Artist : Beneath Fire & Smoke
Title : The Iceberg Waltz
Genre : Folk
Year : 2007
Date : 04/2009
Bitrate : VBR kbps
Tracks : 04
Label : Battered Ornaments
Source : Vinyl
Encoder : Lame 3.97
Length : 21:14 min
Size : 28,6 MB
Tracklist:
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01.smoke & flames 06:35
02.songs from a slipway 04:07
03.the iceberg waltz 05:19
04.so it came to pass 05:13
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21:14 min
Beneath Fire & Smoke is the operating moniker
of one Pete Hedley, a man who popped up recently
on the very excellent Voice of the Seven Woods LP.
He might not be amazingly well known, but coming
from Doug Shipton's already essential Battered
Ornaments label you should know that you're in for
something special. Sticking to the theme of dusty
old European film soundtracks of the 70s which
we explored on the last few 7"s, this time around
we've got a 10" and it's possibly the best release
yet on the label. Hedley manages to melt a side-
swiping electrified folkiness to his music, much in
the same realm as Tunng, but where Tunng go for
the slightly twee end of the genre, Hedley hits for the
soft-focus surrealism and abstraction of the Beta
Band.
While the opening track is probably the most obvious
hit, with chanted vocals accompanying Eastern
European-style violins, the standout track for me is
'The Iceberg Waltz', which takes a fuzzy piano motif
and lavishes it with emotion and nostalgia to create
a track you can play over and over again. There is
obviously a distinct theme emerging from the Battered
Ornaments label, one linked to Shipton's Finders
Keepers label and Andy Votel's Twisted Nerve but
somehow fresher and slightly under the radar.
We like this very much, and like the 7"s we reckon this
limited EP ain't going to last long, so be quick!
http://www.batteredornaments.com/