Denton, Texas' Annie Culver, aka Chimney Fish, washes up on Rack & Ruin records, with the ethereal, almost spiritual, "Drown, Sailor, Drown!" album.

Using voice as a main instrument must always be a daunting and brave move to make, but Chimney Fish shows no weakness, as her layered, looped, warm tones lull you into her very own world.

Often the words are discernible, blurring together, almost as though an angelic choir has swooped down, and invaded her four track. But, it is this charm which only adds to the whole feel of this album. The words are almost secondary, it is the texture and gel that holds the sounds together, that are the important parts.

Despite most of the fifteen tracks falling short of the two minutes mark, you aren't left feeling as though a story has been left untold. These fifteen tracks are like charming little stories, that reside in the pages of the storybooks you were once read as a child.

To put it simply, this could be music made if Julianna Barwick borrowed Tickley Feathers tape recorder, and went for a weekend away with Bjork and Panda Bear. Essential.

Rack & Ruins latest various collection brings together a grouping of artists with the brief, to create a track which they felt summed up the feelings of sadness, despair, loneliness, depression, anger, betrayal. Without a floppy fringe, or tight jeans in sight!

Hateful and Hollow is primarily an instrumental album, and primarily features artists from the 'ruin' side of the spectrum. Although, it still does offer the likes of The Sea Monsters, which feature Billy Say himself, and their downbeat indie offering, "Thomas". Starting off the disk comes Harold Nono, already becoming a Rack & Ruin favourite, seeing his EP becoming one of the most downloaded on the site. The gorgeous Lightbox shows exactly why their is so much interest in the Edinburgh based musician.

Jory Hasselmann has worked in a number of Canadian bands, and has created some gorgeous cinematic pieces in recent times. "No doubts things just got real" is no exception, it is the albums longest track, weighing in at a meaty 8:22, but it is a real mood setter - and beautifully sums up what this album is all about.

The album also contains tracks from para contra, Dylan Ettinger, Attacking Plaque, pndc, Jessi Lively, dessktop, Your Terrible Daughter, Megazord, and Gnomefoam. Each one sharing in the melancholy. This is not an album for parties, but an album for quiet contemplation.

What is it with R&R experimental drone artists, and their meticulous obsession with round numbers? Megazord seems to love the 60 minute mark, well Billy Say has managed to create two songs, on this single. The opener, is dead on 10 minutes, the b-side, 15 minutes...on the dot.

Fire/Walk with me, is the second release from Billy Say, after his excellent debut, "The Canard Illusion". However these glorious droning waves of sound that are created by Billy Say, are anything but a "prequel", rarely harsh, but more surreal and gripping. You can almost see the cherry stalk.

There is definitely a subtlety and dramatic quality to this release. "The Canard Illusion" is more poppy and bitesized in comparison, which is quite a contradiction, as despite containing many hooks, it was hardly pop music!

One thing that Fire/Walk with me shares with a certain film, that closely resembles it's name, is that this soundscape is cinematic. Whatever you interpret, or gather from this offering, there is one thing for sure - it will resonate with you for some time, urging you to come back for a follow up.

By the way, who did kill Laura Palmer?

What is that feeling you get when you listen to America Del Sur?
Can it be compared to the sun shining on your face during a mild spring day?
Or perhaps its the feeling you get when you when you're jumping out of a 1 story window.
Maybe its the sensation you get after shooting a gun.
Could it possibly be explained by the satisfactory breeze you feel after you turn on the fan?
Is it right to liken it to the rush of adreneline pumping through your body while running through a thick, thorny forest at night, from the cops?
Can one explain it as the feeling one gets when one's dad places his hand on one's shoulder and says, "Son, you've made me proud."
Or maybe, just maybe, it can't be explained.

America Del Sur's self titled offering is all of these things above. It is also the music that plays as you pick up your surfboard and dash to the waves, in thost 1960s beach movies, shot in Technicolor.

Brick like bass through glass// corruptcorruptcorrupt// sound joy = aftersamplelife// fuzzout squirrel core// flame love jumbler// skew tilt alien pop// sand sandpaper shift in swathe and lathe// hammer hit the beats and glit// ches// gnome foam spin like rusty roundabout// the girl in the purple painting.

Asking an artist to describe their own work, can often lead to a fascinating and rewarding insight into what went on whilst the creating process took place. It can also leave you puzzled, and confused as to what it all means. Gnomefoams release notes are like a puzzle, in which the reader (and eventual listener) must piece together, to try and understand what it is all about.

Gnomefoam describes his own form of music as "Cut & Paste", merging and mixing sounds together, and then seemingly snipping out a chunk and sending the track in a completely different direction than you may first expect.

This release will also be available on CDR, with a bonus 2nd disc, entitled "Bonsai Features", more information will appear on Gnomefoams Myspace page, and also I'm sure it will be elsewhere on this site.

Changeling is the first blossoming bud of Elm's musical stalk. Fueled by inspiration harvested in the world famous city of Chicago, but smells like blades of grass, tastes like untouched spring water, and feels like the wind before a thunderstorm. Five tracks rolling of the tongue of Elm's beholder, instrument, and friend. Ready to change once again.

This release is full of acoustic indie charm, strengthened even more by lush vocals, and glorious arrangements. Whether it be the"La la's" in Better Days, or the catchy chorus of Eye to Eye, there will surely be one hook or other that will grasp onto your sensory canal, and refuse to loosen its grip.

Adam Loomis is a storyteller, and these five tracks are a welcome introduction to Elm.

'Soul Tide' is ***'s first full album of original songs. The oldest song on the album is 'Soul Tied', which was first played in June, 2007. The most recent addition to the album is 'Washington,' first played in June, 2008. Environmentally-influenced folk songs come together with psychedelic electronics and poetry in 'Soul Tide.' All music is written by ***. Lyrics are written by Dylan Rogers. Dylan Rogers sings and plays acoustic guitars, synthesizers, melodica and percussion. Mike McConeghy plays guitars, percussion and vocals. Chad Golda plays bass, drums, percussion, electronics and vocals.

With common musical influences, such as the Flaming Lips, Air, Animal Collective and Devendra Banhart merging together, to influence the sound of Ringo Star. The recorded sound is a combination of song-writing and psychedelia, heavily influenced by their environment.

On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay, a U.S. B-29 bomber, drops the first atomic weapon ever used in combat on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Within minutes, the massive blast and the firestorm it produced destroyed most of the city and killed an estimated 70,000 people, a third of Hiroshima's population.

Keep away from heat... release this EP just days prior to the 63rd anniversary. As you would expect with the subject matter, despite only being two tracks long, these two tracks are emotional journeys which, manage to explore some of the sounds in Predrag Nedic' repertoire.

The opening track, the beautiful POS3p /06/08/45/ mix, is a beautiful post-rock slow builder, which builds into a glacial crescendo of sounds, before soothing back to calm. The second, and final track, We survived under the sea, shows Keep away from the heat... at his experimental best. The track takes so many twists and turns, that it would be an injustice to try to use words to describe where this track goes.

Keep away from heat... and his other synonym, pndc, constantly puts out glorious sounds on various labels. This release is no exception.

When Tyson Brinacombe Recived his Sk-1 Keyboard in the mail it was love at first site. Together they would walk around sampling whatever sounds they wished, the world was theirs for the taking. Now you too can be part of this experience combining the
lo-fi sounds of casio with the simple aesthetics of the music from your childhood videogames this should be a treat for anyone anyone into electronic music and those into pop melodies.

As with the other previous releases on Rack & Ruin from Tyson, this release is poppy and upbeat, however this release focuses entirely on the fun fun fun side of his music.Think quick, abrupt snippets that concentrate purely on the joys of the Casio
SK-1.