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The Boats
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Description: | CD on Home Normal |
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| Format: | CD | |
| Genre(s): | Ambient | |
| Label: | Home Normal | |
| Price: |
£8.29
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| Availability: | In stock. Dispatched in 1 working day. |
...according to our Brian on 12 June 2009.
No I've not been over-familiar with material by Lancashire's The Boats over the years, largely because much of their oeuvre is of a delicate disposition and gets lost amongst all the shouting, crying, gurgling, screaming and thumping that goes on within these 4 shaky walls. But I'll be the first to admit I wasn't expecting their new CD 'Words are Something Else' to (fully) open with one of the finest tripped-out dubby techno tracks I've heard this year! Followed by 'Keep off the Boats' which contains a strange insectoid pulse and musique concrete percussion with a flexible bassline that'd do the likes of B12 proud. A mutated technoid landscape is the terrrain for much of this odd record, ranging from the woozy T4 with it's fucked vocoderish vocal & warped synth stabs, the beats all gentle & playful to 'We Sometimes Forget' and it's superb, disembodied, yearning vocal, alien glitch & motorik rhythm. Lovin' those warm keys too. This is simply a really inventive downtempo electronic album with many a hearty nod to the various waves of pioneering, influential spirits without actually really emulating any of them. Home Normal seem to be getting the very best out of their roster of guest artists if these fascinating 10 tracks of brilliantly oddball future techno & outsider electronic pop are owt to go by. Utterly enchanting!
HOME_N003: THE BOATS 'WORDS ARE SOMETHING ELSE'
DATE: JUNE 12TH
As the saying goes, a change is as good as a rest. Never the band to rest on their illustrious laurels, or to misinterpret tradition, The Boats deliver a surprise in the form of ‘Words Are Something Else’.
Taking their influence from myriad places has always been a subtle hint toward the Boats current psyche, and using the words deep, and techno, while alluding to their new album is a new, if not slightly fashionable (and disconcerting to tradition) statement. The Boats, fashionable, in the same sentence? Well, not really, but the 4/4 underpinning, and synthesis of almost an ‘acid’ character of most of the album is definitely a new facet of the rough diamond that they’ve shaped over their career.
Speaking of shaping, the ease with which Chris Stewart’s voice is carved alongside the techno sensibilities makes it sound like he should always have been there. Songs like ‘Raindrops (Second)’ hold an almost Beatles-esque vocal harmony scattered and yet held in place by the insistent kick drum, and deft edits that keep the future firmly in mind, while paying homage to the past.
‘I Hope You Get Well Soon, I Hope You Get Well Tomorrow’ dispenses with any ulterior motives, and reminds us of how entrancing the deeper side of techno can be when passed through such a distinctive filter as The Boats have. All their albums have leaning toward classic genres, and melodies, and yet here they pull the same thing off in a genre they’ve never been identified with, to a tee.
Rest assured the faithful followers of the Boats need have no trepidation regarding such a sideways step they’ve taken with this record, as this is a Boats album through and through, but it’s the surprising ease with which they pull off the foray into unexplored territory that really hits home.
