September Gurls Rec.
Smell Of Incense : Of Ullages and Dottles (N,2007)****
I believe that Smell Of Incense have made with this album their best record to date. Their sound is very consistent and the arrangements are full and complete to the point of reaching "perfection", in that way the arrangements almost sound like they areg orchestrated. This gives a very completing feeling so that there are hardly are words left to say, because there are no strange aspects and the kind of contrasts left to notice to make some aspects stand out more. Smell Of Incense definitely is based in a neo-sixties flavoured, well arranged, psychpop style. With this they open up a fantasy-like world which is song based, and highly melodious and charming. The arrangements of the guitars are closely interwoven with mellotrons, flutes and percussions mostly, but also various other instruments (like mandolin, sitar, harpsichord,…) fill all the rest of the space for it completely. Just the last track I can lift out a small section with a spacerock psychedelica association somewhere, and another section with a faded out electronic music fantasy. Recommended.
Lyrics are based upon mostly fantasy/romantic authors like Mary Cicely Barker, William Blake, William Ernest Henley, Richard Watson Dixon, George McDonald, Henry W. Longfellow, Hydra Greece, Mervyn Peake, and Dr.Brt.Blaster.
PS. The first edition of the LP of 1000 copies contains a nice looking song book (from which I show here the front cover and one inner page).
