Mothlite - The Flax of Reverie

I’ll admit I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Mothlite and their debut The Flax of Reverie. It seemed like an album that could be almost too grandiose and far reaching for its own good. And a lot of times there is nothing worse than an album that reaches for the sky but inevitably falls flat on its face…I mean if albums had faces that is. However from the opening moments of the track “Riverside” and the sinister sound of fluttering guitar notes gently resting in the background I had a good feeling for what the rest of The Flax of Reverie had in store.

For those not familiar with Mothlite, it is essentially the duo of London, England based multi-instrumentalist Daniel O’Sullivan (Guapo, Miasma & the Carousel of Headless Horses) and Finnish produce/engineer Antti Uusimaki. The two of them have come together on The Flax of Reverie to create a beautifully composed album full of cinematic atmospherics and sounds that is something of a rollercoaster ride through darkness and light. There is definitely a noticeable balance between the two that come and go throughout each song that is handled by O’Sullivan/Uusimaki impressively, creating a shift in moods that should have the listener firmly gripped. While the album could certainly be all gloom and doom, the duo lets enough light creep in to loosen things up and break away from the uneasiness/unsettling aspects of it. The music itself that makes up the fifty minute album is full of intricately placed strings, percussion, and winds that leaves no doubt that both O’Sullivan and Uusimaki have a crystal clear idea as to what they are doing, erasing any doubts I might have had for the album.

Mothlite – Riverside [MP3]

The Flax of Reverie is currently available from Southern Records for anyone that enjoys what they hear and is interested in picking up the album. Enjoy!

Crystal Antlers - EP

It’s all too rare anymore whenever I check out a band that has some hype building around them that they actually live up to the amount of praise that is being heaped upon them. Sometimes not listening to what my gut feeling tells me to do is a good idea and despite it telling me over and over again not to buy into the things being said about Crystal Antlers, I did anyway. And boy am I glad I did as the band falls into one of those rare cases of actually being really damn good…just like everyone else was making them out to be in the first place. Stupid me, right? Obviously, yeah.

The Long Beach based Crystal Antlers are riding high off the growing success of their recently self-released EP simply dubbed as “EP”. Rightfully so though, as EP absolutely smokes through six songs that somehow blend elements of blues, psych, post-punk, prog, and god only knows what else into this finely crafted 25 minute package. Typically I don’t get too into what comes off as strictly derivative psych, so it’s incredibly refreshing to hear a band like this take it to a completely different level to the point where I don’t even really know what I am listening to at times. Crystal Antlers seem like a band that could go anywhere with their sound, and I think that’s what ultimately makes them the exciting listen that they are. Who knows what their next record could sound like; it’s pretty much a wild card after listening to EP.

Crystal Antlers – A Thousand Eyes [MP3]

For those interested in picking up a copy of the Crystal Antlers EP then just head on over to their MySpace.