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Various: Dark Was The Night

Passion Pit: Sleepyhead (EP track)

Betty & The Werewolves: David Cassidy 7”

Crystal Stilts: Love is a Wave 7”

Sin Fang Bous: Clamour (album)

Nodzzz: s/t (12” LP)

Love Is All: A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night (album)

Sons of Noel and Adrian: A Wreck Is Not A Ship (track)

Slow Down Tallahassee/ Standard Fare: split 7”

Piney Gir & The Age of Reason Of All The Wonderful Things (single)

Navvy: Idyll Intangible (album)

Various: Cathedral Classics Vol 1 (Sonic Cathedral comp)

Fanfarlo: Reservoir (album)

Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career (album)
 

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Please note: If submitting demos or self financed releases - we currently have a backlog of such material. It could be some time before your item is reviewed.
 


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Demo Review


The Eclectic Songs For A Blank Canvas


Article written by Johnnie C
Jun 21, 2005.

Vocalists who apparently spend hours trying to perfect those Yorke or Buckley inflections, or bands who cite Radiohead as an influence are to be approached with suitable caution and trepidation. Especially if you know they’ve been compared to Yes due to the length of their songs and that their heralded demo was recorded in a bedroom rather than a studio...

The thing is, the sheer ability of Dublin's The Eclectic makes them awfully hard to ignore. Although Shatter Proof wears its The Bends t-shirt proudly, it’s no lazy tribute; the song has a relentless, pounding energy to it, not to mention an addictive chord sequence and a melody that you just don’t want to end – and it nearly doesn’t. Blank Canvas, meanwhile, is the pick (and, at a mere 5½ minutes, shortest) of the bunch. Again, it’s hardly original, sounding like a refugee from Doves’ Lost Souls - yet, with its fluttering guitars and bittersweet harmonies, it’s a beautiful entity all of its own. It’s difficult to credit, from the sound and production quality, that these two tracks were actually bedroom recordings. That fact is more in evidence on the EP’s weakest link, Break Me Out, where the pace picks up with fuzzy guitars, a squidgy riff and a rough, vaguely Kings of Leon chorus; far from bad, this is an average, mid-set filler of a song. They’re obviously very happy with it, though - they don’t press the ‘stop’ button for a patience-thinning 7 minutes. This is, nevertheless, an impressive EP, and The Eclectic now top my list of must-see Dublin bands.

You can download all three songs on their rather attractive website - just make sure you've plenty of time.


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