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Album Review
by SashaS
25-2-2003
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| Mountaineers take a wide/wild sidewalk |
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Mountaineers: 'Mountaineers (EP)'
(Mute)
Mountaineers: nonchalant display of quality coolness
Once upon a time, as recent as a decade ago, record companies stood for certain musical types of the standard you could always trust, i.e. bet on the quality of A&R departments. Virgin, for instance, during the Richard Branson’s ownership, stood for valiant new music (with occasional, almost accidental, hit band such as Culture Club), Charisma was home to prog-rock-cum-experimental artists, Factory churned ace vinyl discs with regularity as well as Rough Trade before its collapse (relaunch is nowhere near its original oomph), Creation… The last label you can still trust is Mute, if you are into leftfield/electro/avant-garde sonic types… (Of course their roster also include Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Jon Spencer, Goldfrapp…)
Thus, upon learning Mute inked Mountaineers, it filled me with an enormous doze of anticipation and, thankfully, not much waiting. Mountaineers, namely Alex Germains, Ceri James and Tomas Kelar, debut for the new label with their second EP, a follow up to the astounding maiden extended play released late last year on Deltasonic (also home to The Coral), which gained glowing NME coverage, whilst its opening track ‘Red Thong’ was a Mark and Lard Radio One show’s record of the week.
The new EP again sees the band combining interesting musical ideas with inventive recording techniques and production ideas. It shares the first EP’s lo-fi aesthetic - amazingly all of the instruments were largely recorded and mixed at home using nothing more than an old PC, a MiniDisc microphone and a few software programs, informs the record co. The members, hailing from Wales, are now based in Liverpool, where they have relocated their Hot Trees studio.
These half-dozen tracks show an incredible sonic array that kicks in with the opening tunes of ‘Self Catering’, one of the finest pop moments one is likely to hear this year; other highlights are ‘Radio Cat’, a paean to French house with its disco drums and vocoder, the surrealist punk style ‘Chicken’ and ‘Camped Out’, a haunting piano led piece which presents a darker side to Mountaineers. ‘Clap In Time’ is a wonderfully atmospheric cut brimming with psychedelic kaleidoscope as if you were lost in a ‘Time Tunnel’, while the concluding ‘Your Gunn Is Sett On Me’ is another slice of electro-futuristic groove-epic.
This is a foretaste to their debut album due for release in July 2003; ‘Mountaineers’ nonchalantly demonstrate that the unexpected is to be expected from this threesome; a band worth keeping an ear on at the time when very few are deserved of.
8.9/10
SashaS
25-2-2003
Mountaineers’ EP ‘Mountaineers’ is released 24 February 2003 by Mute
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