(Sulatron 1002) CD 52m
This is the CD reissue of the debut LP by one of Sweden's top up-and-coming space-rock acts, the uninspiringly named Hills. But, despite such a name, the music found here is anything but uninspired.
The opening track Death 1 is paradoxically lively, with breathy echoed flute over an early Ozric Tentacles type groove, it is sadly all over too soon. With Istikial Street we descend into wonderful echo guitar sludge territory as first explored by Pink Floyd (Dave Gilmour), close to some early Ash Ra Tempel or Günter Schickert in improv mode, growing almost mid-70's Popol Vuh like, yet not - this is quite an original concoction, with the flute and twisted guitar. Totally unexpected though You Talk The Talk! takes us back to early Kraftwerk and Neu! territory with the best Florian Schneider flute impersonation I've heard. Rainship finds the band clapping along with solo guitar whist being drenched with water, and again goes Neu! like, but with other elements at play, like it's the best Stereolab I've heard as interpreted by Electric Orange!?. The mood tones-down a little with Ex Oblivione which is kind of moody Hendrix with an air of Fleetwood Mac's Albatros. But they can't keep the Neu! groove away it seems, and again we trundle along with Schlaraffenland this time more in the Mushroom vein, or Kollektiv sans the jazzy edge, adding odd vocal expressions, dub echo effects and some slight phasing (a sonic art largely lost since the 1970's). And finally, we have a different Neu! type mood to end it all, Messias with drawn-out fuzzy echo guitars over a light metronomic rhythm. Really the guitar reminds me mostly of Chrome on their READ ONLY MEMORY, but few of you will know what I mean by that.
In all then - highly derivative - but very good with it, and with enough ideas of their own to make it worth having!
from Audion #57, page 28 (Autumn 2012)
A web p.s. Hills have issued at least to more classics since, before changing style when breaking the international market. Unfortunately this one is o/p at the moment.
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