OCRB: January 2012

Apparently, I buy too many records

My wife Helen, like every other woman i've ever lived with, believes that I buy too many records.

Which, as every record-buying man knows, is a ridiculous belief.

I will concede, however, that I do indeed buy a lot of records and that I don't afford them the same amount of listens and attention that I did 20 or 30 years ago.

To this end, I have decided to blog about the records that I buy, in order to help my appreciation of them - and perhaps to show Helen that I don't buy that many records after all.

Because i'm crap with deadlines the blog posts will be sporadic and probably be about a month or 2 behind but that's just the way i am! The posts will not necessarily be actual reviews (most likely comments, at best) and will generally be pretty damn short due to the reasons outlined above. As a writer in a previous existence i have decided not to worry about writing as art in the pieces but, instead, to attempt to convey feeling over semantic (and often grammatic) perfection.

And 'OCRB'? It stands for 'Obsessive Compulsive Record Buying' - a little known mental health affliction that is potentially damaging to the bank account but ultimately life-affirming. It is sad.......but a nice form of sad.

Saturday 14 January 2012

Pink Skull: Psychic Welfare (RVNG)

A strange record this - it veers from the LCD Soundsystem in space of 'Hot Bubblegum' to the more experimental instrumental excesses like (deep breath) 'Either the Luminescent wallpaper goes, or i do' and back again numerous times. Stylistically all over the shop but retains a sense of electronic splendour that is always enjoyable.

EDM: Night People (Western Vinyl)

There is a Dreamers of the Ghetto connection here, although i'm not sure exactly what it is, so this album immediately got my attention. On first playing it i was immediately struck with the quality of the songwriting and the restraint shown by the rhythm section. These songs could've worked well as faster paced rockers but the sense of restraint gives the songs ample room to weave their way into your head - and for this EDM should be commended. Occasionally they remind me of early Wilco but then this is only when they're not producing absolutely beautiful stretches of music like the truly lovely 'Open Bar' which, to be frank, Jeff Tweedy would've killed to have written. So, in short, when they're not really trying too hard they remind me of Wilco. High praise indeed.

Apparat Organ Quartet: Polyfonia (Crunchy Frog)

Johann Johannsson normally produces gorgeous neo-classical work of an incredibly high standard, so this 'electro-futurist' album promised to be a very interesting listen indeed. Taking direct influence from Trans Am's masterpiece 'Futureworld' album, this rocks along like a speed-stuffed Kraftwerk mixed with Mogwai's old dedication to the fast/slow/fast ethic. Occasional vocodered vocals add to the Trans Am connection and the live drumming help ground the ferociously squealing aged synths.

Absolutely fucking brilliant.