Thursday, January 22, 2009

Timber Timbre


Timber Timbre stops you. The elements are deceptively simple: a confident, but hushed voice, understated guitar, strings and keyboard flourishes, and a subtle percussive beat. Timber Timbre front man Taylor Kirk is making pop as if it was meant to sound haunted.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

The Yellow Moon Band


More Hillage than Gong, more Hacket than Genesis, more Thompson than Fairport and certainly more Velvet Jacket than Leather Jacket.
The Brothers dropped some mushrooms one afternoon after decided to experience the love behind the record of the year. Yes they would plot a histogram using Jaffa-cakes and pink wafers. During a distracted moment they pondered over the other important events in music. The Weeley festival 1971 (Juicy Lucy, demon fuzz and Hackensack and all for just 1-50); dancing in the mud in your underpants at Bickershaw to the Greatfull Dead; Cheech and Chong and Haydock Brass Band. Or what about climbing on army tanks to catch Roy Harper at the St. Helens Show. Great days with the endorphin rush of pure music jammed out by buzzing musicians.

So here we have the debut album by The Yellow Moon Band'Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World'. It follows two sold out sevens and some crazy shows at the Green Man Festival. Eight tracks of Instrumental wonk thats as darn exciting as discovering that rare side of wax thats sorta Anatolian led rare groove in a bare chested wrestle with Be Bop Deluxes Sunburst Finish and pressed up on Vertigo. Well it might exist in the car boot of your dreams.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

James Ferraro



Limited Europe-only album from James Ferraro of The Skaters/Lamborghini Crystal et al, the first run ever presented under his own name. Clear presents some of his most transparently beautiful synth work in the vein of Klaus Schulze, JD Emmanuele, early Krautrock et al… the first half is pure unanchored tonefloat bliss while the second brings in fast hand-drum rhythms and a kind of modal 1980s casio/bass guitar feel that makes it sound like a weird DIY new wave group’s take on Popol Vuh’s Affenstunde. Very beautiful and highly recommended.


Discovery is packaged as a companion volume to Clear and feels like an extension of the modes first extrapolated there, with hypnotic rhythms driving crystal-complex keyboard patterns through endlessly reflective hall-of-mirrors style sonic environs. The album becomes progressively denser as we approach the second half, with what could almost be a backwards re-staging of Faust’s “Krautrock” fed slowly into the nearest wormhole. Another monster. Highly recommended.