SJ Esau - Wrong Faced Cat Feed Collapse

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

4...according to our Ant on Thu 08 Mar, 2007.

Following on from singles for Twisted Nerve and the split single with Bronnt Industries on Static Caravan, SJ ESAU make an appearance on Anticon. This fits neatly into the labels change of direction into more experimental indie territory. At the core this is very organic sounding with some folk leanings tender vocals and some dramatic volume changes. The use of electronics on here is not overdone and compliments the foundations of the tracks perfectly creating a . What on earth he's doing on the sleeve feeding the cat with a G-clamp on his head I'll never know. I can only imagine it's some sort of smart auto-erotic ritual I've been too slow to catch on to. The fragile vocal with it's effects actually remind me of Bracken. 'Wrong Faced Cat Feed Collapse' is on CD and LP.

For SJ Esau's Anticon debut, the Bristol-based bedroom virtuoso continues his
masterful balance of sonic manipulation and songcraft across 12 alternately
expansive and explosive tracks.
*You' ll find `Wrong Faced Cat Feed Collapse' on the rarely tread common
ground between Slint, Arab Strap, Fog, Sonic Youth and Mogwai (with Fennesz
and Jim O'Rourke lurking in the shadows), which is to say, this is an album
that very successfully bridges genre-less explorations into sound to detailed
composition, solo meanderings to inspired collaboration, a sense of humor to a
sense of melancholy.
*Sandwiched between homemade loops (and sometimes built atop them) are songs
that gradually unfold to epic effect. There are songs that start calmly enough,
then blast wide open in a hail of distortion and squelching strings or triumph
-ant horns (`Cat Track' and `Geography', respectively).
*There are the decidedly dark songs (the lumbering and dastardly sounding
`Queezy Beliefs') and the blithely buoyant ones as well (`All Agog's happy
whirrs, warbles and crunchy distortion bring a lo-fi Flaming Lips to mind).
*His corner of Bristol is a rarified junction where bedroom rambles and aural
collage meet inspired collaboration and true song. It's more Pavement and Low
than De La Soul, though his love for all three is no doubt equal.

*Vinyl format limited to a pressing of 1000.

*Tracklisting: 01. (Line) 1 '-' 02. Cat Track (he has no balls) 03. The
Wrong Order 04. Geography (donkey dancing in the bath) 05. Wears The
Control 06. (line 2) (SIDE SPLIT FOR VINYL) 07. (line 3) 08. I Got A Bad
09. All Agog 10. Queezy Beliefs 11. Halfway Up The Pathway 12. Lazy Eye
Total Running Time: 34.70

5...according to Nick Bannerman.

This is album is absolutely amazing! I lost my CDR of it around a year ago but can still remember all the tracks. Sam (SJ Esau) has so many strong, loveable aspects in his music. Fans of any Anticon release are bound to enjoy this, as are those that have previously found other Anticon artists not to their taste.Recorded at home and self-released, this album epitomises everything I love about indie music. Almost predictably, Sam's music has been picked up by a decent independent label, giving his weird dream pop the wider audience hit deserves.

Rating: 5 out of 5

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