The Phantom Band – The Howling (Chemikal Underground)
This perky slice from The Phantom Band’s middling debut is symptomatic of the band’s overriding dynamic. Corners of excitement occasionally sharpen and become interesting, even thrilling, but the simplicity of the padding around those corners renders the whole effect somewhat muted. There’s enough Saloon-style melodic grace to endear the [...]
Time for part two of this bloody excellent stuff. Read part one here if you’ve been a TWAT and missed it.
Musically, much of Ouliposaliva deals in repetitive drones and simple chord progressions over which the other instruments provide melodic focus. How much input did the other musicians have on their own parts? Was it meticulously [...]
Mickaël Mottet is the brains behind one of 2008’s most bizarre yet accomplished albums. Angil + The Hiddentracks opus Ouliposaliva is centred on one musical and lyrical restriction (no Es – that means in the notes and the words), but without having that conceit govern the whole record. It’s a scintillating mix of lyrical dexterity [...]
Aidan Moffat & The Best-Ofs – How To Get To Heaven From Scotland (Chemikal Underground)
It might be a little trite to suggest this, but maybe Aidan Moffat is a better artist when he’s pissed off and sordid. While it’s cheering to learn from this second solo effort that he has more than a one-note performance [...]
