steering clear of the mainstream
since 2001

june 2010

review
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info opinion

SRX

"Vessel" CDR EP

Dead Sea Liner

Genre: freak folk, experimental

France

May 14, 2009

Records from Britain's Dead Sea Liner imprint always seem to defy description. As with the EL Heath and Textured Bird Transmission discs, wyrd folk artifact Vessel seems more about atmosphere than anything else -- an intriguing and despairing soundscape meant for (real or imagined) rainy days. Dreary piano lines and sparse guitar strokes are employed to build eerie musical architectures, while lone contributor Sandra Reignoux sings/speaks over top, sounding something like a compromise between Bjork, Cibo Matto, and Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino. Although her approach is far from conventional, this affair turns out to be remarkably listenable, if unquestionably bizarre. As always, a pleasant excursion from the Dead Sea Liner crew. Vessel is a little short, but it makes the most of its duration.

Notes: Each copy includes a page removed from a horticultural guidebook. Mine is about buckwheat.

76%

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 5 tracks, distributed by the label, released April 2008]