Alex Delivery – Star Destroyer

This is a weird but utterly brilliant record, and I’d encourage you to investigate without delay

This is a weird but utterly brilliant record, and I’d encourage you to investigate without delay

 

Alex Delivery – Star Destroyer

(http://www.jagjaguwar.com/ http://www.konkurret.nl/)

 

You heard of Alex Delivery? No, neither had I, and the reason I’m reviewing it is quite by chance. We stuck this CD on the player on Saturday during a quiet moment, (it has a painting of a unicorn on the cover; we like unicorns at Incendiary…) and found ourselves dragged into a quite crazy state of affairs.

 

Simply put, it’s an astonishing listen. Opener Komad is a stop start and very intense affair, awash with treated synth noises that are just on the right side of jarring; somehow after a reflective opening the track adopts what seems to be a Spandau Ballet riff and utterly mangles it, albeit in an incredibly charming way. After that you need time to draw your breath. Luckily Rainbows gives you chance to do that; it’s a simple enough ballad, though not without the odd strange noise floating about. Simple is not a word you could use to describe the following track, Milan. After a relatively peaceful beginning, a jaunty synth melody takes over and things get like early, Ruckzuck-era Kraftwerk only more symphonic. It’s magnificent. After that we have a slothful, noisy incantation (seemingly in a bombed fairground) that operates under the name of Scotty. Once the pounding has stopped, Sheath – Wet continues the early Kraftwerk groove, albeit with some charming vocal reflections. Like the opener, it’s an invigorating piece of music. Last up is Vesna, a soft lullaby utilising bird sounds and an old piano amongst other things…

 

This is a weird but utterly brilliant record, and I’d encourage you to investigate without delay.

 

Words: Richard Foster