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Half Cousin - Country Cassette (Gronland)
UK release date: 12 April 2004
Half Cousin - Country Cassette
Living on the fringes of society, geography and sanity always throws up works of oddball genius. Half Cousin are no exception. Coming from the Orkneys this duo inhabit the same sphere of musical head revolution that fuelled The Beta Band, Beck, Tom Waits and My Bloody Valentine.

This is a tune that stumbles in from the allotment with tunes sprouting at odd angles in a tumble of junk instruments, fuzzed bass and dreamy weirdness. Like The Langley Schools Project, Half Cousin have an unhinged, naïve homemade quality that sits fresh and untainted.

Country Cousin then is all rustic loveliness and sinister undertones tussling for affection, as Kevin McCormack lulls oddball lines ("frozen like a country cassette on the banks of some motorway") as if they were the most normal thing in the world. McCormack's uncle, who books Irish country bands in Orkney, apparently inspired the song, which still doesn't account for the dreamy air of alchemy hovering over this foggy little gem. This is a tune that crawls around in your ear, burrowing deep with its magical mystery, and sounds in dire need of a good oil. Make Half Cousin part of your extended family.

BUY Half Cousin - Country Cassette

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