Recorded over a staggering 7 years in various churches throughout bonnie Scotland, The Douglas Firs is the brainchild of just one man, Neil Insh, with a host of friends mucking in for good measure. The results are a tantalizing mixture of intriguing field recordings, ambient electronica, and lo-fidelity crooning. Haunting Through really has to be digested as a whole. Each song floats through musical hoops so delicately that casual listeners may suggest the arrangements are non-existent, but invest the time that this EP deserves and repeat listens will unveil it to be a beautiful journey with twists and turns and most importantly, breathing space. Rolling drums, guitars, fiddles, piano, and brass sit comfortably alongside synthesizers and electronic beeps and blips with harmonious vocals tying it all together. The field recordings adding an inimitable quality to the proceedings intertwined throughout each composition. If this writer was a lazy journalist then comparisons to Sufjan Stevens, or the avant-garde splendour of much of Jim O’Rourke’s work may be sited but I’m not lazy, no siree! This is a brave debut, delightfully in a world of its own.
Free / donation download at http://thedouglasfirs.bandcamp.com/
- Monoganon - 28 October 2013
- Randan Discotheque - 1 February 2013
- The Voluntary Butler Scheme - 4 August 2011