Album and Song Reviews

For more inspiration I thought it would be a good idea to look at reviews of the album and the song itself to see if any ideas would spring to mind when reading them. Here are a few I found (I have highlighted key words and phrases that I have found interesting and useful)- 


'The inspiration for this album is the work of Polish writer Bruno Schulz (1892-1942), whose dark, Kafka-esque surrealism makes a nice fit with Tin Hat's lush yet disturbing mix of Eastern European folk, 20th century classical and free improvisation. Titles like "The Secret Fluid of Dusk", "Dead Season" and "Black Thursday" give some idea of the mood. Even during the sprightliest moments, there’s a finely honed dissonance at work which suggests that something not quite right may be lurking in the shadows. This is made most obvious on Kihlstedt’s urgent, breathy rendition of "Daisy Bell" (aka "Daisy, Daisy"), which suggests that Daisy would be best advised to avoid hopping on the back of a bicycle built for two and taking out a restraining order on her would-be suitor instead. Elsewhere the mix of beauty and creeping dread is more subtle. "The Land of Perpetual Sleep" manages to be sinister and dreamily beautiful simultaneously; violin and clarinet trace a wounded, sickly melody over a gentle ripple of harps, dobro and drones, while "Janissary Band" sounds like Stravinsky played by a strangely infernal clockwork machine'.(Review BBC)


'The guiding inspiration behind it is Bruno Schulz, the Polish-Jewish novelist and artist (1892-1942), whose Street of Crocodiles was once made into an animated short by the Brothers Quay. Tin Hat's acoustic, off-kilter soundscapes may have a filmic resonance, but their tunes have proper structures and should reach way beyond the art-houses. Violinist-singer Kihlstedt is a huge talent, and my only quibble is that The Sad Machinery of Spring includes only one vocal feature - a hallucinatory, reimagined Daisy Bell, complete with a bicycle bell.' (Review The Guardian)


(Off Kilter - not in perfect balance/ a bit askew)