Here we get warm,
glitchy electronic music crossed with gentle acoustic
instrumentation and a stable jazz influence. The Boats are
Manchester's
Andrew Hargreaves and Craig Tattersall, who apparently
record bells, keys, winds, and twang and then wed them to IDM
rhythms. It's a successful formula, more than a little reminiscent
of work by FS Blumm and the Tied and Tickled Trio,
though these two 'blokes' render Faulty Toned Radio
sufficiently
distinct. The duo excels at elegant, dare-I-say lounge-esque compositions
which brandish soothing basslines, warm melodies, and complex yet
unobtrusive beats, as on prettily crisp "It's Not a Folk, It's a
Knife" and "The Boats Can't Save You Now" (replete with melodica).
One imagines this sonic brew accompanying a trendy, tasteful dinner
party attended by fashion-savvy young adults. Meanwhile, on "The
Melody Mosquito" and acid-laced "Hemihorn," one hears the influence
of Warp stalwarts like Aphex Twin and Squarepusher in
the scattered rhythms and deformed synthesizer melodies. Other compositions retain the album's characteristic tone, but
fade into the background due to a lack of salient features (glitchy
"Harry, Stop it Please," piano-led "This is For You to
Read"). These tracks aren't disappointments, but they lack
the immediacy of the record's more notable works. Still, Faulty
Toned Radio makes for a terrific mood-setter to accompany any
incandescently-lit evening at home. In terms of foreground music, it
seems to fall victim to its own lack of assertiveness, but don't you
have enough loud, bumptious records in your possession already?
