Damon & Naomi
The Sub Pop Years (Sub Pop)
Oh goody! Following on from last year’s welcome re-issue of their very fine debut More Sad Hits, comes this nigh on ESSENTIAL compilation of what Damon & Naomi did next.
Signed to Sub Pop (I know, the title was a bit of a giveaway), they made four fine albums between 1995 and 2002. And they continue mining the rich vein of dreamy beauty that started when there old band Galaxie 500 released ‘Tugboat’ back in 1988. For a band who weren’t even sure if they wanted to be a band, much less play live, they seemed to have grown in confidence as the years went by.
Including a couple of very classy covers – their takes on Tim Hardin’s ‘Eulogy To Lenny Bruce’ and Tim Buckley’s ‘Song To the Siren’ (the latter giving both the original and This Mortal Coil’s famous cover a good run for their money) it also contains original songs that sell them to you and you will want to play again and again. If forced to pick a highlight I would probably pick the almost painfully sublime ‘The New World.’
These are songs for cold winter nights, and yet the beauty is such that it will warm your heart. They continue to record and perform, and that’s great news for the world at large.
Ed Jupp
