Singled Out - musical revolutions of the 45 kind……
Seeland ‘library’ (loaf). How on earth could we resist this? Arriving through the letter box just this morn and immediately finding its way onto our hi-fi for a spot of intensively enacted listening examination. Ticks all the boxes we’re happy to say. Lifted from their imminent debut full length ’tomorrow today’ due to enter orbital tracking sometime next Spring and last found delicately decorating their allotted groove space on that rather fine ‘binary oppositions’ compilation put out by those rather nice tuneful chaps over at Static Caravan, Seeland feature the combined talents of Tim ‘Broadcast’ and Billy ‘Plone’ who as you all know from your record collections were leading lights of the Birmingham electronic collective so fondly loved by the late 90’s junior school and long trouser wearing Warp label. According to the press release ’library’ was intended to ‘emulate Delia Derbyshire’ but ended up going off road somewhere along the line to end up sounding like ’a Scott Walker track produced by the late Conny Plank’. A good call it has to be said once of course you get passed the over arching desire to start humming ’Bankrobber’ by the Clash during the more resonantly regaling moments, that aside its all sumptuously crafted with a delectable cosmically hymnal glow and sweetly caressed with softly smoked traces of West Coast lilts all decoratively paraded by wily willowy washes of star glazed sugar tipped demurring bliss currents primed we suspect to bask you longingly with a strange fuzzy feeling the type of which you get from reclining in front of a open rustic log fire while the pitter patter of snow flurries serenade the night sky outside. Of course as is always the case with these releases it pales against the snow tipped homely elegance of the ethereal and fragile ’call the incredible’ which you‘ll find over on the flip (or as our copy prefers to call it ’call the increadible’ - future collectors item anyone?). In all honesty we’ve scarcely heard anything as enchantingly and hypnotically entranced since we first clapped ears on the Earlies all those years back, a gorgeously murmuring cosmically posted love note replete with crystalline curvatures and spectral charms that weave and woo their demurring love bowed chimes amid orbiting Catherine wheel spirals themselves inscribed daintily atop frosted glazes of glassy ceremonial celestial fanfares - disquietingly Christmassy in feel but perfect with it. Single of the missive. www.l-o-a-f.com
http://www.myspace.com/paleday - we’ll admit that we had issues about mentioning this in these dispatches mainly for the fact that we didn’t want to open ourselves up to getting requests from disco divas and flash in the pan girl / boy bands who in recent years have made day time radio such an unwarranted endurance that we here prefer exacting bouts of self harm upon our persons rather than put up with listening to carbon copy conveyor belt commercial excruciations manufactured in the name of pop. However we will make an exception on this occasion mainly because London six piece Pale Day sound so bloody chirpy and despite their faux 70’s disco decorated ditties have in some small part lifted our mood on what is becoming a very dull, bleak and miserable Monday morning. Okay we’ve split this mention into three key parts - 1. Complaints - Pale Day don’t push the envelope and sound so saccharine that we suspect anything upwards of three plays on the trot may well make your teeth fall out. 2. Proviso - those of you who consider blissing out in front of the goggle box watching ’Saturday Night Fever’ decked out in luminous shirts with colours so wide you could be in with a shout of hosting your own international run way to be an dream evening whilst fondly reminiscing of the days of mirror balls, Studio 54, Tavares, Baccara, Sylvester, Look In, multi coloured swap shop, TR7’s, sherbet fountains, budgie jackets and spangles then enter without fear or recrimination. As to the rest - approach with due care. 3. Effect - there’s a full length currently mooching about in record world entitled ‘love the groove’ from which the four cuts showcased (we assume) here have been culled. Indelibly geared and crafted with a 70’s retro glaze of that there’s no refuting, Pale Day are very much primed with an optimistic feel good vibe, the sounds deftly scribed in all manner of Chic-esque disco funk struts dappled by slinky string swathes, dinky electro swirls and informed indelibly by a multi-lingual club floor appeal that’s neatly framed with a toe tapping and hip shimmying suave and sophistication that fans of Shakatak and Shalamar may well find damn near impossible to leave alone especially when confronted with ’dancing by myself’ while the Vision X Asia Inf re-drill of ’Eurotramp’ the best thing here incidentally may just set the dance floor near you to toast as it devilishly flashes its amorphous eyelids and sets the body temperatures to sizzle.
And swiftly moving from a band by the name of Pale Day to an EP entitled ’Pale Day’ - you know I’m just not appreciated me…..
Dead Leaf Echo ‘pale day’ (year of the gallon). One of those rare and strange moments of déjà vu because we happened across a friend request from this lot, so being the lovelies we are we had a quick peak inside to see what was on offer when we happened across ’pale day’. This sounds familiar we thought, a quick scuttle amongst the recently received CD’s confirmed our suspicions as there amid the piles of discs begging for attention was a 6 track CD from - yep you guessed it - Dead Leaf Echo - featuring among its track listing said ’pale day’. No sooner were we blissing out to the treats within then lo and behold we received an email from lead Dead Leaf Echo-er LG enquiring whether said CD had turned up. Now I’m not one for superstition or fate but you have to admit that there’s something uncannily fortuitous about this converging coincidences eh? Okay then maybe not. anyhow their my space page in case you were wondering (and you should be) can be located via
www.myspace.com/deadleafecho - though be mindful because we haven’t a clue what dead leaf echo have done to their site - every time we try to click on one of the links everything disappears and well us not being computer geeks (well not me at least) it becomes frustrating. Aside that wee grumble though the tracks are pretty damn smart though alas it doesn’t give you the option (or at least non that we’ve yet discovered) to shuffle backwards and forwards rather more forcing you to sit through the individual tracks in their entirety which in all fairness is no bad thing. Just put our complaining down to a miserable dose of grumpiness. Anyhow to the important stuff - Dead Leaf Echo are a New York based quartet (though strangely there are only three of them in the publicity snaps), they craft lushly layered spangle weaving arcs of sumptuously mellowing dream pop which instantly recall the likes of fellow native New Yorkers Autodrone and Asobi Seksu as well as Philadelphia’s Tulip mania (the latter being particularly tailgated on the caressingly amorphous ‘cry the sea‘ where the And Also the Trees meets Mission like silkiness are dappled with ‘Meat is Murder‘ era Marr-esque riff halos) - good company to be in I’m sure you’ll agree. As previously mentioned the CD featuring 6 cuts is a strictly limited affair - just 200 hand numbered copies of these babies kicking around (ours in case you were wondering is #143 - so you better get your skates on if you want one of these before they disappear). While there will be some who’ll immediately pin the shoegaze tag on Dead Leaf Echo’s tail we’d like to think that there is something less narrowed and a more readily connecting mindset with the classic mid 80’s era 4AD catalogue, the sophisticatedly drawn shadowy tonalities impressing a distinct reverberating chamber like spellbinding goth appeal that initially recalls Dead Can Dance though scratch a little deeper and between the delicate fusion of the quietly graceful spectral intones of ’thought talk’ a softly glazed psyche treated dialect of prog sweetly stirs to the surface that recalls the slick and intricate artistry of ’coterie’ era Levitation albeit assuming a sublimely subdued radiance to their bow. And that’s the peculiar attraction about Dead Leaf Echo that makes ’pale fire’ such a treat, its high calibre dream pop of that there’s no refute yet, it seems this lot are savvy enough to keep their options open and mould, evolve and relocate their sound at will and in so doing bending the formula to avoid being pigeonholed. Of course the appearance of Ulrich Schnauss at the controls for ’pale day’ immediately alerts the more in tune among you that elements of the Cocteau Twins / Robin Guthrie are going to be present and you will not be left disappointed, this bliss driven slice of ethereal elegance delicately weaves its heart tugging mysterious aura endowing your listening space with an arresting star staring cortege of gloriously lulling arcs of chiming majesty that to these ears sounds not unlike a melting cathedral-esque adorned My Bloody Valentine shimmying with Ecstasy of St Teresa leaving the near perfect hush departure of the spectral glow of ’reflex motion’ to serenely serenade you in all manner of stratospheric pirouettes as though crafted by some chemically reactive solutions brought about by a pairing of Levitation and a ’on the Sunday of life’ era Porcupine Tree. A bit of a gem if you ask me. www.deadleafechonyc.com
http://www.myspace.com/brtet - indeed we’ve mentioned ‘the Nutcracker Suite Electronique’ previously - an absolute bonkers though annoyingly infectious electronic re-reading of Tchaikovsky’s most celebrated work . If truth be told I was much in awe of the enchanted cascades of the equally alluring and eerie ’sugar plum fairy’ as a child being that our junior school teacher was a member of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and would often drag us kicking and screaming to this awe inspiring place of wonder to witness various recitals. And so to Brete - it seems he took his fondness of said track to something of life’s obsession to craft this sumptuous carnival of sound in the style it must be said of old school prog generals Yes, VdGG and ELP - but don’t let that spoil the fun, apparently this re-drilled suite is breaking download records all over the shop and one suspects without the need or a full time army of major label paid friend requesting spammers operating in the background. Good old word of mouth as we used to call it in the dark days of a pre digital past - oh yea there’s a particularly rampant version of the Beatles ’Birthday’ on here somewhere….
So here’s the brand new video for ’wasp flight’ - remember annoyingly infectious - consider yourself warned….
http://www.myspace.com/unchartedaudio - mooching about in similar electro climes as the much loved Smallfish, U-Cover and Boltfish imprints (who’ve gone strangely quiet of late unless - as is more likely the case - we’ve fallen off their mailing list) and featuring in the last singled out missive courtesy of a rather dashing and ultra limited 10 inch release featuring Cyan 341 are London based imprint Unchartered Audio whose head honcho Russ kindly emailed a promo pack of the latest UA release - a full length by Octavcat entitled ‘hard as snails’ - again no doubt criminally scarce in nature and pressed up on scrumptious blue vinyl (hell we’ll be wanting one of those) - those wanting to hear samples of which can do yourself a favour by clicking on the following link http://www.junodownload.com/products/1363224-02.htm (’Autumn‘ incidentally is quite gorgeous) - anyhow you can expect a glowing review in these pages (somewhere) in a few days (that’s assuming we don’t forget we have it as a download - blimey they always get overlooked). Anyway by way of a taster you can sample the delights of the tranquil ’Blaenwern’ - lushly crafted crunchy crackly squelchy electro pop tenderly dappled with longing lounge mirages and a kind of refined spectral grace that suggests much pouring over old Plaid records - sophisticated, slick and best appreciated for optimal super chilled impact with the lights lowered…..
The promo vid for Octavcat’s ‘hard as snails’ goes a lot like this…..
The Things ‘set me free’ (psycho sound). buggering hell we know for a fact that we fondly regaled the joys of this lots last 7 inch entitled the ‘tiger’ EP, can we find a reference for the blighter - can we hell as like. Anyhow I seem to remember it having us bopping an a pogo-ing like bad ’uns around the tormented turntable. Well the Things - who in case you didn’t know are quartet hailing from Dublin, promised to send some samples of their back catalogue - the days passed into weeks, the weeks into months and soon we gave up on said releases ever turning up - slighted by this we fashioned dolls in their likeness (Giant Paw take heed you are next - we‘re just looking for extra big f**king pins!) and proceeded to invite neighbours and passing strangers to jab said dolls with pins thus ensuring our crushed and diabolically demented feelings where satiated. And then one day there arrived out of the blue this delightfully damaged twin set of nuggets. Culled from a forthcoming full length entitled ’Some Kind of Kick’ the retro garage styled freak beat grooved mayhem that is ‘set me free‘ is a rampant fuzz laden mother of a cut that sounds for all the world like its been recently revived from a forty year deep sleep in some disused Detroit warehouse, laced with lysergic tipped swirling organs and pinned with more struts and blistered soul blues riffage than you can shake a big stick at this squalling bad assed slab of raucous rawk ‘n’ roll sounds like a wired Nomads having the crap kicked out of them by the Mummies - riotous stuff. Mind you it’s the lip curling strut festooned blistered boogie of ’make you cry’ over on the flip that has been getting all the admiring stares from our well tuned turntable of late, a primitive swamp exhumed accident waiting to happen ‘make her cry’ is one road killing mooching bastard of a cut; wired, primal and sounding for all the world like it was recorded in a battered boot of a 50’s Cadillac Fleetwood, sumptuously gridlocked and welded with a potently rumbling Bryan Gregory era Cramps undercarriage, serviced under the hood with a hot wired turbo charged Reverend Horton Heat engine, sprayed and chromed by the Godfathers and Fatima Mansions while from the radio bellows the distant echoes of an Elvis gone real bad. Absolutely recommended. www.myspace.com/thethings
http://www.myspace.com/toykult - came via a friend request and a bloody good job to because we suspect we’d have never have found their site in a million Sundays, toykult hail from Montreal and according to the site are a duo Henri and Tommi - though a press kit elsewhere here suggests it’s the one man enterprise of a certain Tom Hamlyn. To date there’s been a self released full length that we’ll have to endeavour to nail as our own entitled ’sow loco’ as well as an appearance on a pretty nifty looking Some Bizarre compilation which to much grumbles appears to have dipped beneath our radar. Anyhow self described as cyberpunk psychedelica - you know I think he could be on to something given he had us recalling first and foremost the much missed Freed Unit especially on the Donovan inspired ‘hurdy gurdy man’ like trippyness of ‘chinwaggin shit’ with its hazily glazed lysergic touches and mind warping woozy follies while the ridiculously brief ’apocalyptic man’ provides further excuses for the flipping of wigs as does the devilishly catchy skewed pop goo of the freakily kooky Zappa-esque ‘enfantin’ with its bliss driven and wasted hip hugging soft psyche struts. Think we need to hear more and soon-ish.
http://www.myspace.com/blacktzar - getting a mention two missives on the bounce - think that means we like them - sadly they won’t be able make it three on trot not unless they can shake their arses big time and persuade the filthy little angels crew to quickly adopt them because as you know (or maybe you didn’t) the next missive is being commandeered by Woo and Co well not commandeered as such more invaded by their latest batch of killer releases. Anyhow back to Black Tzar - a brief recap - black tzar feature ex members of Salon Boris the electro beat pop combo who delivered the near untouchable ‘bride of boris’ single a year or three ago. Anyway sadly Salon Boris recently called it a day with Paul and Tom relocating to Black Tzar and holing up in a studio laying down tracks for what will be their debut full length platter of which ‘true’ was mentioned last time out to much fondness. ‘blood runs cold’ is the latest posting and bugger us if it doesn’t sound like a super chilled Ian Bunnymen Mac fronting New Order - not a lot more we can say I think the description says it all - aw hell bollocks ya twisted me arm - how about slinky - smoked - spectral - seductive and very much swoon like. Think we covered all bases there.
Ralph Myerz ‘my darling’ (Beatservice). Okay we’ll open by saying that this isn’t our normal cup of tea but then that doesn’t stop us from being able to spot an alluring sweetie when it comes into our path. Per the attached press release this outing serves as a taster for a forthcoming solo full length entitled ‘Ralphorama’ from Norwegian based musician Ralph Myerz who aside being previously unknown to us is currently taking a sabbatical from his role within the Jack Herren Band - again another ensemble who to date appear to have flown beneath our ever attentive radar and a band who it seems have had a few releases no doubt decorating attentive and in tuned listening spaces via the esteemed Emperor Norton imprint. ‘my darling’ features a positive plethora of remixes - seven in total in case you were wondering with the lead cut the obvious treat of the pack. Employing the collaborative talents of up and coming hip hop producer Pee We and featuring the delicately demurring and sultry vocal tonalities of Christine Sandtorv of Emphemera - think Minnie Ripperton fused with Hafdis Huld, ‘my darling’ is a sumptuously laid back affair, slender and sophisticated and drilled with a smoking sophistication that weaves a deliciously crafted nocturnal soul murmur flavoured by a tightly wound jazz sensibility and brimming with pop amour all longingly chilled to a divine like mellowness that’s tenderly fractured and scratched by tripping beats - file under seductive pop. leca’s ‘5th floor magicmixxx’ of the same track is armed and adorned with a tempting spectral aura and wrapped in frosted lunatic climes which endows it with a stately aspect while ‘phil corda’s cheap funcoatfest’ applies some impishly strange kitschy 70’s disco accents to his re-drill in fact so 70’s you keep half expecting the grooves to morph into a nightmarish medallion festooned flares and kipper tie wearing dude before your very eyes. Kahuun stumps up some niftily oblique leftfield electro minimalism on his mutant funk laced re-mix while Mr Myerz - we’re assuming the club floor tantalising techno ambi sheen of the spacey ‘ralphz 4am eternal hidden message dub’ is his work - very Yello if you ask me. Elsewhere Doc L Jnr gets the pulses amped with some devilishly grooved shape shifting mind arranging funked up house vibes leaving Rune Lindbaek to stump up the sets best recalibration with some super chilled lights out reclining dream weaving psychotropic sophistication that’s sure to find itself smooching across the most informed uber cool club floors. www.myspace.com/theshakes4ever
http://www.myspace.com/bnssessions - already responsible for causing a sizeable buzz around these parts for releasing that absolutely stunning double seven inch debut from Werewolves entitled ‘ES’ from which you’ll find ‘nosebleeding girl’ being showcased here (though we suggest you head to the bands my space page - see next link and check out the bliss out beauty of the jaw dropping ‘pillbox’). As though that weren’t enough these New York based types then went and dropped the stunning debut full length by Fun Machine entitled ‘Sonnen Huhn’ on us which we must admit had a hollering and a whooping when it first invaded our hi-fi. This is indeed was the imprint for whom we could find absolutely bugger all about when we first reviewed the Werewolves debut many moons ago - seems they like to shyly remain in the shadows casting the odd sizeable stone into pop’s waters. Anyway it also appears that they’ve been busy sneaking out releases like no ones business - sadly all so far escaping our fond obsessive attention. So for your discerning appreciation here you’ll find showcased a few gems from their small but select roster. Connecticut based quartet the Gutz have already availed themselves of a single and an album to much quiet acclaim, ‘repossession boogie’ applies the same crisply dynamic new wave pop saturated sensibilities as the much loved New York combo Ambulance LTD, this babe setting itself up for a spot of nimble toe tapping action braided as it is by maddeningly catchy white funk riff shimmies and a sophisticated soul blues presence which in another parallel universe may well be the kind of off road slick boogie being kicked out by the Stones. Those in need of their daily intake of bliss driven astral pop need not stray far from the sounds of Thunder Kids, no information on these dudes alas except that they hail from New Jersey and that ‘red ferns grow like…’ - the featured cut here - is a sublime orbiting odyssey of spectral pines, lullaby-esque lilts, lysergic tipped fuzzy halos and sultry brass fan-faring inclines - from what we’ve heard the best retro psych trip we’ve had the pleasure of having the listening room go all woozy for since that rather exceptional debut full length by the Crystal Sun - need we say more - somehow I think not - anyway there’s a full length entitled ‘never forget you are surrounded by ghosts’ snuggled up somewhere amid the night-time patchwork quilt of twinkle some stars. Brazilian duo the Soundscapes do a neat line in radio rogering strut happy upbeat and sunshine radiating power pop with the ‘son of the future’ freewheeling splendidly amid subtle elements of Velvet Crush and the Go Betweens. We here must admit to being rather smitten by the delicately frail sounds of Na Mes and Fa Ces ’the coming of ages’ - again no information available as to who, what or where about these dudes, that said this momentary slice of hushly drawn outer worldly mountain sourced pastoral tinged hymnal pop will have you much beguiled, enchanted and reaching for your stash of early Low, Elliott Smith and Death Cab Cutie releases which as you can imagine is no bad thing. Annoyingly no information I’m sad to say about Soft Black who are catered for by the inclusion of ’the earth is black’ which unless our ears do deceive sounds like its been Xeroxed and posted straight out of the late 70’s - best filed next to your prized stash of Modern Lovers and Wreckless Eric sounds - did we say it was well smart - no - ah its well smart - there you go. Last up Gunfight - we won’t even bother complaining about the lack of information on this lot - bugger just did, anyway ’Vaccine’ is a bourbon soaked beauty packing slices of early 70’s retro grinds, a kinda of cow punk vibe and a gem like off kilter looseness that unless our ears do seriously deceive sounds like the Violent Femmes in a face off with Lard and Mojo Nixon with Pavement refereeing - yep that good.
http://www.myspace.com/amsterdam - we’re thinking you need to get this into your life before you get any older, if ’ES’ was as stunning a debut as we’ve heard in many a moon then the follow up ’Fire’ / ’Water’ suggests to me that someone somewhere should round about now be taking serious notes about these dudes and getting them the exposure and acclaim they so richly deserve. We’ll give a brief mention to this at this point while we go and pester Cargo for a hard copy with which to give a much deserved (and no doubt) Single of the Missive thumbs up to in a future Singled Out. This lot frankly piss on everything daring to pass off their wares as psych / space pop and bliss groove, this baby when it finally gets released will be limited to just 400 coloured wax copies with plans afoot for an extended digital 12 inch promised to arrive before Christmas. ’Fire’ is the best thing we’ve heard here since fellow New Yorker Cheval Sombre dropped those three humungous hallucinogenic turntable tabs on us via Trensmat and Static Caravan, this Velveteen babe blends elements of the bliss driven narcotic pop of Spacemen 3 with the looping mind warping tranced out vibes of the Silver Apples and Suicide and crafts out of the combined psyche tapestry a wiring fuzz fuelled hypnotic toxic cosmic freak out. ’Water’ over on the flip - in our humbled opinion edging it in the best track voting - a serenely basked six minute slice of twinkling mind expanding transience delicately pepper corned with murmuring riff apparitions, controlled white noise collages and speckled with nimble noir like daydreaming overtures - a super chilled Sonic Boom meets Phillip Glass if you must have a comparison. Goes without saying all good record collections deserve it.
And talking of Cheval Sombre - word has been filtering through from Christopher that he’s currently busy gathering together tracks that will at some stage emerge as a much anticipated debut full length - you can check out his my space page at www.myspace.com/chevalsombre for a peak at few newly uploaded tracks one of which ’hyacinth house’ we’ve posted on our main page….
http://www.myspace.com/therealzombiezombie - took literally 10 seconds for the sounds of ’dog walker’ to have us succumbing to the charms of Paris based duo Zombie Zombie dappled as it is by strangely woven cosmic drifts that to these ears had us imagining a hypnotically seductive floor prowling Suicide being romanced and recalibrated by the mid 70’s mindset of Giorgio Moroder whilst between the grooves the fleeting filtering of ’some velvet morning’ essences and a subtle seasoning of prog psyche overlords Zombi (though a better example of their apparently shared fondness for Goblin can be found via ‘walk of the dead’) - ripe for dance hall damage unless we’re pretty much mistake. Apparently these dudes are obsessed with horror and John Carpenter the latter evidenced no more so than on the KLF inspired titling of ’driving this road to death’ wherein it seems an cross mutation of Air’s ’Sexy Boy’ and ’Kelly watch the stars’ is dutifully sent to the effects shredder and onto a place that shall not be named (and no its not Wigan). Then there’s a superbly icy and hollowed industrial / death disco destined version of Iggy Pop’s ’Nightclubbing’ - again the reference points being principally Suicide (again) mainly for the sparse tonalities and the vocal yelps, mind you it does stray away somewhat from the originals Glitter-esque ’rock ’n’ roll’ overtones while suspiciously sounding like an Americanised Bowie.
Duppy ‘weapon’ (demo). We must admit that packaging alone was enough to catch our eye, most of the time with these self released demo affairs its basically a couple of tracks ripped onto a Woolies CD-r that more often than not requires extreme persuasion in order to play. Sometimes there’ll be a hand written note with a track listing that frankly looks as though it was written in the dark by someone whose introduction to the art of writing was attained via a crash course undertaken not 5 minutes since. And then the postage. Traipsing to the post office sorting office to pay the surcharge because some wit thought it might be a hilarious wheeze to stick a green shield stamp on the front or attempt to draw from memory their own stamp - believe you me it has happened. Not Duppy though. It seems they’ve been reared in that age old craft that dictates that preparation and attention to the smaller details no matter how menial is the guarantee of professionalism and a job well done. And so the CD arrived - professionally pressed housed in a gatefold card sleeve, inside lashings of inserts and not I hasten to add your normal photocopied cuttings - no sir - instead stickers, business cards, gig schedules, photos and a hand written glitter adorned card featuring hand writing that didn’t require the aid of an expert in hieroglyphics. Now at this point I’m thinking - as I assume you would to - where’s the catch - something must be wrong - maybe the actual songs are - well - somewhat failing. And so nervously with that in mind we placed said CD in player and against fading hope expected the worst. How wrong we were. Deptford based trio Duppy it seems occupy a world undeniably informed by the pop sensibilities, culture, glamour, flamboyance, gala and drama of 80’s new romanticism, it’s a world softly toned, re-drilled and recalibrated in the nuances of the current trends of electro pop; chilled, sophisticated and framed with a skewed demurring dance orientated death disco charm that hints at a subtle affinity with the White Rose Movement none more so is the case than on the opening cut ‘weapon’. Freewheeling in the same flight path that imagines the ridiculously catchy and skewed pop perkiness of the Knife summarily tweaked, twisted and tarnished by the scarred austere post punk purr of say - Controller. Controller, ’weapon’ assumes a strangely curdled love / hate push / pull dynamic that’s fashioned with subtle industrial rumbles wooed by flotillas of minimalist electro swathes and rooted and dispatched with a curiously alluring oblique floor throbbing grind. We have to admit to being much fond of ‘loudmouth’ - a priceless slice of austere tipped vintage synth pop that to these ears courts the same kind of frosted and hollowed elegance much present on the mid 80’s roster of 4AD / Situation 2 chiefly the likes of Colourbox and Gene Loves Jezebel though dappled with the feint undertones of AR Kane for added impact. Harnessed with a softly lit nocturnal sheen the rhythms are dislocated and borne of a mutant funk dynamic bleached through with delicate drills of fuzzy struts all longingly haloed by the slick and slender cortege of swirling synth chimes that coalesce to equip it with a hitherto stately presence though scratch a little deeper and the subtle elements of b-movie and the passage loom and lurk just below the surface. Strangely enough though they appear to have opted to leave their best cut off the set, ‘all the time’ which you can hear by redirecting yourself to the bands my space page is cut with a sparse monochromatic chill more readily recognised on records finding their way out of the early 90’s Bristol scene, smoked with an intensely wayward, minimalist and detached bruised soul aura that’s blessed with some unexpected moments of noir jazz inclines and topped off with a vocal that sounds not unlike a seriously wasted and hope fading David Sylvian. Does it for us. Promising stuff. www.myspace.com/duppyband
www.myspace.com/divertingduo - filed under the heading ‘indie / dutch pop / black metal’ (we feel they are toying with us) diverting duo have it must be admitted been catching our ear of late - a duo hailing from Cagliari, Italy who describe themselves and their sound as ‘a silly girl (Sara) and a little boy (Gianmarco), a moony voice, two glowing guitars, some tricks and toys’ - all of which sounds refreshingly cute and depreciating and in our book a step up from the usual ego inflating sycophantic biographical blusters we’ve painfully had to put up with on occasion. They’ve just released their debut full length entitled ‘low bunnies’ which based on these showcasing cuts we suggest you seek out, love until you burst and play until it breaks in two. Edging on the side of affectionately minimalist, opening salvo ‘bunnies’ - spirit wise had us experiencing the feelings that swooned about our head space when we first heard Cocteau Twins’ ’wax and wane’, the Sugarcubes ’birthday’ and the Sundays’ ’can’t be sure’ - a delicate woven slice of spectral beauty set to a basic drum machine backdrop that’s laced with the kind of frail application of slender riffmanship that would give Galaxie 500 the sweats all dutifully blessed with Sara’s unsettlingly divine though apparently non-plussed church like purr - that’ll be church as in pointy shaped building and not the coal mining chanteuse - glad we got that sorted. Judged on hits alone ’recipe’ appears to be leading the way in the great public vote - disarming for the fact that it sounds as though its coming apart at the seams, Sara’s hum drum delivery blending admirably with the almost morosely conceived monochrome key drones, add to that the occasional festooning of bent out of shape twinkling bells cascades and is that a type writer we hear clattering in the back ground - to be filed somewhere between the Breeders and Velvet Underground. You can also sample the same cut re-drilled by Neeva in whose hands a decidedly strange and curious brew emerges replete with halos of skittering beats, monochromatic electronic squiggles and hypno inducing lunatic swathes. All said and done our particular favourite of the bunch is the non album track ’tender light’ - a brooding beauty that mooches about with a haunting folk stricken Spaghetti western like demeanour instilling a deeply spellbinding and intoxicating aura that to these ears sounds like a bruised dust bleached Gallon Drunk shimmying up alongside the Delgados - need we say more.
that’s it for a day or so while we busy ourselves getting ear deep in the latest ear gear from Filthy Little Angels which of course will be the focus of the next missive. As usual updates via www.myspacecom/thesundayexperience where you‘ll find snail mail contact details and loads of other gubbins - email mark@losingtoday.com
Thanks to everyone who’ve made these ramblings possible…take care of yourselves….
