Mattress is the project of Portland, OR resident Rex Marshall. This set was recorded live on the radio and Rex's voice and keyboards are accompanied by a live drummer. What we have here is incredibly low and sexy crooning over instantly memorable bass lines and synth riffs. Possible points of reference: Alan Vega doing his best Elvis impersonation, dare I say a touch of New Order. Anyway, this thing has barely left my car's tape deck in the last month (everything I review is spun at least once without distraction on the Hi-Fi at home, in addition to any car play). I still can't tell if there is downwards pitch-shifting on the vox, but if there is I imagine it is only used slightly. This man sings LOW! All of these songs are fully realized and I imagine Mattress is going places (if they're not there already). I've been singing these songs in the shower.
The Selda Bagcan release is a bootleg reissue of the Turkish psych legend's early singles from the early 70s. These recordings are more traditional and acoustic than the one's found on on the Love, Peace and Poetry: Turkey compilation or her Selda album that was reissued by Finders Keepers. The music on this release comes from a CD released only in Turkey, so these tracks will most likely be new to fans. All ten of the tracks are outstanding and very moody. If you've never been exposed to Selda's mesmerizing music, at four dollars, this ain't a bad place to start.
eggyrecords.blogspot.com
mattressmusic.com
progressive.homestead.com/SELDA.html
Posts
