Pete Um - Can't Get Started (10" vinyl)

Weird little fella, this. It's got 17 songs running to a total of 23 minutes 39 seconds. The music contained in those minutes and seconds is frankly bizarre. Our Brian's saying that this guy has been going a while but this is the first time we've met. Basically this is a collection of weird little lo-fi electro acoustic songs with oddball lyrics and even odder backing. It's so hard to find things to compare this to because it's just so bizarre. I guess Dan Deacon's early stuff is a fair reference point but this is much more focused than some of that, so if noises are being made that you don't like then you don't really need to worry because they'll be over in a minute (literally). One of the songs has a weird digital Dan Higgs-esque droney plainsong feel to it too. The closest we've got to a pop song here is the surprisingly catchy minute and a half of minimal electro that is 'My Life Is Hard'. This record is shambling and clattery and disjointed and yet the cumulative effect is far more charming than you'd initially assume from just hearing one song. There's a beautiful little essay about the pains of modern life that's well worth reading, too. He certainly has a way with words. This is a weird record, make no mistake, but if you've learned anything from us by now then you'll know that we like weird. And we like this.