Strawberry
Country of origin:
Canada
Type of music generally:
Ethereal trippy alternative pop
Status:
Most recent release, Squarewaves (digital ep, 2015)
See also:
Strawberry's bandcamp page
Comparisons:
Perfume Tree, occasionally Pram-like in the delicate, sometimes off-kilter vocals, or perhaps sort of a cross between Perfume Tree and Portishead and Lois' indierock. At least those are the best descriptions I can come up with. (Neile)
Covers/own material:
Own
General comments:
A group that sounds ranges in sound from Perfume Tree, very trippy/dreamy, to the Broadcast/Laika- and Pram-like. Mostly ethereal vocals (some male vox). An interesting, creative mix of stuff. (Neile)
Recommended first album:
Brokeheart Audio
Recordings:
- Strawberry (cassette-only ep, 1993)
- Beached (assette-only ep, 1995)
- Brokeheart Audio (1998)
- Viva Me (digital, 1999/2000)
- Squarewaves (digital ep, 2015)
Brokeheart Audio
Release info:
1998—No Records (Canada)—NORE20
Availability:
Downloadable at Strawberry's bandcamp page
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended for trippy trance fans
Group members:
Brian Arsenault—bass, acetone
Scott Garratt—guitar, vocals, organ, treated piano
Jon King—drums, tambourine
Deirdre Smith—vocals, piano, melodica
Guest artists:
Pat Deighan—guitar (1, 6)
Kevin Komoda—keyboards (1), organ (6, 12), moog (12)
Anthony Seck—guitar (3, 4, 8, 11)
William Collier—drums (6)
Comments:
Eclectic, and because of that a little uneven, but when they hit they hit strong. They lead off with the brilliant trancey, trip-hoppy, "On The Bottom" which is one of my favourite examples of electronic trance-pop. They immediately move to slightly more mainstream-y pop songs with "A Nervous Kind of Year." They're still a little trance-y pop, but livelier. They alternate then between these poppier songs ("20 Dollar High") with more singular tracks. "Kiev Trains," "The Seven Eyeball Waltz," "Burning Church," "In 2 or 3", "Nico Says," "I Miss my Mom" and "The Hangman's Song" are particularly Pram-like: long tracks of delightful, melodic but off-kilter weirdness with Deirdre Smith's vocals floating over stripped-down instrumental lines. A really intriguing album. I love the lead track and the Pram-like ones a LOT. Much of this is truly wonderful. An interesting, creative mix of stuff. (Neile)
Viva Me
Release info:
2010—digital release at Strawberry's bandcamp page of material recorded 1998–1999
Availability:
See Strawberry's bandcamp page
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended for fans of trippy pop
Group members:
Brian Arsenault—bass, arp, farfisa, rhodes
Deirdre Smith—vocals, melodica, farfisa, jx3p
Jon King—drums
Scott Garratt—guitar, voice, farfisa
Guest artists:
Roger Carter—rhodes, wandering genie
Kieran MacNamara—rhodes
Anthony Seck—guitar
Comments:
I can't get over how Broadcast and Laika-like this is, particular Broadcast: fragile, ethereal vocals. Quirky pop. Unusual and delightful. (Neile)
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