In addition, the instruments that are played on this work seem to have been assembled from various garden sheds.
In addition, the instruments that are played on this work seem to have been assembled from various garden sheds.
Veda Hille – Return of the Kildeer
The song A Fine Start is a quiet start, a morose cello part underlining the winsome vocals. As a pointer to the rest of the album it’s pretty accurate; the music throughout is quiet, almost slumberously so, and pretty self-effacing. In addition, the instruments that are played on this work seem to have been assembled from various garden sheds.
No matter, Queen of May bubbles along very nicely, underpinned by a wobbly didgeridoo noise (doubtless a bike tyre or some such). A growling clattering noise suddenly intervenes, stopping the track dead.
Yep, as you may have guessed, this album is full of sad little vignettes, such as The Cats, recorded by the way in the "graveyard housing Brecht"… hmmm. It’s all very American gothic in style and outlook. Still there are moments of levity, Lisa Jane is a great song and the most arresting of the first batch (there are 18 tracks in all). Following on, Every Morning is a great track with more than a touch of bar blues (and, hark, do the band use a conventional electric guitar here? I shudder at the thought). Honolulu Reverie introduces us to a rather menacing male vocal part which, after the reflective coy female vocal leads found previously on this album, is something of a short sharp shock.
Other tracks to look out for on this twee fest are A Little Pleasure and Oh, the Endless Fog. What with the weird instrumentation and eccentric time key, A Little Pleasure hints very strongly at Trout Mask Replica. The instrumentation – sliding around this track as if unsure what to do – finally pulls together decisively to deliver a cracking chorus. For its part, Oh the Endless Fog boasts a great choral refrain and a rather morose organ line.
One for the long winter evenings.
Words: Richard Foster.