TATLMTTW are exactly the kind of band that gave rise to the idea for this column , they made a couple of really good records and then disappeared. Firstly the self-titled release from 2005 that we reviewed here and the follow-up ‘The Island Gospel‘ that we also loved from 2008 (both on Nobody’s Favourite Records).
Number of tracks in the library: 22. Both the albums have survived completely, each song is a scratchy rickety folk song imbued with something indefinable that elevates it above the mundane. The voices of Mark Mandeville and Raianne Richards half narrate the songs which have an allegorical purpose which never gets in the way of the individual songs. Instrumentation is limited to what is necessary, the songs sound like they are recorded live to tape – you can feel the strings vibrate and the harmonies are clear and un-honeyed. At times they sound like a backwoods Low.
Key Release: ‘The Accident That Led Me To The World‘. It’s a tough call to make as both records are excellent. I’m still drawn mostly to the debut, it’s a little sparser, rawer, more elemental – the songs are short vignettes that are gone almost as soon they appear. Mandeville and Richards are now recording as a duo and I’m going to have to check them out.
