Rock A Rolla Album Reviews Baltic Fleet Towers
The second album from multi-instrumentalist, producer and sometime Echo
& The Bunnymen touring keyboardist Paul Fleming, Towers continues on his quest to fuse krautrocking grooves, synth pop and modern-day post-rock, and once again succeeds with some style. With flat-out pop nuggets (Headless Heroes Of The
Acropolis, Engage), electro (The Wilds), post-rock (the title track) and Joy Division-esque new-wave/postpunk (Hunting Witches), Towers is a slickly produced, eclectic collection that will appeal to fans of Eno, NEU!, and even (a poppier) Zombi alike. Like its predecessor, the self-titled 2008 debut, it’s impossible to fault.
Rough Trade Albums Of The Month Baltic Fleet Towers
BALTIC FLEET
Towers
Blow Up Records
WHO
A collective of musicians and friends centred around Echo And The Bunnymen keyboard player Paul Fleming, who started recording his own music with other members of the Bunnymen, his laptop and further outside assistance during downtime on a world tour.
WHAT
Employing a similarly expert handling of analogue synths, guitars and a deft blend
of programmed and live drums, Fleming’s second opus is a distinctly rooted affair,
somehow channelling the cinematic backdrop of northern industry into his
beautifully crafted music.
WHY
A deeply emotional experience as well as a cerebral one, Fleming has upped the ante on an already stellar debut, creating an album that communicates the harshness, scope and yet the warmth and tenderness of landscape and a sense of place.
