So old and new, continuity and change, standstill and motion. Minny Pops are still the same intriguing bag of contradictions. They play their last live gig at the Quietus / Lexington bash in London on 26th November. Don’t miss it.
Continue reading “Minny Pops – Waiting For This To Happen / Glistering”
Yusuf Azak – Go Native
A lot of the songs are wrapped in a mist with only the odd marsh light to prick your attention, even though it’s easily the most uncomplicated of his records that I’ve heard in terms of sound.
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Breek – ‘Burst’ EP
Living here as I do I find it an incredibly evocative take on both the landscape and the “binnengevoel” that life in NL engenders; it’s that bit removed, a little bit shrink-wrapped, and hermetically sealed.
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Various – Pendle, 1612
It’s a quiet release overall, pretty meditative but with some beautiful tracks, which conjure up those bleak moorlands and soft valleys round Burnley and Clitheroe to a tee. It’s supremely trippy too, how could it not be?
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Vernon Sélavy- Stressed Desserts Blues
The spindly sound makes everything come across a bit world weary, a bit Syd Barrett, that sort of maisonette, down-at-heel urban blues, which if handled well (as it is here) can be really affecting music.
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The Yawns – The Yawns
the band’s sound is essentially lackadaisical, it’s their “thing”, their core… and as long as you can live with that, you will find that the tracks are charming enough in their own way.
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Clockwork Orchestra – Friends Without Names
If you know the work of Harry Merry – or John Shuttleworth – then you will come prepared to the world of Clockwork Orchestra.
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The Delicate Project – The Great Refill
So imagine, Gene Wilder singing about guinea pigs over a trippy backdrop. If you can live with that then yes, this is for you.
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Andrew Poppy – Shiny Floor Shiny Ceiling
At times listening to tracks like this one, I really, really wish Billy Mackenzie was still about – he really would have lent tone to proceedings.
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Lost Bear – Shingolai
And there’s no holding it back, which is quite rare for Holland; Shingolai is totally at odds with the cool and measured vibe most Dutch pop bands deal in. It’s very catchy and sympathetic.
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