Tenniscoats / Tape - Split

Here we have a double-header from Japan's Tenniscoats and Sweden's Tape, with each band contributing to the other's side. On the A-side we have Tenniscoats playing an original track, 'Lutie Lutie', which has minimal electronic beats crackling and popping around simple vocal counterpoint and a mixture of acoustic and electronic instruments, with Tomas Hallonsten from Tape contributing glockenspiel and synthesizer. The vocals are mantric and mysterious and the pump organ and melodica really draw the listener in and keep everything from sounding too sterile. On the Tape side we have their take on Ennio Morricone's 'Come Maddalena', with Tape providing the instrumentation and Tenniscoats taking care of the vocals. There's some lovely round synth brass tones on here that I'm pretty sure I heard towards the end of the Tenniscoats track so I'm guessing those were Hallonsten's handiwork. Both sides here are totally lush. The minimalist construction and the tasteful arrangements really allow the songs to breathe and take on their own dusky character. This is very charming indeed.