Demob Happy

Kid You’ll Move Mountains

8/10

Manitoba’s ‘Up in Flames’ is a bold two fingers to the stale electronica scene and a glorious leap forward. Along with Four Tet’s ‘Rounds’ it has rekindled faith in the one-man-and-his-machine dynamic, dragging the laptop boffin kicking and screaming out of the bedroom and into a psychedelic love-in free-for-all (metaphorically, anyway). A veritable one man band, Canadian Dan Snaith has recorded his own Private Psychedelic Reel in a bombastic tour de force of ‘live’ drumming, spools of sax, treated vocal harmonies, wailing guitar solos, sitas and flutes. Asides from the inevitable comparisons and accusations of plagiarism (early Lips and Mercury Rev have been mentioned, as have My Bloody Valentine), you’ll hear nothing like it this year, from the kaleidoscopic party animal of ‘Skunks’, to the drowsy hues of ‘Jacknuggeted’, and the David Axelrod-meets-Roni Size of ‘Twins’. Heartfelt and head-hammering at the same time, it’s a raw, eccentric triumph.