Movietone: Day And Night

Bristol, England's Flying Saucer Attack has spawned some odd spin-offs, from the space-rock, jungle and drum-and-bass of Matt Elliott's one-man Third Eye Foundation to the ever-shifting sounds of bassist Rachel Brook's Movietone. The latter band's second full-length, Day And Night, traffics in slow, languid acoustics, with lots of spare pianos, acoustic guitars, and clicking noises. The album isn't as noisy or experimental as its predecessor—or just about anything by Flying Saucer Attack, for that matter—but it's often exceptionally pretty: "Summer," a breathy piano ballad touched by whining violin strings, lingers for seven lovely minutes, while "Blank Like Snow" features little more than Kate Wright's barren vocals, a simple acoustic-guitar melody, and the discernible click of a stop button at the end. The recording quality is deliberately modest, with the album's seven tracks "recorded on an eight-track at the Albany Centre (Cafe Mono) and in houses," but that only adds to Day And Night's spooky charms. It's a great late-night record that lets you in on a little bit more with each successive listen.