Greatest Month - 2013 - Herbs

Instrumental Chillout-Rock

[FOR FREE]

http://oncekingdom.bandcamp.com/

• 6 songs to download
• You name the price (min 0,-)
• You get the link if you register your email address
• Listening recommendations: Torn Maps

Impressions

An EP along similar lines to Garden's Burnt Out, Herbs is something of hybrid of different musical ideas trying to come together into a cohesive whole. Where Burnt Out was washed out electronics and bits of noise effortlessly fused into low-key bliss with no real goal, Greatest Month relies on a meshing of field recordings and a live guitars with definite structure and goals. And it's a successful combination from where I'm sitting, and that's in the reviewers seat. The guitar work (bass and acoustic/electric) here is striking, both in the skill Niklas Dahlstrand obviously has with the instruments and his ability to mine the depths of acoustic blues for such varied sounds; the gentle Spanish-lite style strumming on “Torn Maps” contrasted with the more urgent plucking on “Cringe”. The bass lines are a lot simpler than their guitar counterparts, but with the exception of “Burrow” (more on this later), it provides nearly all of the low end on its own, thus giving it extra oomph on every song. Try and tell me you can't feel it rattle through you when “A Loan” comes on, just try! It also seems obvious that Dahlstrand is a producer, because the guitar and bass tracks have just the right amount of rawness to them while the field recordings are unrecognizably woven together with the guitar and bass. It gives the songs a livelier feeling, as if Dahlstrand was playing the guitar/bass in the room with you while accompanied by electronic music playing from a stereo/laptop. I mentioned 'Burrow” earlier, and I did so because it's the obvious nth degree of Dahlstrand's production side, featuring no discernible guitar work (aside from perhaps samples nestled in the background) instead turning things to a dancey-er drum and bass and field recordings tune that's downright catchy. “Urban Center” is similar (though it for sure has some strings in there), but grimier and much less interested in dancing and more interested in atmosphere and mood. I think Herbs is definitely worth checking out. So do it, before he changes names again ;)

PS – Pairing Herbs with Burnt Out is highly recommended for a truly chill experience.