album of the month 06/20043 min read

two lone swordsmen: from the double gone chapel - WARPLP 119two lone swordsmen: from the double gone chapel – warp WARPLP 119

firstly, any record with a cover where one of the dudes wears a gasmask and the other a bandana anarcho-protester-style over his face has got to be praised in the highest possible tones.

secondly, i say to you three words: two – lone – swordsmen.

join the cult. worship them at the double gone chapel.

recently i read somewhere – and no, i can’t remember where [gawd am i off to a good start here] – that the punk revival as a trend in contemporary music is over.
well, two lone swordsmen don’t seem to think so. and we’re glad they dont!
because their latest record TOTALLY BLOODY FUCKING [PUNK]ROCKS.
in fact we could, and we almost should, say it the other way round, no? the punk revival trend can’t be declared to be over until two lone swordsmen had their say, contributed their album and singlehandedly redefined this bastard of a trend!
okay, okay, i might be byist, because andrew weatherall and i we go way back, so to speak… he always had post-punk written all over his flag, and in doing so he had offered me and many others a beautiful entrance point to electronic music. need i mention that legendary primal scream remix, do i really?
but anyway, we meant to write about the music here, dude, uhm… its amazing… its actual songs, on most tracks real drummers lay down the actual beats. oh man, its like in the good ole days… *pogos thru room*. deepest basslines, and smart electronic touches carry the swordsmen’s handwriting.
things start off relatively mellow with stack up, a track that reminds me of the fantastic a virus with shoes ep, downbeat electro with enormous pressure. the next track faux starts out like a familiar swordsmen track, moody dark ugly brilliant electro, but wait there’s – hold your breath – cross your fingers – whatever – vocals … ??? … andrew can sing? yup and from formica fuego onwards we are in punky paradise. the valve is a deepest fuckedest dub number – bombahclaaadd! – just like we love ’em, haunting, moody, yet clean and driving. it rumbles like they used to… in the good ole days. and i repeat myself. [well, what do you know, sometimes it takes a guy from the good ole days to transport the good ole days into the present, huh?] finally, in reverse [only makes you move further away] has me weeping, because this is the vision in hedonism. we look!
all said and done, two lone swordsmen manage to translate to analogue, what they in previous years did so masterfully to electro. they keep it dark and real without ever getting murky. those basslines are so goddamn unbelivable, makes you think keith tenniswood and andrew weatherall probably even shit basslines.

thirdly, i feel moved to go out and spraypaint stay hungry and ill prepared all over town. that good!

the warp webiste write-upthe guardian unlimited mini reviewthe bleep.com download with previews

previous albums of the month:
album of the month 05/04
album of the month 04/04
album of the month 03/04
album of the month 02/04
album of the month 01/04
album of the month 12/03
album of the month 11/03
album of the month 10/03

One Reply to “album of the month 06/20043 min read

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.