TIP OF THE TONGUE 28 FEBRUARY 2010
Forest Swords
Dagger Paths
Olde English Spelling Bee OESB-48
LP
OUT OF STOCK!
Mind-blowing out of nowhere debut for this solo UK underground project based in the Wirral in Merseyside. Forest Swords work as a Hypnagogic update of classic UK underground modes, importing psychedelic hip-hop and R ‘n’ B production styles into the kind of eccentric art-pop settings of Simon Wickham-Smith and Richard Youngs, Two Daughters, Dome, The Shadow Ring et al. The music is hypnotically lush minimalism, sometime using synthesised ghost vocals over dubbed-up Julian Lynch style bass and beautiful smears of drone. Forest Swords talks of his love for Aaliyah’s work with Timbaland and there’s a sleight of hand going on here which is comparable to Daniel Lopatin’s seductive use of screwed hip hop styles in drone/underground settings. Here Forest Swords come over as a Hypnagogic Aphex Twin, with the stoned production style of Selected Ambient Works usurped by crude minimal Spacemen/Velvets guitar and some F/X heavy DIY remix styles. It’s a fantastic trip, with something indefinably bleak/lovely in its evocation of lonely late night England. Dagger Paths consists of specially re-mastered versions of tracks from the out of print cassettes Miarches and Glory Gongs along with brand new material. Full colour pro-printed sleeves and insert with a MP3 download. A classic UK underground side, bolstering the tradition while taking it somewhere else completely. Highly recommended.
