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Review
of 'in a strange sea' MP3 from Delusions of Adequacy website:
I was
planning on posting some hot, Islands-esque summery pop/rock song
that, in a far corner of my mind, I thought would actually become
the soundtrack to your next long drive with the windows down and
the warm weather humming all about. Maybe the sun would be going
down and this year's equivalent of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - miraculously
discovered by my humble little self and introduced to you, oh lucky
reader - would be playing through your speakers at a nice volume
and you'd be thinking, "Damn, these guys sure are good, I'm
glad that guy found them and spread the word and gained all that
indie-journalist clout. I guess he's pretty much the man."
But then
I came across Mole Harness. The whole "electro-acoustic instrumental
music" tagline totally went against my quest to find a new
Tapes 'n Tapes, and so I was about as prejudiced and skeptical as
you could get when I started in on "In a Strange Sea."
Even though what I heard wasn't summery or trendy by any conventional
standards, it was stop-you-in-your-tracks beautiful and just the
right amount of sad. An effects-laden keyboard brought the song's
stunning melody in first before dual guitars took it from there
and gracefully carried it into the hands of gentle, warm keyboard
swells, which after a short while brought it back to those pretty
acoustics and quietly finished the song. Needless to say, my delusions
of indie-guy grandeur were smashed and I was left with a new favorite
song - a real song too, not some contrived flavor of the week tune.
Mole
Harness, the moniker of James Brewster, is not in this for anything
but making music. Through the simple setup of guitar and sampler
and not much else, he grabs you and sits you down and forces you
to take a short, quiet, much-needed break from the grind. His music
wordlessly speaks to anyone who listens and will leave them with
goosebumps on their arms and necks.
Owen
McLean
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