Reviews for LP2
Irish times ****: 'The cocktail of Some Song's unflinching spoken word, the heart-wrenching Dadaist tone poem woven through Richenbach Falls and undulating gem Hi-Beam Blue lend LP: 2 an air of haunted madness...'
The List: 'A vivid, varied collection of quite beautiful melancholia throwing in freak folk, surreal cabaret and post rock tones'
Q***
Shakenstir **** 1/2 'LP:2 is no ordinary album. It creates pictures of sadness, life and death which are so graphic that in the still of silence that follows the music's completion, one just remains motionless in thought. Certainly in my experience, this seldom happens. LP:2 is a genuinely moving and unique musical experience.'
Music News: **** Few artists can produce music of such variety and complex layering without creating a lightweight 'dilettante' effort and similarly there are very few albums that have you hanging on, waiting for the next twist or veering direction. Oskar are a depiction of the way forward for modern, intelligent music; they reward effort and they have created something that, in parts, is really wonderful.
Stool Pigeon: **** 'Dadaist poetry, sonorous cellos, echoing electronica, post rock, pop and Krautrock ... an album which is never less than fascinating; and often moving.'
The Beat Surrender: **** 'Such is the standard that they set once again on LP:2 that I really couldn't choose between either of their releases if asked to pick a favourite or stronger album.'
Music OMH: **** 'The ear is continually indulged, and occasionally tested - but frequently rewarded.'
Bearded Magazine: 'It may have been five years since ex-Strangelove member Nick Powell and Collapsed Lung mainstay Jonny Dawe teamed up for their OSKAR debut album 'Air Conditioning' but this follow-up is brilliant enough that you may forgive them... Fabulous.'
Drowned In Sound: 'A typical song finds the cool, glacial canvas of Powell's quiescent piano layered in textures running the whole gamut of spine-tinging; - half heard mutters, bows of feedback, quiet, nagging distortion; second album LP2 adds a bit more breadth to their minor key core sound...the band's music hovers in that magic spot where melancholia blooms into sensual uplift.'
17 Seconds: 'the iTunes player says 'Unclassifiable' and it's absolutely right. Because some tracks are gorgeous and lush, while others sound like the soundtrack to a nightmare, or possibly a nervous breakdown.'
Previous reviews
Shakenstir.co.uk: 5/5 'There are not too many albums that one automatically puts on repeat play, again and again. But this is one of them. There's a spirituality and intensity about the music that is rare and wholly beguiling. Think of a soundtrack, dominated by instruments, that accompanies a film about the mysteries of a tantalizingly beautiful landscape and creatures usually unseen by the human eye. These are the sort of images created by an album that is destined to be cemented to my CD tray for many months to come.'
playlouder.com: **** 'Think dark, brooding beats, sprinkled with wistful violin and cello. Think, clever use of sounds, complementary underplayed vocals, and furtive tunesmithery that will hook you on a second or third listen.... admire the consistency, and be joyful in the fact that great bands do sometimes spawn other great bands.'
indielondon.co.uk: '...a unique, eerie, yet hauntingly dream-like quality that is strangely compelling...You might not know why you like it, but there is something about Air Conditioning that makes it essential for anyone who likes their music to challenge or provoke serious thought.'
The List: **** '...an incredibly haunting sound made more exquisite by vocals from Astrid Williamson...A warm and utterly wonderful piece of work.'
noyz.co.uk: 'Dealing in expansive, occasionally-ambient compositions of leftfield, art-house rock Oskar's 'Air Conditioning' (Incarnation) is an LP that begs to be listened to beneath a veil of darkness. Heavily atmospheric and building through a knot of oblique string parts, breathless female vocals and dreamy patterns of primitive synth, this spellbinding debut charts a virgin territory that's midway between the ether electronics of Boards Of Canada and the haunting rock action of Aereogramme. It's utterly sublime and demands your attention.'