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LACIES 004CD
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Having spent the last few years recording as one-half of The Boats, Andrew Hargreaves has finally finished his solo debut. From the opening notes of "Between The Left And Right Hand," the delicate tone is set, with simple piano motifs intermingling with digital processing to create a unique space. Space is an important element that runs throughout Defragment -- every sound is given room to breathe, designed to encourage the listener to fill in the gaps with their own emotional interpretations. Of course, there is a nod to his main work with The Boats, and certain elements could have been transplanted straight from their extensive catalog. The sound palette is, however, expanded to include label mate Danny Norbury, whose cello adds an extra depth to "Variation Is Repetition" and takes center stage on the heartbreaking "Confusion In Consequence." The final recordings for the album took place while Andrew was touring Japan with The Boats -- the influence is evident in the balanced simplicity of the compositions and mixes. Fans of Danny Norbury, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto, and indeed, The Boats should investigate.
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LACIES 001CD
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Originally released in 2008. Equally indebted to the progressive J-pop of Piana and the sonic template set out by Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir-era múm, Meso Meso is the solo project of a young lady from Tokyo named Yumiko, a musician whose whispered songcraft is unassuming to the point of outright shyness, occasionally occupying the same terrifyingly twee musical no-fly zone as the likes of Lullatone. Musically, Meso Meso's universe is inhabited by glockenspiels, accordion, melodica and toy pianos, all skillfully-arranged around her bashfully quiet vocals. At times, her voice sounds as if it's been recorded in the middle of a nap, particularly on second track "Danro," a musical sleepwalk led by gorgeously plodding acoustic guitar, but ultimately characterized by that implausibly delicate singing voice. Even at its most boisterous, Mitten is the very embodiment of understatement, jangling mellifluously through the melange of sampled recordings and bric-a-brac that makes up the opening cut "Alice," which comes as close to conventional pop music as any of the other charmingly shambolic meanderings on this beguiling album. Really quite adorable music that offsets over-preciousness with an undercurrent of secret, eccentric soulfulness.
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LACIES 002CD
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Craig Tattersall aka The Archivist has made regular and notable appearances over the years, as a member of Hood, The Remote Viewer and The Boats, as well as under his more recent Humble Bee moniker and work with his own Moteer and Mobeer imprints. This second release on bijou imprint Lacies Records features carefully-compiled gems from his extensive archive of unreleased material, assembling vintage recordings unearthed from dusty tapes and hard drives for what amounts to a 45-minute journey through wondrous, heartbreaking music. If you've followed Tattersall's work over the years, you'll have an idea of what to expect here, but it's just material of the highest possible calibre, all microscopic, percolating rhythms and fragile instruments dancing around each other with an effortless beauty that never fails to reach deep inside your soul and leave you with that bittersweet aftertaste that's just impossible to describe. Achingly beautiful music.
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