Be warned, at no point are volume levels raised; restraint and downtrodden charm are present right from the opening bars on Hotaru.
Be warned, at no point are volume levels raised; restraint and downtrodden charm are present right from the opening bars on Hotaru.
Club Kama Aina – Club Kama Aina
Don’t expect this one to get reviewed in Kerrang!.
Best described as a reflective work, Club Kama Aina showcases guest appearances by some of Glasgow’s finest, most notably Stephen Pastel and Isobel Campbell. Bill Wells and Katrina Mitchell also add their considerable talents, creating a more melodic, expansive element to Kama Aina’s soft, minimalist vignettes.
Be warned, at no point are volume levels raised; restraint and downtrodden charm are present right from the opening bars on Hotaru. Even when everyone mucks in on tracks such as Millport and Car Song, a sense of decorum is maintained. Millport with its whispered vocals could be the Blue Nile at their most quiet.
There’s the odd dollop of tweeness; Mud Cat is as fey as lo-fi post-rock electronica gets, and Glasgow Sky is a doleful (albeit very beautiful) reworking of some long lost incidental music for a Charlie Brown programme. Still it’s never irritating, or for that matter, boring.
I would suggest that you listen to it at an appropriately indulgent moment though.
Words: Richard Foster.