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blue states - the soundings

 

the first release from memphis industries in 2004, last year the label released 3 albums which all rated incredibly highly in my end of year. there was the sublime downtempo grooves of broadway project, the sweetly addictive guitar pop epics by j xaverre, and the psyche pop of fort lauderdale. strangely this third album from the labels high earner combines elements of each of these styles and still holds its own. branching out from the much licensed downtempo coffee bar ambience of previous releases Andy Dragazis has drafted in a proper backing band to supplement his own studio creations. so now we get proper songs (sung by chris carr), guitars, strings, horn sections, harmonicas, everything !

opening track is the drop dead classic 'across the wires' that has an epic pop style melding moments of gloryu2, psychedelic furs, echo and the bunneymen. the vocals lift the song into realms of total excellence. i believe this is to be the first single, if certain pluggers pick this up on national radio then they lads could see some serious action. second track 'for a lifetime' continues with the subtle layers of guitars, but this time heralding an old fave of mine, the style is totally lifted from creations house of love. this is a good thing, melding quietly displaced shoegazing effects with a song that deserves far more attention. the fact that this song is cut dead in its tracks at 2 minutes 57 seconds is tantamount to a serious sin. i shall always be left gasping for more. the rest of the album doesn't match up to these opening tracks but does hold the listeners attention with the deft and original sonic extras. the styles are always mellow and dark. even on the Tijuana brass/tex mex inclusion on the ear piercing instrumental 'one night on tulane', and when this drops into the simon and garfunkle acoustic guitar strum, and vocals harmonies of 'last blast' the effect of one of spine chilling brilliance, especially as this builds and builds the instrumental layers in the same way as spiritualised have done so many times. following this by a brian eno style ambient epic proves that andy cant quite clear his love of the downtempo chill out genre completely, but even on this there are extras in the sonic mix that stop this from becoming a total holiday brochure soundtrack.

other highlights include the cinematic splendour (well the word is bound to get dropped in somewhere) guitar-tastic groove of 'leaning in' with its full string backing and midnight cowboy-esque harmonica solo, and the flaming lips psyche-pop grandeur on the final 'sad song' which rounds off the album in a beautiful horns and strings epic fashion.

i have spun this 40 minute album many times over the last few weeks and become enchanted by the moods and emotionally charged songs, yes, they invoke memories of previous eras of pop music (80's pop music that wasn't produced by stock, aitken and waterman basically). yes, there are sonic stamps from many other sources, but damn, its good.

very good.

tis as simple as that.

 

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