Peel Dream Magazine: Rose Main Reading Room (digital outlets)

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Peel Dream Magazine: Rose Main Reading Room (digital outlets)
Across 15 seductive songs this LA-based trio offer what sounds like lush miniatures which blend languid vocals, warm synth washes, minimalist repetition and understated melodies.

The sort of music you could imagine playing quietly in a reading room.

They aren't averse to glistening pop (I Wasn't Made For War) and we might guess the band's songwriter Joe Stevens had an affection for Stereolab as much as early Sixties French pop, ambient-inclined Brian Eno and maybe even the lo-fi groove of the Beta Band.

Stevens was a New Yorker and many of the song titles refer to NYC landmarks but these unhurried songs are almost nostalgic reflections rather than capturing the pace and energy of the city. More Central Park West (the title of one piece, about wandering around in the Museum of Natural History) than the chaos of Times Square.

The album is named for a room in the Public Library where Stevens used to hang out.

This is a lovely headphones album which embraces you gently – except for the sampled spoken word of Wood Paneling, Pt 3 – and invites you into its self-contained world of warmth.

Wish You Well
 

One well worth discovering. You probably won't hear about is anywhere other than at Elsewhere.

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You can hear and buy this album at bandcamp here.


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