1 Jul 2013

Reviews - Arcazas & Vintage Cucumber, The Wax Collection, TJ Porter, Asteroid #4, Tales of Murder & Dust


ARCAZAS & VINTAGE CUCUMBER - SPLIT E.P
I love the way the internet has made it so easy for likeminded souls to meet and work together musically. Brazil's Felipe Arcazas and Germany's Johannes Schulz may have never physically been in the same room together, but that hasn't stopped them from making sweet, sweet music together. As a follower of both of these artists on their solo paths, I can happily report that this is the best project either artist has been involved with so far. With three tracks apiece and one track attributed to them together, this is a beautiful piece of work combining Schulz's trippy, spacy excursions with Arcazas' relaxed desert stonerisms. Both have a pleasingly vintage sound that gels easily and reaches it's apex on the collaborative track "Asa Vadja". Here's hoping these guys work together more. And that cover - wow.
Available as a name your price download here.
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THE WAX COLLECTION - BEFORE THEY TURN TO DUST
With a full length album in the works on Howling Rhythm Records, the lads of the Wax Collection decided to let loose this set of demos recorded in their kitchen. As lo-fi as that sounds, let's not forget that Bert Jansch's debut was recorded in a kitchen and that doesn't sound half bad at all does it? Same goes for these six surprisingly well recorded demo tracks which are charmingly ramshackle, full of surprises, and most importantly, top tunes. Form an orderly queue if you're in the market for some lovingly crafted, vintage English pop / rock with some nice psychedelic touches (check out the lovely backwards guitars on "The Moon").
Looking forward to more of this.
Available as a name your price download here.
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TJ PORTER - ALL THAT REMAINS
This gent is a mysterious individual with a sparse internet presence (just a bandcamp and soundcloud page that I could find), and a biography that reveals little save that he's a Canadian who lives in Istanbul.
"All That Remains" is his third E.P and is pure Berlin School synth wonder. Four long tracks with a flawless vintage sound that unwind at a leisurely pace, bringing to mind Tangerine Dream's more accessible late seventies outings, with just a touch of Jean Michel Jarre's melodic sensibilities.
Impeccable attention to detail, and top stuff in my book.
Available as a name your price download here.
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THE ASTEROID#4 - THE WINDMILL OF THE AUTUMN SKY
Following on from their jaw-droppingly good collaborative effort with Kaleidoscope's Peter Daltrey (investigate here), the long lived and consistently innovative Asteroid #4 are back with their own E.P, and "Windmill of the Autumn Sky" is one of their best yet.
They've come a long way since their neo-psychedelic roots, still openly embracing psychedelia as part of a wider picture that is more cosmic american than anything else.
"Rifles and Knives" displays their diversity best, starting off sounding like Donovan's "Atlantis", before a high lonesome steel guitar enters the fray where it's eventually hijacked by a bridge section that sounds like an underwater carnival.
Consistently, predictably great.
Available to download here.
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TALES OF MURDER & DUST - SKELETON FLOWERS
Danish dark psychedelicists Tales of Murder & Dust fully embrace the furious shoegaze squall which has lurked within their previous recordings for their new E.P, without sacrificing any of the psychedelic drone we loved earlier on.
Offering a fresh new take on a sound that is part Jesus and Mary Chain and part Velvet Underground, "Skeleton Flowers" is an apt title for an E.P that offers moments of entrancing beauty beside moments of terrifying garage clamour.
"Like Young Gentle Beasts" stretches out to the band's potential most fully, with a cinematic splendor that evokes Morricone and Verve (before they added the definitive article) with glorious vocal harmonies, and langorous, otherworldly guitar leads.
Lovely.
Available as a name your price download here.
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