Ghost Eyes - Phantom Mountain

I put this on at the wrong speed at first and thought it was some kind of totally cracking dub pop weirdness, but then Dave went and shattered my illusions by pointing out it should have been at 45. If you do purchase it, I strongly recommend you give the A-side a go on 33rpm. It's still a meaty and unconventional slice of synth pop, though, and there are definitely dub influences there even at the right speed. The first track centres around a simple guitar line, some disgusting synth bass and a melodica, often dropping down to just melodica, vocals and a really basic hip hop beat. The vocals are quite processed and a bit yelpy in places. The B-side is a dreamier affair, with a super-casual tropical groove and weird synth steel drums with a dead simple dubby bassline and mantric vocals. It's got a really morose verse/chorus and then this really melodic middle eight which is kind of unsettling. I like how even though these guys are so minimal you can tell there's been a lot of effort put into the finer details. Plus it's one of those records that's bulging with a bunch of weird ephemera, including (in the one I'm reviewing at least) a tarot card with a burnt corner and a very fuzzy polaroid. There's been a lot of love and attention put into both the music and the packaging here and it really shows.