Half Film
East of Monument + The Road to the Crater
Hidden Shoal Recordings

Last moonth I checked out single "Machines, Hawks and the Perfect Equation" (taken from The Road to the Crater), unveiling an indeed cool slow-core band. Since I hadn't heard of Half Film until this re-release, I'd better check out their two platters, originally released in 1998 and 2000.

Up (or down) the same alley as Low, Codeine, Galaxie 500, Swell, or Bedhead, you'll find Half Film. This is slow-floating, tranquil, and whispering rock. Half Film were established by Irish siblings (?) Conor and Eimer Devlin in 1995, as a trio along with drummer Jason Lakis. East of Monument, holding 8 songs, was recorded and put out in 1998. The Road to the Crater, 8 songs as well, arrived two years later. When going through their albums some 12-14 after they were made, their second stands out as the better of the two - even though they're quite equal to each other in quality. Nevertheless, the second's got slightly better songs, a sharper, fresher production. All in all, a band 2 years older - more matured.

Of course, their debut's got some decent songs as well, but The Road to the Crater shows a more confident band. If I'm going to pick a few songs, East of Monument's opener, "Weather Patterns" stands out, along with its title track, "Sortition" and the closing "Hang". Off The Road to the Crater I'd say "Machines, Hawks..." is an obvious candidate. Along with "The Mother of All Distance", "Birchwood", "Themselves", and "Stepless".

Both albums are to be released by Hidden Shoal as a double CD on October 31st.

Copyright © 2012 Håvard Oppøyen