- Just like Scottish whisky, their drink of choice, the crew behind Edinburgh's Firecracker Recordings believes good things take time. When I spoke with the label's founder, Lindsay Todd, for a label of the month feature, he said, "I don't feel it's optimal to get a record out because it's the right time for that sound." It's been six years since his old friend Gavin Sutherland released a solo record as Fudge Fingas. In the meantime, he's patiently chipped away at an expansive new sound.
Pattern Transform, Sutherland's debut EP as Other Lands, sees him at a trailhead, with each of its four tracks acting as divergent trails into the woods. "Descent Into Nasqueron" combines Roland arpeggiation, warm Rhodes and dub production techniques that recall Richard H. Kirk's Sandoz project, while the woozy nostalgia of "Chapel Perilous Closed" looks back to the Scottish ambient kingpins Boards Of Canada. These soundscapes set the scene for the off-kilter house epic "Late Feeling Yourself." Starting as a warm house track, Sutherland seamlessly layers dreamy strings, a wisp of a diva vocal and, eventually, an acrobatic bassline that adds a sense of finality to the affair. It's like one of those early Firecracker records, cask-aged to perfection.
TracklistA1 Descent Into Nasqueron
A2 Chapel Perilous Closed
B1 Late Feeling Yourself
B2 A Paddle Around The Drowned World