Even by writing for such an international medium as the internet, you still feel a little bit alienated writing as a European for an American-orientated music magazine such as TMT. Sure, both sides of the Atlantic are being served by the reviews; but still, the general feel seems to be aimed towards the USA and Canada. That isn’t a bad thing necessarily; if most writers are from North America, it only seems logical that they write about bands that are from their own continent, instead of remote bands from the other side of the ocean. However, for an inhabitant of “the old continent,” the situation is obviously vice versa; while North Americans talk about bands like Modest Mouse, The Microphones, and Spoon, hip West European kids talk about Soulwax, Zoot Woman, and Bettie Serveert.
You can imagine, therefore, that it feels quite strange to write a review about such an “obscure” band as Appleseed Cast, whose records will probably only make it to the music shops as an expensive import release, if they are even imported at all. That doesn’t mean that I can’t review the album, just that it feels like I’m missing the context. Case in point: the albums Low Level Owl. I and Low Level Owl II are probably more rare than a signed copy of Sgt.Pepper in my local record store.
Consequently, reviewing without the proper context can be seen as either good or bad. Good because I won’t have to "relativize" their music; bad because this review isn’t for die-hard Appleseed Cast fans (who will probably listen to the album anyway). So for those of you unfamiliar with Appleseed Cast, I have to conclude that Two Conversations doesn’t do a lot for me. The records starts quite promising, with the first 30 seconds of “Hello Dearest Love” sounding like the soothing sounds of a Sigur Rós album, but that’s just the introduction. The rest consists of typical rock songs that seem to fall into two types: slow songs (“A Dream for Us”) and somewhat more “rocky” songs (“Innocent Vigilant Ordinary”). But they both don’t really deliver anything more than an occasional good song (“Fight Song”).
Still, this record might be just what you’re looking for. But for that, you probably have to be American.
1. Hello Dearest Love
2. Hanging Marionette
3. Ice Heavy Branches
4. Losting Touching Searching
5. Fight Song
6. Sinking
7. The Page
8. Innocent Vigilant Ordinary
9. How Life Can Turn
10. A Dream For Us
More about: Appleseed Cast
