Recently, in his Freak Scene column, Sam Hockley-Smith made an unlikely comparison between '80s New York No Wave mainstay 99 Records and contemporary Wirral, England producer Matt Barnes, aka Forest Swords, arguing that both, at bottom, specialize in a form of contemporary dub music. "The Weight of Gold," a track from Forest Swords' debut LP, actually sounds a lot like Auto-Tuned, post-rock chamber music for the first two minutes or so. But then it takes a turn for something altogether more soulful and off-kilter, combining drunkenly stumbling drums with delayed guitar and sheaths of gritty atmosphere in such a way that the whole package sounds perpetually on the verge of falling out of step with itself. Engravings is out August 26th via Tri Angle.
