BLACKER

4.5 stars. I haven't been surprised like this for quite a long time. "Blacker" released in 2007 shows the band playing some of their more experimental music. This is dark and minimalistic for long stretches. Plenty of guitar from Houghton, but less of those sequencers, even though they are present here and used well. Lots of mellotron though. I just didn't at this point think I'd come across an album of theirs that suddenly is a top three from their huge discography. We are missing a boat load of their albums on this site.

"Knutsford In May" is still my favourite from 1996, but "Blacker" came out of nowhere. I own a lot of their music. They have mainly been on three record labels. Centaur Discs, Cuneiform Records and Northern Echo Records. This is on the latter and is shown as being their 17th on that label. The disc itself has NE017 under the name "Blackler", yes there's an extra "L" in there, clearly a typo. The only info related in this package is "Recorded at the Greenhouse in Stockport, where cups of tea cost 20p but check if there's some milk before paying." An incident that won't be forgotten.

So we get four tracks over 58 minutes. From the short 4 minute "No Bones" where we get these repeated guitar lines over and over in atmosphere. To the 28 minute "This Is Scenery?" where the band stretches out so far that the tea needs to be warmed up. All three guys are on electronics and caffeine, while Dinsdale adds drums and Goddard bass. I love these guys, I really do. And it's interesting to me that this was released the same year as "Rain Falls In Grey" two of their best right there. That opener is amazing. "Dubly" is a 9 minute trip of dark atmosphere with the guitar crying out. The bass gets us started as those sounds pulse in the darkness. Headphone music.

The closer "Enormodome" opens with haunting mellotron as spacey sounds twitter. A voice desperately cries out over and over in the atmosphere until a change around 5 minutes in. This is where the soundscape starts to move. This sounds incredible with the guitar expressions and deep sounds. So much going on. More guitar after 9 minutes, then sequencers after 11 minutes before the guitar returns to end it.

I like how each track blends into the next. I was going to describe that 28 minute beast but lets just say the time flies by. It's just such an interesting piece of music where we get it all from them. Sequencers, synth melodies, guitar expressions, percussion, dark atmosphere etc. Experimental, and how about those growly sounds? Just an epic track that will go down as one of my favourites from this band. I'm bumping this one up. And for sure this will be on of my "best of" electronic list.

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