Artist : The British Expeditionary Force
Album : Chapter One: A Long Way From Home
Year : 2007
Genre : Indie
Quality : 219kbps / 44.1KHz / Joint Stereo
Source : CD
Playtime : 0h 32m
Size : 53.91mb
Label : Erased Tapes Records
Catalognr : eratp6cd
Tracklist:
01. Back To The Hand 3:01
02. Throwing Little Stones 3:44
03. A Long Way From Home 6:36
04. The Engine 3:20
05. Lashing Out 2:49
06. All Those Demons 7:05
07. Swallowed By Anger 2:31
08. A Long Way From Home (Rival Consoles Remix) 3:10
Releasenotes:
Everything seems to spell prog-rock here: the first of a three-album series
essentially bound by a single concept; packaging that smells that certain way,
like old library books left shelved for years before falling, the dust cloud
consuming entire aisles; on-paper comparisons to My Bloody Valentine, Brian Eno
and Sigur R╛s; compositions constructed not by men in the same room but by a
pair separated by geography, communication available only via broadband
connection. So it's pleasing that Chapter One: A Long Way From Home is both
accessible and absorbing; there's little need to repeatedly return to the record
to discover its truest treasures.
The British Expeditionary Force is, at its core, Justin Lockey; formerly of
yourcodenameis:milo, it's hardly a surprise to find Lockey's latest project
bearing a clunky moniker, albeit one mercifully bereft of a confusing colon this
time around. Alongside vocalist Aid Burrows, Lockey explores music best
summarised as cinematic throughout this six-track debut (a pair of bonus
offerings boost its parting-with-pennies appeal), mixing tried-and-tested
techniques executed across the history of post-rock - gentle piano touches,
sweeping swathes of textured sound - with click-bleep beat sketches that sit
beneath more traditional instrumentation in a manner akin to a super-slowed
65daysofstatic. 'Throwing Little Stone' is a representative effort of choice:
crawling vocals distorted by circuit boards buzzing atop languid percussion and
piano keys.
Of course, albums like this aren't intended for dissection, track-by-track;
rather, they're immersion affairs, designed specifically to follow a linear
thread from point A to point B, all sidesteps along the way purposefully placed
and forward-thought. So, the distracting perkiness of 'A Long Way From Home'
merely heightens the impression left by more-sombre structures in its
glitch-carved wake. 'The Engine', by comparison a straight-up indie-rocker,
therefore seems to be the work of a far-broader mindset than it'd seem if
analysed out of context. Arrangements don't segue as such, but a constant flow
is maintained, driving the listener to the record's pre-extras climax with ease.
Closer 'All Those Demons' is a delightfully chiming seven-minute home stretch,
again saturated in reverberation about its vocals and as sweet of aftertaste as
a particularly pleasing cheesecake.
While it'd be misleading to outline The British Expeditionary Force as a
boundary-testing domestic act of progressive praise at present, there's no doubt
on this evidence that ideas run deep within its constituent persons, and parts
two and three of the proposed triumvirate could prove special indeed. Promise is
a word overused in concluding critical paragraphs, but its place here is
deserved. A one to watch, then, for the time being; classic status achievable in
time, current well-wishers are advised to spread word far and wide.
drownedinsound.com
http://www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP006/chapter-one-a-long-way-from-home