Search - Long Fin Killie :: Valentino

Very original Scotch rock music

Cees van Barneveldt | Webster, NY USA | 10/21/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Long Fin Killie was one of the most 'original' and underestimated rock bands of the late nineties. The band is often categorized as 'post rock' but I do not think this fits the bill. The style of music is unique, allthough influences of the shoegaze movement (My Bloody Valentine) and Celtic folk music are audible, both in style and instrumentation; dense fuzzladen and sometimes noisy guitar sounds are integrated with hammer dulcimer, bouzouki, violin and sax in order to create richly textured dreamscapes. Long Fin Killie describe their own music not as a mixture of styles but "as the tangible musical realisation of moods and impressions invoked by a range of life's experiences some of them musical." And indeed, this music is rather impressionistic and melodic and almost every song evokes a range of different emotions in the listener. The texts are very poetic and border on the politically correct (racism, sexism). The singer has a very remarkable and fragile voice; the introverted way in which he delivers his songs has a very calming influence on me.This CD contains twelve great songs, all composed well and executed perfectly by great musicians. Some of the the songs will stick in your head for days: Pele, Girlfriend, Cupid.If you like Pavement or My Bloody Valentine you will definitively like this CD."

Long Live Long Fin Killie

Cees van Barneveldt | 10/28/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A solid album. Valentino and Hands and Lips are superb. It's frightening to say it, but these guys were way ahead of the pack. I sometimes wonder how much of it is a narration (if any) of singer Luke Sutherland's novel "Jelly Roll." I've never been to Scotland, but something's going on up there that smacks of a renaissance...maybe beginning with the Jesus & Mary Chain. Anyway, this album is well conceived, played, and uses all the tools it needs to achieve very high ambitions.Massive."