A New Line (Related)
It's been a while since we heard anything new from Andrew Johnson, former member of Hood and The Remote Viewer. Back In the days when he used to make music with Craig Tattersall we'd sometimes get to hear tapes of unreleased recordings the pair had made and wonder why the picky old bastard was so unwilling to release any of it - it was just so good. So, we're pretty excited that just as we thought he'd more or less stopped working on music altogether he's re-emerged with a new project and a whole new album, released under the "A New Line (Related) moniker. Made from what sounds like a rudimentary setup, the sound here is warm and brittle, yet dynamic and even (dare we say it) heavy. We always loved The Remote Viewer for finding delicate balance between fragile production underpinned by super dense bass weight (something that Johnson himself claims to hate) - and on the evidence of these tracks here he continues to master the fine art of keeping those two elements intact. The 11 tracks here veer from the shimmering drone of "People Kissed Underneath Me" to the out-and-out punchy percussive Boogie House of "The Slow Sound of Your Life", dropping in on nicely swung Garage offcuts with "Late Period (Insert Band)" and even a final dose of Hood-style vocal bliss on album closer "Great Palaces" - making for one of the most surprising and cockle-warming albums we've had in for a while, and a real treat whether or not you've encountered any of Johnson's music before. Highly Recommended.
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It's been a while since we heard anything new from Andrew Johnson, former member of Hood and The Remote Viewer. Back In the days when he used to make music with Craig Tattersall we'd sometimes get to hear tapes of unreleased recordings the pair had made and wonder why the picky old bastard was so unwilling to release any of it - it was just so good. So, we're pretty excited that just as we thought he'd more or less stopped working on music altogether he's re-emerged with a new project and a whole new album, released under the "A New Line (Related) moniker. Made from what sounds like a rudimentary setup, the sound here is warm and brittle, yet dynamic and even (dare we say it) heavy. We always loved The Remote Viewer for finding delicate balance between fragile production underpinned by super dense bass weight (something that Johnson himself claims to hate) - and on the evidence of these tracks here he continues to master the fine art of keeping those two elements intact. The 11 tracks here veer from the shimmering drone of "People Kissed Underneath Me" to the out-and-out punchy percussive Boogie House of "The Slow Sound of Your Life", dropping in on nicely swung Garage offcuts with "Late Period (Insert Band)" and even a final dose of Hood-style vocal bliss on album closer "Great Palaces" - making for one of the most surprising and cockle-warming albums we've had in for a while, and a real treat whether or not you've encountered any of Johnson's music before. Highly Recommended.
It's been a while since we heard anything new from Andrew Johnson, former member of Hood and The Remote Viewer. Back In the days when he used to make music with Craig Tattersall we'd sometimes get to hear tapes of unreleased recordings the pair had made and wonder why the picky old bastard was so unwilling to release any of it - it was just so good. So, we're pretty excited that just as we thought he'd more or less stopped working on music altogether he's re-emerged with a new project and a whole new album, released under the "A New Line (Related) moniker. Made from what sounds like a rudimentary setup, the sound here is warm and brittle, yet dynamic and even (dare we say it) heavy. We always loved The Remote Viewer for finding delicate balance between fragile production underpinned by super dense bass weight (something that Johnson himself claims to hate) - and on the evidence of these tracks here he continues to master the fine art of keeping those two elements intact. The 11 tracks here veer from the shimmering drone of "People Kissed Underneath Me" to the out-and-out punchy percussive Boogie House of "The Slow Sound of Your Life", dropping in on nicely swung Garage offcuts with "Late Period (Insert Band)" and even a final dose of Hood-style vocal bliss on album closer "Great Palaces" - making for one of the most surprising and cockle-warming albums we've had in for a while, and a real treat whether or not you've encountered any of Johnson's music before. Highly Recommended.