Breton // Other People's Problems
It’s disjointed but brilliantly rhythmic; it’s filthy sounding but sonically beautiful...
Release Date: 26th March 2012
Breton – Other People’s Problems (FatCat)
It’s not very often that you hear something that’s genuinely infused with passion, excitement and a kind of raw energy, so putting the debut album from ‘subversive art collective’ Breton on, I was a little taken aback at the immediacy and strength of what I was presented with.
Apparently the 11 tracks that make up the album used field recordings as their basis, and so a normal songwriting process was eschewed in favour of a more random and less structured approach. Obviously, this could have ended disastrously, but instead what has actually emerged is a work of strange, twisted and dark beauty, with dirty, distorted vocals, drums and drum machines, accompanied by exquisite strings and brass that have a very definite filmic quality about them.
The production of the album is also fantastic, with the vocals sitting lower than on most records and being treated as another layer of instrumentation. Sure, this is not the easiest of records to listen to but it’s also weirdly danceable and definitely worth spending some time on. It’s disjointed but brilliantly rhythmic; it’s filthy sounding but sonically beautiful; it’s something you should listen to and then listen to some more.
8/10 BBV
Release Date: 26th March 2012
Breton – Other People’s Problems (FatCat)
It’s not very often that you hear something that’s genuinely infused with passion, excitement and a kind of raw energy, so putting the debut album from ‘subversive art collective’ Breton on, I was a little taken aback at the immediacy and strength of what I was presented with.
Apparently the 11 tracks that make up the album used field recordings as their basis, and so a normal songwriting process was eschewed in favour of a more random and less structured approach. Obviously, this could have ended disastrously, but instead what has actually emerged is a work of strange, twisted and dark beauty, with dirty, distorted vocals, drums and drum machines, accompanied by exquisite strings and brass that have a very definite filmic quality about them.
The production of the album is also fantastic, with the vocals sitting lower than on most records and being treated as another layer of instrumentation. Sure, this is not the easiest of records to listen to but it’s also weirdly danceable and definitely worth spending some time on. It’s disjointed but brilliantly rhythmic; it’s filthy sounding but sonically beautiful; it’s something you should listen to and then listen to some more.
8/10 BBV
