It's Like I'll Explode With Everyone Else

Mike was kind enough to send me a digital version of the new (The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope album All This Heaven. I haven't seen any artwork or label info yet, so you'll have to make do with some pop art. All I know that it's going to be on vinyl and pressed in time for their upcoming tour. I gather it's been more or less ready for quite a while, since it's now three years since their last release! You can listen to their whole catalogue round this way.

The sounds of what? Kaleidoscope. Formed in 1995 and once including two ex-Ropers in the line-up. Since their first ep These Are the Sounds of Kaleidoscope on fab DC label Foxyboy the sound has evolved from no-frills garage-punk towards more experimental outings into shoegaze and psych. By discarding some of the more obtuse elements of their previous work, they have created a record which sounds both crisper and heavier. It contains some of their strongest songs yet, and the production is as close to perfect as one can wish for. I was listening to it on the Terravision bus from Stansted and it's perfectly suited for the dark afternoons of autumn. There are quite a few long, drony compositions like "Asa Nisi Masa" (a phrase you may recognise from 8½) balanced with short, trebly scorchers like "False Telegraph". They even squeeze in a bit of folky jangle with "Learn to Forget". And "In the Air" - which is a clear favourite! The most beautiful thing I've heard since the Airfields album early this year, with a very MBV-sounding 'chorus'.

CLOUD 73 (The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope - In the Air