The Soundcarriers - Celeste

Melodic, 2010


"The Soundcarriers are hard to pin down. On the one hand, the Nottingham quartet seem offputtingly po-faced: vinyl anoraks steeped in obscure 1960s/70s library music, soundtracks and jazz, who state in their sleevenotes that "the reverb used on these recordings is 100% natural". (Celeste was recorded on tape in the band's own studio and mixed in a disused warehouse.) On the other hand, they are cheeky enough to title Celeste's opening track Last Broadcast, in reference to their debut album, 2009's Harmonium, being compared to Broadcast by all who heard it. That influence lingers, especially in Leonore Wheatley's chiming vocals and the billowy melodies of Step Outside and Long Highway. But again, the Soundcarriers wrongfoot you: while Wheatley sings of escapism and hiding away, drummer Adam Cann and bassist Paul Isherwood puncture the dreamy mood with bold, strutting rhythms straight out of Can. The result is an album at once free-floating and tethered tight." - Maddy Costa, The Guardian

LIYL: Stereolab, Dungen, Broadcast, Neu!, Time and Space Machine, Electrelane, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Black Mountain, Can
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