Oddfellows Casino - Winter Creatures
by Maarten Schiethart
published: 19 / 11 / 2004
Label:
Pickled Egg
Format: CD
intro
Sparkling new album from the Beach Boys and XTC-inspired and very British Oddfellows Casino, which comes across as "the beach pop sound of Brighton on a summer day with a warm breeze"
X?ng him or her with gently performed little gems, this very much is the beach pop sound of Brighton on a summer day with a warm breeze. Sparklingly pure, gentle and exquisite like a fresh cup of green tea, 'Winter Creatures' maintains the standard set by Beach Boys and later era XTC. The skilful playing of Stereolab's Simon Johns only helps what already is a classy undertaking. Slightly sinister, sooner epic than active evil actually, Oddfellows Casino seems to dwell in the past. 'Winter Creatures' however catches David Bramwell - who is the one-man band Oddfellows Casino in fine style while the deeper explored dimension on 'Winter Creatures' pleased me much, much more than recent retrolab records did. Maybe it's because melancholy and reminiscing from one person are much more bearable. To me the big surprise is the closing stage of the album when everything brianwilsonesque all at once becomes minimalistic. Minimalistic in a good sense though. On an Oddfellows Casino record you will never find artistic distance. Only time shall tell how quality will hold against pleasure. As for now these 'Winter Creatures' keep me warm.
Track Listing:-
1 Your Welcome / Cool Water2 Camping on the Moon
3 Carrying the Great Cold on our Backs
4 Winter Creatures
5 The Night we saw a Badger
6 Song of the Crane Fly
7 Rabbit Country
8 The Cold Machine
9 Oddfellow's Shanty
10 Say Goodbye to the Band
Label Links:-
http://www.pickled-egg.co.uk/
reviews |
|
The Absence of Birds (2008) |
|
| Latest EP from Brighton's Oddfellows Casino, which while maintaining songwriter David Bramwell's trademark immaculateness and Brian Wilson-influenced sound, is somewhat marred by its set of accompanying videos |
| Giant Redwoods (2002) |
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