Ed Pinset in Soundprojector / Broken.Heart.Collector

Ed Pinsent, http://www.thesoundprojector.com
If I was hearing Broken Heart Collector (DISCORPORATE RECORDS DISREC18) in February or March instead of in the bleak midwinter, Iā€™m fairly sure it would instil certain bittersweet emotions of love and longing. As song lyrics, track titles and images make clear, Broken Heart Collector see love as an elusive force of nature, something mysterious and fleeting that you almost have to hunt down like an animal in the wild. Maja Osojnik is the lead singer of this German five-piece, operating with her English lyrics apart from a Slovenian song called ā€˜Another Heart Bites The Dustā€™, and sheā€™s accompanied by four very talented players with their woodwinds, guitars, electronics and percussion who create interesting and wayward musical backdrops full of mixed chords, odd shapes, and craggy textures, all given an attractive studio burnishing by Oliver Brunbauerā€™s mix. If this record were a sculpture it might be a wild and rugged piece of wood rescued from an ancient tree, its scraggly bark polished and lacquered to perfection. Some listeners may prefer the bandā€™s upbeat mode, as on ā€˜Walk The Dogā€™ which is as lively as anything Henry Cow ever mustered in the Kurt Weill mode with similar instrumentation, although the listenerā€™s forlorn and heartbroken side is well-catered to by long pieces such as ā€˜Love Reclamation Songā€™, a slow dirge wherein Osojnik unburdens her soul. Her voice maintains stern control, but she walks a tightrope across a field of hurt emotions; constrained anger, resignation, self-pity. Mackie Osborne did the excellent cover paintings. Be ye wolf, owl, bat or firefly, this is the next record you should play under a full moon.