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March 28, 2024, 01:57:45 PM

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The European

Started by weekender, April 20, 2010, 06:23:04 PM

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weekender

I can't stop listening to this:

THE SETTLER

Heh, love the description:

QuoteIn this short video, we present the heroic/pathetic figure of The Settler as he wanders, lost and conflicted, through the jagged ruins of Modernism, in search of some dimensional portal to the happy hunting grounds of the post-historic era.

This post was brought to you by the amazing Castles In Space blog:

Quote'In a Very Real Sense Now' is the debut album from The European on Stolen Recordings and is limited to 500 luxurious copies. The European is the solo project of London-based musician and electronic artist, Simon Break. Break was previously in Icebreaker, later Icebreaker International, which he formed in the late 1990s with American musician, Alexander Perls. Icebreaker / Icebreaker International recorded three albums on three different labels before disbanding in 2004, 'Distant Early Warning' (Aesthetics, 1999), 'Trein Maersk' (It records, 2000) and 'Into Forever' (Sound of a Handshake, 2003). The latter was a joint offering with Danish producer and musician with manual, while the first two albums Break has always claimed were commissioned by NATO. The European's music is at one level simplistic and melancholic, but at another Break's unusual use of instrumentation and software give it a lingering and mesmerising edge. he prefers to program his own computer materials and design his own instrumentation rather than follow more traditional or conventional paths for creating and making music. - Rough Trade

The European

Stolen Recordings

Slightly cheesy self-ironic video?  I don't know.  The music is just hypnotising though, I love it.  When the harmonies kick in at 2' 16" I'm just mesmerised.  I don't know what else to say. I've ordered the limited edition album on the strength of the Castles In Space recommendation and this one tune.

Check it out, you might like it.

weekender

I'm bumping this because I just want someone to comment on it.

Even if the video is shit, I think the music here is awesome.

I demand that someone comments.

Timmay

Far be for me to be the one to satisfy you, but it's alright. Is that enough of a comment?

The Plunger

I'm enjoying the music although the video is SHIT, as you rightly point out. I'm intrigued by the album, but don't think I'd make the plunge off the back of one song. I'd like to hear more. I fear that the album may essentially be gash.

copylight

What's not to love about both video and song?

I nominate this for the next European song contest.

copylight

Quote from: weekender on April 20, 2010, 06:23:04 PM

I've ordered the limited edition album on the strength of the Castles In Space recommendation and this one tune.

Got the album yet?

weekender

Yes, I have.  I've been meaning to write about it because on the most part it's absolutely fantastic.  I might try and do a full review tomorrow, but this is currently tying for first place for my album of the year (along with 'Have One On Me' by Joanna Newsom).

I've already posted about The Settler, but other highlight tracks so far are:

1. In a Very Real Sense Now

The opening track just stamps its foot down and says "Right.  I am great electro-pop and this is how I roll".  I've been chanting this as a protest about something, but I don't know what.

6. Theme From New Fun

Sometimes a piece of music is just so arrogant, so confident, so downright chirpy, that it makes me smile with its sheer audacity.  A firm reminder that life is indeed fun, just hearing the first few bars of this tune will instantly change my mood.  The first time I heard this I was grinning all the way through it. 

7. Calm Calm Calm

This track can almost be described as laid-back but energetic at the same time.  Simon Break's calm tones bring a mellow influence to some electronic wizardry which ebbs and flows like a river taking you on a journey.

The whole album is hard to categorise.  It's quirky, it's poppy, it's electronic, it's quintessentially English but global at the same time.  It really is something different, and I've been humming most of it for days now.  It's cracking, and gets 9 out of 10 from me, and I'm a miserable bastard.

Stolen Recordings deserve a mention too.  I don't know much about them, but everything about the transaction - the payment, the packaging, the quality of the product - was fantastic.  A label I will be keeping my eye on.


All right, all right. I'll download it.

If you will go on, dear!