Sunroof / Bliss

Vhf

formats available

2XCD
$13.00
VHF 60cd
783881006025
Street Date:
October 30th, 2001
Ship Date:
October 22nd, 2001

The atmosphere of this somewhat delayed yet unstoppable annual collection from long-in-the-tooth UK vibe maestro Matthew Bower and friends (who include Neil Campbell, Rosalie Bower, and maybe some other people - honestly, who can tell?) is mostly spaced and buzzing instruments and voices hovering and floating in the dense mix, all running together like some sort of alien shortwave broadcast. Disc 1 takes off from where last year's Found Star Sound left us - a mix of fuzzy guitar and organ rhythms jousting with voice, bowed strings, and unidentifiable percussion in a compressed fog. Disc 2 is a headlong rush into newish territory, with analog synth vs. birdsong, child's voice vs. sawing violin, chug vs. fizz, etc. There are many tracks on both discs that have subtle (and overt) melodic and rhythmic undercurrents suggesting a fuzz/hiss-dominated alternate-universe version of say, Harmonia or Richter Band. Probably a coincidence, but very, very appealing.