This is called the Dolecast for… well, for obvious reasons. I am on the downward slope to imminent joblessness, with my last day at Proper Job now pencilled in for the 23rd of June – the day before Glastonbury, rather handily.
Actually festivals are something of a feature this Summer, as there’s that one, Kelburn, Rockness, Fusion out in Germany, and then Knockengorroch, which I will be driving out to the very second I hit ‘post’ on this. We’re also looking at going out to Musicfest Northwest this year as well, and of course the rather splendid Fence Away Game.
So erm, yes, maybe I should have called this the Festcast or something like that.
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01. The Wave Pictures – I Shall be a Ditchdigger (03.09)
02. Fur Hood – Tweetle Beetle Battle Beetles (12.27)
03. Fear the Fives – Devil’s Tongue (15.39)
04. Southern Tenant Folk Union – South Ythsie (20.19)
05. Benni Hemm Hemm – Retaliate (29.11)
06. The Douglas Firs – Grow Old and Go Home (33.09)
07. Magic Bullets – Lying Around (37.12)
08. Perfume Genius – Lookout, Lookout (41.25)
09. The Effort – Adjust (46.54)
10. Tusk Tusk – Crazy Little Birthmarks (55.56)
I received an email the other day from a friend of mine who records under the name of Scuff (MySpace here) tipping me off about a band he plays in called Fur Hood. And they’re good.
It’s sort of twee, with lazy harmonies and an unhurried pace, which creates something of the atmosphere of a prohibitively hot Summer’s day. They use quite staccato rhythms and some genuinely eccentric percussion, which sounds like their playing the contents of their dishwasher. On top of these two elements drift washes of melodic electronica, somewhat reminiscent of the likes of Dubstar and Saint Etienne’s dreamier material.
I think that why this works for me is the interplay between the retro-sounding indie pop of Always Tomorrow and the far less mellifluous rattle and stumble of Yellow Yellow Always Yellow. They seem to be able to veer between the lush and comfortable one one hand and the weirdly experimental on the other that you find yourself never really knowing what to expect. This makes each song something of an emotional challenge – a relief when it stays pretty and exciting when it doesn’t.
From five songs you can’t always tell that much, but this is a really promising start if you ask me.
Fur Hood – Circles & Stairs
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Fur Hood – Yellow Yellow the Colour Yellow
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