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Kohalik Ja Kohatu 3

review by dave heaton

Kohalik Ja Kohatu 3 is the Seksound label’s third various-artists survey of Estonia’s indie-pop/rock scene. What’s that, you didn’t know Estonia has a ‘scene’? It does, and a rather healthy, exciting one at that, based on the evidence here. Some of these bands have released excellent albums on Seksound: the funny/sad pop group Bad Apples, the lush and dreamy Honey Power, the trippier Picnic, guitar architects Lack of Eoins, the always surprising, eclectic group Ans.Andur. All contribute excellent b-side-type songs in their own styles.

That’s only five of the 20 bands on this compilation, though, leaving 15 other bands, a diverse lot. There’s the guitar jam of Moose’s instrumental “Luhtunud Laulatus”, which sounds by turns haunted, sad, uplifting and delicate; UnCandy’s cooler-than-cool spaced-out synth-pop song “Lovecool”; Tolmunud Mesipuu’s diverse and jazzy instrumental “Lõpus Hakkab Sadama”and Wrupk Urei’s “Spirituaal”, which goes from warped blues to doo-wop to haunted-house organ jam to an elegy played on a lone piano.

A lot of the band on Kohalik, and on Seksound, have approaches rooted in ‘90s US and UK alt-rock – in shoegaze, dudes-with-guitars indie-rock, lush dreampop and DIY indie-pop – but they always make it sound fresh and new. They put their own stamp on familiar styles. The best of these bands seems willing to follow their muse just about anywhere.

{www.seksound.com}


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