Just discovered the new release by Slovanian fuzz merchants
Carnaval, Having their last album in my music collection, it was cool to see
they have a brand-spankin' new offering for my ear-hole..
Named "Tennis
Football Basketball" not only for the title track on the album, but also,
I'm guessing, for the interesting packaging the disc resides in. There are 3
different versions of the album. The discs come in either, you guessed it... a Tennis
Ball, a Football or a Basketball printed on them. I dig this kind of creative approach
to a product. Reminding me of the old KISS albums that would come with a
poster in the LP or some kind cool little thing to add to
the experience of the album. Now with music being so randomly
available on the net, that art has been lost. Carnaval haven't lost
that, and its cool to see a band put a little effort into the packaging.
So how does the
album sound? Well, some words that come to my head straight away are retro,
fuzzy, heavy, vintage, classic and just plain cool. Their last album, simply
titled "2" was really good when I heard it,
however, "Tennis Football Basketball" runs circles around it,
the album as a whole really made my jaw drop as I'm sitting here listening to
it. The production is great, really impressive. So far making it the album to
beat for 2012.
~Adam Walsh
