By Jason Barnard
The past few years have seen some great records that haven’t troubled the charts but have created a lot of noise for those in the know over the interweb. Swiss marvel Balduin is one such artist who’s been quietly creating pop-sike marvels echoing psychedelic British whimsy of the late 60s.
However to categorise him solely in that genre would be unfair and in his songs there’s great examples of the inventive and novel to make him unique.
Before I spread the word on his latest long player it’s worth mentioning the excellent collection that the Active Listener has released. “Post From Mars” collects much of earlier material, my favourites including the infectious “People Do Buy Music”, gorgeous “A Hope For Loving You” and the Air meets Beach Boys sound of “My Love Soon”.
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However he’s kicked up into another gear for his new album “All In A Dream”.
“I Can Hear You’ out will interest Jacco Gardner fans, there’s a touch of Honeybus with “The Music” whilst Gary Usher would be proud to have recorded the lovely “Waves, Star and Moon”. As well as a pop sike sound there’s a West Coast Beach Boys/Sagittarius feel to proceedings and the production is throughout is splendid. Just check out the bouncy “Love Is You”.
Bladuin also mixes this with analogue electronica for “Mirror Mirror”. This really is great stuff so do take a listen:
