HOME

REVIEWS

SoundsXP Presents

Friday 6th April 2012
All Day BBQ Festival

Sparrow and the Workshop
6 Day Riot
The Nuns
Singing Adams
Y Niwl
Colours
Dignan Porch
+more tbc

The Windmill
Brixton
Price tbc

On Our iPod

Golden Grrrls - New Pop 7”

Chris Devotion & The Expectations - Amalgamation & Capital (album)

Trailer Trash Tracys - Ester (album)

Throwing Up - Mother Knows Best 7”

Howling Wolf - Complete Chess Masters 1951-60

The Ketamines - A Rotten Bond/1 Yr (from Oddbox Singles Club Pt 2)

Cardinal - Hymns (album)

Proper Ornaments - Taking the Gamble Out of Buying 12”

Darren Hayman - January Songs (album)

Various: Marshall Teller EP 12”

Latest Forum Posts

Album Review

Hjaltalin
Terminal self-released

Article written by Ged M - May 26, 2010

Hjaltalin: Terminal

Terminal begins with the low moans of a bassoon, the roll of timpani and then a sweep of strings, setting the scene for the rest of the album: orchestral pop with a classical edge. Like other Icelandic artists, it has some references in UK/US pop, like Sufjan Stevens and Guillemots, but they take it further down an experimental road – there’s a burst of Brazilian Tropicalia on ‘Suitcase Man’ and a sudden change of tempo on the otherwise pastoral ‘Stay By You’ that sounds very Earth Wind and Fire funky. Overall it’s a bit disappointing – the pop misses out to the elaborately layered instrumentation, while ‘Feels Like Sugar’ has a huge Tina Turner pop chorus but it’s buried between melodramatic verses. In fact, there are too many times when this sounds like showtunes: Sigridur Thorlacius could be Julie Andrews on ‘Montabone’ while the brass and strings that ends the album on ‘Vanity Music’ sound like the band should be scoring Disney movies. Impressive but leaves me a bit cold – just like their home country’s climate.

Links:
http://www.ilike.com/artist/Hjaltal%C3%ADn
http://www.myspace.com/hjaltalinband