homelife - guru man hubcap lady
i have had this manchester/canadian setups’ second lp now for a while and i still have no idea how to describe it.
i mean no idea whatsoever.
completely stuck for words.
so lets start simply - do i enjoy the album ?
oh yes. lots. why ?
no bloody idea.
its a strange combination of world-type rhythms, challenging instrumentation, cluttered arrangements and downright weirdness, yet somehow at times this off the wall concoction really gels beautifully. other times the mark is definitely missed, but in an interesting way that makes the album even more interesting after repeated listenings.
the turning point is probably the sublimeness of the 2-tone type trumpet line and the late night smoky jazz groove of 'heaven knows', a gorgeous song based structure and female vocals make this a stand out track - actually best reference is the downright classic 'i scare myself' by thomas dolby, with the weird extra ambience and subtle noises of it just adding to the beauty.
this is then followed by disjointed real drums all being banged randomly (certainly sounds like it!) add to the mix is a disorientating pigeon english vocal overdub, clarinets honk, banjo's are plucked (tis indeed called 'banjo'!), and piano's are hidden within the tom waits’s rain dogs-esque twisted fairground band, not an easy few minutes, but completely natural for this loose no-rules collective. luckily though, the track is followed by a lovely 70's slice of electric piano/acoustic guitar funk groove, 'lowdell is missing', which has a groove that the space cowboy in the hat would love to frug along to and spoil with his vocal antics. luckily though, no such incident occurs leaving the funky beast intact, the added extras of strings later on in this glorious 5 minutes are particularly spine tingling. next up is ‘april sunshine’ which has more of the unusual sonics, maracas, spanish acoustic guitars, violins, and a sweet melody, this is the last of the simple song based tracks, as the last few tracks drift into moody leftfield jazz based soundtrack stuff. all very pleasant, and kinda surreal sounding in parts, especially ‘big tree’, which is very late night and unsettlingly smooth, when the female vocals hit the vibe is totally of far away lands and lost loves, but you wont find yourself singing along that’s for sure.
so like i said, i have struggled to drop words to fit this unusual but strangely beautiful album, go find yourself over to the label website, find the streams and make up your own minds.
for me though, this album has definitely made itself at home within my collection.