Reviews of all our albums pre: @Low Tech Solutions to Hi Tech Problems’

Reviews of Swallowing Curses

From Angryape

http://www.angryape.com/reviews/382

‘Swallowing Curses’ was originally available in 2002 as a 7” single, but after the naturally warm reception that the recent Merchandise second album, ‘Lo-Tech Solutions to Hi-Tech Problems’ aroused, Cityscape have reissued the former release.

Although ‘Swallowing Curses’ pre-dates the duo’s present state of affairs, it shares all the intriguing and thoughtful qualities of its newer brother. It is still the Merchandise who love to practice melodic indie, with an obsession for electronic hardware and interesting noises - they end with an impressively diverse sound, that both utilises the most from technology in an exciting way, but is also four minutes of sheer pop brilliance.

‘Terracotta Caterpillar’ not only has the most unfortunate title for a b-side bar none, it’s also their instrumental faux-ragga hit, albeit performed by a Blackpool nightclub entertainer. It too may be the first instance, in where swirling beer-gardan organs have been combined with the rough r ‘n’ b beats of Sizzla. Few share the ideas of Merchandise, but then few make such great music.

7/10

Paul W.

From UK Music Search

http://www.ukmusicsearch.co.uk/reviews/merchandise.asp

With its blend of acoustic guitars, lo-fi keyboard effects, electronic drum beats and very English sounding vocals, SWALLOWING CURSES, has the definite feel of left field indie rock in the vein of The Fall or Belle and Sebastian. There are even moments that this sounds reminiscent of 80s synth pop like Soft Cell or The Human League, that same kind of dry vocal delivery and electro beats.

At its heart, this is catchy old school indie rock, with hook laden vocal
melodies and big choruses, that hark back to late eighties downbeat indie rock.

TERRACOTTA CATERPILLAR, an instrumental has more of that eighties feel. Lo-fi sounding beats and synth melodies play against acoustic guitars in a wave of electro sounding nostalgia.
Merchandise sound like a band with one foot back in the eighties and one foot heading for the future, definite old school electro beats crossed with a quirky turn of phrase and a real ear for catchy melodies. An intriguing couple of songs that will leave you hungry to hear more.

From Losing Today

http://www.losingtoday.com/tales.php

For those who missed it the first time around, us included, another chance to sample the delights of Bolton’s finest duo Merchandise’s earlier output with this re-release of 2002’s ‘Swallowing Curses’. Already confirmed as Singled Out house favourites following their glorious ‘Beautiful morning for a bad day’ single and this years charmingly addictive second long player ‘Lo-tech solutions to Hi-tech Problems’ which we in our humbled opinion thoroughly recommend you withdraw now to your local caring and sharing record shed to purchase.

‘Swallowing Curses’ sees the Merchandise duo Brad and Con furrowing the tranquil yet seductive scenic route between the hilly pastures occupied by J Xaverre and Minotaur Shock for some more oodles of scrumptious ethereal pop, delicately hypnotic their brand of acoustic folk electronics is all at once captivating and warmingly fluffy.

Lyrics written by sometime band collaborator Roger Williams, ‘Swallowing Curses’ glides softly to moments defined by the exquisitely sizzling faraway elegance of the ‘La Folie / Feline’ era Stranglers all tripped by scuttling dusty beats and honey drenched China Crisis ‘Wishful Thinking’ like backdrops, cruelly gorgeous. Flip over for ‘Terracotta Caterpillar’ to be treated to a spot of spectral click crazy beat bopping upbeat magic, think of a heavenly overture for the passage into the afterlife devised by a cryogenic Boards of Canada collaborating with Plone and being played by an assembled cast of 70’s children’s TV test card boffins led by the Clangers, quite sweet in a starry eyed kind of way.

From Diskant

http://www.diskant.net/columns/simon_minter/

First up there’s Swallowing Curses, a re-released 7″ by Merchandise, who have a little bit of the Badly Drawn Boy/Flaming Lips about them here. Now, I’d usually take that as an insult, so I’ll explain - what I mean is that it’s an ‘up’-sounding poppy tune, based around simple guitar and wry vocals, augmented with sampled drums and dinky keyboard sounds. Read into that description what you will. In fact, don’t - I’ll tell you what to think. This is a pleasant and accomplished, sleepy-sounding slice of niceness.

Simon Minter

From I Really Love Music

http://www.ireallylovemusic.co.uk/singles.html

excellent 2 track 7″ from the merchandise crew, a re-release due to the attention on their recent album. ’swallowing curses’ is a cool little track with a twist in the sonic ointment. the beats are a mixture of real and electronics, with acoustic guitars strummed all delicately prior to the fuzz petal being pressed. a nice collision of classic pop styles and cooler than thou electronica infused pop. whereas, lovely b-side ‘terracotta caterpillar’ is a full on folktronica instrumental groove which is all fine and dandy, with its not-so broken beats and synths adding a nice ambience to any sunny day.

From Vanity Project

http://www.vanityproject.co.uk/

The slight lisp in the vocals on ‘Swallowing Curses’ teases a Daniel Johnston comparison but Merchandise are nowhere near as stark. Theirs is an electro-pop journey over an idle acoustic strum and terse, clandestine electric guitar fuzz. Lo-fi ethics with hi-fi delivery and a pop dream, it’s a treat but bettered for my money by b-side instrumental ‘Terracotta Caterpillar’ which reminds me of 16B’s low-key indie-trance effort ‘Water Ride’. Busy, yet relaxed and really excellent stuff. And I have confidence they can do even better yet.

Skif

From Roofdog E-zine

http://members.lycos.co.uk/roofdog/singlesbar.html

Brad B. Wood… he sound to be in charge of the ickle record company ‘Cityscape.’ He also sound to be a musical genius armed with a vision so charming and unadulterated you have to hear the music that he makes with mate Conrad Astley under the guise of Merchandise.

So they’re a twosome from Bolton. Nothing bizarre sounding about that. Their music is a different story though, in a different realm from any peers, as the title track of this 2-song demo is introduced by a cool drum-&-feedback soundscape before Brad’s lush acoustic guitar strums in and their Alt-pop poetry warms the heart, chilling the mood and allowing you to just relax and ponder. Life.
While the chorus cuts to a gorgeously melodic instrumental section, Merchandise somehow evoke the bountiful sounds of bands akin to Shack, Lowcraft and - albeit lesser so - Turin Brakes. Not that these 2 guys are folkies in any way, taking lo-fi ideas and ideals and making them sound as professional and as deliciously charming as possible with keyboards, programming and sampling ushered in for even better measure.

So lush, such a superb sound… the uplifting melancholy of ‘Swallowing Curses’ then steps into ‘Terracotta Caterpillar’ (that quirkily sounds as though it really should be the title of a Fonda 500 song), that’s an upbeat instrumental cut-up by Brad’s acoustic guitar. The feeling is like falling in love, as Brad and Conrad innovate to their hearts’ content. They have the technology and imaginations, and fortunately aren’t afraid to use either, as this instrumental ranks alongside Belle & Sebastian’s ‘Electronic Renaissance’ and David Bowie’s ‘Career in a New Town’ as being one of my favourites.

What’s more, Brad even sends along a teabag with the demo so you can enjoy both simultaneously - in perfect, blissful harmony.
Merchandise of this quality is priceless…
(Contact: Cityscape Records, PO BOX 149, Bolton BL2 4FL)
Email: brad@cityscaperecords.co.uk

From: The Exclusive issue #8

The fifth release from Manchester’s Cityscape and the first I’ve heard. Merchandise are the band of label honcho Brad B. Wood, along with Conrad Astley. They took a few listens for me, their mixture of acoustic led tunes over electronica made for a difficult time. The melodies are upbeat, contrasting with the dark backing Boards of Canada electronic ambience. Persevere though and the d&b beats and acoustic clash make sense.

From: Ambient Trance E-Zine

A bit off topic, but delightfully so . . . lovely electronic quirk-pop from brad b. wood and conrad astley (with drum sample help from rob turner) is of Ween-esque unpredictability and crisp/sweet production. This two track (though still stylistically wandering) teaser mixes jangling strings, various electronic incarnations and light beatronics with wryly, dryly thought provoking vocals (in the opening title track Swallowing Curses anyway). Instrumental terracotta caterpillar(2:56) layers semi-liquid keyboarding with catchy (yet a tad melancholy?) accompaniment of bass, drum and more. Makes me want to hear more! B+

From: Synthetics E-Zine

Das kleine englische Label “Cityscape” bietet uns ihr aktuelles Output zur Review ann . . . da sagen wir nicht nein. Bei Marchandise handelt es sich um (ebenfalls) eine kliene Band die noch zum grossten Tiel als echter Musiker fungieren. Ihr sound beseht aus einem “Peace Love and Harmony” Alternative Rock, der mit Hilfe von Elektronikzusatzen etwas in Richtung Ulver feat. Radiohead tendiert. Grossensteils entspannend wirkt die platte sicherlich auch wegen der beruhigenden Stimme von Brad, der nebenbei auch noch fur den bass und die Akustikgitarre zustandig ist. Also mal sehen was daraus wird, dies ist jedenfalls schon mal sehr interessant und gut.

Wertung: 77%

And now in English translated by www.worldlingo.com

The small English label “Cityscape” offers its current output to us to
the Review ann. . . there we do not say no. With Marchandise it acts around (likewise) kliene volume still to the
grossten Tiel as genuine musicians functions itself. Their sound beseht from a “Peace Love and Harmony” alternative skirt, by Elektronikzusatzen the something toward Ulver feat. Radiohead tends. Large part relaxing the plate works surely also because of the
reassuring voice of Brad, that besides fur the bass and the acoustic guitar is zustandig also
still. Thus times see which from it becomes, this is anyhow already times very interesting and good.

Valuation: 77%

Reviews of This is . . . Merchandise (album)

From: Paint Box Fanzine

The debut CD by Bolton duo Merchandise is characterised by an eclecticism of the most intriguing sort. Moving from Fall-esque sneers to the most machine tooled of beats within the same time signature displays a welcome air of mischief to proceedings. The group try out genres piled song high with commendable bravado; songs like the clockwork R ‘n’ B of ‘Black Russian’ tap into a fairytale sleaze that British electronica rarely captures. Similarly, the jovially titled, ‘Hi Honey, I’m Home’ nestles quietly alongside the fragilities of Tindersticks. There are garish squelchy passages that glory in their whiteout energy and quaint pieces of electro-noir that beat The Wisdom of Harry at their own game. Standout track is the brilliant ‘Shooting Jenny’, with its wah-wah strut and orch-synth flamboyance; somebody release it as a single (preferably on Invicta Hi-Fi!) As the fizzing sinews of ‘Zebedee’ fade, I feel I can hail Merchandise as the new kings of electronic talent. Can’t wait for what will happen next!

Kevin McCaighy

From: Q

“If an early incarnation of the Human League had fired Phil Oakey, replaced him with Mark E. Smith and steered clear of the dancing girls, they may well have ended up sounding like Merchandise.”

From: CITYlife

Under their adopted moniker of Merchandise, Bolton duo Brad B. Wood and Conrad Astley compose some of the most enchanting and eclectic lo-fi noodlings outside the Twisted Nerve stable.

As you’d expect of a duo who appropriated their name from a Fugazi song, the mood of their debut album is both restless and beguiling – sometimes frustratingly so. Veering between quirky lo-fi pop to hazy electronica and visceral punk, the duo’s sonic adventurism is a hypnotic blend of Air’s kitsch pop and Stereolab’s left field dilettantism. Sure, they occasionally wander into self indulgent, sub – Aphex Twin territory, but the quirky playfulness in tracks like ‘Other Thrills’ tends to endear rather than annoy the listener. In fact, the album’s finest tracks are the gentler, near ambient offerings like the melancholic, mesmerising instrumental ‘Hi Honey, I’m Home’ or the Spacemen 3-esque ‘Books’, when the duo’s cogent pop impact proves irresistible.

An inconsistent album sure, but there’s a refreshing charm and deftness of tough here nonetheless.

David Sue 3/5

From: Robots and Electronic Brians – e-zine

At its simplest, ‘this is . . ‘ beatbox pop. At its best, on tracks like the snarling ‘New Resurrection’, ‘This is . . ‘ Bis with real muscles and testosterone or, when the underlying lounge loops take centre stage, ‘This is. . . ‘ John Simms. ‘Hi Honey I’m Home’ substitutes the brawn for stimulation of the cocktail kind and ‘Books’ for acid techno made by torturing a mouse while Pram plink and plonk in a pastoral manner. ‘Short one with Snare’ aside from it’s pleasing brevity and efficiency of title, delights with soft drum and bass and a single, gentle jazz piano chord while closer, ‘Zebedee’ should have been a springy blast confounds by being a beefed up version of the same. It appears that Merchandise have come up with the goods.

From: Re:mote Induction (e-zine)

Merchandise appear young though I know not if this be the case. Their product has the energy of youth. The Manchester based pair have, quite successfully I feel, merged electronica with chunky indiepunkpop. The opening track, running at just over a minute long, coming over like Mark E. Smith in admiration of Bis. This may very well sound stomach churning, most journalistic analogies like this are, however their chunky impetuous jangle falls this, the respectable side of cynical whoredom. It would be so easy for Merchandise to take what they have and market themselves, perhaps with a few over-produced orchestrated numbers, as the next Ash or, god forbid, Younger Younger 28, (yet another contrived gimmicky British indie pop band).

There are five vocal tracks in total leaving the remaining six to their own instrumental devices. Here they counterbalance their edginess with progressively concentric calmness through a kind of 70s cool with hints of nineties click culture, (sort of Stereolab slash Air as they would put it).

This is a curious mix of mediums that blend with careful continuity and pleasing productivity. They may however have problems finding their audience in the middle ground of their subtle diversity and mood variants. I kinda like it but.

Review of CITY-MS-001

From: CITYlife

Merchandise kick up a very palatable, post New Order 80s meets 90s synth pop racket. With surprisingly bouncy production this has the feel of the type of theatrical electronic pop that revolutionised the British charts in the 80s paving the way for the house explosion later in that decade. Merchandise sound like they still have one foot in the era but what the hell, this is a bubbly and ultimately forgettable pop delight.