The Null Device

Apparently Parsley Sound finally have an album out in the UK, following on from their excellently chilled Platonic Rate EP (which got them described as "electronic folk"). And it's probably going to get a local release through Remote Control.

¶ electronica music parsley sound 0

4 1/2 hours remaining: Favourite CDs of 2002:

• Club 8, Spring Came Rain Fell. Very nice indie-pop from Sweden, with just enough electronica.
• Victor Lancaster, Mr. Mention Yes, the guy who plays the plastic bucket drums in Melbourne. And, with the attention of local remixers, this disc is better than you'd expect.
• New Order, Here To Stay (single). New Order back in fine form.
• Ninetynine, The Process. Their best album so far; quirky, sophisticated and with all the energy of their live sets.
• Parsley Sound, Platonic Rate (single). Very laid-back and mellow.
• Stereolab, Sound-Dust. It's Stereolab. Naught More Terrific Than Man is probably my favourite cut.
• Various Artists, Can't Stop It! Australian Post-Punk 1978-1982. Contains a wealth of stuff from proto-synthpop to Dadaist noise to jangly guitar-pop.

Honourable mentions: Sigur Rós, (), Letraset, Snowy Room, Architecture in Helsinki, Like a Call (single) (especially Jeremy Dower's remix), Qua, Forgetabout (the title track is great, though much of the rest is a bit too generically laptop for my tastes), Season, 2,551,446 seconds, Pipas, A Cat Escaped, The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.

CDs I meant to get but didn't manage in time for this list: Happy Supply, Crucial Cuts, GY!BE, Yanqui U.X.O., Ivy, Guestroom, some local spoken-word/electronica thing titled Every Third Breath.

Older CDs I listened to a lot in 2002:

• Belle & Sebastian, The Boy With The Arab Strap
• The Field Mice, Where'd You Learn To Kiss That Way (yes, again; I just can't leave it alone, honestly I cannot...)
• FourPlay, The Joy Of
• Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions, Bavarian Fruit Bread. Very nice.
• Lush, Split.
• Mogwai, My Father My King. Intense, immersive noise.
• Radiohead, OK Computer, and I Could Be Wrong
• Slowdive, Pygmalion. I travelled a bit, and it made excellent music for journeys.
• The Smiths, The Queen Is Dead. This is becoming my favourite Smiths album.

¶ 2002 club 8 lists music new order ninetynine parsley sound stereolab 0

I hadn't been going out much, or blogging much for that matter, lately due to work having been rather insane. However, I have been listening to CDs, so here's a list of what I've been listening to lately:

• Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions, Bavarian Fruit Bread. The more I listen to this disc, the more it grows on me. The quiet vocals floating sleepily over the subtly muffled guitars, with barely audible brush percussion and the odd xylophone. Very, very lovely.
• Parsley Sound, Platonic Rate; understated, with subtle distorted beats, analogue synths, vintage keyboards and floating, reverbed vocals; rather dreamlike and atmospheric, with perhaps somewhat of a 1960s psychedelia influence in places.
• Malory, Outerbeats. Best known as "that German outfit that tries to be Slowdive", this album goes beyond their influences somewhat. Granted, the Slowdive-circa-Just-For-A-Day influence is obvious (you can pick out specific songs and rhythms there), though they add synth textures and crunchy beats. And it works. Some of the tracks almost edge into Gus Gus territory.
• Which probably prompted me to dig out my copy of the Icelandic chillout outfit's This Is Normal album and give it a spin or two. It's still as good as it was back in 1999 when I picked it up.
• Victor Lancaster, Mr. Mention. Yes, the plastic bucket drummer who plays on the streets of Melbourne; and better than you'd expect it to be. Some of the remixes are particularly impressive.
• The Love Letter Band, Even The Pretty Girls Take Medicine. One of the raft of 555/Red Square indiepop releases I walked away with during one of Stewart and Jen's popfests, and quite a nice one, in a somewhat fey electro-pop vein.

¶ gus gus hope sandoval indie indiepop lists malory music parsley sound shoegazer the love letter band 4