I have ranted on this site before about how i am fond of the 7" vinyl format. Well, Awkward Silence Recordings, based in Kent, UK, is one of my favorite 7" labels of the past few years. Starting in 2000, they began releasing a series of split 7"s, and the roster of bands that they have released reads like my CD collection: Yellow6 with Portal (a fabulous pair of split 7"s in which each artist covered the other's songs), Schengen, Acceleradeck, Christian Kleine, Sybarite, ISAN, and Emery Reel among others.

Emery Reel are my favorite Nashville-based post-rock band. I have seen them perform three times now, and they never fail to impress. I picked up this release based on the high quality i have come to expect from the label, as well as the obvious talent of Emery Reel themselves.

The A-side of the split contains the song Kraini by Stafrænn Hákon. Judging by the weird vowels in the name, i suspected this act was Scandinavian, and sure enough a quick look at the website reveals that this is a one-man project from Reykjavik. Kaini, my only exposure to this artist, is a light song built out of droning guitar in layers combined with minimal drumming. I want to compare the song to an instrumental version of Sigur Ros, but i suspect that this is due to some subconscious desire to lump all Icelanders together into one category. Nonetheless, this is delicate post-rock, and i do suspect that fans of Sigur Ros will enjoy this. I actually wouldn't mind hearing more from this artist.

The B-side contains Divided We Stand, by Emery Reel. This is a nice post-rock instrumental built out of soaring guitars and thunderous bass. The drums are scattered, and slide guitar is used to add a nice drone to the proceedings. It moves along at a pace that is neither hurried nor languid, but seems just right. It's a really good tune, and i think it captures very well what i have seen Emery Reel do in concert several times. I think that fans of Explosions in the Sky would do well to track down some of the work of this act. They both mine similar territory.

Overall, i am impressed with this 7". Awkward Silence Recordings continues to be a label that i will look out for.