We've unfortunately got to report the sad news that Peter Hayes, the drummer of Echo Lake, has passed away. At just 25, and having just released their debut record on No Pain In Pop it's an incredibly sad loss for the world of music, as it's shaping up to be one of the records of the year. The band have written a more fitting tribute than I could come up with on their Facebook.
Weird Dreams' debut album, Choreography, released earlier this year on Tough Love, was a masterpiece of langourous and heavy-eyed melody aimed directly at the 5am insomniac, who's brain, fried by being awake for sixteen days was suddenly willing to open up to a Narnia-like world of soporific, sepia-toned beauty.
'House of Secrets' is the band's first new material since then, and is their first material with new guitarist JRC, who's spindly, spiderweb like guitar lines encircle and trap you in wave after wave of soft and sinister lullabies.
Keudo's 'Severant' album from 2011 was one of dance music's surprise packages of the year; moving on from his d'n'b /dubstep work as Vex'd, 'Severant' sounded nothing like the work that made his name. Instead we were treated to a disorientatingly beautiful mish-mash of something like Vaneglis doing Footwork. 'Work, Live and Sleep in Collapsing Spaces' comes over much more aggressively; high-bpms and relentless half step beats, yet still knowingly retro-futuristic and its exactly that mix of new and old sonic visions of the future that is still so enthralling and unique.
