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Artists
Labels
Catno
ES027
Formats
1x Vinyl LP Album Reissue Remastered
Country
Release date
Jan 1, 2022
Genres
Styles
Hydroplane - Hydroplane | Efficient Space (ES027)
boomkat: ...Properly overdue reissue of Hydroplane's long out of print 1997 debut album, a beguiling concoction of lo-fi pop, shoegaze, early electronic blips and billowing ambience. So good!
Back in 1997, Aussie jangle pop outfit The Cat's Miaow formed Hydroplane after their drummer headed to London. They filled the gap by using samples and tape loops, and developed a startling new sound that gave a new resonance to Kerrie Bolton's cool, deadpan vocals and the band's hybrid experimentation. The self-titled album works because it refuses to stay in the same spot for too long, lurching from bit-crushed breaks and dry guitar plucks on opening track 'Wurlitzer Jukebox' to mucky noise and regurgitated piano guts on 'Piano Movement with Percussion', before settling into a dream pop groove on the beatless 'Song for the Meek'.
The album's best moments though are when they ignore songs altogether, like on the sci-fi tinted analog synth jam 'I Hear a New World', or 'House Warming', a ghostly spoken word track accompanied by a wavering electronic drone. The band recorded this material in their Brunswick flat using a bare-bones setup including a Jupiter 4 synth, sampler and tape equipment, and the album was released at the time only in the US on CD. Now it's available again, it feels like high time to rediscover a band that nestle comfortably between Slowdive, Stereolab and Hood.
*Taxes included, shipping price excluded
A1
Wurlitzer Jukebox
A2
Piano Movement With Percussion
A3
Song For The Meek
A4
I Hear A New World
A5
New Monotonic FM
A6
House Warming
A7
14th July
B1
Reprise
B2
Beloved Invader
B3
Interlude
B4
New Monotonic FM (Acoustic)
B5
LDR
B6
Send In The Clowns
B7
Completed Extract From The Previous 7"
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © CG