The Madhouse #11 – 20.07.2017

The Madhouse aims to focus on a select group of musicians, bands and acts who dwell in the underground. Showcasing genres such as psychedelica, shoegaze, noise-rock, electronica, lo-fi and alt-pop, this is a portal for new, underground music from the world beyond.

PLYERS – CLEAR

Engaging in both minimalist and maximalist experimentation at once, PLYERS creates remarkable tones and soundscapes. ‘CLEAR’ is both expansive and ambient at the same time—something difficult to achieve but perfected by their contemporaries such as Lawrence English and Norman Westberg. Throughout the LP, there are moments of tension and discomfort, but excellent post-rock, much like this, requires these pragmatic emotions. Post-rock isn’t heavy music, nor is it calming or euphoric—it’s music for all the senses and requires patience. PLYERS’ document of true industrial noise and post-rock on ‘CLEAR’ is masterful and expansive.

JR Green – Technicolour Native

Think Animal Collective’s ‘Sung Tongs’; add a little chemistry from early MGMT and, bang, here we have the marvelous soundscapes of JR Green. Technicolour Native is an embrace of nature—painting greener pastures on the other side of fence with us peeking through the cracks. The track doesn’t rely on nostalgia, more so recalling moments of fragility and gritless folk-pop aimed to sweep and carry away thoughts and passiveness. The duo are entirely transparent with their music—holding no bars back and exposing all with their brand of meditative and explorative indie-folk-psych-pop.

Holy Fuck – Bird Brains

Holy Fuck’s debut, self-titled album of 2005 is still one this generation’s best experimental, noise albums. The Canadian band never stop breaking boundaries—exploring further down the apex of pounding production and noise rock. The four-piece are back with a soon-to-be-released four-track EP titled ‘Bird Brains’ and the title track of said EP is a resolution in Holy Fuck’s hysteria and dynamic gauntlet. Continuing what they do best, Bird Brains is a further reaching extension to the band’s proud ability to create electro-punk without actually using electronics.

Mount Kimbie – Blue Train Lines (feat. King Krule)

The enigmatic producer, Mount Kimbie, is back with a third album arriving later this year—its debut single is a daring push into electronic progression and songwriting thanks to the help of none other than King Krule. Blue Train Lines adds a heightened tension to the duo’s already boundary-pushing production. The track drones and drags along, enabling an idiosyncratic relationship with both Mount Kimbie and King Krule. The singer’s lyrics and vocal ability has always been a selling point to his uniqueness, but his performance on Blue Train Lines is something to be marveled and praised.