Yeti Lane

The Echo Show

Sonic Cathedral

Rating: 4/5

Fucking hell. Has it really been a month since my last post? Okay, I mean I have been writing stuff for Prog and DIY but that does seem like quite a while even for me. Sheesh. Anyway, it's time for an album that nobody else was foolish enough to let me have a crack at - Yeti Lane's difficult second, The Echo Show. Now, I'm going to spoil the ending by pointing out that nearly every review has been overwhelmingly positive about this record, and I'm not about to break that trend. I am, however, going to talk about something other than the stunning first track, 'Analog Wheel'. Yes it's brilliant, kosmiche, swirling, physchedelia, Neu! etc., but there's also like an hour of other music on there that isn't getting mentioned. 

Without wanting to get into a track-by-track style review, an example of this would be the title track, (and track two) 'The Echo Show'; as more consistently found on the rest of the record, though it's fair to draw krautrock comparisons, perhaps more relevant sonic touchstones would be The Beta Band and (latterly) The Aliens. I'll grant that the drums do come very much from that heritage, but the spindly electronic fragments and ethereal vocals that define the record are of an altogether more modern pedigree. 'Logic Winds', for instance has the ring of The Flaming Lips or Nice Nice about it, while 'Alba' is like Jason Lytle's finest post-Grandaddy downtempo offerings. 

For me the real elephant in the room however is The Secret Machines - I mean, once you get over the obvious fact that Josh Garza isn't in the drum stool then there's definitely something beyond a simple liberal referencing of influences. I listen to 'Faded Spectrum' and hear the noisy wig-out that could have occurred if... wait... hang on... how did the beginning of 'First Wave Intact' go?

Anyway, whatever bands it sounds like, the record is sort of what everybody says it is; a great alternative record that touches playfully on the most tongue-in-cheek electronic sounds while still having the nous to accomodate a good, old-fashioned guitar wig out now and then. Brilliant. 

The Fierce & the Dead

If It Carries On Like This We Are Moving To Morecambe

Self-Released

Out Now

Rating: 4/5

As one might expect from having heard their previous efforts, TFATD's record is for the most part an exhilarating blend of krautrock, space rock and upbeat progressive motifs that owe as much to Neu! as they would appear to be beholden to say, Portishead. The overall effect is something like a kinetic, instrumental take on the first Secret Machines album with a rather greater degree of electronics and somewhat cleaner production.

The first track, 'Flint' begins with washes of auto-oscillation before a driving motorik rhythm kicks in and carries the piece from start to finish, aided by sparse guitar figures. On 'Part 2' there's initially a continuation of the theme before an abrupt sturm-und-drang turn to loud post-rock two minutes in that's somewhat reminiscent of God is an Astronaut. Other tracks like 'The Wait' are more consciously sparse post-rock, but there's a great degree of variation; 'H.R.', for instance sounds like nothing so much as The Bends-era Radiohead, and 'Landcrab' is kind of like the older, thrashier, fuzz-bass, alternate-tunings fare that Placebo used to deal in so well.

Recent single '10x10' makes a welcome return, and the collection closes on 'Andy Fox', a brass-laced atmospheric number that builds round a bass hook to something sinister and brooding that just about recalls first-album Muse b-sides (seriously, go have a listen if you don't believe me). Though I've done a lot of name-dropping here (even by my standards), that's mainly because I'm always nervous about describing instrumental music to anybody, and I particularly don't like slipping into wanky 'palaces of sound' style writing (though sometimes it's unavoidable), so I'll close by referring you to the score, the fact that I took the time to write this, and the fact that it's a very enjoyable little record. My usual caveat remains: it's instrumental music, so if you're not into that then too bad. If you are, then have a listen and decide for yourself. There are plenty of ideas here to keep a leftfield music fan interested, and if you're not up for an album-length experience, I refer you back to their excellent last single 10x10.