The recently released EP from Ummagma, Frequency, has been included in 30+ “Best of 2015” charts. Ummagma’s sound is reminiscent of 4AD early output with hues of Cocteau Twins, David Sylvian, Mike Oldfield, Vangelis and Stereolab.

Ummagma is a duo comprised of Shauna McLarnon and Alexander Kretov, hailing from Whitehorse, Canada and Kremenets, Ukraine respectively. Having first met in the centre of Moscow, they moved to Ukraine during the Orange Revolution but now call Peterborough, Canada home.

Frequency is the keenly anticipated follow up to their two debut LPs Ummagma and Antigravity released simultaneously in 2012. The album takes the listener through a cosmic yet introspective dreampop and ambient journey, tinged with shoegaze and synthpop flair. The album features five original tracks, as well as three remixes of “Lama” by several legendary artists, including Cocteau Twins, kingpin, Robin Guthrie and Malcolm Holmes. You may watch the official music video for “Lama” via YouTube.

Frequency is out now via Moon Sounds Records. You may also stream Ummagma tracks and full albums via bandcamp and soundcloud.

“Lama” by Ummagma

Colorado-based progressive shoegazers A Shoreline Dream have released the single “Time is a Machine Gun” from their forthcoming album, slated for release later this year. You can stream the track on Bandcamp.

This will follow the band’s fourth full-length The Silent Sunrise, which received critical acclaim. A Shoreline Dream is Ryan Policky (vocals, guitar, keys, samples) and Erik Jeffries (guitar).

The sound from A Shoreline Dream combines lush sampled textures, organic instrumentation, and vocals layered like a synth, similar in vein to bands such as Ride and Sigur Rós, while the production style is closer to early Dead Can Dance.

Over the past 8 years, A Shoreline Dream has churned out numerous releases under their own label (Latenight Weeknight Records), and have a working history with legends Ulrich Schnauss and Mark Kramer. More recently, they landed distribution by one of the top UK indie labels (Rocket Girl Records) for a song written while visiting Ulrich Schnauss in Leytonstone.

“Time is a Machine Gun” by A Shoreline Dream

Despite the fact that celebrated shoegaze pioneers RIDE are in the midst of their world tour, you can now hear the sweet vocals and guitar of frontman Mark Gardener on the latest single from Pure Phase Ensemble 4. “Morning Rise” is the first single from the album Live at SpaceFest, the first long-player featuring Gardener to have been released since the 90s.

Pure Phase Ensemble is an international music collective, created especially for the SpaceFest festival in Gdansk, which takes place annually and is organised by the Nasiono Association. The city of Gdansk plays host to this blossoming music festival each year in the first week of December. During the latest SpaceFest, Mark Gardener, who also recently released an LP with Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins), occupied this seat of honor. Past participants include Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab), Chris Olley (Six By Seven), Steve Hewitt (ex Placebo), and Jaime Harding (Marion).

Live at SpaceFest is currently available on bandcamp, itunes and spotify and the CD is also available on the Nasiono Records website.

“Morning Rise” by Pure Phase

Appealing to both indie-alternative and synth-pop electronica sensibilities, the intriguing Dream-Wave duo Lunar Twin has created some beautiful deep and dark original tracks.

An international bouquet of re-mixers have re-imagined the track “Champagne” according to their own worldview. Ummagma and Mushrooms Project maintain the original indie alternative vibe in their remixes. Statickman offers up some synthpop bliss, while Woolfy and Go Satta offer the dance ticket. Japan’s celebrated Red Bull artist, Haioka, presents an epic chillout splendour. Finally, Romin takes us into a dark underbelly of downtempo.

The band’s self-titled debut EP was released via Emerald & Doreen Recordings on June 5. Tracks are available for streaming or purchase via Soundcloud and Bandcamp.

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“Champagne” by Haioka (remix of Lunar Twin)

New York City-based psychedelic dream-pop band Malka released their debut EP, The Constant State on March 2. Recorded at both APT Studio (NYC) and Elohino studio (NJ), mixed by Darko Saric, and mastered at 825 Studios by Grammy Award-winning engineer Butch Jones, The Constant State takes listeners on a genre-melding journey, ebbing and flowing through the realms of dream-pop, post-rock, nugaze, and psychedelic rock.

The band is Darko Saric (guitars, synths and vocals), Mike Dawson (drums), EJ DeCoske (guitars, synths and vocals) and David Ciauro (bass and vocals). Their music is a reflection of the triumph and tragedy of the world. The vocal melodies assume an instrumental form and transcend language, adding transparency to bilingual Spanish-English lyrics shared between three lead vocalists.

Have a listen below to the track “Wolves And Sheep” from the recent release. In addition, Malka is offering YOU a free download of their previous single “Mirame” via NoiseTrade.

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“Wolves And Sheep” by Malka