Richard Youngs - Amaranthine (Vinyl LP)

Richard Youngs is one of the more interesting and prolific experimental artists on the UK scene right now, and on this here EP he's giving us four more long songs of his trademark weirdness. With mysterious album art on which the only text is the name of the label it's released on, this album opens with a track where Youngs sings a repetitive melodic refrain over which drums and overdriven guitar freely chunter around. On the next track we've got harmonised vocal drones over weird industrial clanking, this time held together by a regular, quick rhythm on what sounds like some kind of shaker. Opening the second side we've got some ominous low whirrs like a machine trying and failing to start, and yet more of these skittish free jazz drum stylings, over which Youngs experiments with some more lively vocal delivery. The closing number has the most Greg Lake-esque vocal stylings of the record, and some guitar playing that could even generously be called melodic, although the rhythm and structure are just as loose as on the other cuts on offer here. This is definitely one of Youngs's more difficult offerings so don't go expecting pop songs, or even songs at all in the conventional sense of the word. These are experimental explorations of a deep and awkward nature, but if that's what floats your boat then there's certainly plenty to hold your attention through these two sides.