Ecco i mancuniani Merchandise alla seconda prova discografica. Ricordo quel bel melting pot musicale che era il loro This Is Merchandise. Dentro ci potevi trovare di tutto: post-rock alla Mogwai, pop strampalato alla Fonda 500 e ritmi strani sempre altamente eterogenei. Pur mantenendo un’impostazione simile, i nostri hanno optato per un lavoro più organico. Il metro di paragone, che mi viene in mente al volo, è quello dei primi lavori di Babybird o anche del vario materiale di Badly Drawn Boy.

Capirete subito, quindi, che siamo orientati verso un sound particolarmente intrigante, un suono che amo definire pop “colto” forse anche “aristocratico”, un po’ per distinguerlo da tanta banalità commerciale. Lo-Tech Solutions, quindi, appare il lavoro “evoluto” di due genietti del genere (Brad e Conrad), capaci di spaziare da certa uggiosa folkotronica (neologismo usato per il misto tra folk ed elettronica), per arrivare fino ad un pop apparentemente (de)strutturato, ma sempre in grado di colpire con melodie semplicemente sublimi.

Gran disco, gente.

Votazione: 5 di 5 Stelle!![5 di 5 Stelle!!]

Carl Villa

Translated into English by Google (great job lads!):

Here the mancuniani Merchandise to the second record test. Musical beautiful memory that melting pot that was their This Is Merchandise. Within you could find to us of all: post-rock to the Mogwai, eccentric POP to Deep the 500 and strange rhythms always highly heterogenous. Also maintaining un?impostazione similar, ours have opted for a more organic job. The meter of comparison, than comes to me in mind to the flight, is that one of the first jobs of Babybird or also of the varied material of Badly Drawn endured Boy.

Capirete, therefore, that we are orients to you towards sound particularly an intriguer, a sound that I love to define POP?colto? perhaps also?aristocratico, a po? in order to distinguish it from much triviality they trades. Lo-Tech Solutions, therefore, appears the job?evoluto? of two genietti of the sort (Brad and Conrad), able to space from sure folkotronica uggiosa (neologism used for the compound between folk and electronics), in order to arrive until to a POP apparently (de)strutturato, but always in a position to hitting with simply sublime melodie.

Great disc, people.

Voting: 5 of 5 Stars!! [ 5 of 5 Stars!! ]

Carl Villa

http://www.logo-magazine.com/albums/display.asp?AlbumID=3344

As that title suggests, this is a musical marriage rich in contrast and one seemingly fraught with impenetrability. Yet somehow deep amidst the meandering six-strings and tinkering synth patterns Merchandise have pulled ‘Lo-tech Solutions To Hi-Tech Problems’ into an impressive and commercially vibrant rack of chill-out acoustica that splits its time nicely between The Beta Band and Rae & Christian. Psychedelic in tone, it sways between the two camps of lo-fi and electro-wizardry, never once toppling headily into either, instead it blazes through 12 songs of burnt sunsets and gentle comedowns. Subsequently ‘Lo Tech Solutions…’ paints Merchandise as a duo creatively sparking and with a pop-savvy second to none.

3½/5 Pete Steel

Acoustic ambience meets the electronic age.

‘Beautiful Morning for a Bad Day’ is without doubt the standout track on this highly progressive work. Lolloping drum loops and acoustic guitar riffs bounce around the room leaving you with a warming glow inside.

‘14:53′ is not far behind. Its tranquil idylls suggest this is the band that other contemporaries could be if they had the balls to sponge other musical influences.

Merchandise are a band that can not, and probably have no desire too, be labelled under any particular musical bracket other than their own unique one.

www.manchesteronline.co.uk

LOCAL lads Brad B Wood and Conrad Astley are plainly a duo of the chalk and cheese variety, one supplying breezy, naïve guitar pop and the other jazzy rhythms and cheesy electronica.

That hi-tech, lo-fi collision is nothing new, but more often than not it is done here with flair, witness the engagingly simplistic 14:53 or the strange Winter with its quirky human percussion.

Only when they strive for more sophisticated results, such as For The Shore, do Merchandise miss the mark.

Otherwise, this is electronic music with evidence of heart and soul.

3/5

Paul Taylor

BADLY Drawn Boy, Peter Kay, Sara Cox, Sam Allardyce… The list of Bolton ’s cultural icons goes on, and low we have yet more claimants to the crown of the town’s next big thing.

Merchandise are Brad B Wood and Conrad Astley, whose forthcoming album Lo-Tech Solutions to Hi-Tech Problems is about to hit the shops.

And very good it is too, although comparisons with the aforementioned Badly Drawn Boy are perhaps inevitable.

That’s largely down to the nice use of acoustic guitar patterns allied to intelligent drum loops sometimes sampled from vocals and the fact that Brad sounds not unlike Damon Gough. He’s not a singer in the U2/Coldplay/Keane mould but his laidback approach has a warmth which suits the song fine.

There is some lovely craftsmanship at work here. Haunting melodies; stellar landscapes; scratchy samples from outer space… pick the cliches accordingly, but they aren’t entirely inaccurate.

And accomplice Roger Williams’ intelligent lyrics (Echolalia mourns the breakdown of a relationship over a trans-Atlantic phoneline) are striking and original.

Highlights include Beautiful Morning For A Bad Day, Winter and the blissed-out Morning After, but then the whole album is a seamless pleasure.

Lo-Tech Solutions to Hi-Tech Problems won’t leap out and grab you by the vitals, but it might just creep up from behind and smother you with its fuzzy warmth.

Andy Scoble

Never has an intro been so deceiving, the skiffle-psychedelic-reggae-jazz fest instrumental promises things which don’t happen later. Instead the group opt for a laid-back, collection of lazy summer anthems.

The crossover of acoustics and electronica – it’s a tried and tested formula which hardly gets the excitement pumping, but Merchandise pull it off remarkably well, creating a sound they can distinctively call their own.

‘Lo-Tech..’ teases like a poppier, more chart friendly Simian, full to the brim with early Badly Drawn Boy oddities, and future-folk sensibilities. They combine lush melodies & grand technical capabilities with a refreshingly cute inventiveness.

Armed with a vocalist who is the spit for a young Sam Prekop, not to mention the constant swopping of instruments like they are going out of fashion, the album makes for an incredibly diverse listen.

A collage of sounds, varied genres and a flawless talent for writing brilliant pop songs. Summer is finally here and Merchandise are the soundtrack.

7/10