Oddfellow’s Casino - Prince Of The Starry Wheel

Passen zum Konzept des letzten Albums „The Cult Of Water“ möchte man Folgendes für „Prince Of The Starry Wheel“ empfehlen: Lass Dir ein heißes Bad einlaufen, steige in die Badewanne und starte das neue Album von Oddfellow’s Casino. Versinke in den schaumigen, entspannenden Bade- und Klangwelten, lass dich von David Bramwells sanften Folkpop-Wellen umspülen und treibe für die nächsten 44 Minuten sanft dahin. 

Mehr elektronische Klänge als zuletzt erwarten dich auf den sieben Songs, beispielsweise bei meinem Favoriten „Last Orders At The Shoulder Of Mutton“. Das anschließende epische „Beware The Autum People“ fließt zwölft Minuten aus den Lautsprechern, so dass du ausreichend Zeit hat, um zu überlegen, ob es das Genre progressive Folktronic eigentlich gibt. Wird das Wasser gegen Ende bereits etwas kühler, lass zu „Emily“, dem schnellsten und gitarrigsten Song des Albums (und möglicherweise im gesamten Opus von Oddfellow’s Casino) heißes Wasser in deine Wanne nachströmen. Doch irgendwann ist selbst der schönste Hör- bzw. Badespass vorbei, hier nach „The Quiet Man And His Dutch Wife“, das sich knapp zehn Minuten Zeit lässt, um seine volle Pracht zu entwickeln.

Da die wenigsten Menschen keinen Schallplattenspieler in ihren Badezimmern stehen haben, gibt es auch „Prince Of The Starry Wheel“ leider wieder nicht auf Vinyl zu kaufen.    

 

The album opens with `Trespass` with a shuffling constant drumbeat at its heart and some shared synth keys and vocals that sway between almost spoken word and sung on this initially dreamy soundscape. The track was inspired by Nick Hayes`s The Book Of Trespass` and is a passionate call to arms for new land rights, paying tribute to the mass trespass of Kinder Scout in 1932 and the Greenham Common protests. This song also features the voices of author Nick Hayes and performance artist Lone Taxidermist. It gains a little more depth around the half way point but retains that sense of languor throughout. I read that `Ameland` is a psycho geographical journey from the Suffolk coast to a remote Dutch island. It`s another contemplative quite wistful offering. This island is known as the `Wadden Diamond` home to flora and fauna and an ideal beachside location to watch seals. The number had that feel of an enigmatic black and white foreign language movie and I found it delightfully compelling.

`Last Orders At The Shoulder Of Mutton` is an oddly enchanting trippy submission which has a quite hypnotic musical soundscape with a nigh on verbal train of thought or shared stream of consciousness throughout. The twelve minute opus `Beware My Love The Autumn People` begins with birdsong before gentle guitar chords, tapped cymbals and quietly shared vocals take us along this journey. The number lyrically, jumps from the horror-writings of Ray Bradbury to themes of loss and the landscapes of Sussex. It almost concludes at times on its voyage but just bursts into life and almost gains strength as it evolves into an almost new dimension. It`s a wonderfully captivating listen and never feels overly long.

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`Prince Of The Starry Wheel` was another wonderfully enjoyable release and to me was a fusion or synthesisof gently shared folk, dream pop and electronica with lyrics that make you almost work for them to gain a little insight. Once again I’d encourage you to get along and enjoy Oddfellow`s Casino where it`s never a gamble but always a sure fire win!!

(Maximum Volume Music)