The fellow in the Twins cap is Matthew Adam Hart, whose musical alias is The Russian Futurists. His release last year, Our Thickness, really propelled Hart’s critical success, as the album was being touted by the likes of Peter Buck and Graham Coxon. The band has since grown in members and in popularity (their first site was hosted on Geocities!), but Hart’s previous two albums were heavily exposed by blogs, so we certainly aren’t the first ones posting this. I’ve had a bit of a busy day though, so I’ll write this quick bit to expose him to those who haven’t heard him yet. His sound is primarily electronically based, though his pure pop melodies is really what separates him from the rest. He is not really a user of heavy synth, and when I say electronically based, I am referring to his use of samples.
‘Our Pen’s Out Of Ink’ is a nice example of this, as a nice retro sounding grand piano leads over some seagulls and a pair of 50s doo-wop singers. Hart’s vocals are pleasantly fitting, especially in the fan favorite ‘Let’s Get Ready To Crumble’, which somehow manages to be both lush and enjoyably overwhelming at the same moment. ‘Paul Simon’ is very likable as well, with a very nice orchestral sample being used as the chorus. All three of these songs open up the compilation Me, Myself And Rye, which is an early greatest hits of sorts for the Russian Futurists. I would strongly recommend it, as their albums seem to be getting better and better with each new release.
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The Russian Futurists – Our Pen’s Out Of Ink
[audio:https://obscuresound.com/mp3/russ-our.mp3]——————————————
The Russian Futurists – Let’s Get Ready To Crumble
[audio:https://obscuresound.com/mp3/russ-let.mp3]——————————————
The Russian Futurists – Paul Simon
[audio:https://obscuresound.com/mp3/russ-pau.mp3]——————————————
