Dauphin

Two occurrences have occurred. Firstly, the Douglas Firs have released a new EP, which you can get on cassette and/or digital here. Secondly, a side project from the Douglas Firs, called I Like Ceareal, My Friend have released a different EP, available digitally or on CD here. Both were released on Armellodie Records recently, and both are embedded below for you to listen to. NB: The rating on this post is for both releases.

Firstly, the DF record. ep.1 is has nine tracks, but they are mainly b-sides and tracks that were not included on Happy As A Windless Flag last year. Like their previous work, much of this record consists of found sound, sleepy electronics, lonely guitar and haunting vocals.

My ears really love their mix of post-folk and avant-garde so I was glad to hear these tracks keeping true to that. For instance; the opening track 30.11.10 and the third song April 7, 1928. are both instrumental,delicate pieces of music – but the final song South-Folk in the Cold Country is much more of a conventional song. Neil Insch, who is sort of frontman, said this on the DF blog:

I feel like the band has essentially subsisted for 7 years as a bedroom project. when the band eventually became a live arrangement, the interpretations of the songs became that of six different people.

Behind the live representation that everyone/anyone can see, there is about 85% of us that no one except us witnesses (like any band, anywhere)…I think the EP showcases each face of the Douglas Firs – as a group, in a live recording situation (Sierra Metro art studios, practise room, living room, etc), alone at 3am, in a church or a family home. i hope it can be enjoyed in the sense that it reveals a few new facets of the band.

I suppose I assume that people will be at all interested in this kind of exposure because i always appreciate a little honesty that exhibits that a band is not a business (not this one anyway).

The EP is dedicated to all the people who have supported us these last two years. Thanks!

It’s hard to write about the Douglas Firs like other artists because their music is so ephemeral, so fragile and transitory. They’re one of my favourite bands in Scotland right now, and I really think that everyone should lock themselves in a room with a record like this for an hour or two every day.

Which brings me to I Like Ceareal, My Friend. All I know is that it’s a side project from the above band. There’s three tracks, all of which seem to be seasonally themed (the songs are named after the olden-days names for religious festivals).

The EP was featured in this magazine in Edinburgh called Scree, which you can get online or from the Armchair Bookshop on West Port. The music is great, it builds and builds up and washes over you like a rising power somewhere beyond the speakers. Another hearty recommendation for your private listening time.