The Julius Work Calendar is the new album from Edinburgh based musician Richard Haswell. This album, like all his previous efforts, has been recorded pretty much by himself on either 4 track, or on his laptop, which considering the range of sounds which he has created is a very impressive feat. On the opening song ‘Forest Fear’ he manages to evoke memories of ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ era Pink Floyd, with the rest of the album tending more towards the twisted folk of King Creosote and the more experimental side of James Yorkston. The album’s fourth track is ‘Perfect Parallel’ a bruised ballad, which is followed by ‘Brick By Brick’ which, with its distorted and cracked vocals is the best track on the album. After this, the album takes a welcome instrumental break with ‘Boiler Room’, as if perfectly placed to let Haswell’s voice have a rest after ‘Brick By Brick’. The highlights from the remainder of the album are ‘52nd State’ which sounds a little bit like Rachel Steven’s ‘Some Girls’ (but in a good way), and ‘Lanterns’ which is heavily influenced by acoustic Led Zeppelin. In short, this is one of the best and most varied albums that I have heard all year.
