Tuesday 27 April 2010

ASH – DARE TO DREAM (ATOMIC HEART RECORDS)


ASH – DARE TO DREAM (ATOMIC HEART RECORDS)

This was the final record I bought at Record Store Day, which was being pushed with the premise of being a Mogwai remix. To be buying such a seven inch for £5.99 featuring two acts that I haven’t had any interest in for years. This purchase truly represents the meltdown felt from the frenzy of Record Store Day.

Over the past year I have been watching Ash valiantly shit out regular seven inch singles attached to letters but never once have I been inspired, motivated or compelled to actually buying one of them. Today things have reached letter N (number 14) so I guess by now it is probably too late to begin my collection if I should desire so.

And I don’t. “Dare To Dream” is something of a mess. A mess with sprinkles. Even now after both acts have had their best days Ash and Mogwai make for awkward and uncomfortable bedfellows and on this release it only appears to etch out the worst elements in each band as Tim Wheeler’s silly vocals emerge very camp against a dragged out and doggy Mogwai aural drawl. In a way it sounds like Joy Division mutating into early New Order as they discover drum machines but from another perspective there is a sense of languid betrayal in how it also sounds something of a sonic abortion.

The release is a one sided affair with an etched b-side that looks relatively aesthetically pleasing. It’s all relative.

Thesaurus moment: hill.

Ash

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