Are you in a hurry ? Sorry, this release is currently not available. Release date is planned for Tue, Feb 24 2012. You'll probably be able to stream a few tracks from it from the release page, either on the website of the label, which is Already Dead Tapes, or from the label's Bandcamp. Links will probably be updated after the issuing to point to the actual album page. The release will be available on tape.
There are many labels, micro labels and netlabels that were created in the past few years. Among them, a few ones only are really god ones - according to what I like. There's, undoubtedly, AF Music. And also, there's Already Dead Tape.
I already reviewed three AF Music releases here. And, here we go, here's my third review for an Already Dead Tape release.
So, this is a split. A Radiator Hospital / Fred Thomas split. And this split is a really lo-fi one. While Radiator Hospital is what is usually called a rock band, with guitars and so on, Fred Thomas' songs are just voice and piano. Voice & piano, when recorded in a lo-fi manner, is something definitively interesting.
I liked this release as a whole. There's no weak point in it. Both sides are equally excellent. At the beginning, I liked the round and loud mixed bass sound on the Radiator Hospital side. I liked the overdriven piano on Fred Thomas' side. But don't deduct of this that this release is only interesting because of the well-made production job. It would be a big mistake. Just because, besides this, the music writing is simply awesome. Even if this release would have been produced with all the crappy tricks that are used in mainstream music production, it would have been a great one.
This is soulful recording. The kind of release people are likely to enjoy a lot, and not only the lofi usual lovers. The music will make you travel - if you value my opinion enough to actually listen to it. There's so much feeling put into it... It makes me think of a good Velvet Underground album. The same high standard, speaking about what a song should be. The same idea of how a song has to be written in order to be a good one. The same general quality in the production process. Add it a little more pop than on the VU releases, and you may get clue about the big picture.
When I was young, I was in a band. We didn't care about the fame. Never send a demo to anyone. We only gave a single show. Later I've been in a lot of other bands, and started many solo projects. Some of them are still active. You know, when I write music, I write music mainly for me, music that I will like and listen to for hours.
Well, this release makes me think about what I use to write and record music. There's many common point in the music these two projects create, and mine. Then, and providing what I said just above, that is to say that the music I make is meant to be pleasant to me, you'll understand why I love this release. To me, they simply got the whole thing right. And not just a bit, but in a total and definitive manner. Your opinion may differ. Musical taste is something hugely varying depending on the person.
But, and this is something that is, until now, always true on this blog, since I use to review only what are, for me, milestones in history of music - yes, I know, I use the 'milestone in history of music' metaphor quite often - , and since if you are reading this there's a probability that you have some kind of interest in my opinion, the probability that you like this split album as much as I do is real and existing.
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