Barbican Estate are a Japanese trio now based in London and this release for Feral Child compiles four previously available tracks that were either downloads or pressed on limited cassette runs. Because of this, there is pretty good variety in the selection and with a running time of a little under half an hour, there is plenty of opportunity for them to spread their magic.
The first side is instrumental and there is a semi-classical vibe to Kazuki Toneri‘s guitar in first track “Reconquista”, which put me in mind of early Felt; but with the addition of Miri‘s flute, the track is given a melancholy chill as it gradually gathers itself into a flurry of activity, with Ko Hamada‘s drums pushing it into a motorik groove. It doesn’t really prepare you for the psych-folk breakdown halfway through. The spirited and organic percussive looseness that is then unleashed is yet another volte face and it is hard to know what might happen next, but some wild guitar outbursts and pummelling rhythm keep us glued.
The ghostly backwards guitar soundscape “Abandon” is the complete antithesis, never pushing the listener but always insinuating, understanding the deep-down need for repetition and ushering the side to a gentle conclusion. On the second side, the addition of Miri’s vocals changes the mood a little. The simple folky acoustic ballad “Angel” highlights her sweet, lonely voice, but there is a veiled threat of action in the pregnant deliberation that put me in mind of Mogwai’s more mellow moments. It isn’t so much the music as the mood they evoke, but this is yet another red herring. “The Innocent One” is even more melancholy, Miri’s voice more grounded, with her words meandering around the bass / guitar fusion. There is barely anything to the rhythm and gradually you sense the players drifting into a dreamland of their own making and taking the listener with them.Dom from Feral Child has chosen these tracks and they work really well as an overview of a band that share some aesthetics with the likes of Kikagaku Moyo or even the gentler work of Acid Mothers Temple, but are ploughing their own furrow, infusing folky melancholy with uninhibited groove and skittering sparse skeletons amongst flurries of noise. Most enjoyable.
-Mr Olivetti-
