| Electroscope are an elusive band from Scotland,
and tracking down thier releases is challenging. I have precious
few, but my most recent is this little 7" from Boa Records out
of The Czech Republic. (What is it with the Czech's and vinyl,
anyway?)
Their music tends to be post-rock. That is, they break from
the verse-chorus-verse song structure and use slightly different
instrumentation. I have rather enjoyed the few songs that i
have heard from them, and finding this 7" at Wax N Facts
was a major coup for me. I eagerly took it home to listen to...
And was deeply disappointed. Apparently Electroscope are trying
to be more psychedelic and less "modern". Based on
the other work i have heard by them i would have compared them
to Piano Magic. They seemed to do the same sort of flowing ambience.
I really enjoyed everything. Up to this.
There are three songs here, let me examine each, and maybe
you will see what i mean.
The first tune is the title track, Out on the Edge of Time.
In it a strange drone (cello maybe -- i can't tell) combines
with harpsichord, flute, and voice for an airy and wierd tune.
This song sounds like an early psychedlic experiment from, say,
1967 or so. It is, well, strange. Not good, nor bad, just very
very odd.
Side A concludes with Icicle Bells, in which cello,
xylophone, and strangely plucked guitar combine in a way that
really invokes winter. This is a short interlude, the whole
piece being only a minute or two long. However, it is charming,
and definitely the best piece on here.
The b-side contains one longer piece, Glycerine Gold.
This really sounds like something Roger Waters would have done.
Really -- it has a certain Pink Floyd-ishness to it that i find
quite enjoyable. The guitar is a little more focused than it
was on Icicle Bells, but the flute is till here. The
male voice, though, is was really reminds me of Waters. The
vocalist whispers fastly and somewhat breathily, just like Roger
on the Final Cut. Overall though, there is too
much flute, and the guitar never moves at a pace above "plodding".
Again, the Waters comparison springs to mind, although to the
over-intellectualized stuff he did on some of his later solo
albums. Despite their best intentions, this song is quite dull.
So this is not the best work that i have heard from Electroscope.
It is interesting, and i suppose that fans of early psychedlia
might quite enjoy it.
I wonder though, is this an early release or is it indicative
of the direction they are moving in now? I have no way of knowing,
becuase (as seems to often be the case with vinyl these days)
no one bothered to stamp a friggin date on the damned thing,
so i can't find out when it was released.
Overall, i recommend the work of Electroscope, just avoid this
one unless you really like old psychedelia.
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