It begins with nostalgia soaked crooning, lulling us back into the Fifties mindset, into steel rimmed glasses and short flat haircuts. Behind it a transistor crackles into life and it’s Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong announcing a successful launch. This is followed by the most lithium-soaked bubble of heavily reverbed guitars rolling along dreamily, almost underwater without a care in the world. And this is the flow of Get a Room, it’s strictly horizontal listening without at all being sexual, where Morricone samples, strange field recordings, low key be bop and dark atmospheres all merge into one floating tapestry of inebriated drifting sound. There are no track titles, just 26 tracks clocking in at 70 odd minutes; a surreal subdued half asleep mix party. Sad Fifties torch songs, chilled dub, a self help cure for shyness and all manner of cool instrumental grooves alongside weird atmospheres. It’s a fittingly strange and beautiful project to announce Extreme Records return to the world after a lengthy hiatus following the infamous Merzbox. But Get a Room couldn’ be more different from Merzbow. It’s all self consciously dated, feeling like an audio representation of nostalgic half forgotten memories from a resident at an old persons home who’ been mistakenly double dosed. It’s glorious stuff, so beautifully stoned, Mr Geoffrey and JD Franzke have hit upon a gentle form of nostalgic oblivion that is nothing short of intoxicating.
Bob Baker Fish
