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Soundtracks of Our Lives week ending 27 January 2013 CE
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Hunter T Wolfe
Hunter T Wolfe
1710 posts

Re: Soundtracks of Our Lives week ending 27 January 2013 CE
Jan 29, 2013, 14:46
Some incredible new releases this year already:

Alasdair Roberts and Friends- Wonder Working Stone.
I've not really listened to Alasdair Roberts before, and this took a few plays to sink in, but blimey it's great. Sprawling folk rock epics, loosely in an Incredible String Band vein, densely allusive, symbolic lyricism and great singing and hooks. My review is still up on the Quietus if you want to read me to waffle further.

Arbouretum- Coming Out of The Fog.
Great album, though maybe not quite up there with The Gathering or Songs of the Pearl. Arbouretum have developed such a distinctive sound its easy for their records to start sounding a bit samey. That said, this is their most condensed and focussed set; contains some of their heaviest songs and also their lightest, going from Loop soundalikes to almost country MOR. The title track falls into the latter camp, but it's also incredibly catchy and lovely.

Hookworms- Pearl Mystic.
Alright, not out till March but I blagged a promo. Anyone who's seen Hookworms live will have high expectations of their debut LP and it doesn't disappoint. A couple of slow songs throw curveballs but otherwise this is Hookworms echoey, psyche-funk-drone trip perfectly realised. Brilliant, album of the year so far.

Hacker Farm- U/H/F
Dark and noisy electronica played on home-made instruments by deceptively lovely gentlemen from Yeovil. Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, Coil by way of Demdike Stare, Mordant Music, Aphex and Plastikman and in some odd conceptual way, the KLF.


And some old stuff:

Colin Blunstone- One Year.
What an overlooked gem! First post-Zombies solo LP from '71, with Argent, Chris White, Jim Rockford and Russ Ballard all on board, plus Tony Visconti and Chris Gunning's jagged, Bartok-like string arrangements circling Blunstone's helium-gossamer vocals, both soaring and melancholy. It evokes both childhood memories of listening to Radio 2 in the mornings before school, and a neverwhere Nick Drake pastoral bedsit nostalgia, and the classic soft-pop of Blunstone's 'Caroline Goodbye' and Denny Laine's 'Say You Don't Mind.'

Al Stewart- Love Chronicles.
Also summons up a semi-mythical era of scruffy London bohemia, Al's wry, observational / confessional lyrics counterpointed by some biting guitar from Jimmy Page. The lengthy title track is a particularly ground-breaking and frank analysis of love, sex and impotence, not least for being the first instance of the word fuck appearing on a major label LP.

The Moving Sidewalks- Complete.
Probably don't need all the alternate takes that fill out this 2CD set, but all benefit from quality remastering.

The Fever Tree- S/T
Where Texas psych goes baroque. Very enjoyable.
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