Brace/Choir:
Turning On Your Double:
Tapete Records:
February 24th 2014:
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
German-American drone 'n' prog-surf outfit Brace/Choir formed some nine years ago during which time little has happened but the turning of the tides and passing of the seasons - being less pretentious, I mean they've yet to wow anyone in the UK except Tom Robinson. On the strength of Turning On Your Double, this is unlikely to change but their fan-base deserves to increase in volume.
The opening track Biond reminds me of Pale Saints or Yo La Tengo at half-speed and is pleasing enough, if nothing thrilling, while Five Fingered Leaf (based on an Andrei Tarkovsky's) is a stoner's delight that wouldn't sound out of place on The Stress Of Leisure or Leafhound's unearthly psychedelic albums.
Enemy's Friend returns us to the same territory as Biond - older readers may remember Sad Lovers and Giants from the mid-'80s, a comparison that befits Brace/Choir on this song in particular. As for the remainder, each track putters past like a grand car that's seen better days and completed tougher journeys. Satisfier is more like it - a motorik rocker that still suffers from under-mixed vocals but still shows what B/C can be capable of - which is a fair amount, in the main.
Turning On Your Double:
Tapete Records:
February 24th 2014:
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
The opening track Biond reminds me of Pale Saints or Yo La Tengo at half-speed and is pleasing enough, if nothing thrilling, while Five Fingered Leaf (based on an Andrei Tarkovsky's) is a stoner's delight that wouldn't sound out of place on The Stress Of Leisure or Leafhound's unearthly psychedelic albums.
Enemy's Friend returns us to the same territory as Biond - older readers may remember Sad Lovers and Giants from the mid-'80s, a comparison that befits Brace/Choir on this song in particular. As for the remainder, each track putters past like a grand car that's seen better days and completed tougher journeys. Satisfier is more like it - a motorik rocker that still suffers from under-mixed vocals but still shows what B/C can be capable of - which is a fair amount, in the main.