The Tragedy of Our Tryst

How great is the new Camera Obscura album! And what a relief after hearing they've signed to 4AD... I like it so much more than Let's Get Out of This Country. That's a great album, however a slight disappointment after the life-affirming Underachievers..., mainly due to the overblown production from Jari Haapalainen (trust a Swede to say that). Listening to My Maudlin Career for the first time just now, I was sure this was the work of another producer, but turns out it's dear old Jari again. Only this time he's managed to restrain himself and my one regret is the reverb that the vocals are buried in. Tracyanne's beautiful voice needs to be up front, so close to the speakers you can hear every little intonation and nuance. It also makes the lyrics a lot harder to make out instantly, which is a right shame. There's a free download of the title-track floating around out there, but that's actually one of my least favourite tracks on this. And the indisputable fact is that the closing "Honey In the Sun" is not only thee dance floor smash on here, but also one of their five best songs to date. I can't wait to spin around to it! And I can't wait to see them at The Best Pop Festival In the World (TM) this July. Can't believe I've only seen them twice to date.

There are so many little treasures in the first announcement of the Indietracks bill. It's mainly Cola Jet Set that's making me bite my nails at the moment, but just imagine seeing Northern Portrait and Eux Autres for the first time! And it's been way to long since my last BMX Bandits gig.