We thought it was kind of absurd that our album, Landlakes, managed a #18 in Mess+Noise magazine's 2008 Readers' Poll as well as a #6 for 'Best New Artist of 2008'. And then, in a bold move blowing our earlier sense of absurdity to smithereens, we rolled up at #5 in the same publication's Critics' Poll. Crikey, blimey, etc!

The antipodean indie rag had this to say by way of a blurb:

ii
Landlakes
(Feral Media)

I don’t understand this sort of music. I don’t even know what to call it, categorically-speaking. One friend suggested the phrase “experimental”. Another suggested “ambient”. The word “electronica” was used there somewhere as well. I don’t know which to use or ignore, or if all or none apply. I don’t really care. Landlakes is, quite simply, a beautiful album of beautiful music, regardless of classification. This is lucky, because I still can’t find the right words to explain it, more than a year after I was handed an unmastered copy with the title scrawled in black on a disc without a case, and told nothing of what to expect.

It’s not at all surprising that ii have made their way into this list. At times melting quietly into the background, to the point that it’s almost forgotten, at others, sneaking to the fore with sweet near-melodies, Landlakes is a glorious release, and one that still has me perplexed. I wish I could write something so much better to describe this album – a point-by-point analysis of every song, every emotion it prompts – but perhaps it’s best that I can’t. It could just be my own limitations, but I like to think that this wordlessness says so much more than something arranged in size 12 Arial ever could. These aren’t songs – this is just music. And I still don’t have the words for it.

— A.H. Cayley


Thanks, A.H.!