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1 It’s Pissing Don? Written By – Joff Winks, Matt Baber 6:26 2 Little Machines Written By – Joff Winks, Matt Baber 4:50 3 Written By – Joff Winks, Matt Baber 4:50 4 Keeny Woka Phoola Written By – Joff Winks, Matt Baber 3:08 5 Earth Song (With One Sugar) Written By – Joff Winks, Matt Baber 7:03 - Matt Baber / keyboards - Joff Winks / guitar, vocals - Paul Mallyon / drums - Brad Waissman / bass EP Troopers For Sound TFSCD001 (2003 UK) A very enticing and refreshing modern expression (tribute?) to the Canterbury Scene from these boys from Oxford. The album us full of supreme highs while also containing a few divots and duds. 1. “It’s Pissing Don?“ (6:26) part Post Rock, part Canterbury, part neo-classical jazz, this piano/keyboard and xylophone-led song features the very solid support of chunky bass, military-styled drums and guitars. (9/10) 2. “Little Machines“ (4:50) my favorite song on the album has some very catchy melodic, structural and vocal moments. (10/10) 3. ““ (4:50) ambient techno-space house music for the first two minutes, pauses for a very spacey section before reacquiring the weave of techno sounds that it opened with. MIDIed solo from lower mid-register keyboard is mixed in with all the other. Is this the soundscape the Canterbury artists of old would be experimenting with if they were still doing their stuff in the 21st Century? Interesting if not great. (7/10) 4. “Keeny Woka Phoola“ (3:08) sounds much more Canterbury-ish--even the squeeky synth taking on part of the lead melody making. At 1:35 it becomes much more poppy with the “beautiful people everywhere“ vocal section--kind of like a 60s song from or from one of today’s retro-psychedelic groups like Tame Impala or Arcade Fire. (9/10) 5. “Earthsong [With One Sugar]“ (7:03) opens with a repetitive mid-to-high pitched electro-pulse over which electric piano plays a kind of étude with two series of chord progressions. Then, at 2:25, the song shifts into rock mode with full band and a very familiar Canterbury sound and structure--like something from the debut Hatfield and the North album. Catchy bass, drums, and keyboard lines form the foundation over which guitars and multiple synth sounds contribute. The song slips back into electronica experimentalism in the fifth minute while drums and other support instruments create their own melodies which eventually merge into a fairly cohesive weave. Recordings of a domestic argument are introduced over the final minute and a half. Interesting! (13.5/15) Total Time: 26:17 4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music--this one in the psychedelic experimental spirit of the 1970s Canterbury artists. Review by BrufordFreak
