Attempting to recreate the golden yesterdays of Jose Padilla’s White Isle sunsets with the tunes of today…
Nordso & Theill / Krystal Reflection / Music For Dreams
Trailering albums far in advance with digital “teaser” singles is most definitely the way these days, and in keeping with this Music For Dreams have given us a taste of Nordso & Theill’s forthcoming, as yet untitled, fourth LP. The new cut is called Krystal Reflection, and it’s, unsurprisingly, a masterclass in tabla and guitar. The track is both classic “Balearic” – as in Jose Padilla may well have played it – and the kind of sophisticated “chilled” listening that deserves to cross over to much larger audience. A beautiful Spanish and North African sunset blues, it’s underscored by haunting harmonica. I know that I’ve said this before, several times, but this sound, for me, is totally cinematic, and hugely nostalgic. It has me flashing back to all the romantic art house movies I watched during the `80s and early `90s.
Rat Heart / Picky Eater / Modern Love
Tom Boogizm has fine 45 out on Modern Love under his Rat Heart alias. The A-side, U Can See Alex Park From Ere, is chunk of chopped and screwed cough syrup blues. With wicked axe licks and wailing sax, it’s a dubbed-out R&B deconstruction, like the work of 4AD’s Inc. extrapolated to the nth. An ambient atmosphere of Purple Rain power chords. The real prize though is the flip, Picky Eater’s flamenco flourishes. Something about the song slowly creeps up and surrounds you. Perhaps it’s the omnipresent bottom-end boom.
Caoilfhionn Rose / Rainfall / Gondwana
Mancunian singer / songwriter Caoilfhionn Rose promos her forthcoming album, Constellation, with a couple of carefully crafted singles. Rainfall finds sparse piano – provided by John Ellis – ex of The Cinematic Orchestra – accompanying her enchanting, ethereal exclamations. Caoilfhionn’s wordless reveries occasionally resembling the song of a pedal steel guitar, and lending the gossamer groove a country-fied edge. The piece is further coloured by Aaron Wood’s ambient electronics, some 6-string picking, plus Alan Taylor’s brushed snares and cymbals. Fall Into Place boasts bigger, bolder keys, Jordan Smart’s sax, and stronger syncopation. Synths create a gentle tinkling, twinkling, effect, and there’s a little of Lana Del Rey in Caoilfhionn’s vocal. Both tracks map a soulful space somewhere between folk and jazz.
Sarah/Shaun / It’s True What They Say / Hobbes Music
Edinburgh duo Sarah/Shaun have signed four songs to local label Hobbes Music. The pieces all mix machines and treated six-string techniques. Starbed is folky, flavoured by pedal steel, cello, and brass. Dust Tears, in stark contrast, is a mini synth-pop rave epic. Part Bicep. Part Human League. Keep Your Eyes Closed opens with organ drones, slow, but smashing drums, and big, big bass notes. With auto-tuned harmonies and tremolo’d twang it summons a mood that’s romantic, but also dark and potentially doomed – like David Lynch’s Twin Peaks meets Cliff Martinez’s Drive score. My pick though is It’s True What They Say, whose interwoven jangle and picking recalls New Order’s more introspective moments (Love Vigilantes, Love Less… ). Drums crashing, cathartic. Guitar raising dramatic arcs. Its chorus a rush, like a reprise of Pains Of Being Pure Of Heart’s Higher Than The Stars.
Bruno Takeda / Pilykah / Asama Records
Nagano-raised, and Hokkaido-based multi-instrumentalist Yuta Bruno Nakayama aka Bruno Takeda has released a debut track, via Asama Records. Pilykah is a brilliant, Mark Barrott-esque blend of subtle electronics, live percussion, and gentle guitar overdubs. Vibe-wise it manages to blur the disparate lines between the mellower end of Brazilian Tropicalia and the kankyo ongaku of a Japanese Zen garden. Balancing campfire strum and Spanish touches with a dream-like calm.
For more super chilled stuff that was released this month please check the previously posted reviews of the following:
MORTAL / EXCERPTS FROM DECO / SUNNY CRYPT
ROEDELIUS & ARNOLD KASAR / ZENSIBILITY / 7K!
SISTERLOVE / THE HYPNOTIST / SOUND MIGRATION
Ban Ban Ton Ton 