If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Julie R. Kane Rattle are a Nottingham drumming duo that lists Thurston Moore among their fans. Based on those facts, I expected "Ritual" to be a lot noisier and more abrasive. Instead, the song is a surprisingly lush and melodic track. Rattle focus on vocal harmonies as much as they do the drumming, which is more gentle than bludgeoning. The result is a captivating mix of beauty and experimentation that sticks to traditional song structure much more than expected, although not to a strict format. Even if you'd normally balk at a drumming duo, you're most likely still going to adore "Ritual." Katharine Eira Brown says of the video for her band's latest single: “We were so happy to make a video for Ritual on the coldest day of the year at the beautiful City Racing art gallery in Bishops Castle.  We were excited to see Chris Tipton's fascinating collection of magical objects and to collaborate with Liv Bargman, an illustrator well known for her...

We first discovered EDT (aka Emily Dix Thomas) playing cello in The Huntress and Holder of Hands' band, so it's fitting that they would release a split single together. The Huntress and Holder of Hands' song on the 7" is "Ritual," and it's everything we love about MorganEve Swain's musical project. It's hauntingly beautiful, with a thick layer of tension covering the entire song. It's folk, but mostly due to the instruments being used. If you could make grunge using traditional folk instruments, that's what "Ritual" would be. "Rocky Coast" is EDT's contribution, and it fits right in with The Huntress and Holder of Hands' song. "Rocky Coast" is more traditional folk than "Ritual," but it's just as dark and haunting. These two songs sound like they truly belong together, and they complement each other ideally. Personally, I can't pick a favorite between the two as they are simply perfec...