Parlour 9 Sessions – 'The Sound of Lo-Fi Superior Vol.1’ (Parlour 9) Released 27/03/06

The Parlour 9 sessions are a collection of tracks from four ascending UK bands; Salvo, Empty Vessels, the Betes Noires and Dolium – and are, in fact, the brainchild of Dolium front-man and producer, Reece Adamo. As the title suggests, the album is a celebration of lo-fi recording, with each session recorded in rehearsal rooms, living rooms and attics with portable equipment.

And there’s much to be said for rag and bones recording; as anyone who’s heard the greased-turd production of Coldplay’s 'X&Y' – can tell you. However, there are times when the admirably unpretentious Parlour 9 sessions do scrape the lowest of the lo-fi - as with Salvo’s sludgy 'Bleeding Shins', where we are slapped across the head with walls of fuzzy bass and a vocal akin to John Lydon singing in a gimp mask. The marching 'Faultline' is slightly better, but backing vocals are a muddy smudge and the song quickly turns sluggish.

On a better note - the impossibly deep vocals rumbled out in The Betes Noires, ‘My Political Friend’ are enhanced rather than obliterated by off the cuff recording. The Parlour 9 sessions seem to have captured the essence of these punchy Belfast heavies, with their strong bass lines, relatively perky guitar and insistent vocals punctuated by an occasional howl. The slightly scary Dolium, with their piss your pants urgency and chafing vocals, also play upon the energy of rushed recording and fling out three stomach churning ditties of vehement proportions.

The real stars of the Parlour 9 sessions have to be, however, London’s Empty Vessels. The frontman’s Damon Albarn-esque voice drips with a sleazy character which couldn’t be flattened by any sort of recording. The freakishly good ‘Monkey’ is lyrically simple, much along the lines of "I’m going to be a monkey, a m-m-m-monkey", and is surprisingly brilliant. Blurry, reverberating guitar fizzes in and out of a bristling, controlling bass – to be topped off by a shriekish monkey-call crescendo. ‘It’s No Guilty Pleasure’ possesses a rasping, in your face Jagger/Bowie quality and feels satisfyingly over the top. 

The problem posed by the delicious Empty Vessels; would they sound even better with greased turd recording? We must wait and see.