Blind Prophet Recordings is not an old imprint but already it has delved into a number of styles. In many respects it is a label that is giving a slice of Brooklyn diversity to the vinyl loving public. So far the label has opened my ears to some pretty interesting material, and given some new tastes to my often unadventurous palette.
[Purchase] Blind Prophet Records has had a flurry of releases in recent months. Just before the new year came a 7” and 12” from the Brooklyn based label. First up are Nervous Assistant with their debut release, Bastard Blues. Following this come YOU., an electro pop outfit who are now getting the vinyl treatment with Demonstration.
Bastard Blues is not really a style I am acquainted with. As with previously released Art Absconcs this 7” is folk, but unlike the German outfit this is traditional folk with acoustics and angst. The title piece has a quintessential American sound, with twanging guitar strings. The vocals, about being a “bastard child,” turn some of the preconceptions of folk upside down. It seems this is what Nervous Assistant are, a traditional folk outfit with a contemporary attitude. The flipside features “There Ain’t No God in the Sky” and is an amazingly deep track. The lyrics are full of desperation and angry despair, both amplified by the frenetic strings of a lonely guitar.
Fast forward to another part of Brooklyn and a 12” is in store. YOU. do not serve up friendly synth pop, but lead you into their dystopian den. The 12” opens with “Loose Joint” which sees Belgian wave meet Brooklyn. It took a few listens but there seems to be something of ADN’ Ckrystall in YOU.’s sound. YOU. started out in Detroit and that lost city tone runs throughout as strings meet and clash with synth. “Club Vogue and her Midnight Fantasies ” is an insular piece of minimal synth. Terse beats are at the core of the piece with synthesizer arches streaming from indecipherable vocals. YOU. are of the synth isolation wing, creating discordant and disaffected wave music. On the flip “Diamonds are Everywhere” lifts the mood a touch, as a ray of grey slips through a net curtain. “Demonstrate” keeps vocals camouflaged in distortion and feedback, with analogue columns dividing the listener from the track. There’s an industrial undertone coming through with YOU., sort of in a SPK way but not as factory driven.
Blind Prophet Recordings is not an old imprint but already it has delved into a number of styles. In many respects it is a label that is giving a slice of Brooklyn diversity to the vinyl loving public. So far the label has opened my ears to some pretty interesting material, and given some new tastes to my often unadventurous palette. From the synth pop of Void Vision and the introverted electro of YOU. to the electronic neofolk of Art Abscons and traditional sound of Nervous Assistant this label has already managed to release some top notch stuff.
Both releases are out now on Blind Prophet Records. [Purchase]
[audio:http://igloomag.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/nervous_assistant_bastard_blues.mp3|titles=Nervous Assistant “Bastard Blues”]
[audio:http://igloomag.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/you_demonstrate.mp3|titles=”Demonstrate”]
