Amusement – Run Through The Door

13 October 2011

Amusement

It’s been a few months since we heard anything from Croydon’s Amusement (facebook/twitter) – and whilst part of the downtime was due to a methylated spirits accident (who the hell plays with that these days?!), the duo have been back laying down some new tracks and getting a live show prepared. Good news.

On the new material front Run Through The Door maintains their soft, distant groove – an electronic lullaby that transports you to their dream-world. They’ve also been getting busy on the remix work – playing around with Liverpool’s Outfit, taking their luscious, soulful vocals and wrapping them in that spacious electronic soundscape.

Catch them live at the Binnacle micro-festival at Old Blue Last this weekend.

Run Through The Door by Amusement.
Outfit – Two Islands (Amusement Remix) by Amusement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mC6e8SKazQ

Stalking Horse – Waterhole

By: Carrow

12 October 2011

In: News & Leaks

2 comments

Stalking Horse - Waterhole

Despite the song’s decidedly odd song structure (something which Wu, formerly of Leeds math-rock types This Et Al, is an old hand at), Waterhole, while a fantastic song in its own right, works extremely well as a single. It opens with one of the most exuberant vocal hooks I’ve heard all year, before exploding into life for a full-on verse, and THEN almost collapsing in on itself as the song’s swallowed up in spine-tingling noise. The hook reappears, though (serving as the song’s chorus as well – how’s that for versatility?), before things are taken in an entirely different direction, with Wu repeating ‘to the waterhole’ over a nice juxtaposition of a simple piano line and some complex guitar work. It gets a lot done in under four minutes, and is the perfect primer for next year’s debut, Specters.

It’s hard to believe it’s been four-and-a-half years since Wu was involved in any sort of album (and on that note, Baby Machine is a criminally-underrated record), but when the Stalking Horse (facebook/twitter) project really gets going, it’ll be a great reminder of what we’ve missed. It’s probable that the album will be an entirely different beast to anything This Et Al put out, but on this evidence, it could also be just as good.

Waterhole by Stalking Horse
Broken Brain by Stalking Horse

We Were Promised Jetpacks – In The Pit Of The Stomach

By: Tim

12 October 2011

In: News & Leaks, Reviews

0 comments

We Were Promised Jetpacks

We Were Promised Jetpacks (Facebook/Twitter) thundered their way into my heart upon first listen of their debut with pounding rhythms and vocals that showed signs of a softer heart, but as they showed on last year’s The Last Place You’ll Look EP, they have not problem shifting tempos and pressure.

Where their debut was uneven, they have stepped forth and let the tension uncoil a little. Introversion is still core, but this steps away from the angst and desperation that fuelled their debut. With tracks like Medicine, WWPJ have kept the thundering crescendos but have spread their wings and opened the door to the world outside.

The sonic edge remains as brutal and bass-heavy, but it seems recording the record at Sigur Ros’ Sundlaugin Studios in the frozen plains of Iceland has allowed the band to chase the dream outside of the window rather than looking inside for experience. There is a nervousness to Act On Impulse that is of this brave new world as they reach over the horizon.

There is warmth too, as Sore Thumb sees the band finding peace and using subtlety, with the vocals softly reintroducing the wall of sound and noise from a distance. And the hope building through Pear Tree is something of brooding, thunderous beauty.

The desperation of their debut is refined on In The Pit Of The Stomach, but they are no longer defined by it. They have found new avenues outside of the walls of noise, and new pleasures beyond the self.

[BUY] We Were Promised Jetpacks – In The Pit Of The Stomach on CD | MP3 | VINYL

We Were Promised Jetpacks – Act On Impulse
We Were Promised Jetpacks – Medicine