In this setting, I realised, even in the earlier phase of Dexys, that this element had always been a key part of their vision. It’s working class magical realism. The portal at the bottom of your street.
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Snow Palms – Intervals
Of course the use of instruments like a reed organ or a harmonium helps set the tone, as do the lachrymose strings …but in these things are very much part of a whole, and that whole is a warm, rich experience.
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Chris Cohen – Overgrown Patch
People who like their 60’s classics will enjoy Overgrown Patch, especially if you’re tuned into the more reflective, Arthur Lee / Donovan / Traffic side of things, frayed, acid-soaked folk rock with a touch of soul.
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A Mid-Winter Listen
Three releases that – despite their differences in make-up, execution and background – all share a certain sombre and seasonal mood. Perfect for a winter’s listen, dark and Gothic, like a Gustave Doré print
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Kin – Flickering
You get the feeling that this is a band that feels the need to hide their light behind a bushel now and again. Despite their incredible power.
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Two Tears For Barbarella – Hidden Depths
…such is the hothouse atmosphere of the music that four tracks are more than enough to digest at first sitting: this no-nonsense and often angsty EP really leaves its mark with the attitude that is cut deep into the recording and an obvious, essential part of the band’s DNA.
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Pop Campaign – Britain Isn’t Working
The record rides a sort of highly glossed, pumped-up synth sheen, redolent of those La Dusseldorf or La! Neu? recordings; with repetitive, insistent electronic beats cracking the whip.
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Japanther – Beets Limes & Rice
I’m not sure whether I should be looking for anything deep in this riotous celebration of surface – outside of a snigger at the odd caustic lyric – but regardless, Beets Limes & Rice is very good at setting certain, hoary old chord structures up, things that simply make you feel good.
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Repetitor – Dobrodošil Na Okean
Repetitor have a fund of human energy that they are looking to share as soon as possible, that’s what gives them their incredible focus on this record. The hooks are sharp, abrasive and metallic, gritty to the feel, like iron fillings.
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Vox Von Braun – Rich and On Wheels
This record is everything and nothing. Just like the band. They’re just a bunch of people from Groningen. No more than that, and they’re not looking for your approval.
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