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.

Friday, 7 October 2011

Sleepingdog: With our heads in the clouds and our hearts in the fields ( Gizeh)

I've had the CD of this for a little while, after it was sent to me to review as i had raved so much about the last album by this  wonderful duo of Chantal Acda (incredibly touching and perfectly understated vocals and an array of instruments) and Adam Wiltzie (other electronics, string arrangements), but had failed to play it due to various reasons. Whilst perusing the Gizeh website i spied this beauty and snaffled it up, completely forgetting that i already had it on the horrid little silver disc.
Halfway through this amazing album i fell in love with sleepingdog all over again, remembering exactly why i loved the last album so much, and realising that this one was even better - the fragility of the vocals over the lush electronics, the string arrangements subtly enveloping the whole room in gorgeous swathes of sound, the utterly incredible all-encompassing  beauty of this amazing pairing and the feeling that, as soon as it ends, i will want to put it right back on again.
Adam Wiltzie has, quite rightly, since gained huge praise for his 'A winged victory for the sullen' album (review to follow) but this project/pairing/group is even better - in that Chantal's vocals take the whole thing into a new world of icy delicate grace.
Apologies for the seemingly endless use of hyperbole here, but it is totally justified.
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