post-Rock
Country: Finland

If you've been on the front page of RYM in the past month or so, you've probably seen a review for this with the caption "BRUTAL POST ROCK" (the author changed it unfortunately). I was pretty hesitant to listen to it considering the cover is mildly unappealing but I gave it a shot anyway since my friend recommended it to me. I think the best way to describe this album is saying that it's essentially a post rock album with progressive leanings with shoegaze production. Kairon; IRSE! don't get lost in forming a huge wall of sound that many shoegaze bands tend to fall under. Rather, they really like to add riffs and solos to support that wall of sound to engage the listener which is how the separate themselves from all the other bands in the scene currently. Even if you're not a fan of shoegaze, there are other characteristics that you can latch onto to and find enjoyment out of it. It's possibly the best album on Bandcamp that's name-your-price as well so get listening!

Name-Your-Price on Bandcamp

Mojave 3 - Ask Me Tomorrow (1995)

Genre: Dream Pop, Alt-Country
Country: United Kingdom

Not exactly obscure, but I suppose if you wanted more output out of Neil and Rachel of Slowdive you should listen to Mojave 3. They still build on dream pop vibes present in their work in Slowdive but the only difference is that they add alt-country elements like twangy guitars through an ethereal scope. Unless you vehemently dislike alt-country, then there really isn't a reason to dislike this if you enjoy Slowdive. Just don't expect something like Souvlaki because that would be a dumb standard to uphold. Just imagine if songs like 40 Days had a little more twang to it and you'll get this as they use more of more moody elements of their songwriting.

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Ichiko Aoba - 0 (2013)

Genre: Folk
Country: Japan

Ichiko Aoba writes some of the most soothing and relaxing folk that I've heard in a while. It's a very bare bones type of thing where her songwriting is completely dependent on how well her voice complements her guitar playing. What I find interesting about her approach is that she really varies the styles she crafts and they oddly seem like they belong there. Like if you listen to the third song, roughly around the middle of the song she really shows that isn't afraid to show her guitar playing skills through some fast playing that didn't really seem to fit at first but after a few listens, you realize how well it fits the part before it. She even throws in some field recordings here and there to fill the empty space that her music tends to create and they don't take too much of the spotlight of Ichiko Aoba's playing at all. If you're just looking for something to wind down to, this is a pretty fitting album that does that but I would say there's a little more to it than that if you listen carefully.

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Corea - Los peores 7 peores Km de mi vida (2004)

Genre: Screamo, Post Rock
Country: Spain

In all honesty, the whole screamo/post rock hardly does anything for me anymore. Only a few bands out there are able to capture the same spirit and vibe of earlier screamo and balance it out with emotive post rock. Every other band starts to sound like watered down post rock coupled with uninteresting and weak screamo. Corea seems to be the exception to this rule because they're able to really emulate the violent and rough aspect of screamo while being able to add post rock/ambient interludes to provide atmosphere and emotions in a different way. This sounds really rough around the edges so if you really enjoy the more violent side of screamo/post rock, then check this out.

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