Album Review: Colour Is Breathe - Soosh

Colour Is Breathe was recorded by Soosh, real name Soroosh Khavari, during a five-month stink in Italy last year and it's a delicate concoction of chilled IDM that references Boards of Canada and Nathan Fake amongst others.

There's a Hip-Hop looseness here but it's combined with a fuzzy, hazy feel and dizzy melodic electronics. Even when some of the track don't feature the guest vocals of Soosh's sister, Carmel Khavari, there are still voices scattered across most of the tracks, whether they be samples or presumably at times Soosh's own. 

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Colour Is Breathe - Soosh

Chorus Dream is one track that features an understated, slightly rough and ready vocal that captures a gentle sense of longing. There are four tracks featuring guest vocalist Carmel and all layer the vocals relatively deep with the mix, at times instrument-like in their application, as on the title track.

Soosh's style encompasses a textual approach to composition, applying the principles of musique concrète to incorporate found sounds. It adds to the atmospheric and dreamy feel of Colour Is Breathe. This is a gentle album, and listened to through a pair of headphones it slowly encloses the listener like a film of abstraction between them and the outside world, slowing things down for a moment. For the right moments it's a welcoming step away from the reality of gravity and momentum.

Colour Is Breathe is released through Error Broadcast on 25 February, available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link].

Album Review: Talking House Volume One - Various Artists

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Talking House Volume One

I'm off to Stockholm on (what I'd say is) a well-earned holiday the week after next so when this new label compilation from the city's Local Talk label I was keen to check out what the city might sound like when I get there.

Turns out if this album is anything to go by then I should like Stockholm just fine. Local Talk specialise in classic House music and whilst there has been a significant movement back to the classic late-eighties / early-nineties House sound I've not heard any labels that encapsulate and focus on that sound quite this well.

Whilst there are no big name DJs here, Local Talk's releases have had support from DJ Sneak, Deetron and Steve Bug amongst others and there's plenty here that would add some cool to a house set.

Talking House is a label album so in my view that almost always guarantees a few duff tracks and there are admittedly a couple of moments that drop the pace. Dirtytwo's Moody is too long and not enough happens, for example. On the whole though it's a surprisingly consistent set.

The inspiration for some of the material is often quite clear - Andreas Saag's Back To Life recalling Strings Of Life's synth strings and Mateo & Matos' MAW Basics clearly a tribute to Masters At Work - but that love for the sound is actually somewhat endearing.

There are a raft of stand-out moments. The snappy disco-influenced First Time House from Fulbert is encircled is string samples and layered filtered samples in a way that spans genres and feels classic but fresh, almost Germanic in approach. Heart Attack by Tanzlife drops a string orchestra in the break and combines it with some vocal sample pitch manipulation to create a track the skirts a less authentic style of house but it's hard not to raise a smile listening to it.

Best of all are the two tracks that mark the end of the first and second halves of the album. Mid-way through, Kyodai's Breaking is a jazzy track complete with imperfect, scattershot drumming that gives the track a wonderfully alive, engaging sound. The album ends on Local Talk's first release and crossover anthem Moon Shadow from Bassfort. It's a track that builds from a locked minimal groove into an unexpectedly maximal piano House track, moving from clinically placed beats to big warm keyboard melodies.

They may occasionally stray into more commercial territory but Local Talk have a good thing going on here. I'm looking forward to checking out Stockholm all the more for hearing it!

Video: The Curve - Golden Void

Golden Void's self-titled debut from last year was a heady rush of bluesy psychedelia. The BlackPlastic.co.uk review featured a video for 'Virtue' but that was nothing compared to the band's latest video, this time for album highlight 'The Curve'.

Directed by Alexander Theodoropolus the video perfectly visualises the crazy distorted psychedelic sound of the song - giant gods, floating in space, nude yoga poses, deserts... It's got the lot.

Golden Void is out now on Thrill Jockey, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD and LP [affiliate links]. You can catch the band on tour (although provided a jump to the continent isn't a problem, sadly):

• Mon Apr 8 Prague, Czech Republic - Klub 007 
• Tue Apr 9 Berlin, Germany - Jagerklause 
• Wed Apr 10 Dresden, Germany - Ostpol 
• Thu Apr 11 Linz, Austria - Kapu 
• Fri Apr 12 Innsbruck, Austria - PMK 
• Sat Apr 13 Milan, Italy - Lo fi Club 
• Tue Apr 16 Lyon, France - Le Sonic 
• Wed Apr 17 Paris, France - Point Ephemere 
• Thu Apr 18 Antwerp, Belgium - Trix 
• Sun Apr 21 Tilburg, Netherlands - 013 venue (Roadburn Festival)

EP Review: Flex - Pool

When I reviewed their debut release Pool they were singing about videogames and I was pointing out their similarity to Alphabetical-era Pheonix. The subject matter may have moved on but the musical approach remains very familiar on this follow up release.

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Flex - Pool

'Flex' is full of the tight guitar work and polished melodies that back a functional and bookish vocal. The slightly loose percussion and guitar riffs flecked with funk give this an infectious disco edge but it lacks just a little sophistication and emotion.

The dance floor sass of 'Flex' is countered by the more wistful 'Botox', with its chirpy verses and layered chorus. It feels a little deeper than the title track but in comparison to Pheonix's work, which often features obtuse lyrics that somehow still carry an emotional weight, this feels a little impenetrable. As a result the music is enjoyable but feels a little disposable.

Two remixes feature on this release in support of the originals. Stimming makes a return from the band's debut EP and offers 'Botox' up in the form of a deeper dub, full of dark grooves.

Aeroplane's remix of 'Flex' is the highlight of the EP and the best mix from (Aeroplane alter-ego, now it's a solo act) Vito de Luca I've heard in some time. It's a full 50 BPM slower than the original and adds some deep cosmic disco finesse to the original. The revision suits the vocals, creating a passionate track that more fully communicates the rhythm and desire it sounds like Pool were going for.

Flex is released on 18 February through 2DIY4.

Album Review: Total Folklore - Dan Friel

Total Folklore is the aural equivalent of licking wasp flavoured candyfloss and swigging it back with a broken glass blueberry slushy. Dan's basically playing it cutesy whilst also sticking a pen knife in your ear.

I summarised the way Friel's music made me feel back when he first put 'Valedictorian' out for your streaming pleasure last year. None of the intensity has dulled on this long-player. The resulting chaos is a cacophonous musical George's Marvellous Medicine of sounds pulled together to send you doolally.

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Total Folklore - Dan Friel

Friel's vision is an album inspired by urban life, triggered by long walks through the Brooklyn and the world of the commute. Tracks are punctuated with sounds Friel recorded on walks through the city, brief moments representing the pauses in city journeys - moments inside a pachinko parlor or watching kids play basketball.

Friel clearly associates the city with chaos and noise - his effects pedals and noisemakers make that clear. Total Folklore is like a psychedelic-love-letter to a city, and it's shaped by abrasive punk and written like saccharin chip tune. Starting with 'Ulysses' Total Folklore slowly grinds it's gears and rises up, constantly unfurling additional scale when you always think it can't go on. At almost 13-minutes long, scale is one thing 'Ulysses' can't be accused of lacking.

That opening track makes up almost a third of the album's length, so the album's structure itself feels like an additional attempt at confrontation. Dan Friel rushes to get through the rest of the material - only two of the remaining 11 tracks extend beyond three-minutes. It feels a little bit like the boy who has unwrapped one  Christmas present and just can't wait to tear them all open, too excited to slow down.

The ideas also loop back on themselves. 'Scavengers' is another take at the core melody of 'Valedictorian' but with more bass, for example. There are a series of rapid moments on this album - the grit and bubblegum of 'Thumper' and rising crescendo of 'Badlands' - but each feels like a the result of some heavily distorted Chinese-whisper of the last.

If there is one thing besides noise that Total Folklore communicates it is rapid and uncontrollable excitement, overstimulated and over-amplified. In today's world of cynicism and reservation that's a little bit refreshing. It might give you a nosebleed but one thing Total Folklore doesn't do is leave you without an impression.

Total Folklore is out on 18 February through Thrill Jockey, available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD and LP [affiliate links]. Stream and download the track 'Thumper' below: