Description:	CD on Arbouse Records
	Format:	CD
	Genre(s):	Experimental Indie
	Label:	Arbouse
	Price:	£9.29
	Availability:	Sold out / currently unavailable. Sorry!

4
...according to our Business Lady on 21 May 2009.

Acetate Zero have previously been tagged as the french HOOD by the staff here at Norman's. New Long Player 'Hesitation blues' on Arbouse Recordings bares no relation to HOOD in my opinion but strenuous connections could be hinted at. The band are subtle in their approach and share a lot in common with the post rock groups of the late nineties early noughties as well as american indie pop giants like Pinback and Modest Mouse. Acoustic guitars and vocals are punctuated by shimmering lead guitar lines and backed by a reliable (and almost transparent) rhythm section. Songs rise to epic heights then come crashing down on themselves in a crescendo of reverberant feedback and sizzling cymbals leaving lonely acoustic guitars and lazy vocals to hold things together. I'm not particularly keen on the vocal contributions but musically 'Hesitation blues' pushes a few of the appropriate buttons. Occasional outbursts of horns and strings keep the mix varied and the recording brings out the best in the ideas, being both warm and inviting. Not bad yo!

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Sound clips for Hesitation Blues by Acetate Zero: on CD at Norman Records UK. CD, Arbouse, ARBOU027, £9.29.

What their label says...

Come on, have a beer, maybe two. E, F, G, L & S come on with Hesitation blues. Here come the dusts of a never ending nostalgia and the weaknesses of the unexpected. The 16 most intense songs of Acetate Zero are there. Recorded in Paris during fall - winter 2008, with the advised help of Cyril Guillanneuf who added some fine tuning, Hesitation blues is Acetate Zero driving its way between more tight pop lines, forgotten landscapes and shining desperate losses of separations. The previous album “Civilize the Satanists” is already far away. Since its release one year ago, Acetate Zero shared the bill with The New Year, toured in France and Belgium and let the new songs go their own. Put it on, have a beer, maybe two, and take your time.


Acetate Zero started its noise making activities in 1996/1997. At these times, E, F & S used to cross their guitar tips into avant-post something, with minimal equipment and the help of J and E.  At these times, Hood, Bedhead, Dead C (and tons of other new Zealand bands), Movietone and others were not so far away, of course, but already definitively aside. Since the group first steps, there’s always a sound that is all its own, for late nights, grey skies and mournful beauty. Their first album, the critical acclaimed and sold out Softcore Paradise lp (1999 - Orgasm records, reissued via the US label Drumkid Records) came up then. It is still a reference album of this period today.

As new effect pedals were spreading out in the songs, Acetate Zero kept on trying to explore new languages to say the same: sharp lines, renunciation, devastations, late night sessions, grey noise, haunted experiments, abrasive and unstable warmful dust and real pop moments. The next albums (now out of print), Ground Altitude in 2002, Crestfallen in 2004 and Civilize the Satanists in 2008 were also the mark of a long term friendship with Arbouse Recordings label (Thousand & Bramier, Astrid, Melodium...), together involved in a really free and independent cultural approach. During this period, Acetate Zero delivered several singles. One can be particularly taken out, the smashed Somehow about perfection (12” -2005) on the US label Clair records.

Hesitation Blues (lp 2009), their new album, again with Arbouse recordings, completes their path, with more tight songs and new landscapes to give more intensity to their wishes, mixing gorgeous jewels and iron, the beauty and dust. Recorded and mixed between fall 2008 and spring 2009, it is their most accomplished work at this day.

On and out of the stage, the band integrated new members (L & G) to share the instruments and ideas: every one can play almost everything. The gigs are still rare but meaningful, always on the razor edge between the great and the disastrous. The sound of the recordings takes off in more direct and powerful ways. Acetate Zero took part to the MOFO #4 festival, toured with Rothko (2006), The New Year and Chris Brokaw (2008), played live at the French TV show “ce soir ou jamais”, shared the bill with the Album Leaf, Encre, Empress and others.