Dakota Suite - Accompanying Music From Other Rooms

Not massively familiar with much Dakota Suite music. Chris Hooson and co. have been a staple feature of the dreaded Norman stockroom since its very inception but because of the brittle, tender, downbeat and sensitive nature of the majority of their output, it often gets drowned out in the chaotic office melee. The noise of our weekly scrum of new releases often renders the more reserved and reflective of musics virtually mute, so it is nice to sit here in my own space enjoying this and digesting it properly.

This sister CD has several out-takes, alternative versions and demos from the the sessions for the 'An Almost Silent Life' album, it comes housed in a pretty fold-round sleeve with a nice photo taken by Johanna Hooson mounted on t' front. Largely acoustic-based music is this with melancholy, fragile vocals and a smoky, introverted demeanour. The drums, when deployed, are a subtle embellishment, there's some gorgeous piano on the midway numbers to devour and, when introduced, the bass playing is implicit and sympathetic to the refined, delicate nature of the particular song.

My favoured piece on this sweet eight tracker is 'On the Way to the Bridge' which possesses a mellow reflective jazz tinge, some dreamy textures and a sweet pastoral atmosphere. Truly lovely stuff throughout. Limited to 300 hand-numbered copies!