The Goo 1
Regular Albums single on the album. Shorn of any
need to please it’s so much more interesting tonally. The pulsing bass and clean percussion allows her voice to shine. Similarly, for ‘Twice As Clean’ which is darker and has a ferocious weight. There are echoes of Bjork’s ‘Anchor Song’. It might be the best of the album though closer, “The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of” is also brimming with drama. There are times here where Dilettante is untethered. She has a special approach to song writing, maybe borne of her wider scope of instrumentation that allows her to put the exact focus or flourish needed to make her sound exceptional. Emma Anderson - Spiralée: Pearlies Rearranged - David Carr Emma Anderson, shoegaze royalty and co-founder of Lush, returned to the limelight with her debut solo album Pearlies. A much admired release that hung around the fringes of the Top 10 AOTY 2023. Label Sonic Cathedral have managed to get some of the coolest next-gen artists on their roster to contribute rearrangements (Emma is adamant they are not remixes) of her Pearlies tracks. Daniel Hunt nudges the fragile and ethereal ‘Willow and Mallow’ into a more upbeat, band driven opener. The elusive Concretism gives the PAGE 18 classically Lush sounding ‘The Presence’ an electro sheen. Critical darlings Deary invoke an early 90’s broken-beat remix vibe, applying it to ‘For a Moment’. The in-house mix of ‘Xanthe’ becomes a sort of gothic, Tales of the Unexpected. MEMORIALS sends the spooky ‘Inter Light’ down a psych spiral to great effect. Julia Holters version of ‘Taste The Air’ is arguably the most interesting, stripping it back and reforming it into an avant garde jazz experience. Lorelle drops an LCD Soundsystem sound explosion onto ‘Tonight is Mine’, patient yet ultimately euphoric. The Orielles initial jazz dub version of ‘Bend the Round’ gives way to a drum and bass throwback. My suggestion to Emma of an LTJ Bukem sound, has her agreeing, reminiscing his ‘90s BBC Radio highlights. Masal Spectral takes the brilliant essence of ‘I Was Miles Away’ creating a BOC electronic monster and worthy closer. Spiralée is a magnificent document of the elevated reverence, held for and brought to the work of Emma Anderson. The Soundcarriers - Through Other Reflections - David Carr I have to say, I am very fond of the Nottingham bands’ sophomore album Celeste (2010) which was reissued last year. It combined late ‘60s alt-pop sensibilities with some of the more avantgarde experimentalism of Can and the early German electronic scene. If you feel like I’m describing Stereolab, well they would be good touchstone, but imagine something more hazy and dreamy. On Through Other Reflections I would venture that they have retained their late ‘60s alt-pop/ rock sound but have a narrower focus. A number of the tracks are still beat driven but they are more analogue in nature and even jazz tinged at times. It creates a more convincing aura and authenticity of an era specific (even America specific) lost garage band release. ‘The City Was’ is a perfect slice of folk-pop. ‘Always’ begins more dreamlike with its ensembled voices, before progressing into an engrossing psych-jam. ‘Behind the Fire’ is full of little instrumental nuances like an early David Axelrod was directing things from the rear. Listening to ‘It’s Already Over’ just transports you back. The placement and delivery of the drums, the subtle organ, the duetting vocals, it really should have 60 th Anniversary Release emblazoned on the cover. Yet it sounds fresh and new in a strange way, perhaps unburdened with infinite airplays, sound tracking countless childhoods. The fact that they pulled off this time travelling miracle so successfully across its 11 track duration is just confounding. I’d urge you to take the trip.