Olde English Spelling Bee At Juno Download

Review: Since she first started working as a songwriter in the early 1980s, Alice Cohen has enjoyed a varied career, appearing in odd rock bands, crafting tracks for Martin Scorsese films and producing experimental, off-kilter rock and pop. Amazingly, she also wrong Karen Young's "Detour", one of the oddest (and perversely most celebrated) boogie records of the early '80s. Pink Keys, Cohen's first solo set for three years, finds her in fine form, adding her curious vocals to a range of glistening, synth-heavy instrumentals that largely steer clear of heavy beats in favour of something altogether more fragile. Highly recommended.

Review: Possibly some of the most welcome news this year was the reanimation of Olde English Spelling Bee, which has sputtered back into life with an album from Alice Cohen, and now the debut album proper from Californian producer Thought Broadcast, after a 7" on Phaserprone and a couple of limited cassette-only releases via obscure imprints Gel and Hierodule. The album takes the tape-saturated aesthetics of experimental 80s post-punk and uses that as a filter for all manner of radiophonic alchemy. Though rhythm plays a part (as demonstrated on the death march clatter of opener "Consumer Blackmail") they are for the most part smothered with layers of flaking paint, with arcane drones at the fore, such as the modem squeal present in "Mad Tea Party"and "Stylite". With an approach to sound that lies somewhere between dusty library tones and the industrial tones of Bristolian knob-twiddler Ekoplekz, this comes highly recommended.