B-Movie Lightning - Rain On A River

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Press release
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It’s a Japanese reality TV game show where no one can figure out what the fuck is going on but it feels good and it reminds you of a song that your lover use to play for you through a mobile phone from the other side of the world. It could be a claw running softly down your back, driving you insane, wild thoughts of lust and filth dancing all kinds of tango with your secrets then striking terror right through you as it runs your teachers fingers through your clammy hair. It’s like trying to make eyes with the soul mate you’ve never met on a passing train from the rush hour platform of Leicester Square tube station then bumping into them at the bus stop. It’s the place you go when you close your eyes, because when you open them you don’t know where to stare. Think about the person you miss most in the world, well it’s the instant before the doorbell rings, the moment before we hurl ourselves, body, heart and soul at each other. It’s the love our shadow gives us when we’re dancing on our own in our bedroom. It’s the gift we give gladly to strangers whose smiles we’ll never see and can only imagine. It may or may not be perfect, it depends on who you are, but it comes to you with love from someone who you will probably never meet.

Rain On A River is the debut record from Mike Smalle (Formerly cane 141). It was self recorded and played on a souped-up laptop and later augmented by Ian Catt(Saint Etienne).
Available as a Digital download and ltd 300 cd edition.

Vic Tambo said:

Harmless Noise Review
Scruples are made to be scrapped, right? One of the things I'm not 'supposed' to do is pass judgement on an album before I've heard it a few times. Today I say to hell with that. Rain On A River by B-Movie Lightning is an excellent pop album and I knew it by the third song. There are still eight more of this thirteen-track album left to go but I'm already convinced that this is one of the sweetest-sounding records to come this way all year.

Although Rain On A River is the debut album of B-Movie Lightning, its creator Mike Smalle is far from a musical novice having made a name for himself with his former project Cane 141. A distinguished trail of musical notes can he heard in his wake – now with five albums to his name, Mike has worked with a stellar host of accomplished musicians, recorded a session with John Peel in 2002, was nominated for the Choice Music Prize in 2005 and has travelled the world making music. It comes as no surprise then that Rain On A River is a striking piece of work that instantly arrests the attention with its sleight of sound. There's so much to hear from balmy electronica and light pop to heavier beats and soulful, subtle stylings smeared through the entire collection. There's distinct appreciation for the progressive elements of upbeat dance tunes without any of the exhaustive exuberance that comes with heavy electronic music: it will lift you but won't drop you when the last track stops. There's a deftness here, a keen ear and light touch that has crafted an album which will outlive its contemporaries with enviable ease.

So, what do you think? Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!