Echoes and dust

Well, 2010’s got off to a turbulent start what with the arctic weather and the sad death of our friend, and sometime contributor, Duncan Symonds. It’s not been easy to get back to the computer and think about the music. So, to kick off the year we’re going to take a last look back in to 2009 and round up the last few stragglers from November and December.

Ex Libras’ ‘Suite(s)’ (Wirebird, Nov 30) album starts out with the off kilter guitar of ‘Issues’ and that sets the tone for this album of beautiful, epic and deep music that loosely falls under the post rock banner. They actually describe themselves as ‘post breakbeat’ owing to their imaginative use of big, warm hiphopesque beats to underpin their largely instrumental sonic explorations. Not many people successfully meld the sounds of Radiohead and DJ Shadow, but that’s pretty much what Ex Libras have managed here, a splendid and intriguing debut.

In a not entirely unrelated vein come North Atlantic Oscillation with their ‘Call Signs’ EP (Kscope, Nov 23). Again using electronic beats and sounds, but this time to supplement a more recognizable Indie sound, they generate a vibe not dissimilar to fellow Scots The Aliens, a bit shoegazey and more than a little psychedelic. Ironically, the least shoegazing track is the Engineers mix of ’77 Hours’, which features a rather tasty little beat under the loveliest of melodies. If this EP is a taste of albums to come, then I await eagerly.

Whether it’s the weather at this time of year, but many of the releases we’ve had submitted at the end of the year feature glacial tempos and ambiances that bring to mind rolling tundra, and typifying this is the new album from Saxon Shore, ‘It Doesn’t Matter’. The band first came to our attention a few years back with their ‘Exquisite Death Of...’ album, since then they’ve added two new members to their original three and the sound has been beefed up accordingly. They are still ploughing a similar post rock furrow to their debut but this time around the swells  are much swellier and the epic bits much epicer. The album is brilliantly produced, unsurprising with Dave Fridmann (MGMT, Flaming Lips) at the desk, and for this kind of music that matters. The sound is bright, crisp yet full and deep when it really counts. A record with few surprises but beautifully executed.

For this last one we’re actually going way back to October but it’s so good that I couldn’t let it slip away with an honourable mention. Nosound hail from the Mediterranean warmth of Italy but make music that very much inhabits the icier climes of Northern Europe. Again ‘A Sense Of Loss’ (Kscope, Oct 26) has a post rock tinge (it really must be the time of year!) but also takes a more traditional songwriting approach bringing to mind Scotland’s wonderful The French Quarter. Opener ‘Some Warmth Into This Chill’ is perfectly representative of the album, beautifully poised vocals set against a backdrop of melancholic guitars and strings that positively aches with a sense of loss, if you’ll pardon the pun. A genuinely moving and almost painfully introspective piece of work.