Can you hear my heart beat?

I’ve decided not to try to do an end of year review, to be honest Sit-Up-and-Notice-Me albums have been a little thin on the ground this year. But, also who needs another old guy raving about the Burial album, eh? (That’s not to say I won’t be avidly checking others’ lists over the Christmas period. I will…)

Anyway, as it’s the season of good will and ill-advised binge drinking, I’ve got a post here which seems somehow appropriate.

The Dipsomaniacs

Have a guess how many bands there are calling themselves the Dipsomaniacs at the moment…

If you guessed “three”, you’re being a little too cute and you’ve spoiled it for yourself really, haven’t you? It’s “two”, there are two bands currently calling themselves the Dipsomaniacs.

The first band I came across are from New Jersey, “play melodic, hook-driven, sloppy, but spirited rock n roll. “ and are big Who fans. You can download a number of tracks from them here, including a festive “More Eggnog” which is kind of fun.

The Dipsomaniacs I’m more interested in, however, are another Camera Obscura band who hail from Trondheim, Norway and play fragile, quivery sixties pop songs. Camera Obscura, as ever, have two tracks available for download and a couple of albums to purchase.

The first song, Stethoscopic Notion, is driven by a Rolf Harris-style monotone organ sound and is one of those clever-clogs pieces that doesn’t really have a chorus – it’s all one big hook. I really like the way the vocals, rhythm guitar and keyboards all mesh together without any of them getting on top. The second track is not quite as strong but is still catchy and is propelled by its delicate, fine guitar work.

Singer, Ǿyvind Holm, appears to have left the band and released his own album, My Vanishing Act, and you can also download “Salt-Mutated Summer Dream” from that record at Camera Obscura, and see a video of it at his Myspace. The same page also includes this video of the Dipsomaniacs which is pretty poor quality but still very watchable



Stethoscopic Notion

Caught by this Feeling

Drink responsibly folks! (And have a good one…)