HIORTHOY, Kim - My Last Day

HIORTHOY, Kim - My Last Day (Smalltown Supersound Norway) Comentários: In the seven years that have passed since Kim Hiorthoy's still excellent debut album Hei (arguably a forerunner of the now ubiquitous folktronica scene), his reputation as a graphic designer has become the defining aspect of his multi-faceted career. In record sleeve art alone, Hiorthoy has turned out an enormously impressive body of work - particularly for the Rune Grammofon and Smalltown Supersound labels. What's true of both his musical and graphic endeavours is that Hiorthoy has a singular, distinctive voice. Consequently it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that as a musician not too much has been added to or removed from Hiorthoy's sound since Hei, and My Last Day is every bit as homely and lo-fi as its predecessor. Heck, he's even called one of the tracks here 'Same Old Sh*t', which is as insightful a title as it is self-deprecating. However, as 2004's Live Shet proved, Hiorthoy isn't shy of slipping one or two more danceable elements into his delightfully amateurish world of warm, sample-based electronica. The opening track 'I Thought We Could Eat Friends' kicks off with a bit of a Zombie Nation feel to it, which initially comes as something of a surprise, but quickly all the familiar Hiorthoy hallmarks crop up, and by the time you reach 'Skuggan', a folksy ballad comprised of piano and out of tune strings (not to mention the obligatory potting shed beats) you'll find yourself back in familiar territory. When you have a sound as instantly recognisable as Hiorthoy's there's hardly any need for regular overhauls - I for one would much rather he kept loading his MPC with samples from old records and incidental sounds from around his house than if he started using regularly updated, homogenising software like the masses of charmless electronica gearhounds out there. Long may he repeat himself. in boomkat [Para Ouvir/Samples]