Author Archives: Jo Bell

With their borderline gothic title, stark monochromatic artwork and dark electro sound Death Rattle, aka London based duo Helen and Chris Hamilton, fuse trembling beats with an unearthly, robotic vocal.

Here, they tell us more about their background, upcoming EP and plans to tour.

Welcome to TVD! Please, can you introduce yourselves…

We’re Chris Hamilton and Helen Hamilton from London, and the two of us write and perform together as electronic doom pop duo Death Rattle.

Anything we should know about your name?

It is a medical term that describes the sound produced by someone who is near death when saliva accumulates in the throat.

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Following alt-folk collective Meursault’s riotously acclaimed Edinburgh album launch for Something For the Weakened, the band’s headline set at the one day Thistly Fest possessed an enticing premise.

Held at Belhaven Fruit Farm, on the periphery of Dunbar near Edinburgh, Thistly Fest’s homespun decor – bunting and high school like glittery letters – was a signifier of its overall intimate charm, the warehouse venue playing host to a bill of incredible emerging and established talent.

Early highlights included energetic electro/indie act Capitals, the spell-binding instrumental ensemble Remember Remember and sonic trio FOUND, whose looped electro beats came complete with an impromptu cameo from Meursault frontman Neil Pennycook.

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If Chris James Marr’s musical alias Esperi has been gaining a reputation to date, it’s predominately owed to enveloping, folkish instrumentation and his endearingly soft and clear vocal.

Weaved into each of the twelve tracks on debut album In a Moment, Emotion, Sentiment the result is a stirring collection of songs, all of them heart-warming.

Opening with the eight minute long “Silo in the Fire” whispering wind chimes and tinkling percussion are joined by acoustic guitar and padding drums to whimsical effect. Retaining a captivating energy, orchestral melodies transport the track to a higher plane.

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Featuring two of the finest solo talents to come out of Scotland in recent years, the Rick Redbeard & Adam Stafford collaboration aims to please: split single featuring four wholly enveloping and masterful tracks.

Both are known for their previous work, Stafford as a member of Y’all Fantasy Island and two solo albums, and Redbeard as the front man of alternative folk/rock master The Phantom Band.

Influences of the latter echo strongly through Redbeard’s first number, the charming “Now We’re Dancing,” a simplistically beautiful song patterned with tinkling percussion. His talent for persuasive storytelling comes to fore in “All My Love,” a traditionally tinged, slowly progressive track.

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