#dominic appleton

Az alul-felül értékelt zenekarok végtelen sorában a Breathless nekem egy viszonylag friss, néhány éves alulértékeléses felismerés, pedig majdnem aranykoruktól kezdve ismerem, mondjuk főleg a megbabonázó hangú énekes, Dominic Appleton közreműködései miatt a 4AD-szupergrup, This Mortal Coilban - ahol másikak mellett két elképesztő dalt (Pearls Before Swine: The Jeweller, Gene Clark: Strength of Strings) énekel el elsőosztályú feldolgozásként. A Jewellert így, a Clark-csodát így. 

Zenekara, a Breathless lényegében A Definitív 4AD-zenekar, azzal a finom különbséggel, hogy nem adtak ki semmit ennél a kiadónál, mert minden lemezüket, kislemezüket, EP-jüket saját labelüknél jelentették meg. Azok azonban nem csak úgy szólnak, de úgy is néznek ki, mint egy 4AD-lemez.

Soha nem futottak be, nem lettek obskúrus csodák, máig nem értékelte át működésüket a MOJO és az utókor. Egy elkötelezett, de maroknyi rajongótáborral máig működő, nagy ritkán új kiadvánnyal előálló, hangzásában is elég stabil zenekar ez, valahol a posztpunk, a dreampop, a shoegaze, az indie, a jangle pop, a slowcore és az értitek keresztmetszetében. 

The Jeweller 

Jeweller has a shop on the corner of the boulevard.  In the night, in small spectacles he polishes old coins. He uses spit and cloths and ashes. He makes them shine with ashes. 

He knows the use of ashes. He worships God with ashes. The coins are often very old by the time they reach the jeweller. With his hand and ashes he will try the best he can. 

He knows that he can only shine them, cannot repair the scratches. He knows that even new coins have scars so he just smiles. He knows the use of ashes. He worships god with ashes. 

In the darkest of the night. Both his hands will blister badly. They will often open painfully and the blood flows from his hands. He works to take from black coin faces, the thumb prints from so many ages. 

He wishes he could cure the scars.  When he forgets he sometimes cries. He knows the use of ashes. He worships god with ashes. 

This is a lovely find: a student music video shot in 1990 for a cover released in 1986 of a song written in 1970. The song happens to be very close to my heart. It was written by Tom Rapp for the Pearls Before Swine album The Use of Ashes, a beautiful example of psychedelic folk, though it went virtually unheard at the time. Tom Rapp's an elusive figure with an interesting story, covered well here. For me, the song's a testament to the heights that can can be reached with little more than intelligent, insightful lyrics delivered with passion and simplicity.

Evidently Ivo Watts Russell agreed, because it was covered by the supergroup This Mortal Coil made up of musicians on his label 4AD, sung by Dominic Appleton for the album Filigree and Shadow. This Mortal Coil provide perhaps the perfect example of what music critics describe as 'The 4AD Sound' - ethereal, inward looking, thoughtful music laden with reverb. Appleton's own band, Breathless, wrote challenging, romantic post-punk. Their songs meander through sonic landscapes of synths, tribal drums and echoing guitars, sometimes dreamily, sometimes driven. The effect is somewhat akin to This Mortal Coil, in that sense, even if the method differs. I'll admit they do like to take the longest path through a song, but I still find it odd that they've remained obscure even to most fans of the genre. I recommend Chasing Promises and the beautiful song 'I Never Know Where You Are'.

It's worth pointing out that once the intro track 'Velvet Belly' leads onto 'The Jeweller', the video only provides one half of the music. Had they included the track's other channel, there would be the added accompaniment of a piano alongside the strings. Take a listen to the original through one earphone and then the other and you'll see what I mean. Without the piano it sounds a bit thin to my ears, though it doesn't matter greatly, as the true brilliance lies in the lyrics: