“THE BIGGEST BREAKTHROUGH IN HOME RECORDED LO-FI IN YEARS.”

Not exactly sure how great a statement that is, but How To Dress Well’s full-length debut is a cracker however you look at it. Picking work from his half dozen EPs that were released for free online, Tom Krell forms a beautifully hazy album that has been given great praise only days after its digital release. 1980s/90s R&B melodies run through HTDW with passion, hope and despondency in equal measure. In fact, Krell told Pitchfork in April that he thought Keith Sweat’s ‘Twisted’- a peak of 90s R&B, but not considered anything special at the time- was a ‘fucking masterpiece’. He mixes up the soul of that music with the nostalgia people now have for it.

I bought ‘Ecstasy With Jojo’ recently, which was HTDW’s first physical vinyl release in the UK. It was good, but in my opinion Krell didn’t enter into the depth of dream-like conditions that one can find here. Soulful Sweat-like creations are easy to come by, but they are arranged with haunting choral samples and whistles of various distortions that deliberately muddy and spread the sound. Love Remains is more or less impossible to pin down. Through its vague songs, complicated emotions emerge and grow.

How To Dress Well- Decisions feat. Yuksel Arslan
How To Dress Well- Ready For The World

Bombay Bicycle Club

I’ve been listening to BBC 6Music a lot recently and one band they’ve always championed is Bombay Bicycle Club. Although their two records are very different, I am inclined more to the debut. The station plays them almost once every show in its schedule (or every 3 hours). They have become a major pop force.

Bombay Bicycle Club- Always Like This

BESTIVAL: The Antlers >>> Fever Ray

Bestival is one of the UK’s biggest festivals. It’s dearly loved, particularly by university students, for its party atmosphere and attention to detail as well as the terrific acts on offer during the 3-day weekend. My music experience was limited due to a mate’s sickness this year; however, here are comments on a couple of bands we saw:

THE ANTLERS: A 40 minute set was enough time for the crowd to trickle away from The Antlers. There’s no doubt that Hospice was a very successful and well-received record, but translating it to the stage proved difficult. The band didn’t replicate its intimacy and warmth, nor did they attempt a noticeable alternative to rock up the live show. Towards the end during ‘Bear’, lead singer Peter Silberman finally sang the excellent high-pitched vocals of which he is so capable, and overcame what appeared to be bad nerves. Overall though, the set was aimless and often filled with chatter from the crowd.

FEVER RAY: Karin Dreijer Andersson’s (right) solo project Fever Ray was an unqualified success during its brief two years. She sang her self-titled album accompanied by a simple but effective light show. 1970s-style floor lamps resembling jellyfish gently dimmed in time to the music, creating an outline of Karin behind the smoke, and the figures of her band. As one would expect from the serious, political and creative Swedish star, her show was scary and detached. Conversely however, that relentless bleakness- achieved with uber-bass, visual menace and Karin’s distorted vocals, added the arresting ingredient that won The Knife their plaudits. It’s rare that a crowd can look so in awe as if they have never seen a gig before. I was also engrossed in Fever Ray’s dark world, and one fan, driven mad by comparatively catchy number ‘When I Grow Up’ went high up the 30-ft rigging, dancing tentatively above the Big Top.