Husky Rescue – Ship of Light

February 13th, 2010  |  by jason grishkoff  |  published in alternative, female vocalists, folktronica, trip hop  |  1 comment

ased out of Helsinki, Finland, the five-piece group fuses alternative with trip hop, ultimately producing a pop sound reminiscent of Emiliana Torrini or a down-tempo Metric. The result is perfectly fitting for the terribly gloomy, winter weather that has gripped Washington, D.C. for the last few weeks. Ship of Light is their third release, following a reasonable amount of success with their sophomore release on Catskill, Ghost is Not Real.

Emancipator – Safe in the Steep Cliffs

February 1st, 2010  |  by jason grishkoff  |  published in ambient, instrumental, house, trip hop

Chill out. Seriously. Put those legs up, get a cup of warm tea, and melt to the sounds of Emancipator’s new album, Safe in the Steep Cliffs. You will be greeted by “dense layers of choirs, horns, American folk instruments such as the banjo and mandolin, violin and some distinct Asian influences make for a playful but refined album built out of intricate tracks listeners can enjoy on as many levels as they want. Dance to it, chill out to it, immerse your mind in it. It really doesn’t matter.”

Toe – For Long Tomorrow

December 14th, 2009  |  by jason grishkoff  |  published in instrumental, house, math-rock, trip hop  |  1 comment

Formed in 2000, Toe is often lumped into the post-rock genre, though it is probably more appropriate to call them math-rock/instrumental (with occasional singing). While their sound is often melancholic and guitar-driven, the true beauty can be found in the frantically tight drumming of Kashikura Takashi, whose unpredictable beats seamlessly tie together the acoustically pleasing arrangements throughout this, their first release in three years.

Prefuse 73 – Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian

December 1st, 2009  |  by jason grishkoff  |  published in electronic, instrumental, house, trip hop  |  1 comment

When I initially saw that this album had 29(!!) tracks, I was a little taken back. Turns out (unsurprisingly), that the majority of those tracks don’t pass the 1 minute length, with the whole work clocking in at just under 50 minutes. While that means that there is an intense amount of variety throughout this album, it all flows so smoothly that in many instances, the short bursts could be combined into one song.

Emiliana Torrini – Me and Armini

November 26th, 2009  |  by jason grishkoff  |  published in alternative, female vocalists, folktronica, trip hop  |  1 comment

An Icelandic female-vocalist doing something along the lines of a folk, downtempo Zero 7. You interested yet? Hell, just hit the play button to listen to Jungle Drum. Better yet, try out the second song I’ve got listed below, as that truly showcases the trip hop feel featured in much of this album. Me and Armini is Emilíana Torrini’s seventh full-length album, released in September 2008.