ALBUM REVIEW: Jib Kidder - Teaspoon to the Ocean (Domino)

Written for Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/music-news/jib-kidder-teaspoon-ocean

Sean Schuster-Craig, currently going under the alias of Jib Kidder, is a loosely New York-based artist who uses a rather avant-garde cut and paste approach, sonically trying to execute the overwhelming burr and beep nature of the internet age in all of its discombobulating glory. 

Kidder initially built up a name for himself on the American underground through an amazing set of Bandcamp Releases and a minor DIY hit, 2012’s ‘My Baby’. Teaspoon to the Ocean is his first release on quietly prestigious UK underground label Domino.  

His vocals consistently reel off like a text processor and his sparse soundsscapes are a collage of his juxtaposing influences including Animal Collective, Atlanta Rap and AM radio. Kidder is geographically hard to place, his Bandcamp bio reads, “No genre, no hometown, hard 2 pin down since Y2K.” In line with this vision, his music is the same, hard to trace, hard to pin down.

Kidder’s sharp wit and sonically “pretty” style is bemusing and appealing throughout TTTO yet his vision, his backstory, and in many ways his forward thinking philosophy are not executed in the hard-hitting way that they should have been. The final product comes across rather absentmindedly, sounding accidental and misunderstood.

Yet, the scene has been set, the foundations have been laid for something more developed and acute to follow. Perhaps the very nature of his idea, his approach, is what we are hearing, much like a teaspoon to the ocean, an overwhelmed, poetically unfathomable result ensues. 

LIVE REVIEW: Dry The River @ The Marble Factory, Bristol 26/02/15

Written for Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/live/dry-river-marble-factory-bristol-26022015

Dry The River, now on their second album 'Alarms in the Heart', are often described as a ‘hard folk’ outfit, which does like a weird amalgamation, but is actually pretty spot on. Their take on folk is fresh, deep and consistently earnest and often surreptitiously pained. 

The band studied in Bristol, and cited that this stop at The Marble Factory was an important, nostalgic date. Lead vocalist  Peter Liddle was barefoot throughout the performance, and their long, Anglo-Saxon tresses and shaggy beards added to their earthy, almost verging on pagan style that their poeticism and folk-roots covey. 

Their voices were in perfect harmony, all equally strong vocalists with different but complimentary ranges. Liddle’s voice is so profoundly beautiful, but live was he was completely disarming as a performer. ‘Bible Belt’, from their debut Shallow Bed, was a poignant moment, and is a song about Liddle’s alcoholic parents, as his voice pirouetted around the room, the crowd stood in respectful silence at his deep creation.

Title track ‘Alarms in the Heart’ was delivered with precision and passion, ‘Gethsemane’ named after a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, was beautiful, and laden with powerful religious imagery, a recurring theme across both albums.  

Their debut Shallow Bed was released in 2012, and their latest album has been met with much the same amount of critical adoration, some even citing it a progressive improvement. With one man down, their violinist, the Stratford-group certainly hasn’t suffered at the hands of his departure. Dry the River appeared stronger than ever - refined, triumphant and confident of their beautiful new offering.  Finishing with ‘No Rest’, they performed a special rendition, which started with acoustics and switched over to electric.  It was a perfect set, vocally, instrumentally and altogether completely enriching to behold.

ALBUM REVIEW: Beach Beach - The Sea (La Castanya)

Written for Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/beach-beach/beach-beach-sea-la-castanya

The garage and punk scene in Spain is notably strong and has churned out some really interesting stuff over the past few years. However, with the annual Primavera festival, (now in its fourteenth extremely successful year) now is a great time to be a Spanish indie band. The festival focuses predominantly on independent home-grown bands, providing a vehicle for emerging talent.

Crystal Fighters, (also hailing from Spain) encapsulate an overwhelming joyous sensation into their music that is instantly palpable, Beach Beach have gone in with similar elation on first album The Sea. Take their double-worded name as a reiteration of just how sunny and carefree these guys sound, something that has sadly lacked in British indie music for quite some time now.

Opener ‘Friendly’ is a one minute blast of sunshine (and does sound ever so slightly like the Friends theme tune, only slightly though), setting the tone for the rest of the 12-track album. ‘Just Like Before’ is playful, light-hearted stoner beach pop. It’s charming and childlike, and is everything that our once joyous British indie scene used to be, before things got stale and cynical. ‘Glaring Sweat’ is a bouncy, surfer rock anthem, kind of like Tame Impala, but instead of LSD acting as their main stimulant, a hazy, marijuana enhanced sleepiness can be heard.

The Sea is pretty much the same formula repeated on every track, without a smidgen of a change in sentiment. It’s easy listening from beginning to end, but not in the disparaging sense of the phrase, it just really is very pleasant to listen to, and would sound amazing under the spring sunshine at this year’s Primavera.

ALBUM REVIEW: Moon Duo - Shadow of the Sun (Sacred Bones Records)

Written for Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/albums/moon-duo-shadow-sun-sacred-bones-records

Moon Duo is the side-project of guitarist Ripley Johnson from the band Wooden Shjips, he is joined by former school teacher Sanae Yamada on vocals and keyboard, both from Portland, Shadow of the Sun being their third LP.

The record is instantaneous, with just the right blend of psychedelic, bleeding guitar work and anolog electronics. Just as the album artwork depicts, it is a journey into their minds through compelling artistry, with many a nod to the past.

Their droning yet poignant vocal style and feverish beats are disarming - with acute sensation delivered in a tangible and infectious mode, especially on tracks ‘Free the Skull’ and ‘Zero’. ‘In a Cloud’ is psych rock precision - honeyed riffs set aside the playful hues of an intertwined male and female vocal, with the gentle background thud of the reverb.

However dream-like and accidental Shadow of the Sun may appear, their knowledge of music is clearly decipherable, each strung out-riff completely stylised and on purpose.

The nine tracks are a weird spell that keeps the listener enchanted, completely engaged and hypnotised without breaking focus. There is nothing sentimental about Moon Duo - their sound is without all of that peace and love narrative which can often come into play in this particular strain of rock, often diluting its wonderful trippy power. Interesting, spacey yet completely controlled, Shadow of the Sun is an instant pleaser.