It’s been a while since the Bluesbunny Vinyl Archive was plundered and duly this heavyweight slab of over the top musical magnificence was placed once more on the turntable of love.
The Göteborg String Theory are a sort of musical collective that eschew the plastic perfection of the computer for the sheer emotional intensity that can only be obtained with real instruments and plenty of them. The result is not for the faint hearted. You can’t just put these songs on as background music as they are borne of an energy so incandescent that there is a clear and present danger of blowing your amplifier right up.
Add in artists of the calibre of Anna Von Hausswolff and it is nothing short of a miracle that the music even fits in the grooves. Talking of Anna Von Hauuswolff, she takes the intimacy of “Home” and, aided by The Göteborg String Theory, she scales it up to a level of classical grandeur that takes the song from compressed angst straight into Mahler territory.
Daniel Gilbert is a rather more theatrical proposition with the arrangements placing him atop a veritable maelstrom of musical torment far removed from the stages of the west end musical which, these days, is the only place where you might reasonable expect such scale. “Borderline” positively resonates with an edgy perfection that amplifies the emotional content of Mr Gilbert ten times. No mistake, this too is a big one.
Altogether more arthouse are The Skull Defects and they seemed, for want of a better phrase, let loose in a toy shop. “Gospel of the Skull” is all huge soundtrack cues that would make Hans Zimmer jealous mixed with the kind of oblique stylistic indifference that is the mark of true individuals.
Recorded live too (it says in the release blurb), this EP is simply massive in its artistic execution and, indeed, in its sound quality (the vinyl is cut at 45rpm). It has been a while (!) since I have said that but, once again, this EP sounds good.
Limited edition of 200 copies so grab one whilst you can.