I’ve been a bit lax this week on the blog front, what with the accumulation of months of college slacking piling up on me. Nevertheless, I’ve managed to squeeze in some listening alongside the constant essay writing, as well as a tiny bit of blogging in the small spaces of breaks I have (you never know, you might be reading something I wrote on the bog, although the bands mentioned should take no offense from that possibility).
Luxury Car:
Edinburgh indie label Biphonic Records is impressing me more and more at the moment.
Right now it’s Luxury Car who’s occupying that airspace between my ears and my brain, after the release of album When I Was Good. It’s all trickly and full of well orchestrated roughness and (it’s not often I get to use this phrase) coherent fuzz.
It travels interestingly through different territories, from classic 80s electro without a hint of irony, to nicely timed lo-fi euphorics. The vocals are monotonous, but they merge well with the not-quite-dark tone of the music.
The album verges on the brink between uniquely observant and a bit boring, but for me it definitely tips over into the interesting side.
Basically, I rather like it, and if you like euphoric and ambient electro with rare individuality, then you might well like it too. Check out the Bandcamp to stream the entire album for your previewing pleasure.
The Son(s):
Hmm. I suppose my opinion of the self-titled album by The Son(s) (released on that truly loveable label Olive Grove Records) is about as mysterious as the image Mr Son seems to be exuding.
There’s a great deal of discussion over The Son(s)’ identity, so all I can do in terms of background is quote the immortal lines which’ve been used all across the weboblogosphere:
The Son(s) were three men in a band, in Edinburgh. One Son went to London, and made his fortune in the movies. Another Son went to Oxford and lives in a small commune there. The last Son eventually went back to the North East of Scotland and wrote and recorded these songs.
I’m not that impressed to be perfectly honest. There’s something quite bland and possibly even dated about this sound.
But with each listen, there’s always something just the tiniest bit more engaging than the last listen. It might be a small subtlety in style change, or maybe growing attuned to it is giving me a degree more empathy with the record. It kind of reminds me of a warmer, less haunting Bon Iver.
I’ll be listening to this a lot over the coming weeks, trying to work out what about it that’s growing on me slower than Gaddafi grows on a crowd.
Hadley’s Hope:
Hadley’s Hope is the pseudonym of multi-musicianist Ryan English. The music varies frequently, from down to earth electro beats to smile-bearing casio pop, to acoustic-y type songs like this, all accompanied by a lovely twee Glaswegian accent to bring the different styles together into a neat package of fun.
‘There’s a Ghost in my Flat’ is the story of one man’s struggle with an apparition. Watch it and be mildly pleased at the niceness of it in all its DIY glory. All of Hadley Hope’s songs are free to download from his Bandcamp.
Luxury Car: Website | Bandcamp | Facebook
The Son(s): Bandcamp | Facebook | SoundCloud
Hadley’s Hope: Blog | Bandcamp | SoundCloud
