Musée Mécanique — Hold This Ghost

It shows how long it's been since I wrote anything on Blogger that they've got a new post editor. Not that exciting really; kind of just WordPad (or TextEdit for you Apple-ites out there). Anyway, this isn't a software blog, so . . .

Another nugget I found at Collector's Records in Guildford, Hold This Ghost is a full-length album from an avant-garde indie-folk quintet from Portland, Oregon. Their place of origin doesn't surprise me in the slightest, as their sound is very reminiscent of that of The Decemberists, only less psychedelic, and more chilled out (harmoniums and glockenspiels rather than drums and electric guitars).

That's not to say it's in better or worse, and indeed it's a very enjoyable album. I especially like the opening track, as it is a rather lovely harmonium- and lo-fi drum machine-driven waltz. Although the rest of the album doesn't keep to that vibe, it is a solid, mellow album. It makes welcoming and non-intrusive background music too, which is fairly rare for this blog, let's face it.

j.r.

Sunday CD Project

Agent Fresco – A Long Time Listening

Icelandic post-rock! Yay!

Yeah, so I wrote that much and then got bored. Really good album if you like that sort of thing. Listen for free at http://agentfresco.bandcamp.com

j.r.

Sunday CD Project

65daysofstatic – Silent Running

65 have finally done a film score. On Friday night I had the pleasure of watching the film with the post-rock four-piece performing their reimagined soundtrack to the 1972 sci-fi epic live. It was an experience, I music say.

The soundtrack on its own is a stunning piece of work; it naturally has a different vibe from 65's previous albums, incorporating themes and motifs for various characters and scenes, yet it still holds on to something that makes it very much "65 doing a soundtrack" rather than "a soundtrack that happens to be by 65."

The release was only on vinyl and digital download, and I believe the vinyls have all gone now (chur, I have one).

The one downside is that there isn't a DVD release of any sort (due to copyright reasons), but I am soon to embark upon a project of lining up the 65 soundtrack with a DVD rip based on notes I took on Friday, so watch this space! In the meantime, go and listen to 65daysofstatic! They're mint.

j.r.

Sunday CD Project

Well, would you look at that! It's today already.

Admiral Fallow – Boots Met My Face

I haven't actually given this album a proper end-to-end listen yet, but it has been serving as background music in our living room in the past week or two, and it is rather lovely. It has a very folk-orientated feel – lots of clarinets and things of a Sufjan Stevens nature – but isn't over-busy or too complex to make it sit nicely in a social situation.

It's well-produced, there are nice vocal harmonies, and the songs are well-written. I can't really give any more indication as the album as a whole, but maybe you should go and find out for yourself . . . !

j.r.

Sunday CD: 2nd October 2011

It's Sunday, and we're going for a blast from the past!

At The Drive-In – Relationship Of Command

It's amazing how much CDs cost; I theorise that the better the music, the more expensive the price tag in HMV. Luckily, I stumbled across this in one of Guildford's indie stores, so it was a bargain at £4.

At The Drive-In, if you're not familiar with their work, were the post-hardcore predecessors to and neo-prog giants The Mars Volta, with guitarist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and vocalist Omar Rodríguez-López retaining their roles after the split. Not that you'd know that the vocalist was the same person! López's vocals in ATDI remain unrefined and cutting, giving the band a raw kick that TMV (although still excellent) have never had.

Nearly every track is a corker in my opinion, but I'll recommend Arcarsenal, Pattern Against User and Enfilade as my high-points on the record.

j.r