OOOOOH, LISTEN!
(1)
YOU CAN DANCE IF YOU WANT TO (ALL THE CRITICS
LOVE YOU…)
BEAR
TRACKS 1, 2 AND 3 cd/cd/2xcd (Woobie Bear
Music, www.woobiebearmusic.com,
Studio 912, South 4th Street, Ironton, Ohio, 45638)
I must admit that I’m not much of a dancing
bear (the requirement for a ring through the nose has always been a deterrent
to me J). However,
these three volumes are full of mostly electronic/furry-leg-shaking tunes, done
by the kind of stocky gents for whom I suspend my general suspicion of identity
politics and say ‘Woof on, brothers!’
Because it’s not a genre about which
I know much, I feel ill-prepared to comment on the dancier stuff, though I’m
sure it’s wonderful (and MusicBear’s take on “If I Only Had A Brain” (2)
is sheer ursine earworm bliss, while Leroy Lamb’s “What It Feels Like
For A Bear” (2) is a belly-shaking pisstake on Madonna – as to the
latter gentleman’s “Dominate Me”(3)…having seen him perform it, there ought to
be laws against such a cubtease).
However, the rockier material, such as Elijah Black’s “We Roll”
or “Is Anybody Listening” (both 3), not to mention Barnes’ “Loud Boy
Radio” (3) and “If I Was Inside Out” (1), makes me grrr with pleasure, while
the more song-oriented electronic stuff, such as (for two extremes) the dark
industrialism of The Fundamentalists’ “WWJD?!?!” and the campy fun of
“Hot Drunk Guys” by Kendall (both 3), get my deep-in-denial toes
a-tappin’. All three volumes are
stuffed with bearish goodness, and even those of you who scream at the sight of
a single chin-hair may be able to stomach the contents (by the way, yes, we DO
bite, and we aren’t shy about doing it – but we bite nicely…).
GOSSIP/LE
TIGRE, Standing In The Way Of Control 12” (Kill Rock Stars, PMB 418, 120 NE State Avenue, Olympia, WA, 98501, www.killrockstars.com, http://myspace.com/Gossipband)
Beth (vocals), Brace (guitar) and Hannah
(new drummer) return after a health crisis for the singer (political rant: pass
universal healthcare!) and a line-up change, with a sound just as bluesy and
powerful as ever, but with a bit more R&B in the punk this time, and
slightly more hi-fi than some of their previously murky stuff (though it is as
far from slick as you can imagine, and, while the beat is insistent and steady,
it is not exactly dancefloor fare – too raw and minimal).
On
the flip side, the grrrls of Le Tigre remix the same number into a slice
of electronic dancefloor fodder reminiscent of Yaz(oo), without cutting
out any of the defiance. You can
dance to this, but it will also make you think…remember to always stand in the
way of control…
KENDALL,
Rekindled CD (Woobie Bear
Music, as above, www.kendallshead.com)
This is a retrospective of Kendall’s
work over the past nine years, which has ranged from rock-funk fusion a la Prince
to delightfully cheesy pop-rap, mostly performed solely by the man himself.
After a few seconds of “Hot Drunk
Guys” or “Booty Song” or “GI Barbie”, you will be his helpless music-love
slave, though the whole collection has its delights and quirks and, yes,
moments that may disturb you (art should provoke a reaction, after all).
Evidently, the man has recently
managed to place a song with an established female dance artist, for which I
can only say: ‘kudos!’ It would be nice to have a furry big fellow in the
dance/rock genre who ISN’T Fred Durst (cute as that latter gentleman may
be, his mouth cries out for duct tape).
BETTYE
LAVETTE, I’ve Got My Own Hell To Raise cd (Anti, 2798 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90026, www.epitaph.com, www.bettyelavette.com)
Miss Lavette is a long-time
veteran of the music business, who, though she started her career at 16 in
1962, did not actually release an ALBUM until 1982. Imagine a Tina Turner whose passion is still burning
bright and not dulled by formula, possibly because Bettye has not had
the same life and has had less opportunity to BECOME formulaic.
Now, with this collection, she has
paid tribute (though, in her hands, it often feels like it is the other way
around, thanks to her radical reinventions) to a number of female
singer-songwriters, such as Joan Armatrading (whose “Down To Zero” has
had its lyric about brushing one’s eyebrows relocated to the more logical
‘hair’), Aimee Mann (who has always seemed too precious for me – but the
snarl and attitude this chanteuse brings to her “How Am I Different?” reveal an
earthy side) and Sinead O’Connor (keeping “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t
Got” a capella, but lowering the word count).
Interestingly, not one of these numbers
is, strictly speaking, from an R&B or soul tradition, but the singer
invests them all with such power, abetted by a subtle but responsive band, that
the SOUL shines through, even through the arty tendencies of songwriters Lucinda
Williams (“Joy”) and Roseanne Cash (“On The Surface”) and certainly
in empathy with equally-salty-but- glamorous Dolly Parton (“Little
Sparrow”). The title certainly speaks
to the attitude and determination – but the CD is more like heaven.
LESBIANS
ON ECSTASY, Giggles In The Dark
remix lp (Alien 8 Recordings, www.alien8recordings.com,
www.lezziesonx.com)
It comes on extremely lurid purple
swirly vinyl. A ‘zine is included,
which has interviews with or profiles of most of the remixers on hand for the
project. These two things alone are
nearly enough to recommend the record.
I saw this group perform in Kingston
on October 1, 2004, and thought they were super-nifty. Basically, a Montreal four-piece (bass,
keyboards, electro-percussion, vocals) which takes pieces from either lesbian
anthems or songs which happen to be by putative lesbians (‘All Women Are
Bitches’ by Fifth Column for the former, and ‘Talking About A
Revolution’ by Tracy Chapman for the latter) and works them into
original dancefloor numbers heavy on the bass, hollow thwacking electro-beats
and industrial-noise keyboards.
Unfortunately, the joke seemed to wear a bit thin on their debut CD,
perhaps undermined by overly similar rhythms and hasty production.
This remix vinyl is another matter
altogether, featuring the likes of Le Tigre (yes, they ARE everywhere in
this issue…), Scream Club (the American equivalent of this band), 1
Speed Bike (obligatory straight boy cameo), Tracy & The Plastics
(one-woman low-tech video-based musical project), Kids on TV (cute
Toronto boys (the drummer’s for us Bears, and the lead singer is more
twink-targeted)) and even Jody Bleyle (in the somewhat ironic position
of actually remixing a piece based on her band Team Dresch’s
source material).
We have break beats and added
chanted vocals on “Revolt”. We have
“Bitchsy” interpolate even MORE of “All Women Are Bitches” and throw in a
lengthy rap by Maggie McDonald (Hidden Cameras, Barcelona
Pavilion, Republic of Safety).
We have the noisy collage of what used to be called “The Pleasure
Principle”, now given a rather unwieldy long title, by 1 Speed Bike, making
its origins in “High School
Confidential”
even more obscure, though not nearly as divergent as the extreme reinvention of
“Queens of Noise” (actually having the same NAME as its source in the Runaways). “Manipulate” is pretty undanceable for a
remix album, but, then, you’ve got to expect a bit of perversity when dykes on
an experimental/noise music label decide that they are going to produce
dancefloor fare.
And, for those of you for whom vinyl is
something you wear on dates you doubtless consider kinky, yes, there will
eventually be a CD release of this, probably some time early this year. Until then, find a friend with a turntable
and spin on it (yes, the innuendo is deliberate, kids).
LE
TIGRE, This Island Remixes Volume 1 and 2 2x12” (Le Tigre/Chicks on Speed
Records, www.chicksonspeed-records.com,
www.letigreworld.com)
Kathleen, Johanna and the lovely girl-cub J.D.
put out their major label debut CD in 2004 on a Universal sub-label. I cannot say I much cared for it, and, no,
not because it was on a major label.
For some reason, it just did not grab a hold of me as much as their two
previous LPs, EP and remix EP did.
However, these two rather different
12”s are another matter.
Volume 1 (the ‘white’ sleeve) is more experimental, with the longer mixes – they might be best suited to, well, chicks on speed, as you’d almost need to be on SOMETHING to quite get into the frenetic style. I like these versions of “Nanny Nanny Boo Boo” and “After Dark” (2 takes on each), but I cannot picture me NOT being worn out trying to shake my furry groove thing to them. I also had not heard of the remixers involved, though, really, that says very little about their profile on the dance scene, given my ignorance.
Volume 2 (the ‘black’ sleeve) has “Nanny Nanny
Boo Boo” twice and then versions of “TKO” and “After Dark” (one each). The takes on “Nanny” are both remixed by Junior
Senior, a Danish outfit (consisting of a big casually dressed fellow (gay)
and a little fussy fashion plate (straight)), and, much as with their own
music, they run the songs through a fun, Tom Tom Club kind of groove
that’s very infectious and toe-tapping.
“TKO” is remixed by Peaches, but, except for the guitar being a
smidgen louder, it does not bear that Canadian polymorphously perverse pistol’s
usual touch. On the other hand, “After
Dark” is a slightly darker take on Tom Tom Club’s party/funk style,
maybe with a hint of New Order tossed in.
And, again, yes, there are CDs of these as well, and I guess I can give you permission to be conformist this time, since the vinyl is no special colour, and the sleeves are nothing to write home about either (what info there is is written on the inner label of the records). However, even then, you’d end up having to get the two volumes separately (you would think it would make more sense to combine them together, since these two singles total 45 minutes), so, if you’re going to have to pay twice for something that could have been put on one item, you might as well go for the fetish…
(2)
COUNTRY AND/OR DEATH SONGS
BLACKAVAR, s/t cdep (Transsiberian Music Company, www.transsiberianmusic.com)
Has PJ Harvey ever heard Mecca
Normal? If she had, this might be what she would produce. That sounds as though this is not very
original; however, given those source materials (assuming the woman behind this
project knows either), there is a large range to work within and a well of
eccentricity that would not run dry any time soon.
Some of this release’s brief songs
(10 selections in 23 minutes) are chanted over quietly strummed and barely
amped guitar by Laura Cartwright (though a couple of selections have
guests on mildly louder electric twanger), which makes the startling sweet
singing of “Dear Heart” all the more jarring.
The typical vocal style is a dry, deadpan recitation, with a touch of Smith
(Patti and Jean), and most of the music is folky
and almost churchy at times, with portentous lyrics from a folk and country
tradition (cf. “Light Loves The Darkness”).
Hope to hear something longer and
maybe more produced/mixed next time.
This skeletal beauty is almost too stark to listen to at this dark time
of year.
LD
& THE NEW CRITICISM, Tragic Realism cd
(Darla Records, www.darla.com, www.thenewcriticism.com)
I must confess to a terrible sin
(yes, yes, I know, book the booth for the whole year…moving on…). I received this on October 24th,
thanks to the kind generosity of the label, and intended to review it very
shortly afterwards.
However, October 24th
also corresponds to the day I learned that a friend of mine had died the night
before, and, having looked at the promotional material for this CD, and seeing
it was largely about death, I just COULD NOT listen to it then. My usual morbid sense of humour was in
hiding, let us say. And then work got
insanely busy, and I had to go to the wake for said friend, so many things
conspired against my rapid critique and analysis of this little pop disc’s many
(fatal) charms.
Now that my mother has emerged from
the hospital (another period in which my tolerance for guffawing at potentially
serious illness was low), I am ready to plunge into this release’s innards and
examine its entrails for meaning (now, doesn’t THAT just sound WRONG!?).
Surface observations – packaging
very cute, be it the jackelope on the front or the plastic-sealed segmented smiley-face
on the back. Very thoughtful for the
lyric sheet to include both the keys and the BPMs of the songs (though I
suspect some of the latter may be off a bit, since fairly slow songs seem to
have a kick to them judging from the tempo markers). As usual, the lovely and talented Mr. L.D. Beghtol, on
various strummy instruments, keyboards, vocals and percussion, has woofin’
style, be it his stripey jimmies or his little monocle, and the other band
members are also very cute (I’m sure Miss Pinky Weitzman (strings) would
be attractive to my heterosexually/bisexually afflicted male colleagues, and
there are two other woofy bears in the lineup (Mr. Jim Andralis
(accordion, whistle, vocals) and Mr. Douglas Quint (bassoon)), while Chuck
Plummer (be still, my trollish heart (VERY still, since, according to my latest comminique with the auteur of this work, he is one of THOSE people...the stiff-wristed kind...) is a cubby
guitarist/mandolinist/vocalist). There
are also special guests on other instruments, such as Jonathan Segel
(from Camper Van Beethoven) on violin, Doug Hilsinger on
banjo/electric guitar/pedal steel and Miss Shirley Simms on lead and
backing vocals.
As to the songs themselves? Well,
the Morrissey comparisons will be perpetuated by “Elegy To An Ex”,
thanks to both its morbidly vengeful lyrics about a former beloved (actually, in the real world, it would seem to be about an ex-CELLIST, but the listener imposes his own interpretations, after all...) and the
inclusion of the chant ‘bye, bye, baby, bye-bye’ (“Girlfriend In A Coma”,
anyone?), but it has a lovely tune and a harsh beat that will both stick in
your head. Phil Spector
(speaking of morbid aura of violence) would love the beat and piano figure of
“Always The Last To Know”, though lyrics about subjective reality, Derrida
and hagiography might put it outside the pale of his preferred subject
matter. “Apathy” is just mean, but
crooned so sweetly. “When We Dance At
Joe Orton’s Wedding” – oh, what fag with a fatal taste for rough trade couldn’t
love this number? “Burn Burn Burn In Hell” – have the Southern Baptists
adopted this number into their hymn book yet?
On which subject, perhaps the life-at-any-cost Christian fundamentalists might want to lend an ear to “(If You Love Me, Baby) Pull the Plug” (an endearing duet with Miss Simms).
In terms of musical approach, these
tunes are all very melodic and within pop parameters (tambourines, strings, big
backing vocals). The lyrics, of course,
make these numbers radio poison – but maybe the radio SHOULD be poisoned. However, compared to the dark and slow
tendencies of Flare and Moth Wranglers (LD’s other
projects of note), this is sheer joyful bliss (only one piece is in a minor
key, and it’s only a minute long), so perhaps just the right sentimental video
could get “If You Love Me Baby” all over folk or country channel programming. J
If you buy just one death-obsessed
record of classic pop this year, make it this one, okay?
(3)
ASSORTED FLAVOURS OF INDIE ROCK CANDY
THE
FIERY FURNACES, Rehearsing My Choir 2-lp (Rough Trade
America, www.roughtradeamerica.com,
www.thefieryfurnaces.com)
According to chief songwriter Matthew
Friedberger (most instruments), what he and his sibling Eleanor
(vocals, percussion) set out to do was create a ‘standard accessible pop
record’.
Um, no. Accessible pop records do not generally include one’s grandmother
as a prominent vocalist/recitationist, and they certainly do not have sidelong
suites or enough twists and turns within their structures to confuse a veteran
trailsman. Be it because of its vintage
synthesizers, cheesy drum machines, treated pianos, occasional noisy garage
guitar flourishes or the grandmother’s somewhat gruff/forceful delivery (not to
mention the odd way her voice sometimes interacts with the granddaughter’s
sweeter tones), this is not going to zoom to the top of the charts.
However, the stories herein, roughly
based on the life of Miss Olga Sarantos (the granny), are a fascinating,
if dizzying, array of anecdotes about curses, gay misogynist bishops, miracle
cure candy, and just plain heartbreak (perhaps one of the few areas in which
the subject matter brushes upon the pop canon), and, though you will not be
humming the tunes, there was a clearly a lot of effort (and editing) put into
these arrangements, and, if you surrender to the record’s sensibilities, you
will enjoy.
DOUG
HILSINGER WITH CAROLEEN BEATTY, Brian Eno’s
Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy cd (DBK Works, P.O. Box 2947, San
Francisco, CA, 94126, www.saucefaucet.com)
Tributes to entire albums are not
unheard of in rock and roll. Phish
evidently did The White Album, and Pussy Galore covered Exile
on Main Street, not to mention a number of punk bands saluting The
Ramones. However, covering an
entire Brian Eno album is an entirely different proposition.
Doug Hilsinger (all
instruments) and Caroleen Beatty (vocals) acquit themselves marvelously
on this loving, but not slavishly imitative, paean to The Man, using absolutely
no keyboards or synthesizers (though, admittedly, an army of guitar pedal
effects that certainly electronically alters the sound).
“Back
In Judy’s Jungle”, in particular, benefits from the massive opening up of the
arrangement to over eight minutes, while I finally found “Mother Whale Eyeless”
listenable (I never cared for the original version). The looped feedback, or whatever that guitar noise is, at the end
of “The Great Pretender” is both as irritating and impressive as the synth
crickets that graced the original.
“Third Uncle” is like some love child product of James Brown, Can
and The Velvets, while “Put A Straw Under Baby” proves that you
can be as sloppy and noisy with a guitar as you can with the Portsmouth
Sinfonia. In fact, to my ear, only
“The True Wheel” really sounds quite faithful to the original (though, again,
with no keyboards), which is, in my estimation, the best way to compliment an
artist; to wit, show him that you were INSPIRED by him, not just enthralled or
trying to BE him.
On which point, Miss Beatty has a CDEP
out called “As Pretty As You Feel”, in which she covers 5 songs from the 60s and
early 70s in similarly expansive arrangements, with her voice that channels
equal parts Patti Smith and Linda Thompson (while still being her
own). It’s well worth the getting as
well…
CALVIN
JOHNSON, Before The Dream Faded lp (K Records,
Box 7154, Olympia, WA, 98507, www.krecs.com)
Calvin first rose to fame
with the garagey cute-pop of Beat Happening, and dabbled a bit in
dance/dub with Dub Narcotic. His
first solo album, What Was Me, was an attempt to distance himself from
both, and was, as a result, either a capella (with occasional female backing
vocals) or just him and a simply strummed acoustic guitar.
Of course, with his limited but booming
baritone vocals, it still sounded like him, except seriously stripped down (mmmm
– Calvin and his little round tummy stripped down…oops…focus, focus…).
This time, our big brother has gone
for a fuller sound, even incorporating bass, violin, woodwinds and trumpet here
and there, and reveals he may have been taking a guitar lesson or two in the
sloppy but intricate “Rabbit Blood”.
Vocally, the assistance of Mirah on one track and Khaela
on two leavens some of the deadpan (but, to my ear, sexy) depth of his
delivery. It is still far from a
hard-rockin’ slab of vinyl, but it is nice to see him branch out and make a
folk/rock/noise release equal to some of his best work with Beat Happening.
JENS
LEKMAN, Oh You’re So Silent Jens 2-lp (Secretly
Canadian Records, 1499 West Second Street, Bloomington, Indiana. www.secretlycanadian.com, www.jenslekman.com)
This collection compiles tracks from
this very young disciple of Jonathan Richman and Stephin Merritt
(slightly ironic but paradoxically innocent and romantic pop tunes, largely put
together from samples, keyboards and the occasional guitar) as they appeared on
the European versions of the EP’s he prefers to release rather than albums (he has
put out an album, but even it had some recurring tracks from the singles, and
the album tracks were recorded over time, not focused to the era of the album’s
release, so it was really more of a compilation as well).
The versions of “Maple Leaves” here on the
vinyl seem a bit faster than the version released on cdep in North America, but
still as gorgeous in their strings and catchy simple beat as that
rendition. “Black Cab”, with its
tale of shyness and possibly homicidal taxi drivers, is fun and too easy to
relate to (the shyness, kids, the shyness).
“Sky Phenomenon”, all piano, voice and a hint of sparkly bells, makes me
cry (the line “still, I’d rather be your friend, than to never see you
again”…talk among yourselves…I’ll give you a topic…).
17 little pop gems, pale and precious and
guaranteed to break your heart, while occasionally triggering a wry funny bone
along the way.
SILVER JEWS, Tanglewood Numbers lp
(Drag City, P.O. Box 476867, Chicago, Illinois, 60647, www.dragcity.com, band at P.O. Box 160009,
Nashville, TN, 37216, www.silverjews.net)
Mr. David Berman and his various bands/projects named as above
have been around a while, starting with recordings made on a Walkman and the
like, and gradually working their way up to proper studio recordings (though
still having a certain spontaneity to them).
In all that time, he has never performed live, possibly because of his
duties running a record label, though, more likely, given some personal
history, paralytic shyness and depression may be the causes of this omission.
In much the same vein as Iron and Wine,
and the various Palace variants perpetrated/perpetuated by Will
Oldham, this music straddles the fine lines between folk, country and
the roots miserablism of, oh, Gun Club or American Music Club. While “Punks In The Beerlight” has a certain
energy and drive to it, the titles (and the predictable feel) “Sometimes A Pony
Gets Depressed” and “Sleeping Is The Only Love” are more representative of the
record as a whole. Very well done, but
certainly not the record to put on when the party is dying and you want
everyone to kick up their heels (well, unless you want them to pass out and
kick up their heels in that fashion, of course). A good end-of-a-bad-day record (now, perhaps this is just me, but
I find a sad record actually cheers me up and puts things in perspective).
SUFJAN STEVENS, Invites You to: Come On Feel the Illinoise 2-lp (Asthmatic Kitty Records, P.O. Box 1282,
Lander, WY, 82520, www.asthmatickitty.com,
www.sufjan.com)
For reasons that I would rather not go into, in the unlikely event that some comic book executive might be reading this, you really ought to try and find the vinyl version of this release, or, failing that, search E-Bay for the first pressing of the CD. I won’t say any more than that, but it would be really super, man, if you did…(if you do get the vinyl, though, you might want to make sure your fingernails are really sharp, as you will have some work to do removing a certain sticker that you will find roughly in the middle of the sleeve – and let us hope you are more delicate than I was, as I managed to nick the cover ever so slightly, leaving a tiny speck UP IN THE SKY as white now…).
Young Mr. Stevens, who is responsible
for the lion’s share of the instrumentation on this record (right up there with
Pedro The Lion, with whom he has religious faith in common, though both
gentlemen are far from sanctimonious and would seem to fall into the CS
Lewis category of a hard-fought-for set of beliefs), is evidently intending
to do an album or EP for every state in the Union (so a one-sided 7” for Rhode
Island, huh? J), and has produced a nearly
orchestral, rich, piano-led tribute to Illinois, with stories about
everything from UFO sightings to an instrumental named after Mary Todd
Lincoln to, yes, John Wayne Gacy, Jr., the serial killer (a
startlingly inside-the-mind portrait, and not nearly the obvious condemnation
one would expect). I am not entirely
certain what a certain red-caped superhero with a fetish for associates having
the initials L.L. has to do with Illinois, as his main creator
came from Canada, but perhaps some other figure in his genesis and conception
came from that geographical region.
With its chorales and flourishes of strings and
horns, this record is almost too rich for the blood to be listened to in one
sitting, but it is simply magnificent, in spite of (or, if I am being generous
in acknowledging an inspiration I do not share, perhaps because of) the
occasional bit of religious cant.
THE TIME FLYS, Flys lp (Birdman Recording Group, Inc., P.O. Box 50777,
Los Angeles, CA, 90041, www.birdmanrecords.com;
band at 3049 Richmond Blvd., Oakland, CA, 94611, email at thetimeflys@yahoo.com)
This group, on the other hand, is DEFINITELY
not slick or very rich and layered in sound.
Their whole look and aesthetic has a very Runaways/mid-Seventies
heavy-metal/hard-rock vibe, though only their drummer is a girl.
With lyrics which, on paper, read as
wonderful-stoopid as those of The Ramones, and delivery which makes you
glad there is a lyric sheet (very garbled and shouted, let us just say, though
the enthusiasm and energy cannot be faulted), not to mention a running time of
about 29 minutes, in fact, the record is very much a timewarp, and titles like
“Smokin’ Dope”, “Jailbait”, “Heavier”, “Offin’ The Chief”, “In My Skool” and
“Teenage is the Stone-Age” do little to dispel that.
Having said all that, I think the record is
demented, socially backward and lacking any redeeming value, and, furthermore,
it was recorded, seemingly for about $1.44, over 2 days in December, 2004. As a result, I love it to pieces. J
WINDSOR FOR THE DERBY, Giving Up The Ghost lp (Secretly Canadian,
1499 West Second Street, Bloomington, Indiana, 47403, www.secretlycanadian.com, www.windsorforthederby.com)
Every record this crew does has some little
surprise to it. Typically, there are
five or six people on their releases, of whom three or four are supplements to Dan
Metz and Jason Maneely.
Lately, drum machines have been the rule of thumb, along with other
electronics, perhaps a simple function of the fact that the principals live
some distance apart and seem to move frequently, thus making keeping a
permanent lineup a challenge.
This time, there are two guests, the frequently
appearing Anna Neighbor (whose chief function appears to be backing
vocals) and Gianmarco Cilli (a new name on me – possibly a drummer, as
the percussion sounds a bit more organic this time).
Musically, it is much the same as their usual
eerie straddling of melody and drone, with very big spaces in the music, topped
by laconic vocals – just a little more based in guitars and bass this time,
rather than electronics. If you like Eno
or American Analog Set or Low, you would probably enjoy Windsor
For The Derby a lot as well, so give them a chance – give them a home
in your collection – and hopefully give them a semi-permanent record label
(those this and its predecessor have been on Secretly Canadian, so
perhaps there is hope).
