Triple EP Review: Birds in Row, Junip and Moby

Artist: Birds in Row, Junip, Moby
Title: Cottbus, In Every Direction, Be The One
Format: EP
Year: 2011
Label: Throatruiner, Unknown, Mute
Genre: Hardcore/Screamo, folk, electronic
Rating: 87 / 100,   62 / 100,   85 / 100

In the first half of 2011 three really interesting EP's were released, it would be a bit superfluous to devote a whole review to each of them, not only because EP's generally don't need giant pieces of text to be discussed in the right manner, but also because two of those three are quite well-known artists, and I don't think people are waiting for two paragraphs of introduction into each of those artists.

So first of all we have this new Birds in Row EP called Cottbus, Birds in Row is a very straightforward hardcore/screamo band with some neocrust'ish edges. An incredibly dark, melodic, yet brutal short piece of music, which is definitely able to compete with the bigger names in the genre. Their sound isn't very original, one has probably heard the elements from their music a dozen times before, but frankly, I really don't care. It's a bit like the most recent Trap Them album: it has been done before, but it's done in the right manner. Overall it's just a very enjoyable EP, and considering they're a very young band they could with ease be the ones to release my favourite album in this genre in 2012.

Next in line is Junip: you might not know this band, but I am quite sure you know their lead singer: José González, known for his cover of The Knife's Heartbeats. Junip is bascially what José González's solo albums would have sounded like if he would have been accompanied by a band. This new EP, In Every Direction was a bit of a weird move for them to make. The title track In Every Direction was actually the opening track of their 2010 album Fields. The rest of the EP contains two remixes of the song, two experimental instrumentals and one new song, being a bit mediocre for Junip standards.

Now, this EP really isn't that bad, the remixes (by White Sea and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.) are fairly enjoyable, but the title track has already been released and the three new tracks, especially those instrumental ones are just a bit mediocore for my taste. A 7" with just those two remixes would have been rated as somewhere between 80 and 85, but I will have to give this EP a 62 / 100. 

Last but not least, there is Moby's Be The One EP, being a kind of interlude to his announced new album. Moby has done a wide range of genres in his fairly long life-span, from progressive house in his early years, towards more electronic ambient like compositions on Play, and the more pop/rock sound on Hotel. This EP is pretty much a mixture of tracks like Natural Blues and Porcelain, and his earlier electronic recordings, having both the slightly melancholic atmosphere of Natural Blues, the ambient like synth melodies of Porcelain, but the house beats known from his earlier works. Moby has been doing stuff like this for almost twenty years now, but still he manages to keep renewing himself, all kinds of new sounds are to be heard on this EP, guitar feedback (Be The One), a strange kind of glitching synths (Sevastopol), and those Ulver'ish slightly distorted synth sounds on the last track, Victoria Lucas. Overall I would consider this as a fabulous EP, being a marvelous introduction to what his new album might sound like. May 16th is the releasedate, can't wait to get a copy.

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Selwin.