I suppose this LP is like Thunderclap Newman getting stuck in a lift with a very sedated Swell Maps and doing a hippy jam session…
Hush Arbors – S/T
http://myspace.comhusharborsmusic/ http://www.konkurrent.nl/
A nice LP this, mildly off it’s head and pleasantly annoying in its underachieving nature. Expect things to be loose throughout. I can’t think of a better way to describe the music in general terms than to fall back on the very hoary journalistic trick of marrying two disparate bands, so here goes… I suppose this LP is like Thunderclap Newman getting stuck in a lift with a very sedated Swell Maps and doing a hippy jam session…
I promise not to be so flippant again; Rue Hollow and Sand are lovely urban pastoral love songs, in love with John Barleycorn Must Die and Lief & Liege in equal measure. And Gone is a veritable strum-fest of Hapshash/Amon Duul 1 High Magicke…
Urban Hippy would be the best way to describe the atmosphere that is evoked on this LP. Stuff like Bless You is immensely tripped out, but it’s not the sort blessed with the sort of strident outdoor muse you’d expect. Rather it is inward looking, meditative, closeted music. Even when things go up a notch as on The Light, it’s hard to imagine the band actually standing up to play the song…
Good stuff mind, if you’re feeling reflective.
Words: Richard Foster