Review: The Shadow Committee, ‘Sunshine Paradise’ EP

The Shadow Committee EP cover

The Shadow Committee are the reincarnation of Josh Rayman, formerly of hotly tipped Norwich band, Apollo 101. This new project is somewhat different, however.

From the fairly light indie-rock of Apollo 101, The Shadow Committee is an instrumental project, usually comprised of a rock band and string-quartet, influenced by post-rock masters 65daysofstatic, And So I WatchYou From Afar and maybeshewill.

Josh released free single, Long Way From Home (which you can download if you click the link), in August, 2010. And this is all amongst working through his final year of Music Composition at the University of East Anglia, pretty impressive.

The Shadow Committee, lyric notes

Speaking about his musical project, Josh says, “The Shadow Committee is the intended musical accompaniment for any flamingo activity. Anywhere.” Hmm. I believe it is probably intended for human listening as well.

As for the EP, it features six original tracks, as well as a reprise of Sunshine Paradise. The record kicks off to a confident start with Entree, an appropriately named taster track that morphs into The Blackadder Rides Again.

Unlike the post-rock bands that have been of influence, a couple of the tracks, employ synths, and tend to have more of a focus on individual instruments rather than the effect of layering all the sounds collectively. For instance, there are almost piano and guitar ‘solos’ in title song Sunshine Paradise, as well as some pretty interesting laser-quest-esque shooting noises going on.

The Shadow Committee, they even make a day at the beach atmospheric

Does this work as an advantage? I’m not entirely sure. I think you can tell that, unlike the troop of musicians that go into making each 65dos track, it is a smaller affair, and sometimes lacks the power and drive that could really get your eardrums beating. But, some of the quieter moments are handled really nicely, and it is trying to do something different – which is more than can be said than for a lot of acts out there at the moment.

Review. To Bury A Ghost, ‘The Hurt Kingdom’

To Bury A Ghost – The Hurt Kingdom EP cover

To Bury A Ghost, a band that has been described by The Fly as “epic, symphonic and reminiscent of Yndi Halda‘ are releasing their EP ‘The Hurt Kingdom’ on December 6 as a limited edition CD and digital download through Bandcamp.

Hailing from the East Midlands, the trio are comprised of Jonathon Stolber, Rupert Boddington and Marc Bransgrove, who all met by chance and decided to get a band together. The result is pretty striking.

The four-track EP features songs Birthday, Coming Up For Air, Jaws of Love and Beginning Is The End.

 

To Bury A Ghost. It all got a bit moody when they realised there were only 98 red balloons...

Roughly three seconds after pressing the ‘play’ button, you are hit by Stolber’s strong, haunting falsetto vocals that bear a striking similarity to that of Muse‘s Matt Bellamy and Radiohead‘s Thom Yorke; two musical legends who are known for their vocal style.

 

I was a little worried that I was going to listen to a bad imitation of the two, but, to my relief  To Bury A Ghost are doing something very different. With a bit of post-rock and a great variation in tone and atmosphere, the vocals combine to make some really dark brooding moments.

My highlights from the EP are the sinister moments in Birthday, which also incorporates a nice mix of violins and piano and demonstrates how the band are able to seamlessly incorporate several changes in atmosphere and tempo.

To Bury A Ghost. They like to make sure they catch the previews.

Coming Up For Air has some awesome low grinding guitars and tribal drums which sound pretty menacing and give a good contrast to the vocals.

 

It is track Beginning Is The End that probably earned the band’s comparison with Yndi Halda, and to an extent 65daysofstatic; in that it is purely instrumental. It is certainly lighter that your average 65dos piece, but arguably just as atmospheric, which is no mean feat.

All in all, it is a confident, polished EP, especially considering the fact that it is being self-released. I’d be intrigued to see what these guys could do in a whole album.

To keep up to date on what the guys are up to, follow them on Twitter or join their Facebook group.