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Rumblings in the UK post-rock world are reaching their peak this year with the release of some fantastic music from old and new groundbreakers producing orchestral guitar and drums to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Sigur Rós released their fifth release included more guitars to delve back into the post-rock category, Mogwai are soon to release their sixth studio album ‘The Hawk is Howling’ on September 22nd and Explosions in the Sky were curators this years ‘ATP vs.’ festival. Newer bands like Leeds’ Vessels have released their much-awaited debut ‘White Fields And Open Devices’, overseen by famed ‘wall of sound’ producer John Congleton. And so, with these new stirrings so comes another, the sophomore release from Stray Borders, Cardiff’s post-rock pioneers.

The four-track EP begins with simplistic tones of guitar and then drops full force into a continuing pattern of smooth gliding sounds. ‘I Sat To Watch The Snow Fall’ conjures up images not created by previous song titles to create a setting for the instrumental-only release and a blanket of snow seems appropriate to the constant rhythmic pulse and fall of the song. With added degrees of musical maturity, a cello demonstrates the orchestral movements found within post-rock music whilst the drumbeat punctures the sound of the crisp guitar. Although the cello is a flattering addition to the distinct post-rock sound, its prominence in the songs is overused. After a dip back into the introduction’s quiet accompanied by straining, wavering cello the band explode into a string shattering finale commonly found within post-rock songs. With a great, practised momentum, it becomes staggering and sustained and ends with a final grunge-filled note.

‘Stalker Music’ starts serenely and sound like a string quartet of two guitars, bass and a cello. It soon transforms into a throbbing, distorted mutant of the opening riff accompanied by deafening drums to slide back into a new riff – clean and quiet. The transitions through rhythm and noise continue throughout the track and the inclusion of cello again adds a new dimension to the already smooth sound of clean, refined guitars. Halfway through the stalker of the title slips in with muted and quiet warped guitar exploding into refrains before becoming quiet again. Then as with the first track, the song descends into a frenzied attack on high notes before passing back into serene comfort once more. Each track from Stray Borders never remains the same throughout, always changing in dynamics and sound.

The simulated drum taps of a clock are the introduction to ‘This Time Telling Device Perplexes Me’ a definite inclination of the titles relating to the music’s sound. Showing a reserved and quiet sound rather than fast-paced, the band use delay and echo effectively over the cello present once again. With post-rock music being criticised for its repetitiveness, Stray Borders are mindful of diversity with each track. The repeated notes caused by effect pedals feel like spacecraft blips and again may allude to time. The elongation of a single note is a theme central to the post-rock sound, with either effects or continual playing - the wall of sound effect is generated by a cacophony of held notes playing as one chord. The song dips into silence before building up into an angry, dark, grunge onslaught. The contrast is severe between the calm of the beginning and the unforgiving end, switching between malicious chords and high-paced notes before breaking into silence.

‘And Now I Know Why I Was Afraid’ opens with a distinctly familiar guitar sounds from more mainstream rock, to be joined by the experimental sounds of effected guitar chords and clear, cut-glass piano from local Cardiff musician Lily Green. The two distinct sounds harmonise and sonically twist around each other in separate melodies. The beautifully creative bass provides a platform for this experimental combination before the guitar takes over to re-introduce the trademark sound of Stray Borders. A gentle four-chord pattern feels incredibly relaxing in comparison to the harsh sounds from elsewhere on the EP. Even the distorted reprise is enchanting in its calming qualities. Although a respite from the harsh sounds of crashing drums and pounding guitar, the track lacks the power of its predecessors, despite an incredible arrangement. A purely soothing track to marvel at, but not to be blown away by.

There is a large distinction between the live and recorded sound of Stray Borders. Where other bands attempt staggering feats of equipment changing and effects altering to completely replicate the sound of the original, this band know the difference between live sound and recorded sound. You cannot capture the physical feeling of noise against the body and mind through a mixing desk, so why leave it as it is – flat and boring in a padded room? Stray Borders change their sound by adding an extra depth of instruments to distinguish their prowess as musicians where you cannot experience the power of their noise in person.

written for God Is In The TV Zine's albums of 2008.

3. Portishead – Third

Portishead are well known for their silence as well as their music. They’ve spent 12 years on and off without any contact with the music world since their world-class debut and Mercury music prize-winning ‘Dummy’ was released in 1994. They revealed five songs from ‘Third’ at the first live set for ten years at their curator’s set in All Tomorrow’s Parties, Minehead and so again unleashed an incredibly dark, but incredibly original sound once again.
‘Third’, as the title suggests, is still only their third album after 14 years. This long period is contributed to by the epic times spent in a recording studio perfecting the albums – another three being the number of years spent on ‘Third’. Portishead, like many other bands this year, took advantage of the burgeoning switchover of music mainstream to the internet by releasing their album on last.fm as a web stream a week before it’s release, with a listenership of over 300,000 in just 24 hours.
The album itself is far removed from the mainstream success of ‘Dummy’. Intensely digitised but accompanied by deep orchestral realisations. The combination of classical and ultra-modern might seem passé now, but it was Portishead who really started to combine it.
The percussive elements of ‘Third’ really drive the album forward – especially with their trip-hop roots in Bristol (home of another huge 90s act – Massive Attack). The mounting sense of dread synonymous with the album is felt especially in the arduous ‘We Carry On’ and ‘Threads’. The word ‘haunting’ is used all too often with Beth Gibbons’ vocals but with such tracks as ‘The Rip’ and the darkest, most intense track (and probably the best) of the album ‘Machine Gun’ it’s hard not to think anything but.
Although too dark to really match the success and wide-ranging appeal of their debut, ‘Third’ is still an incredibly complex and layered album worthy of a high standing in any record collection – just don’t have nightmares…

20. Vessels – White Fields And Open Devices
With a more than impressive build-up to 2008, Vessels returned to the UK after recording their debut in America with ‘wall-of-sound’ engineer John Congleton (Explosions in the Sky, This Will Destroy You). They performed in two UK tours through the year to support their debut, as well as releasing the single and video for ‘A Hundred Times In Every Direction’. The Leeds band impressed indie critics nationwide with their eclectic debut.
Their post-rock sound is originally punctuated with effervescent guitar and smooth unadulterated vocals. Their debut featured previously unheard songs such as the incredible ‘Wave Those Arms, Airmen’ (so complex and beautiful it has only been performed once) and the fantastic and calm ‘Walking Through Walls’ and inspiring new versions of ‘Two Words & A Gesture’ and ‘Yuki’.
This is the kind of music that inspires awe in all those patient enough to listen the cataclysmic 10-track hour long odyssey which jumps from cool calm acoustics to full blow hard rock overtures. Epic is not a big enough word to describe it.

Vessels have been announced as tour support for Oceansize this November/December. Also playing on this tour are Brontide and And So I Watch You From Afar, full details below. The Leeds band begin their own headline tour this Thursday in Sheffield, again all dates can be seen below.

http://www.myspace.com/vesselsband
http://www.youtube.com/cuckundoo
http://vesselsband.com

Thursday 1 October
The Harley, SHEFFIELD (with Esben and The Witch, ox scapula and Ithica Trio)

Friday 2 October
Brudenell Social Club, LEEDS (with Bellini, Kill Yourself, Humanfly & Cissy)

Saturday 3 October
Dog & Patridge, BOLTON (with One Trick Phoney and Apes Fight Back)

Wednesday 7 October
City Screen Basement Bar, YORK (with Acres Of Ocean)

Friday 9 October
The Freebutt, BRIGHTON

Friday 16 October
Captain's Rest, GLASGOW (with Loss Leader and What The Blood Revealed)

Saturday 17 October
Sneaky Pete's, EDINBURGH (with The Kays Lavelle and Lady North)

Tuesday 20 October
Bardens Bourdoir, LONDON (with Dorena and St.
Francis)

Sunday 1 November
Brainwash Festival, LEEDS (with Efterklang, Oceansize & Jaga Jazzist)

Wednesday 25 November
Barfly, CARDIFF (with Oceansize & Brontide)

Thursday 26 November
Academy 3, MANCHESTER (with Oceansize & Brontide)

Friday 27 November
Seven, NOTTINGHAM (with Oceansize & Brontide)

Sunday 29 November
Fat Sams, DUNDEE (with Oceansize and And So I Watch You From Afar)

Monday 30 November
The Tunnels, ABERDEEN (with Oceansize and And So I Watch You From Afar)

Tuesday 1 December
King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, GLASGOW (with Oceansize and And So I Watch You From Afar)

Wednesday 2 December
Masque, LIVERPOOL (with Oceansize and And So I Watch You From Afar)

Thursday 3 December
Heaven. LONDON (with Oceansize and And So I Watch You From Afar)

hello, class!



today we're gonna learn about some kick-ass music.


1. This Is Our Punk-Rock, Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing

Yes, kids, yes. Finally. To be honest sometime ago when I was stealing the internets I never noticed this ASMZ album. It just ran through my eyes and never ended up in my discography. So when I found it I was quite surprised that there actually is an album I do not know about. Surprising! The album itself.. I was carried away easily by the compelling fa-so-la intro, the tape-like atmosphere throughout the album and somewhat typical ASMZ emotional strength of the album. This masterpiece explodes with sincerity and pure yet unstable emotion. "Everybody gets a little lost sometimes". Cryworthy.

2. Horses in the Sky

Yes, kids, yes. Finally x2. This album - when I once listened to it - gave me the chills. The problem was that those chills were highly negative. I pretty much disliked the album very much, it seemed too folky for me..and then once again the divine intervention with a probable explosion of "ready" mood (this happens all the time when hungover or similarly under the influence) and it started to charm me with ASMZish sincerity. Major standout - Mountains Made of Steam. Instant love.

3. The amazing Motek and their Port Sunshine.

Even though I somewhat destroyed this album by having a wrong track order, still, not what I expected. The first impressions were of a quite typical post-rock band with somewhat edge and upbeat feeling, but all the other tracks mesmerized me with their depressive (not too far out) stance. Everyone is whining about the vocals. I like them. I like imperfect things, I like honest things. This falls under that category. Highly recommended.

4. A different collision of sounds, called Radius System.

Far From Truth was exceptional - close to Vessels' glorious Yuki with it's piano driven emotionally charged rock. Then the other tracks of the band proved them to be much more versatile - even stretching out to screamo-ish part of the music world, enjoying their noisy screams and pure emotion breaking through highly distorted guitars. Then again, songs like Impulsion (both parts) tracks you back to slowcore and highly emotional sincerity.

5. Somewhere Between The Sun and The Moon by Wixel.

Prejudice is a very challenging thing - that's just a fact. Two Old Songs was highly enjoyable yet some information reached me, as if this EP was totally different from everything else by this somewhat acoustic/electronica/post band. So when I started listening to this album I only noticed the somewhat dullness of acoustic guitars - and even the soundscapes where just too familiar (as in the EP). But then again, I gave it some time and it paid off. Great ambience, great somewhat sterile signature. Nice find, psychedeliclife.

6. Crippled Black Pheonix.. could be the next best thing.

It's a rarity, finding a band with such diverse songs and overall feeling. I found some evident desert-ish almost stoner rock-ish riffs, ambience, post-rock vibes, general alternative rock vibes (which is not bad when you put it in this context). You can find pretty much everything here, including the quite annoying pieces of a marching band of a circus. yes, that part is quite irritating. Still, this is a very promising band with quite a clear fixed greatness. Looking forward to excavating even more.

7. Jóhann Jóhannsson.

My final weapon against my sleep is Fordlândia. Somewhat ambient somewhat contemporary classical - this is a great treat to your chilly nights and evenings with tea. I am not fully through the album but it sounds really promising. Just relax and (day)dream.




upcoming trials:
Heart
Bob
A Love of Shared Disasters
Palace Of The Night Skies
Let Airplanes Circle Overhead


and yes, I missed a free Codes In The Clouds show today. yay

The latest journalworthy discoveries:

1. Vessels with their album White Fields And Open Devices.

This album blew me away.. Talking in the terms of genre, you'll find some overprocessed post-rock here, as well as some incidents of ambient, evident math-rock etc. It's just lovely - a balance is restored in this album through a) heavy parts b) mellow ambient parts c) emotional vocals d) overall songwritting skills. Generally I could call this like - Mogwai piano mood + Oceansize.

Outstanding tracks - of course the absolutely amazing Yuki, Trois Heures and Look at that cloud!.

2. Wixel.

Even though if I'm correct Wixel is more of a electronic band, their Two Old Songs is more of a "cute" indie instrumental type. And I liked the EP just for that - some signs of wood-folk, nice organic electronica. I found this a perfect soundtrack for a moody foggy day. Perfect for listening in the middle of the woods, lul.

3. And So I Watch You From Afar

Okay, guys, first of all I wasn't sure what to expect - it seemed as if this was another post-rock band with the same sound etc, but the first song itself, Set Guitars to Kill (I love the title) exploded thoroughly inside of my ears. Such power and such energy - resembles to bands like Stearica and 65daysofstatic, movement, energy, explosions, all those fragments of voice and general organic feel of the music flow - quite exeptional. During the first listen I was afraid the band would repeat itself on the broader context of the album, but then later some different tunes kicked in and I was satisfied. Note: for the more uplifting-energetic post-rock. Slow-core fans will not find their fix here.

4. One Time for All Time.

I like Fall Of Math very much, and I was quite looking forward to trying out another album by those 65dos. Unpleasant disappointment would always catch me if I'll listen to Drove Through Ghosts to Get Here on my not-ready mood, but that one particular time the trick worked, and I experienced (suprising) emotional power in this album, which easily outweighs Fall Of Math's more structure-over-emotion perspective. All hail 65dos!

5. Riceboy Sleeps.

Please tell me you listened to it. If not, go buy a copy or download the pirated version. This is the best ambient album I have ever heard. So emotional, so powerful - and what is most important - this is not a BORING album. Most of ambient albums bore me to hell, I shut them down after the part of first song - while this multiinstrumental/vocal masterpiece is just astonishing. Ambient at its best.

6. Dos by Wooden Shjips.

If you're looking for some psychedelic rock/noise rock - this is just for you. Perfect for different kind of day dreaming if you know what I mean; stimulating, not a downer at all.. :) I'd put it on a shelf next to Crystal Antlers, Shepherds and even Earth.


So much for this time :)

The day after exams finished. Hurrah! Barden's Boudoir is very close to me, but we had a little difficulty in locating it because although it gave an address on its site, we did not realise it was underground, so missed the small doorway and advertising board that is this venue's sole above ground manifestation. The venue itself was OK for an underground place, though it had an odd shape in that it was much wider than it was deep, from the point of view of a band on the stage. This led to lots of people being squeezed out the sides.

Saw the last song of a man called William Fitzsimmons, a charming american who had the balls to actually tell the people at the bar to shut up, rather than have them talk all over him. Good man. The music was standard pretty acoustic guitar playing with sad lyrics, but it was at least very accomplished guitar playing.

Next to set up were Vessels, who defied convention by having a second drumkit stage front and centre, facing away from the crowd. They belong to that rather wide category of music termed 'post rock'. I am not really sure about this genre, I mean it seems a bit general, but the fact is that I have a quite specific type of music in my head if someone says the words post rock, which is more than can be said for the word 'pop' for example.

In any case, they played for the most part instrumental post rock songs, with all the requisite slow builds, breakdowns and rock outs. They were augmented by a visual show behind their heads, flypasts of deserted mountains and coastlines, waterfalls, crowds of people, abstract patterns etc etc. At first I thought it was all a bit cliched but then I realised that 1) while predictable, it still worked and 2) it was all being mixed together manually by an extra member of the band acting as what I believe is called a VJ. So that was pretty impressive actually.

I find post rock a tricky thing to rate. The basic formula, if followed with a good level of musical ability, almost always results in something pretty good. Which is cool, but not being a dedicated fan (I attended this gig at the behest of my housemate) I find it difficult to tell when a band is any better than any other. So these guys were good, solidly good, but not uniquely so.

Last on were Kyte, from my housemate's home town (and hive of post rock activity), Leicester. Kyte played in a very different style to Vessels, for one thing every song had lyrics. That meant their song structures were more traditional, but there was still plenty of scope for instrumentals. The music was a lot slower, with a cleaner and twinklier sound and simpler drumbeats. The singer had quite a breathey voice augmented with a serious amount of echo/ delay/ whatever the technical term is. This sounded good at first, but for me began to grate after several tracks. I liked it best when the singer played with the settings on his vocal effects to make interesting noises, and I wished he would get closer to outright noise and distortion, but that's a very personal like of mine... The best song of the night had to be the band's complete reimagining of Peter Gabriel's Solsbury Hill, find it on their myspace and be amazed at how they turn this lightweight pop song into to something full of beauty and nostalgia.

I recently realized, when one of my best friends moved to London, that I could now go see my favorite bands without too much effort. And my March trip for This Town Needs Guns and Emilíana Torrini definitely left me wanting more. Looking for an appropriate time for a repeat appearance, I came upon adjacent dates for Kyte - the Leicester-based post-rock band who released 2008's best album - and Johnny Foreigner - my most recent favorite in the UK math pop scene. And coincidentally, Swedish screamo outfit Suis La Lune were to give one of their rare performances - the first one in a major Swedish city since 2006, I believe - in Stockholm the next day. It was all too good to miss! And I couldn't have scripted it better, each night proving more memorable than the one before.

This extended weekend of musical indulgence got an early start with Wednesday's Goo Nite club at the Buffalo Bar in Islington. A Last.fm event recommendation, it featured three British post-rock acts, all previously unknown to me. So only catching half of The FM Flash's set and having to leave before worriedaboutsatan didn't bother me, since I was mostly interested in Kontakte and their wonderful new song The Ocean Between You And Me. Fortunately, they let it round off their agreeable seven-song set, giving me what I had come for, although perhaps not a lot more.

The following evening, I revisited the London suburb Kingston-upon-Thames and McClusky's, the fairly large venue where Banquet Records' club New Slang holds fort. Missing (or rather skipping) Youves, I arrived midway through Super Tennis' set. Playing noisy math pop with appropriate amounts of shouts and yelps, they reminded me a bit of the hyper-energetic Algernon Cadwallader. I managed to catch a few gems, including both songs from their Pushinsky / Billy Ocean split single. The music was really good, but I think their wonderful live dynamic alone would have made the set enjoyable.

Like I mistakenly thought would be the case with This Town Needs Guns, I think New Slang is one of the best places in the world to see Johnny Foreigner, who sort of seem to be the house band there, making their sixth or seventh appearance. And the band seemed to be almost as excited as the crowd, blazing out of the gate with their new single Feels Like Summer, which also provides the name for their current tour. Singer/guitarist Alexei Berrow's energy is undeniable, and was proven beyond all doubt by the flood of sweat he managed to generate during the first few songs alone, but bassist Kelly Southern and drummer Junior Elvis weren't far behind.

The band then went on to play us a a whole bunch of new songs, a few older ones, and four from their awesome debut album Waited Up 'til It Was Light - the ones best received by the crowd, including me. Bounding back on stage following our extended closing applause, they claimed that the show would be the only one on the tour at which they would be called back for an encore, so they made the most of it, choosing to play my favorite song of theirs (just ahead of Salt, Peppa and Spinderella): Our Bipolar Friends. Needless to say, I was thrilled, and enjoyed every last minute of it thoroughly.

On a side note, as part of a longer feature on UK music webzine Drowned In Sound, Kelly recorded a brief video clip, where she had us yell: "Hello, Drowned in Sound! JoFo had fun!". It was included in part 3 of their '09 tour diary, and I think I am that blurry figure in the middle of the third row at 2:39.

Setlist: (from Kelly's paper version)
01. Feels Like Summer
02. Yes! You Talk Too Fast
03. Camp Kelly Calm
04. Kingston Called, They Want Their Lost Youth Back
05. Eyes Wide Terrified
06. Choose Yr Side And Shut Up!
07. i'llchoosemysideandshutup, alright
08. Salt, Peppa and Spinderella
09. Criminals
10. Suicide Pact, Yeh?
11. The Coast Was Always Clear
---
12. Our Bipolar Friends

On Friday, I took the opportunity to visit my friend Fredrik at Last.HQ, where he just wrapped up his thesis project. We also stopped by the local pub, The Marie Lloyd, where members of the Last.fm team usually go after work at the end of the week, and I got to chat a bit with Matt and Tim, two other staffers, before it was time to head off towards Barden's Boudoir in Stoke Newington and the main event of my London visit.

Breathy vocals were definitely the theme of the evening, yet again hosted by Goo Nite, featuring not only Kyte's Nick Moon but also singer/songwriter William Fitzsimmons. But while the vocal style isn't too surprising for Kyte's choir-boy-like frontman, when the savagely bearded American opens his mouth, I couldn't help but find it both amazing and mildly amusing. After speaking with William a little after his set, I can't really say that he is one of the oddest people I have ever met, as his offical bio claims. Sure, the beard is indeed odd and he has an interesting background, but he is really very nice and outgoing in that typically American way.

As he is one of the artists I have listened to the most in the last six months, I was delighted when I found out that he would be opening for Kyte. And he seemed to be in as good a mood as I was, talking a lot between songs, joking good-heartedly about various politically incorrect topics such as supporter violence and child abuse. And who could really blame him for being high-spirited: at several points during his set, I had to look around in disbelief at the amount of applause the fairly small crowd was generating.

He played a rather short but diverse set, including two songs from last year's The Sparrow and the Crow, two from 2006's Goodnight, one from 2005's Until When We Are Ghosts, and an Iron & Wine cover. This last pick surprised me a little until I stumbled upon his profile here at Last.fm. To shed some light on his lyrics, he introduced Funeral Dress as being "about missing somebody after they're no longer here" and Just Not Each Other as being "about hope". Me, I really hope I get to see William play again soon, and with him mentioning a possible Scandinavian visit on his upcoming European summer festival tour, I might not have to wait very long.

Setlist:
01. It's Not True
02. Everything has Changed
03. Faded From the Winter (by Iron & Wine)
04. Funeral Dress
05. Just Not Each Other
06. If You Would Come Back Home

Next on the bill was Vessels, yet another British post-rock band. Backed by cinematic projections of canyons and skies, they put on a very impressive show. Especially captivating were two piano-driven tracks: the ambient/electronic Yuki, followed by the energizing Two Words and a Gesture. Almost as good was Altered Beast, the somber opening track from their lone album White Fields And Open Devices. I was quite content with their performance, but Vessels also left me pleased that the lineup order differed from the one shown on the poster - they would have been a tough act for William Fitzsimmons to follow.

Not only faced with that challenge, but also with living up to my extremely high expectations, Kyte started preparing for their moment in the limelight. Talking to their bassist Ben before the show, I voiced my desire to hear my three favorite Kyte songs: Planet, Boundaries and The Air Of Sunset. Disappointingly, he said they were only planning to perform one of the three (Boundaries), but then added that I may well be able to convince them to play one of the others, as they try not to stick too rigidly to predetermined setlists. I quickly decided to root for Planet, using the time before the show to better the odds, also requesting it from the remaining three band members. I also spoke a bit with Robert, founder of the record label Erased Tapes, proud home of not only Kyte but among others also Ólafur Arnalds, Codes In The Clouds and The British Expeditionary Force.

Once Kyte guitarist/programmer Tom Lowe let the opening notes of Boundaries ring out, I was torn between the joy of hearing one of my absolute favorite songs played and the urge to check my phone - I have been using its wonderful intro as my ringtone for about six months now. The next aural treats offered were the synthesizer-heavy Secular Ventures, and the middle duo Bridges in the Sky and Solsbury Hill from the Two Sparks, Two Stars EP released late last year. No songs from their new album Science For The Living - which has yet to be released outside Japan - were played. But as this was the first time I saw the band live, I really didn't mind at all that they focused on older material, positive that I will get several more chances to hear them play songs like Designed For Damage and No-One Is Angry Just Afraid. For them to play my before-mentioned favorite The Air Of Sunset, which for some inexplicable reason is still unreleased, or the wonderful Carnival of Spies from their debut EP Switch Motion To The Sky, I will probably have to request them specifically. But that night, I was very grateful for them to fulfill my request for Planet. They apparently hadn't played it in quite a while - confusing me, since it is one of their most popular songs - but it still sounded great. From there, I just drifted euphorically through the two set-closers Ghosts and These Tales Of Our Stay, both solid tracks from their first album. Before heading out, I bought some nice mementos from the drummer Scott, in the form of a CD and a t-shirt that the whole band then signed. Round two of my London concert series was a thundering success!

Setlist:
01. Boundaries
02. Secular Ventures
03. Solsbury Hill
04. Bridges in the Sky
05. Planet
06. Ghosts
07. These Tales Of Our Stay

Already feeling pretty content with my little mini-festival, I arrived at Smedjan in Stockholm after my flight back to Sweden. But being a little sleep-deprived, I couldn't quite appreciate the second opening act Pesanteur who played their very first concert ever. Their friends seemed to like it though, and appeared to give their last song, a cover of Indian Summer's Angry Son, extra credit for nostalgia.

Suis La Lune then took the stage to do their sound check, and it was when Henning played a riff from American Football's Stay Home that I suddenly realized what a treat I was in for. Since I had only seen one screamo band perform previously - the even more post-rock-inspired Belgian The Black Heart Rebellion at Underjorden in Gothenburg - I wasn't really sure what to expect, but the energy that Suis exuded soon permeated the room completely, bringing me out of my daze. The immediacy and urgency of their performance had me awestruck and gasping for air, not only because of the cramped and poorly ventilated venue. The enormous intensity added another dimension to every single one of their songs, perhaps most noticeably to the older ones, which suffer a bit from poor recording quality.

I can't claim to be disappointed with the song picks, since I got a whole bunch of my favorites, including My Mind Is A Birdcage, Utter Silence is Fragile, and three out of four songs on their recent stellar EP Heir. But at their yet-to-be-booked first Gothenburg show ever in the hopefully not-so-distant future, I would love to also get to hear the title track from their debut album: Quiet, Pull the strings!, and my absolute favorite Suis song: Fingers. Voice. Heart. Shake. Shake. Shake.

For some reason, I thought they would have a hard time recreating their intricate dynamics in the live setting, but I couldn't have been more wrong. For a band that only plays live sporadically (although the members tour a fair amount with their respective side projects, such as Mixtapes & Cellmates and Björn Kleinhenz) and claimed to rarely have time to practice (due to being geographically dispersed, I suppose), they are an astoundingly potent live act. The only evidence of their lack of rehearsals was the recurring debates about what song to play next, but that just added to the intimacy of the show. The band also displayed a genuinely positive attitude, Henning showing his appreciation for the organizers and the other bands, which he also requested us to support. Kalle, on his part, brought to our attention the demise of the Gothenburg-based distro Release The Bats (although the label will live on).

Suis La Lune don't get anywhere near the amount of attention they deserve. But after that night, they are in my book undoubtedly Sweden's best live band (topping the amazing Immanu El), and one of the best I have ever had the pleasure of seeing play. It felt like everybody there knew that we were experiencing something unusually authentic. That, and the exhilaration I felt afterwards, reminded me of last summer's Sigur Rós concert in Slottsskogen and of why I go to so much trouble to see concerts such as this one.

Setlist:
01. With Wings of Feathers and Glue
02. September Gave Us Awkwardness, October Gave Me Nothing
03. Utter Silence is Fragile
04. This Heart Easily Tears (video)
05. A Letter - A Void
06. Can't Believe I Spelled It Out For You
07. Let The Bastards Come
08. (Untitled new song) (video)
09. Parts Of Emily
10. My Mind Is A Birdcage

To mark Vessels‘ latest tour, the first that sees the band play some shows in Europe, the band have readied a new release. Retreat is available now via the band at shows or on iTunes. The CD should be in stores early May…

The release features remixes by Lee J. Malcolm and Tom Evans (aka Peasman) from Vessels, as well as Bracken, Errors, Brendon Anderegg (from Mountains) and Little Evil (Middleman, Mye Mi). There is also a bonus track, which you may know from the BBC Raw Talent session recorded in 2007.



Here’s the tracklisting:

1. Walking Through Walls
2. Fully Altered Beast (Lee J. Malcolm remix)
3. Descent
4. Pea Jerk (Peatronica remix)
5. Walking Through Walls (Bracken remix)
6. Remain (Brendon Anderegg remix)
7. Wave Those Arms, Airmen (Little Evilremix)
8. An Idle Brain and the Devil’s Workshop (Errors remix)
Bonus track:
9. Knee Jerk

You can hear ‘Descent‘ and Errors’ remix of ‘An Idle Brain and the Devil’s Workshop‘ on the band’s myspace.
http://myspace.com/vesselsband

And here’s the awesome art from Luke Drozd: