Monday 13 June 2011

Recommended music: 'Fjree Feather' by Forest Swords

Available on 12" white vinyl or digital download, this 6-track EP consists of early Forest Swords demo material. A lot of this stuff was only previously available on a homemade CDR before last year's 'Dagger Paths' EP came out, but it certainly doesn't sound like demo material.

'Down Steps' starts by briefly sounding like The Clangers (ask your dad) before slowly building a dubby bassline. It breaks down almost to silence in the middle, before returning to become twice as loud and menacing. It's followed by 'Red Rocks Fogg', which for some reason reminds me both of The Cure and Moon Duo, and features about 215 different drum machine settings. Then 'Kaibisa Claps' crunches its way into view, with tribal drums and an Eastern feel, like a Kirosawa samurai film soundtrack re-made in teh 25th century.

On 'Trust Your Blood' a looped, unintelligible vocal precedes another menacing track where the simple two chord bass pattern is overlaid with atmospheric feedback and noises. A crystal clear guitar line provides some relief before the looped vocal returns. The track would suit footage from a sci-fi movie as a spaceship descends through Saturn's rings. 'Riverbed' is percussively reminiscent of These New Puritans, while some brilliantly fuzzed guitar linesfight for prominence. There are some occasional organ stabs that would suit a DJ Shadow track, but the guitar's the star on this one.

Final track 'Bones' throws squalls of feedback over fuzz-bass and the simplest of drum beats. Overall this track puts me in mind of the Peaking Lights album, albeit with more force.

The EP has been released to support the Red Cross's tsunami recovery efforts in Japan, so not only do you get some brilliant music, you get to feel good about yourself at the same time.

You can pre-order the 12", or buy the download, here. In the meantime you can listen to a couple of tracks from the EP below.

Forest Swords - Kaibasa Claps by NO PAIN IN POP

Forest Swords - Trust Your Blood by NO PAIN IN POP

No comments:

Post a Comment