Dead Air - Dead Air

Rainy Orteca, who has gained recent prominence as part of Joan As Policewoman, has gone solo in the strictest sense of the word. Dead Air, her debut EP, was entirely written, performed and recorded by herself resulting in a dark musical oddity of late night telephone conversations and lusty electronica. Opening with the ambiguously descriptive beat poetry of ‘Elephant Decision’ she fuses simple rhythms with modest grooves to adequately set a disarming mood. Unfortunately, despite the abstraction of her words, her arrangements can suffer from a tidiness that suggests her ideas have been disappointingly limited. Orteca’s fragile voice brings a sensual tenderness to the single ‘Tin Drum’, and a voyeuristic physicality to the sinister Euro-beat of ‘Electrical Heart’. However, her singing on ‘Widdow’ exhibit weaknesses that distract rather than endear and although there are some alluring moments the songs lack that certain necessary strength to really make an impact. Matt Nesbitt

Issue #51 - I Told You This Would Be A Good Issue

Featuring Biffy Clyro, Of Montreal, Duke Special, Frightened Rabbit, Cold War Kids, Jay Reatard, Pat Mills, and more.