VARIOUS ARTISTS
Imagine the Shapes
What’s Your Rupture?/Sonic Unyon
· A collection of vinyl EPs put to disc.
New York City’s What’s Your Rupture? (WYR?) label isn’t a business enterprise so much as a romantic gesture, making choices that guarantee minimum financial return but maximum esthetic pleasure and value. It’s the sort of indie label that was common when Xeroxed fanzines and word of mouth, as opposed to the Internet, were the primary means of marketing. To wit: almost all of its releases thus far have been vinyl EPs, packaged in budget-conscious, but thoughtfully designed poster sleeves. Imagine the Shapes collects these elusive slices of black plastic on a single silver disc. Listening to it quickly reveals that the music WYR? favours is also an affectionate throwback – scrappy, lo-fi indie-pop from a time when "indie" was a strictly defined style as well as a descriptor of ownership. And it’s all ridiculous fun. Sweden’s Love is All and the U.K.’s Long Blondes have already been snatched up by larger companies in Europe (the former for a reputed million-pound advance), but it’s the songs from New York City’s caUSE co-MOTION! and terminally neglected London veterans Comet Gain that thrill most, sounding as if the tape can’t roll fast enough to capture their anxious spill of ideas and idealism.
|
Copyright ©2007 FFWD. All rights reserved.