Anika’s Basement show is the project of Phoenix based musician Dylvid Crougen who with the help of some laid-bare production from Sean Mangen has created a sweet, acoustic, singer-songwriter ablum.’She’s Still Breathing’ is a heart wrenchingly tender track and after brief intro instrumental ‘I Am An Eternity’, is the true opener to the album and introduction to Crougen’s sweet and low register vocals, and beautiful lyrics. Like a cross between Bright Eyes and Cat Stevens ‘Stitch by Stitch’ is the sound of a boy coming to terms with manhood and the consequences of growing older, and the comfort of constant love in times of change.

‘I Am King’ is the stand out track for me, sweet as honey and morose at the same time, it seems to epitomise the album, gentle acoustic guitars underpin at times quite dark lyrics. There are two quite sinister piano instrumentals that are both named after the album title itself which help the album flow and leave a little space for reflection, the out of tune pianos create a slightly disturbing feel which never gives way to out and out horror music but stays firmly in the lo-fi, singer songwriter category. ‘Off To Bed’ starts off a little similar to Bon Iver’s ‘Skinny Love’ but ends strongly with double vocals and harmonicas slowly building the song and the album to a sweet resting point, ‘you fool, take her off to bed’.

http://anikasbasementshow.bandcamp.com/album/dinner-at-edmonds-the-painting-of-the-red-haired-queen

This 5 track EP from Scottish songwriters Euan  McMeeken and James Scott is a wistful and intriguing album. It initially started out as 4 sets of photographs taken by Finnish born photographer Heidi Kuisma, now a fellow Edinburgh resident. The four photographs of seemingly disparate images and locations were then set to music by McMeeken and the result is this intimate EP, featuring a bonus fifth track.

The melodic, moody piano songs are layered with ambient textures and delayed piano lines creating a beautiful, floating set of songs that weave in and out of one another effortlessly. Album opener ‘The Forgotten Time’ borders into a stripped back version of Sigur Ros at times. Personal favourite ‘You Can Still be Beautiful’ is initially dark and brooding, but always tender and then vocals hit you out of nowhere, they fit well it’s just surprising in an entirely instrumental album to this point. The vocals don’t disappoint and the lyrics are suitably ethereal and sad, the line ‘don’t let death become your safety, don’t let life become your shame’ hits right to the core on top of the beautiful backdrop. All in all this is a powerful, dreamlike effort from Glacis and they are certainly songwriters to watch out for.

http://mini50records.bandcamp.com/album/lost-again-on-waking

The Whalestoe Tapes is the debut offering from Brooklyn artist Grandpa Was a Lion, recorded and reordered over the course of a year it is a journey from purest lo-fi to dreamy post-production, an extremely interesting record and a very promising talent.

Opening track ‘Hello From The Farm’ is some serious lo-fi, it sounds as though it’s been recorded on a dictaphone from distance, but if you can adjust your ears to the sound quality, there are some outstanding ideas present. A simple two chord song that slowly builds with some dreamy melodic vocals coming from Justin D’Onofrio as waves of sound pour in and out, backing vocals and what sounds like a harmonica, but could equally be an organ given the sound quality, join together to wash over the simple song and make something rich. ‘Mobile Alabama Blues’ suddenly grabs your attention with a noteable increase in sound quality, as the title suggests a dark bluesy number with tremolo rich lead guitar riffs. ‘Whitecaps’ is a very interesting arrangement for a song with instruments dropping in and out with a constant high pitched almost feedbacking synth floating around, as some exceptional vocal melodies rise towards the end of the track, one of my favourite songs for a while.

‘Dancer’ is as sad and beautiful as the album gets, it is clear that D’Onofrio has a great nack for melody and the vocal lines build together here brilliantly. Halfway through the acoustic led ‘London’ in comes a piano part that is pure Abbey Road era McCartney, giving way to synths and pounding acoustic guitar parts which build smoothly. ‘The Light’ is a return to pure lo-fi acoustic and ‘Elizabeth You’re A Failure’ is a different beast altogether, with grainy synths and distorted vocals being pulled in and out of existence.

There is something truly rare about this album, its ability to balance lo-fi with a grand vision of sound. It’s like Brian Wilson trying to make a masterpiece for 20 bucks, but somehow, it totally works. The ideas here are far bigger than their production, but they don’t necessarily lose out because of it, there’s something inexpressibly special about this record, it just works. It just touches you, and that’s surely the best thing we can say about any record.

‘Mississippi Dreams’ is a soft acoustic ditty that marries Conor Oberst with Daniel Johnston, before giving way to some disgustingly distorted guitar chords which build the song to an uncomfortable but interesting finale. Fittingly the album ends where it starts, just one year down the line, ‘Hello From The Farm Reprise’ is a cleaned up version of the opening track which builds and falls into an almost hidden track for the final couple of minutes. This is an excellent record, thoroughly recommended.

http://grandpawasalion.bandcamp.com/album/the-whalestoe-tapes