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DICTAPHONE BLUES: On the Down and In

Auckland-based Edward Castelow has established an impressive resume playing in both The Ruby Suns on drums and The Brunettes on bass. Now, on a mission to go solo, he has unleashed this impressive album. The awesomely experimental pop sound is something right off the same page as indie heavyweights such as Animal Collective. I especially love the ironic and sometimes ‘so sharp it splits you’, cynical tones to his music, Castelow often juxtaposing shamelessly upbeat melodies with dark lyrics. I reckon that this album would be right up the ally of fans of Frank Zappa, The Smiths, and more recently, Adam Green. With witty songs like What You’re Eating Is You (very Zappa-esque), he completely masters the rare art of not taking oneself too seriously. Even though the album has the intelligence and polished effect of something produced on a much bigger budget, he still overtly and unashamedly promotes his Kiwi background, going so far as to insert NZ-specific references. This is a fantastic album, by an incredibly talented artist.

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