I was planning on a different track today, but this just snuck in, took my hand and stole me away.

Ghosts comes from Sofia’s first album, Blue Moon, and proves beyond doubt that ice and snow help make the best music. Her second album Street of Dreams was released in 2007. Like all wised-up musicians she runs her own record label and store.. and blogs!

Blue Moon, Street of Dreams – Official Store
Sofia Talvik – Official Website
Blue Moon – iTunes UK
Street of Dreams – iTunes UK

This is why I live alone. For times like this: lying on my sofa, dog-like, in the pitch dark, with my eyes closed, letting Shara Worden’s songs drench me with their tears. A Sunday night, and wine, naturally.

Workhorse merges the two strands of My Brightest Diamond – rock and strings, but things get really interesting with the drums. Midway through the song a hi-hat track comes in, lasting for its remainder. In the black of night, reverberating off the rear wall of my lounge, it sounds huge. Every nuance of its playing, the triggered opens, the changing positions of the stick. I can hear everything. And all the while half break-beats accompany it. Somewhere near the floor. Shara’s low-pitched vocals smoulder with an anger that never quite ignites, kept in check by the growling bass and wandering keys.

All serve to emphasise the ominous nature of the song, literally or figuratively, the ending of a relationship, of life or of love. It’s an understated end to an album which could easily be missed or misconstrued as being too dramatic. It’s not – you just have to climb in.

Bring Me the Workhorse – iTunes UK
Amazon UK
My Brightest Diamond – Official Website

Continuing my journey into vocal electro house, which I think I’ll shorten to velectro in future, Coburn’s Razorblade features a buzzing bass and stepping phased lead. Heidrun’s glacial vocals – who’s clearly been listening to too much Donna Summer, if that’s possible – help turn this minimal track into something like happy electro-industrial. I Feel Love via. Cybotron’s Eden?

iTunes UK
Official Website

Pretty Balanced are a band of three originally from Columbos, Ohio. They describe themselves ‘quality ctrl+alt+tronica’ which I’m still puzzling over because that’s not how they sound. If, indeed, it conveys any meaning whatsoever.

Centred around Judith Jewcakes Shimer’s piano-ing, vox-ing and synth-ing, Pretty Balanced write and play unpretentious beautiful music. Kinda like Tori, but without the angst. Or more like Regina but without overdoing the drama pills. Added to this mix is Forest Creatures Christenson’s drum-ing and Parker Car Ross’s bass-ing. They end up sounding like a piano version of Galaxie 500 with more smoke and whisky, three feet set in reality, the others in a basket of photographs, dreams and memories. Perhaps. Anyhow, they’re just plain wonderful.

Couch comes from their first album Icicle Bicycle, which you can buy here. It aches and soars in all the right places. Often at the same time.

Their second album Conical Monocle is available for pre-order now and ships 15 January.

Couch (MP3, i.B. ReLease version)
Pretty Balanced – Official Website

Recorded during the recent 50 Foot Wave recording session, Torque merges (twists?) two miniscule life stories of awaiting rescues. The song borrows the emotion of The Grotto and pairs it with not the strident strings of the McCarricks, but Victor Lawrence’s warmer cello. Rob Ahler’s drums crash and boom sparingly, like all understated drums should do, and Kristin’s guitars fuzz nicely due to Mudrock’s production. Like many of Kristin’s songs on The Grotto, this one appears to end half-finished, leaving the listener abandoned and lonely – which it should do. Awaiting rescue.

Torque