Following up the lathe cut with Sonic Boom and a single for Irelands's Trensmat label Cheval Sombre is back on Static Caravan with Sonic Boom at the production controls and Dean Wareham on guitars with partner in crime Britta Phillips on MicroKorg and Celesta. This is only the third single from this New York artist who seems to be gathering a huge amount of interest at the moment and deservedly so. 'I Found It Not So' is a brittle and very gentle song full of emotion and melancholy. What I particularly like is all the little details in the sparkling production with microscopic bleeps floating beneath the guitar. A really warm production sound that has his vocal quite high in the mix giving the track a very intimate quality. There's a cosmic/ spaced out feel, dreamy and slightly psychedelic vibe that really appeals. As the press release quite rightly states "For fans of Galaxie 500, Spaceman 3, Luna, Sonic Boom and Low" The B-side is a cover of The Supremes ' Where Did Our Love Go' A very original interpretation of a classic tune which I'll let you discover for yourselves. Lovely artwork and all.
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What their label says...
Because the night belongs to lovers, or in this case the remnants of love: some records are ideal listening for specific times of the day, and the latest languid single from Cheval Sombre is best savoured in the twilight. I Found It Not So and Where Did Our Love Go – a re-imagining of the Supremes’ lovelorn plea – are coupled here on VAN172, a pairing of moonlit laments cloaked in hushed tones and quiet yearning. These two sides of softly building melancholia find Cheval Sombre teaming up with Sonic Boom, who features here as well as lending production touches, and with Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500, Luna...) and Britta Phillips (Luna). I Found It Not So is infused with a sense of sleepy reverie; a low-key lullaby which echoes and chimes while floating around your sub-conscious. Sumptuously trip-wired with sveltely layered psychotropic glazes of looping out of body transcendental hypnotics, plangent guitar melodies creep and intertwine, moving to a warm climax. It’s all topped off with barely-there vocals, a whispered dream filled with a sense of longing which belies the almost post-coital atmosphere. Likewise, the low-key facsimile of Where Did Our Love Go licks off all traces of a sugary Motown coating and reveals a dark, vulnerable tale of loss, regret and desire. Yep it’s a cover of the legendary Holland / Dozier / Holland penned gem and the composition that was to give the Supremes their first number one hit way back in ‘64. Okay three releases (two on Static Caravan) in fairly quick succession from New York poet / musician Christopher Porpora or as he’s better known to those cosmic kids with their finger on the pulse - Cheval Sombre. As well as "It's a Shame / Little Bit of Heaven" which sold out on pre-sale, there is a green vinyl 7” on Trensmat. A full-length Cheval Sombre LP will be released early 2009 on Double Feature Records, the new label run by Dean Wareham. Edition of 500 on 7” wax with artwork by Ben Javens.For fans of Galaxie 500, Spaceman 3, Luna, Sonic Boom and Low.
Other items by Cheval Sombre
Cheval Sombre Cheval Sombre CD, £4.99 Sorry - sold out.