Track Listing > >
Hello / The Girl With The Crooked Smile/ Harold's Bad Trip / W.Fire / After The Rain / Chloe / Laughing, Smiling, Joking / Daddy's Little Princess / Dice Man / Eastern Girls / The Sad Thing Is It Is Not Sad At All / The Prize / She's Got It All
/ There's Nothing Like A Hit / On The Streets / Saturday / I Will Wait / Unlucky Ones / In Pieces / We Will Fall / Elevate
WHIMSICAL RECORDS
Bringing together the best and the brightest of Edinburgh label Whimsical's eclectic roster, ELEVATE - 21 POP AND INDIE GEMS FROM THE UNDERGROUND is a compilation than highlights that labels particular brand of the charming and endearing.
Early highlights include the jagged pop thrills of Jack Butler, a Scottish four piece making exciting new indie rock sounds for your delectation; with W.FIRE they deftly go about combining all the best bits of Franz Ferdinand, At The Drive-In and the Arctic Monkeys in one delicious three minute pop tune. Row Z deliver one of the most twee pop tunes since Belle And Sebastian last entered a recording studio in CHLOE whilst the equally C86 sounding Lemanis deal in the same sonic territory of jangly guitars and hushed vocal melodies with the sweet LAUGHING, SMILING, JOKING. DADDY'S LITTLE PRINCESS from The Harmonic Storm is a nifty slice of neo-psychedelic garage rock while Edinburgh's Emporium give us DICE MAN and ELEVATE, songs carrying on down the charming lo-fi road, upbeat melodic pop with its heart in the charity shop but its sights on the charts. Not unlike Belle And Sebastian on a much more limited budget, this is charming and sweet stuff, Ewan McKenzie singing in a fey vocal style that suits the musical backdrop perfectly.
London based singer/songwriter Adam Tedder is someone who certainly knows how to bang out an upbeat pop tune or two, one of those melodic types who's been raised on a diet of The Beatles and The Beach Boys by the sounds of things here. EASTERN GIRLS finds him attempting to meld Elton John, Rufus Wainwright and Blur; operatic vocals, melodramatic piano work and punky choruses.
The words charming and nice are the first to spring to mind on hearing IN PIECES from Big Life Desire, skewed English pop music that takes its cues from the lo-fi eccentricity of Baby Bird and White Town, the sideways funk of Ian Dury, not to mention the odd aside to bands as varied as Blur, The Kinks and The Beatles. Dealing in the same kind of slickly crafted acoustic tinged pop thats made stars of artists like David Grey, Alfie Kingston is the latest singer/songwriter to emerge on the scene. With I WILL WAIT, Kingston delivers a mildly diverting slice of mid tempo folk pop - nothing to get that excited about, nothing to get that offended by; middle of the road stuff.
21 slices of charming lo-fi whimsy, ELEVATE - 21 POP AND INDIE GEMS FROM THE UNDERGROUND will perhaps not change your life, but is a record that at the very least will brighten your day somewhat, and sometimes in life, that's more than enough.
BIOGRAPHY
Edinburgh based label Whimsical Records is proud to announce the release of ELEVATE - 21 POP AND INDIE GEMS FROM THE UNDERGROUND, a collection of the best music you've never heard.
A mixture of classics from days gone by and classics from days to come, you can reach into this collection and pull out a song that will live with you for the rest of your days.
Whether it's the Steve Lamacq championed Sunshine Variety Club, the strange psychedelic folk of Guy And Vivienne or the haunting tales of Balloon Man, there is something here that will touch you in places not talked about in polite society. Looking for Beach Boys harmonies and touches of Middle Eastern folk? Then you'll be wanting to sample the respective wonders of Lemanis and Karle Odegaard. Perhaps it's the rather seedy tales of Joe Viglione or the tribute to Trumpton from Emporium that tickles your fancy? Maybe you just want simple songs well sung? Then Alfie Kingston and Subconcious will be your new best friends.
Take the time to explore the unexplored back roads and byways of the underground, pause to breathe in the magic you'd forgotten existed in music, and allow your soul to Elevate.
_STUART HAMILTON_
DISCOGRAPHY
ELEVATE - 21 POP AND INDIE GEMS FROM THE UNDERGROUND (Whimsical Records>2007)
The Idea>Hello
Sunshine Variety Club>The Girl With The Crooked Smile
Day 44>Harold's Bad Trip
Jack Butler>W.Fire
Guy And Vivienne>After The Rain
Row Z>Chloe
Lemanis>Laughing, Smiling, Joking
The Harmonic Storm>Daddy's Little Princess
Emporium>Dice Man
Adam Tedder>Eastern Girls
Karle Odegaard>The Sad Thing Is It Is Not Sad At All
The Westport Sunrise Sessions>The Prize
Big Life Desire>She's Got It All
Joe Viglione>There's Nothing Like A Hit
Subconcious>On The Streets
Alan Burge>Saturday
Alfie Kingston>I Will Wait
Balloon Man>Unlucky Ones
Big Life Desire>In Pieces
The Mandrakes>We Will Fall
Emporium>Elevate
LINKS
Whimsical Records>www.whimsicalrecords.com
FURTHER LISTENING
Belle And Sebastian
The Fire Engines
The Vaselines
Review date: February 2007 |
