(2017) The BV's - Speaking from a Distance
Review:
It’s quite difficult to write about the BV’s new LP, not because there is nothing to say about it, but because it’s so hard to put into words what these songs arouse and make you feel. There could be a thousand things in your head, listening to Speaking From A Distance: reverb, emotion, loneliness, reverb, genius, madness, Sarah Records, Billy Bragg, reverb, guitars, The Field Mice, Wall of Sound, fragments, unity, distance, proximity, warmth, reverb.
Their music is hard to grab, it seems to come from another planet, left there for people to discover, and it doesn’t seem like it was hard for them to record these songs which immediately remind you of the legendary Sarah Records. Luckily, Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten took notice, was immediately excited and decided to release their first LP with all of these recordings. Only 150 copies of this beauty exist and they surely will be owned by indie pop lovers all around the world soon, who love a bit of shoegaze as well.
The lyrics sometimes feel like fragments put together, there are no long stories, we are rather told about feelings and encounters. Nevertheless, the band longs for unity in a different sense: “This record is meant to be listened to in one 45 minute sitting…“. Therefore, this whole project reminds us of the Beat Generation and their aesthetics of the Spontaneous Prose in a way.
There is exactly one piece of German lyrics on the record, and when Fred whispers “Im Spiegel deiner Augen sah ich nur meine eigene Schönheit“ and the guitars jangle along after it like on our favourite Another Sunny Day records – that gives you the creeps – just to drag you down again right after it: “How does it feel to be the worst mistake in your life?“
On “To No Ar“ the band shows their Kraut influences, it’s more sound than song, just to prepare us for one of the LP’s highlights – “Always“! It has the same seemingly endless guitar parts as “Sensitive“ or “You Should All Be Murdered“, and ends after four minutes, although it could go on forever.
“Neon“ brings us another Wall of Sound, before the BV’s (nearly) end their LP with ”Speaking From A Distance“ – the title track and surely one of their most beautiful songs. The very last song is some kind of a krauty outro which shows further influences of a band from which we can expect more great music should they find the time to record together again.
The BV’s may not make music for the common listener, but they have put a wonderful statement on vinyl with their first LP. A statement for the love of records, the love of detail, spontaneity, and DIY attitude.
The BV’s are shoegaze, indie pop and reverb. And two smart and talented guys behind it. “Nothing is real!“ are the last words of the LP, before you turn it round and plunge into “Speaking from a distance“’s emotions and feelings all over again – it’s a world in which the line between dream and reality has blurred.
Tracklist:
01. Ray.flac
02. Sushi Later.flac
03. Charlie Bag.flac
04. Im Spiegel deiner Augen.flac
05. To No Ar.flac
06. Always.flac
07. Mousehole.flac
08. Never Open That Door.flac
09. H and M.flac
10. Neon.flac
11. Speaking from a Distance.flac
12. A..-.flac
Summary:
Country: Germany
Genre: dream-pop, shoegaze
Media Report:
Source : CD
Format : FLAC
Format/Info : Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : ~815-1000 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
