.redshifts, airborne toxic event, all angels gone, asa chang junray, cinerama, dirty three, eluvium, esmerine, fat cat, fatcat, loscil, m.i.a., mogwai, rose kemp, the twilight sad, wedding present, whitenoisesound

The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters (FatCat)

Perhaps out of all of FatCat's recent releases this is the one that should have hit me instantly, what with the Ladybird style cover, the post rock leaning and the long song titles, yet I struggled for a while but with continued listens I've learnt to fall for these Scottish boys, an accent to add to the Proclaimers and Ballboy, Scottish and proud of it. Each song dripping in resonance and walls of sound, the kind that Oasis thought they had achieved yet they are made to look little more than pebbles in comparison never more so than on the excellent Talking With Fireworks / Here, It Never Snowed, an explosion of guitars reminiscent of Rose Kemps Violence and Mogwai back when they weren't afraid to do the predictable quiet loud quiet loud, lovely triumphant marching drums that most street bands would be proud of. And She Would Darken the Memory conveys the tiresome part of relationships "I've putten up with your constant whine" at the top of his voice and from the bottom of his heart in such a manner that will easily win over Arcade Fire fans. Noise, melody and songs sung from the heart, I don't know why it took me so long, I really don't.
www.myspace.com/thetwilightsad
www.fat-cat.co.uk/
www.myspace.com/fatcatrecords

Joanna Newsom – Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band Ep (Drag City)
I don't suppose you need me to tell you that Miss Joanna Newsom is some kind of genius. What you might need me to tell you is that Y's is, it would seem just a taster of what she has to offer. Here on the ridiculously expensive but almost justifiable (if only due to the quality of music on offer here) 3 track Y's Street Band EP we see a taster of the first new material since the aforementioned Y's if only in the form of one new song and two reworkings.

New track Colleen as showcased at ATP is as beautiful and as remarkable as remembered. I remember on the night I had mixed expectations of something new, so often have a band I loved been picked up by the media and then delivered something ridiculously bad or at least lacking the ingenuity of their early work. Joanna it would seem has no such problem for now, Colleen is outstanding, a true work of genius, an instant classic, timeless and charming, a song that puts what was possibly the most outstanding opening track to an album in sometime, Emily from Y's, into the background, or at least out of the limelight. If anyone had a problem with her voice as on the Milk Eyed Mender then here is a more palatable, less shrill tone to sweep up those curious outsiders, those who take that little extra convincing, those who think more than two colours in an outfit is risky, how can you fail to love Colleen?

Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie from the Milk Eyed Mender & Cosmia from Y's are reworked in a more intimate setting, the latter given a lush new feel, this is a portable Cosmia, Cosmia as played by Joanna and her friends in a room full of friends. Intimate and inventive and more charming for it.

If expectations weren't high enough already for any possible follow up to the landmark Y's then they have just been raised considerably with this release.
www.joannanewsom.co.uk/
www.dragcity.com/bands/newsom.html

I can't stop listening to…God Bless Our Dead Marines by A Silver Mt. Zion…eleven minutes of near perfection, the slow and steady double bass that booms like a death march, a sign of defiance to the impending destruction, the clouds that get blacker and blacker, the wind picking up forming remarkable scenes in the skies, clouds twisting, menacing and full of anger, still we continue with our heads held high as others around quake with fear and terror, holding on for their very lives. We though are not afraid, tired of the threats, the lies, the injustices and the false promises, we will continue to walk straight toward the danger area, people getting sucked up as the rain thrashes down until finally we are inevitably inseparable and as helpless as all those surrounding us…is this the end?

When the piano comes in at 8.05 it hits you that no matter what anyone does, the destruction around you, the wreckage and the disarray, the world is still beautiful and if we pull together, hold hands and sing at the top of our voices from the bottom of our hearts we may perhaps be able to do something, to at least distract ourselves from the terrors that we cannot avoid…just maybe…few songs portray fear, desperation and resolute, unbendable and unyielding faith in something greater, something better, truly a thing of beauty.

www.tra-la-la-band.com/
www.cstrecords.com/bands_silvermtzion.html
download the track here http://www.southern.com/southern/band/ASILV/CST33_audio.php

I can't stop listening to…It's Raining by Quasi…whilst each day since I purchased a car up until last week has been marred with rainfall, often torrential, each day has likewise been graced by the uplifting and enriching sound of Quasi's It's Raining from the Domino album Sword of God, a classic example of their optimistic take on pop music, sadly the ones they have influenced are probably better known, the likes of the Research in particular, the distorted fuzzy keyboards and soaring duel vocals of the divorced Sam Coombes and Sleater Kinny's Janet Weiss are more than enough to drag you out of any rain sodden depression you may have been on a slippery slope toward.
www.myspace.com/theequasi
www.theequasi.com/

A Sunny Day In Glasgow, Welcome, David Karsten Daniels Reviewed

Posted on 2007.08.06 at 20:53
Current Mood: Optimistic
Current Music: Various - Girls Go Zonk (Cherry Red)
Tags: a sunny day in glasgow, blood the wall, clinic, david karsten daniels, deerhoof, elliot smith, empress, fat cat, fatcat, jon brion, notenuf, sufjan stevens, the besnard lakes, the field, tompaulin, welcome

I once wrote a song when I was younger called A Sunny Day In Scotland, but that's irrelevant, all you need to know is that A Sunny Day in Glasgow are a rather wonderful recent discovery of mine. Songs that merge into one pool of sticky mess, as tasty as Rocky Road is ugly and as beautiful as the rainbow stained petrol puddles that reveal themselves as the sun rises following the rain.

Each song is a mosaic of sounds, a mixing desk nightmare to some, to me a dreamy skyline. The vocals merge into the sound to the point that the human voice becomes an instrument itself somehow expressing more than is possible when we actually speak fully formed words. This one's for the dreamers, for those who can't express how they feel in words, for those who wonder when they speak if to the majority of people it appears only as a jumble of sounds, us mumblers and those incapable of shouting, us who insecurely think we're being ignored when really we really should speak that little bit louder.

The sound takes in a number of influences whisked together and dished out in one delicious offering, from A Mundane Phonecall to Jack Parsons Clinic like sound to The Fields tripped electronica, embracing any number of girl pop indie bands, the much missed Empress, Tompaulin and a healthy garnish of all things ethereal…I like A Sunny Day in Glasgow a lot!
www.asunnydayinglasgow.com/
www.myspace.com/sunnydayinglasgow
www.myspace.com/notenufrecords

Welcome - Sirs (FatCat)

Much like label mates Blood on the Wall Welcome put together a lovely racket of surprisingly melodic noise, mixing the spiky, wiry and intuitive guitar riffs with the gravel throated Kurt-esque vocals of Pete Brand or Jo Claxton's honey like vocals on what has become my favourite song (according to last.fm) Bunky, a rival if there ever was one to Blood on the Walls I'd Like To Take You Out. Elsewhere Deerhoof comparisons are fairly justified but Welcome are a more universal taste, where many people struggle with Satomi Matsuzaki's vocals, there is nothing to dislike about the often twinned vocals on offer here, mixing anger with pop melodies in way that McClusky do so well. Another great release from the ever reliable FatCat label.
www.myspace.com/yrwelcome
www.myspace.com/fatcatrecords
www.fat-cat.co.uk/

David Karsten Daniels – Sharp Teeth (FatCat)

Don't let the cover put you off, instead just sit back and fall in love with a sounds, simple and pure, envy at the way Mr Karsten Daniels can make such a beautiful song like American Pastime sound so effortlessly beautiful, modest even, no doubt he plays all the instruments too yet his sound is so sincere and naturally beautiful. The kind of sound you'd associate with such geniuses as Elliot Smith, Sufjan Stevens and on Minnows, The Besnard Lakes. Not that he mimics them, rather that his sound is pure and inspiring, clean and unadulterated, made in the mountains where the city hasn't had chance to pollute and corrupt the naivety that exists within the simple communities that reside there, a sound that rises and falls with the sun, like the black and whiteness of Pleasantville before it was drowned and ruined in colour. Beautiful and not a million miles away from the sound that Jon Brion so frequently achieves on his exceptional film scores…don't let the cover put you off.
www.myspace.com/davidkarstendaniels
www.myspace.com/fatcatrecords
www.fat-cat.co.uk/

Plastic Operator/ Me & You & Everyone We Know/ Renu Reviewed

Posted on 2007.08.01 at 21:55
Current Music: Welcome - Sirs
Tags: boards of canada, donnie darko, figurine, fog and ocean, freezepop, lo fi fnk, lofi fnk, michael andrews, plastic operator, renu

Plastic Operator – Different Places (Fine Day)

I remember some time back on a compilation a good friend did for me a track that stood out amongst the others, a song that showed a move with the times and mankind's infinite ability to transform even the most mundane happenings and objects into a metaphor for feelings of the romantic kind, the endless obsession of falling in love, of being loved and of telling the one you love just how much you love them but also mankind's hopelessness in being able to communicate those feelings without disguising in such guises as previously mentioned. Fifty years ago this would not be possible, it would be laughable but now in all its glory Plastic Operators Folder is a touching upbeat love song to make your heart glow, "that's why I copy and paste into your folder with your name/ it would be more than I can take/ if I just told you what I feel/ that's why I just copy and paste into your folder, with your name." Who can deny being part of this, hiding behind technology, treading water in text messages and emails, slowly dropping hints before finally plucking up the courage to bear all, only to hold back, scared of handing over those feelings, scared of being hurt…again?

And so here Plastic Operator delivers a full length album of electronic genius replete with gems (Parasols, Special Case, Peppermint & Couch especially) similar to the aforementioned folder, each one a shimmering synth pop treat, like Figurine if only they were more consistent, like Freezepop if they weren't so cartoonish and Fog & Ocean had they been more focused & a more grown up Lo Fi Fnk.

Good things come to those who wait, and so if you're after a summer of synth pop perfection then look no further than Plastic Operator, songs that you'll sing along to, dance to and no doubt relate to.
www.myspace.com/plasticoperator
www.myspace.com/finedayrecords
www.last.fm/music/Plastic+Operator

Belle & Sebastian No Age The Pocketbooks The Yellow Moon Band Serafina Steer Mike in Mono Reviewed

Posted on 2007.07.01 at 20:58
Current Music: Welcome - Sirs
Tags: aberfeldy, aislers set, belle & sebastian, bracken, elfpower, erase errata, hanne hukkelberg, holly throsby, joanna newsom, kicker, mike in mono, no age, numbers, pavement, printed circuit, serafina steer, textile ranch, the poctketbooks, the yellow moon band

The Yellow Moon Band – Entangled

Mike in Mono – Euro Eccentric

Serafina Steer – Peach Heart (all Static Caravan)

I love Static Caravan right down to the little things they do, those special extras they make me miss the world of seven inch singles I used to be so entangled within, the rainbow design on the oversized centre of the vinyl that makes me go search out the thingy you put in the middle, whatever its called, the free sticker, the horses that run through the rainbow on the cover of The Yellow Moon Bands Entangled, in itself not the strongest release thus far by the excellent label but still worth a few minutes of your time to take in the twin riffing and picture in your mind how this would look live, poodle perms and leather trousers perhaps??...Mike in Mono is a different kettle of fish completely, pumping out 1980's electro like Printed Circuit used to but mixing it with Kraftwerk-ian vocals all echoey and recollecting images of the numerous other German bands from the time with long fringes and no shortage of inanimate objects on stage to bash with whatever happened to be in their hands at the time. B-side Binary is more playful still, yet ultimately follows the same electro kraut path…there are a number of names that will consistently turn up when almost any female singer songwriter with even the tiniest bit of a quirky voice appears, its too simple really but perhaps Serafina Steer deserves to be mentioned alongside the Joanna's, the Hanne Hukkelberg's, The Holly Throsby's. Peach Heart is a lovely tune, staccato, unusual and as unexpected as the dragonfly that rides a bike on the sleeve of this record, medieval sounds using modern technology, music box twinkles that recall the wonderful Textile Ranch, skipping needles on overplayed records. Mano e Mano is equally as mesmerising, full of weird instruments and gentle sentiments.

www.staticcaravan.org

mikeinmono1@hotmail.co.uk

www.myspace.com/theyellowmoonband
www.myspace.com/monoinmike
www.myspace.com/drumstreetsefa

The Pocketbooks – Cross The Line

Wow! This is the kind of indiepop gem I used to thrive on, fresh and happy and recorded for a fiver in someone's garage, done for the fun of it and all the better for it. Its like Kicker had they had better singers, the Aislers Set if they weren't tinged with melancholy and so obsessed with distorted guitars and broken hearts. Young people taking advantage of the simple things "I'd swap some sleep for a fixed emotion/ a g&t and some sun tan lotion/ a bag of chips in a seaside coast town/ an empty seat on the underground/ a basement club where there's space for dancing/ a conversation that's life enhancing/ a suddentwist that I'm not expecting/ a novelette with a cryptic ending" etc…flip it over and it gets better still, Every Good Time We Ever Had is one that escaped from Belle & Sebastian, the kind of song that should have graced The Boy… instead of Ease Your Feet Into The Sea or Sleep The Clock Round, the kind of song Aberfeldy always wanted to write, I love the Pocketbooks and so should you.

www.atomicbeatrecords.co.uk

www.pocketbooks.org.uk

www.myspace.com/pocketbooks

Posted on 2007.06.30 at 15:56
Current Location: Home
Current Music: Zavoloka Versus Kotra
Tags: a hawk & a hacksaw, beirut, calexico, cocorosie, devendra banhart, herman dune

Also available at http://fatandconfused.livejournal.com/ with videos

Cocorosie – The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn (Touch & Go)

To say that Cocorosie are slightly weird would be more than a slight understatement, they are a personification of the whole new weird folk movement yet as many of the bands and individuals that find themselves pigeonholed into the genre they have occasionally suffered from over hype, leaving you a little bit disappointed when their albums aren't quite as spectacular as originally made out, with new album The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn they have at least to some extent delivered a work of wonder, something also truly unique. I will however state that of the 12 tracks on offer 5 are fantastic and would've made an exceptional EP, yet that's not to take away from the "weaker tracks" so to speak which have their place just don't quite stand up to the awesome folk hop of Rainbowarriors, Promise, Werewolf and Animals or the bizarre, best thing since Prozac of Japan, a song sure to make you smile if only momentarily, mixing high pitched cheeky rhymes with operatic breaks, really quite lovely. The four previously mentioned songs catch a certain sound that is so refreshing and clean amongst a genre that so often lets itself down with its determination to make bad language and violence cool, the hip hop beats are accompanied by toy instruments and half spoken lyrics covering allsorts of subjects and feelings, here we have something new and unique, something to hype over yet I hope they stay amongst those in the know, that they won't start thinking they are Jesus just like Devendra, letting the hippy thing go a bit too much to his head, going over indulgent spoiling the illusion just like Herman Dune, lets hope.
www.myspace.com/cocorosie
www.touchandgorecords.com

A Hawk & A Hacksaw - And The Hun Hangar Ensemble (The Leaf Label)

Its hard to explain and even harder to understand how much I struggled with A Hawk and A Hacksaw, I tried so hard to fall in love with them & The Way The Wind Blows album, the one that so many people raved about, the one that was included in so many end of year polls, and rather highly too, yet it never really struck the chord, just like Beirut whatever everyone else was seeing was passing me by, I was probably staring right at it but couldn't see for looking. So its comes as quite a surprise that the follow up that has scarcely been mentioned, I've yet to see any hype on the forums from the very same people that championed The Way The Wind Blows, has had such an instant appeal to me. Each track warm and inviting like an evening round a fire snowed in in a Hungarian log cabin, accordions and all sorts of weird instruments at the ready, taking in the Amelie soundtrack, the most mariachi parts of Calexico along the way and much beer from silver tankards, overflowing as they clash together in pure ecstasy. Let this soundtrack your next Hungarian disco.
www.myspace.com/ahawkandahacksaw
www.myspace.com/hunhangarensemble
www.myspace.com/theleaflabel

Many apologies for the long absence, as ever i've been filling my ears with much great music and have struggled to know where to start where it comes to reviews. I also keep forgetting to mentiion that the kid people at FatCat have let us put some songs on our MYSPACE for your listening pleaseure so please take advantage. As well if anyone is interested i have uploaded for free download our album and ep of a few years back at the following links
Times are Bad for Dreamers
Dressed in Yellow

Mice Parade – Mice Parade (FatCat)

Mice Parade return with their fifth and self titled album picking up much where they left off on the wonderful Bem Vida Vontade an album that accompanied me in to world of dreams on many an occasion during 2005 and again that element is there, NOT to say that in any way that Mice Parade are boring or that their approach is the musical equivalent of paint drying, instead that their music is so pure and organic, melodies weaved with needles, like wicker baskets on gingham tablecloths, both traditional and timeless with the ability to take you to just about any place you wish, just close your eyes and let the music take you.

The heavily delayed and distorted guitars are there as ever, accompanied by intelligent lines and hand claps executed quite beautifully 42 seconds into The Last Ten Homes which totally breaks down and rebuilds in little less than 30 seconds, and is all the better for the renovation.

Perhaps the tracks most likely to stand out are those featuring guest vocals. Tales of Las Negras sees a lovely duet develop between Adam Pierce and Stereolabs Laetitia Sadier but as ever the best track on most Mice Parade albums are those that feature Kristin Anna Valtysdottir of Múm, dare I say I believe she is better utilised within Mice Parade than her own band. The delicate Scandinavian Isobel-alike whisper of a vocal sung in Icelandic over gentle arpeggios and flamenco percussion rhythms is a real highlight and in itself absent-minded and majestic, Adams low vocals (at least in comparison) compliment each other so well, its like Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan in soft focus, gentle and delightful. But that's not to take away from the other tracks, each one a textured nugget of a dream sequence bound to calm the nerves and help you temporarily forget the pressing issues of the day, a lovely album to simply sit back and lose your self to.
http://www.myspace.com/miceparade22
www.myspace.com/fatcatrecords
www.bubblecore.com/artists/mparade/

..

Posted on 2007.05.14 at 22:12
Current Music: Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer?
Tags: animal collective, boards of canada, charles atlas, cocorosie, fat cat records, fatcat, fortdax, four tet, french teen idol, isan, johann johannsson, little robot voice, our brother native, sigur ros, silent ballet, static caravan, textile ranch, the books
Our Brother The Native – Tooth & Claw (FatCat)

Textile Ranch/ Charles Atlas -  (Static Caravan)

French Teen Idol – Enlightened False Consciousness (Lost Children Net Label)

Three seriously beautiful releases, elegantly textured tapestries of organic prettiness.

Much like by the limitations restricted, the fewer materials on offer, a vegetarian chef tends to conjure up far more interesting dishes than a traditional chef as he utilizes, improvises and gives new meaning and uses to familiar staples in search of something that will both interest and excite the taste buds of the partaker so Our Brother The Native take the hard route to making music. Imagine pre-electricity electronica, like Four Tet with his laptop taken away, simply left with the sounds that surround him from day to day, kindly captured in a box or in the case of Our Brother The Native perhaps a treasure trove would be more appropriate.

These are songs made from a bundle of sounds, birds singing, water running, hands clapping, pans clashing and a collection of samples, mostly of children's voices used to a similar fine effect as the Boards of Canada, Isan and The Books. On top of this is a brand of peculiar Cocorosie-esque high pitched vocals, and perhaps along with Animal Collective, Cocorosie are as close a comparison as you will find whilst not wishing to take any credit away from what are a seriously unique and creative band, but for music critic/ pigeon-holing's sake lets just say that if The Books remixed Cocorosie we may end up with something similar and I'm sure if you have any taste in music you'll realise that that's far from a bad thing.

Falconiformes, Tilia Petiolaris (the most straight forward, song based song on the album, a beautiful finger picked twin vocaled affair) and particularly the seven minutes of discontent samples set against at times operatic vocals of Octopodidae standout, though if you are looking for a challenging yet rewarding listen there is little that you will be disappointed with here.

I've said it time and again but am yet again here reassured that to quite a large extent you can indeed if not judge a book by its cover certainly you can a CD by its. One look at the excellent artwork that accompanies the Textile Ranch and Charles Atlas split and you know already that the CD contained within is likely to contain something rather special and indeed it doesn't disappoint.

There is something magical about the cover, two girls on swings mid air, one coming up the other going back down against a 1970's backdrop in some Austrian or Hungarian town that evokes memories of the Brothers Grimm's fairytales, the state of innocence and total naivety to the horrible things that go on around us and the responsibilities that come with growing up.

Textile Ranch themselves have a magical sound, like Colleen had she been more mischievous, had her twinkling fairy dust tunes had a more urgent feel about them, had they been laced in mischief rather than melancholy, set to charity shop drum machines, flickering in the light like the facets of a diamond, recalling also the magic of State River Widening and many of the early Static Caravan releases like Fortdax and Little Robot Voice. The four tracks here come highly recommended and remind me of why Static Caravan has received so much praise over the years.

Charles Atlas follows a similar route but takes the long and winding roads, the country roads where it doesn't matter if you want to take your time, if you wish to pull in from time to time to take in the green fields with their solitary trees and endless acres. At times it treads the same water as some of the more glacial post rock out there, pianos, heavily delayed guitars and electronic drums gently compliment each other in a lovely wash of  esoteric sound.

You may be aware of the Lost Children Net Label, a glorious accumulation of free downloads mainly in the form of post rock or at least "instrumental", instrumental as in the way Sigur Ros qualify as instrumental even though most their songs contain singing. It's somehow linked to the Silent Ballet website and forum and a blessing beyond anything your preconceived ideas of free music are.

The latest of such free downloads is French Teen Idols Enlightened False Consciousness a lovely album that is as much electronica as it is post rock, full of samples, doomy and apocalyptic yet hope crammed keys and some lovely skittering beats. Disaster samples conversations from flight United 93, respectfully so, and where some people may feel that the very idea of this is wrong I'd have to strongly disagree. Music is a form of art, and an expression of peoples feelings and emotions and I can't possibly think of a more emotionally charged situation, the result is spectacular.

Compromise Your (He)art is graced with playground chatter and a closing speech from an Indian philosopher that brings to mind the well selected samples of the much underrated The Books. The Fleeting Beauty of a Butterfly is true to its name in its poetic beauty, all slow waves of synthesis and French spoken word samples.

For the majority of the time the album possesses the same unblemished and natural beauty that Johann Johannsson's IBM Users Manual album displayed so well, the oneness with nature, the slow motion look at a world that holds so much splendour beneath the things that are so often forced to our attention, the bad things that fill the pages of the newspaper, the natural wonder of a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, tracks such as Memento convey such wonder, much how Johann does but perhaps with more of a proclivity for drums and beats.

This is a truly wondrous album and as its free you really have no excuse not to go and download it immediately.
www.myspace.com/ourbrotherthenative
www.myspace.com/fatcatrecords
www.staticcaravan.org/
www.piano-magic.co.uk/textile_ranch/
www.myspace.com/charlesatlasnyc
www.myspace.com/frenchteenidol
www.archive.org/details/LostChildren023
www.frenchteenidol.com/fti.html

Sirka Ragnar / Electrelane Reviewed

Fatcat Special - Hauschka & Blood on the Wall Reviewed plus FatCat Records Interview

Posted on 2007.05.07 at 16:35
Current Music: White Magic - Dat Rosa Mel Apibus
Tags: adrian klumpes, blood on the wall, eluvium, fat cat, fatcat, haushcka, max richter, mcclusky, september collective, tortoise

Hauschka – Room to Expand (FatCat)

There's a rather strange little booklet that comes with this release, I'd looked through it previously only to conclude that it was just a book full of pictures of pieces of a piano, not that interesting really and no justice to what is really quite a beautiful little album, a joyous experiment in piano and electronics, anyhow on a more recent inspection there is a letter enclosed, a letter written out of desperation perhaps, the way sometimes you just need to put the thoughts in your head onto paper, the way sometimes no matter how much you fill your mind with other things, a certain girl may never truly leave your mind "its about me being ready to use all life has to offer to get you back like writing this letter which I'm going to launch into the air maybe from a bridge into traffic or leave it lying on a café table or put it in a bottle & throw out to sea in hope it somehow finds its way to you or starts a chain of events that brings you back to me…whatever it takes" the way sometimes that you will constantly run through events and conversations and wonder how if you had said something different perhaps things wouldn't have turned out like they did. "I had no idea you thought these things were ugly and weird and you HAVE to know that me not saying anything about them was NOT because I didn't care it was to do with my head being full of meteorites and dancing bears because I was/am so so in love with you…"

Still things happen and normally for a reason, at times whatever you say will be the wrong thing to say and its sometimes best to say nothing at all, such is the case with Hauschka, gorgeous piano laments much in the same vein as Adrian Klumpes and Eluvium, occasionally veering off into spy themes such as mid way through Chicago Morning & Belgrade as the trombones signal low and all serious, jazzy and slightly Tortoise like. Paddington captivates as it canters along in its plinky plonky fashion a sister track perhaps to Sweet Spring Come both full of spring and deep bass lines encouraging the listener to nod in time and think of sunnier days and new life. Zahnlucke also takes advantage of the extremes of the piano scale, deep bass notes are tap danced to by twinkling fingers of ice against a glass window.

At times its similar to Max Richter and the September Collective though not on quite a grand scale as particularly the former, beautiful all the same and well worth your attention.

www.fat-cat.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/hauschka
 

Blood on The Wall – Awesomer (FatCat)

When your shopping in Tesco, you know that if you want to really treat yourself, if you want to be satisfied by what you purchase in almost every commodity under the sun, you look for the Tesco finest sign. The Luxury range, the extra mile, the guarantee of quality. The same can be said of Fat Cat Records of Brighton, no matter what they release, whatever the genre whatever the band, they come up trumps so much so that I have resorted to purchasing simply by seeing the little cat logo in the corner of the record. Again with Blood on the Wall I'm not disappointed, it's a bit rawer than the kind of thing I would usually go for but somehow I love it to bits and its fast becoming one of my favourite discoveries of recent times which is saying something considering I bought it without the support of reviews, simply on the merit of the label that released it.
I'd Like to Take You Out is Jesus and the Mary Chain for beginners yet you can forgive them cos they do it so well, Mary Susan is bordering on Grunge yet again its Grunge of the highest variety. I have argued for a long time that almost all genres are acceptable it just so happens that you only ever hear the average output of such genres, if you dig deep enough you will find something good or just let FatCat do the work. Hey, Hey carries the same anger that makes McClusky such an attractive band, hopelessly heavy and stupidly good. Can You Hear Me, Stoner Jam and Rite To Light also impress amongst a generally very fine album for them times you feel like a good old scream. I heart Blood on the Wall.

www.fat-cat.co.uk
www.myspace.com/bloodonthewall

See this with videos at http://fatandconfused.livejournal.com/