18. Scout Niblett - Calcination of Scout Niblett (Drag City)

Although in many ways this wasn't a completely new album, a number of the tracks had surfaced in various guises, for instance the opening track and maybe instant standout track Just Do It was previously a B-Side to single Dinosaur Egg, other tracks featured as foreign bonus tracks on other albums. And yet this still remained a precious collection of songs from a very special girl. Capable of sounding sweet as an angel and then as dark black can get.

Many tracks stood out, for me personally the hectic dynamics of both Calcination and Cherry Cheek Bomb made them instant winners alongside the less obvious big muff infected boggy sound of Strip Me Pluto, the dank muddy sound of the guitar was a perfect compliment to her oh so perfect vocals.

I fear that i will never get bored of this girl. A live performance earlier this year only helped to reaffirm that. Certainly one of my proudest discoveries.

Find more artists like scout niblett at Myspace Music

Spoiler : What Boomkat Said:

For her sixth album, Scout Niblett once again teams up with producer Steve Albini, resulting in a series of recordings that's perhaps even more spartan and bold in its arrangements than anything she's done before. Much of the album is pared down to just Niblett's own voice and a skeletal electric guitar accompaniment, but the tactic could hardly be more effective: the likes of 'Just Do It' and 'IBD' are uncannily absorbing, hooking you in with their heavily charged atmospherics. Albini is surely the perfect collaborator for Scout Niblett, keeping her sound pristine but mercilessly free of any sort of conventional post-production traits. Calcination isn't entirely made up from voice and guitar however, and there are plenty of moments where minimal drum parts erupt from the quiet. 'Cherry Cheek Bomb' and 'Ripe With Life' both embrace fuzz-wrenching grungey outbursts while 'Lucy (Lucifer)' ditches guitar altogether, instead shaping a song - at times onomatopoeically - on the thrashing of drums and cymbals. Highly recommended.

The Lovely Eggs

The Lovely Eggs

It seems that this weekend i have been somehow ripped out of my droney hollow of dreamy soundscapes that i have become so accustomed to over the bitter winter months, content to put my hood up, snuggle under the blanket and fall asleep to the gentle clicks, whirs and drones of the Fun Years and more recently Ben Frost and Alva Noto.

Instead, i find myself back in the land of indie pop, fanzines and the least self consious dancing i've seen in years and it was the best feeling ever. On Friday night I kicked myself at least 300 times for firstly leaving before a Horowitz encore, a rendition of Chilwell Olympia, the home of my school and a hundred million games of football, but still worse faux pas' would follow.

Let me introduce the Lovely Eggs, a simple two piece, her on guitar and vocals, him on drums and backing vocals and retardedly simple songs of such simplicity that it defies belief that anything more could possibly improve this pure simplistic device. Remember your first encounter with Scout Niblett? the stripped down brilliance, the rawness, the pure delight and proziacical feel those songs gave you, then remember when you first heard Kenickie, their poptastic hooks and their pure comic genius, then remember how Slow Club stole your heart with their onstage banter and simplistic joy and ecstaticism at the fact that peple care enough to come along and see them let alone the fact that they know every single word to each and every song, you should by now have a feeling of the pure euphoria i felt i we walked in to a song that repeated "I want to fall off my bike" again and again with relentless glee.

Things only got better with what i think may possibly be my favourite song ever. Have You Ever Heard A Digital Accordian can not be explained in words, its outright genius and gets better with every listen, even the most cynical person in the world would struggle not to smile at the retort "if you've never heard a digital accordian/ then you've only ever heard an acoustic accordian!"

Whats better is that you can stream it from Last Fm free... a great song, a great band and a kick in the teeth that this was their last song of the night :(

The Lovely Eggs - Have You Ever Heard a Digital Accordian?

Scout Niblett, Loscil, Hylozoists Reviewed

Scout Niblett, Loscil, Hylozoists Reviewed

Posted on 2007.09.08 at 18:52

Current Music: Scout Niblett - This Fool Can Die Right Now

Tags: bill callahan, bonnie prince billy, cat power, cue, espers, hylozoists, joanna newsom, kranky, one net label, scout niblett, smog, too pure, will oldham

Oh how I love Scout Niblett… I’ve just got my hands on her new albums “This Fool Can Die Now” due for release by Too Pure on October 9th…there’s something wonderful about Scout, her voice, so powerful and emotive, especially on Your Last Chariot, like she’s been up all night crying and then just picked the mic up and poured all her deepest sorrows into song.

The opening brace of songs are duets, the first Do You Wanna Be Buried with My People, I know not who this is with, the second is instantly recognisable as Will Oldham, a lush and powerful six minutes of love and emotion aptly entitled Kiss. The duets tend to show a newer more mature and produced sound to Scout Nibletts already high standards, the kind of touch needed to put her up in the big league (she has always been there, if not above in my mind) the push that will see her recognised clearly amongst the Cat Powers (of whom she is unarguably far superior, if not to the eyes of the mass media) the Will Oldhams, the Bill Callahans and the Joanna Newsoms. However her stripped down sound I was first attracted to (some songs on here feature violins and full band) is still present on a number of tracks that stand out to me, the ferocious Nevada and Let Thine Heart Be Warned.

I’m only half way through but already I know that This Fool Can Die Now is destined to be an album I cherish for some time…oh, how I love Scout Niblett.

MySpace

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Too Pure

Scout Niblett - Kiss MP3

Loscil – Plume (Kranky)
Loscil – States (One Net Label)
I would never have understood this music five years ago but now I feel instantly at ease with the swells and drones that make up the music of Loscil, namely Scott Morgan who for a living makes sound effects for computer games.

The music is slow and dreamy, the kind of music you imagine is fed into the womb, the comforting caring sounds of a loving mother, the heart taking its first beat and the embryo slowly developing into a little human in its own right, this is the music of miracles, mesmerising and transfixing, music to send you off into dreams and restful sleep.

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Kranky

One Net Label

Loscil - Sous Marin MP3

Loscil - Stases Full Album ZIP

Hylozoists - La Fin Du Monde (boompa)
The music of Hylozoists is sweeping and endearing, it is Francophilic in sound, carrying a certain Parisian romance in its sweeping upbeat orchestral arrangements.
Man who was builds up into a wall of hope and fantasy conjuring images of Tim Burton-esque sets, mysterious and magical, where limits have no place, anything is possible and all is within your reach, unicorns roam freely and fairies fly like butterflies unafraid of being seen. At times their cinematic sound strays into areas covered by the wonderful Espers yet not quite so folk-sy. Now and then there are hints of About a Boy, but I’ll let you decide if that’s good or bad.
Much like Cue it’s refreshing to hear a less bleak and more upbeat sound in an instrumental band, triumphant and joyous, let these well arranged orchestrations soundtrack whichever occasion you choose.

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Boompa

Hylozoists - Strait is the Gate MP3