Saturday 7 December 2013

Kate in The Blue House


Kate Douglas sings songs, and she stapled some together into an EP called The Blue House. They're digital staples. It's all digital. It's online. I guess I need to talk about the songs, otherwise it is just a statement of things that are happening on the internet. The Blue House is a lot of things that a great many full length albums are not. It's rich and it is concise. There are five songs, and from beginning to end you want more of everything. The Blue House is a taster plate, but you get the distinct impression you have something very special in front of you.

I've often felt that there aren't enough songs that reference late 19th/early 20th Century Russian physiologist who conducted experiments on orphans and animals. I'm not joking. This is a actual concern that I have had in the past, and Kate Douglas' 'Pavlov' has gone a long way to helping me out with these concerns. It didn't need to be good, but it is. It is the single. This doesn't make it inherently good, but it is.

The thing inside Kate Douglas that made her write 'Pavlov' I think might be similar in nature to the things in side her that made her write the rest. The rest of the EP goes in different directions, but their shared DNA is apparent. She has written songs that are clearly part of a whole experience, but distinct parts of that experience. Lyrically and musically her style has its own legs, and they are legs that I like, but they're primarily about mobility and delivery. The songs make their own way. It would be both fair and accurate to say that Kate Douglas knows her shit.

I wasn't previously familiar with Band Camp, and the best I could get out of those music people that I know is that it isn't iTunes or Google Play, which I'm not sure that I needed the consultation to divine. All you really need to know is that it is incredibly straight forward, and it is less restrictive than the Apple one. I bring all of this up because that is where The Blue House is. I have this thing in my life, and you should have it in yours.

The cover, which is its own magic, was done by Anna Chapman. I spent a little time being voluntarily inundated by what she's put up online, so take a look at that too. I'll be going back.

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