Since first delving into the array of styles collectively referred to as “electronic music,” I’ve gone through phases with your usual assortment of non-techno/house/drum’n'bass horseshit — ambient, proper glitched-out IDM, downtempo, electro, electronica, “folktronica” [cough], etc. While I don’t really listen to much in the way of Venetian Snares or Cylob or µ-ziq these days, I still occasionally toss them on and realize full-well why I appreciated them at the time. Furthermore, looking back, I realize that the one common tie for all the shit I still find listenable is some sort of strong melodic presence — and this extends itself way outside of “electronic music,” and isn’t even necessarily always a requirement, mind you, but it is ultimately a commonality.

One of the things that I appreciate so much about “electronic music” (please continue enjoy my ridiculous abuse of quotation, thank you) is its profusion. A lot of artists are goddamned prolific and expound maniacal discographies and publish under pseudonyms and with collaborators. It’s also one of the things that I hate about “electronic music,” given the over-abundance of samey shit, which even at times has its wonderful place (see “anything that sounds exactly like Boards of Canada” [obviously not a bad thing in my eyes, as it certainly has its time and place]). That said, the internet’s fucking amazing and you stumble upon new shit and old shit all the time — dudes releasing music in [insert place here] that literally a couple hundred people, tops, in the entire world are privy to and potentially overly-obsessive about. It’s the same in so many other genres or categorizations of music, of course, but I’m narrowing this to the scope of “electronic music.” Follow me here.

A few years back, my friend Jeff turned me on to a good handful of amazing artists that I’m still drawn to — brilliant pop music, instrumental or otherwise, with beautiful melodies and discernible style. The [now-defunct] Swedish artist Bliss (Henrik Jose) is/was amazing. His EP “Goodbye Brain, Hello Heart” is one of my favorite pieces of mellow, melodic music — and it’s also, as a side note, a precise example of why archive.org doesn’t completely suck. While tons (the bulk) of artists dump bullshit and live shows and other flotsam to the floating mass that is, a considerable amount of great netlabels have been releasing some serious quality shit, including Bliss, for years. So, all of that said, highly recommended across the board. Beautiful, beautiful stuff!

Download Links:

• “Goodbye Brain, Hello Heart” EP on Archive.org
• “It’s Not The Sweetness..” EP on Archive.org
• Henrik Jose / Current and Past Music

Like a lot of folks, I’m an avid listener of music. A few years back, my then-co-worker, still friend Chris and I had a conversation that more-or-less started with The Byrds (a band sadly overlooked by a great deal of my generation, most likely due to the historically great but tremendously overplayed “Turn, Turn, Turn! [To Everything There Is A Season]“) and ended-up touching on several other bands and genres, as it so often does. We were both immense fans of the quintessential San Diego instrumental band Tristeza, especially “Dream Signals In Full Circles,” “Spine and Sensory,” etc., which inextricably came up in conversation via the keywords “psychedelic” and “melodic.” Chris then said, “What about Languis?”

I’d never heard them in any of their various line-ups and sonic configurations, so my first introduction to the “Other Desert Cities” EP was completely blind. First listen, I was hooked — it was like the psychedelic tambourine jangle of The Byrds mixed with the shoegaze sound I’m so often drawn to. For an EP, it’s a truncated but complete idea — it starts strong and meanders through a beautiful wash of dense pop melodies, leaving you simultaneously satiated and yearning. Personal highlights include “I Forgot, I Forgot” and “City of Lights.” Highly recommended. Beautiful psychedelic, melodic music.

Languis “Other Desert Cities” EP on iTunes
Languis “Times Are Changing” Video on YouTube