After a couple of decent singles last year, This Et Al have managed to produce an album that has improved on the expectations from their singles. Recording with Richard Green (formerly of Ultrasound) they have managed to capture that wide and dramatic sound, that hasn’t been so obvious in their previous recordings.

The greatest thing about this album is the way there is a great variety in the styles of the songs. From the singles like Wardens and He Shoots President, which are immediate and straightforward, there are also more ambitious songs. In Catscan, the song is constantly changing, and never settling to one theme, while they try for a TV on the Radio type dreaminess in Sabbatical.

At times, the ‘journey’ of the album is a lot like the albums by Mansun. There is a similar balance between the intensity and accessibility. They are also very similar in the way how both bands clearly enjoy throwing as many instruments into the background as possible, without losing the melody edge of the songs.

2006 may have been the year for some of their Leeds contemporaries, but 2007 could very well be This Et Al’s year instead.

This Et Al

On their website, Death in Public namecheck bands such as My Bloody Valentine, the Jesus and Mary Chain and Joy Division, but they seem to have left some others off the list too. The opening track, Start A Fight, could fit in well with the punky pop of the Undertones, and the singer’s voice does have an edge of Feargal Sharkey about it.

The other two tracks on this single sound a lot more like their named influences, especially the 80s indie and Placebo influences. Seas of tight guitars that swirl around creating a dark, menacing feel, particularly on the final track Vincent Vega.

This is a good strong debut release for a band, although it falls down a bit because it just sounds so much like other music that’s around. It’s early on, and there’s plenty of time for the band to build on their own sound.

Death in Public

This is a simple idea. Ask 50 artists to contribute tracks which cannot be longer than 60 seconds, and put them together to raise money for charity. (In case you were wondering, the charity benefiting from this is The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture). Some of the artists will be familiar to anyone who listens to this level of underground music, and it also features quite a few acts with links to Oxford (Trademark, Piney Gir, Chris McMath, Half Rabbits, Mr G and Rich, MC Lars and Youthmovies).

The trouble with this album can be traced to its ambitious nature. Jumping between 50 acts there are moments when one song finishes abruptly, to be followed by another song in a completely different style. It can be quite an unsettling thing to listen to. Instead of being able to put this album on, and leave it running while you carry on with other things, it demands your full attention. As soon as your concentration drifts away, you could very well lose your way.

However the variation in the acts help to keep you alert as you listen. To prove this, in a randomly selected section of five minutes, the music goes from countryish rock, to more straightforward indie rock, some electro sampling based song, to folk (twice). The acts that come off well on this album are the ones who have conquered the challenge of writing a one minute song (instead of writing something that seems like an introduction that finishes suddenly). After Christmas does this by squeezing their 3 part song into the time allowed, as do Sennen, Jeremy Warmsley, Bobby McGees, Captain Black, Attack + Defend and roughly about 50 percent of the acts on this album.

This album makes a very useful source for those awkward minutes in mixtapes, but you should also clear 50 minutes in your day to give this your full attention.

Exercise 1 Records