Brew Records

A compilation of experimental noise from Brew Records via Yorkshire with aid from the Scarman Trust, a national charity "committed to helping citizens bring about change in their community". Experimental is a subtle way of describing the musical endeavours on this album, it all begins with The Butterfly's 'Eros and Thanatos', a funky start-stop Latin horn-aided indie rocker with very strange vocals, befitting of a song with such a grandly irreverent title.

Things get slightly more normal with I Concur's 'Oblige', a decent indie tune that builds slowly and surely with great skill in an Explosions In The Sky manner. The quality of music continues with a rowdy punky rocker by The Plight's 'Life Debt', which has an obligatory more-than-one-person-shouting-the-chorus chorus. The album gets even heavier with the growling Year Of The Man's 'Rage Of Man, Strength Of Son', and with a title like that you'd hope so.

Solus Locus introduces some electronica to the proceedings with 'We Can Go Home'. It’s dark, brooding and garnished with real instruments, kind of like a more bleepy version of Mogwai; another great track. The rest of the tracks continue the variety of genres though always containing real instruments and luckily for the listener, pure quality.

This album is a big accomplishment, like getting through this review only mentioning Emmerdale once.