For all those looking for thrumping dance beats or quick, cheap, mainstream, radio-friendly thrills, look away now. But if, “The shape of ‘LP:2′ has a variety of contrasts. It is still a journey in form but it has more hills and valleys, different terrain and a stranger climate - a bit like New Zealand,” tickles your adventurous fancy; if you regard music as an art form capable of painting the most graphic images; queue here.

Nick Powell (ex-Strangelove) of Oskar has drawn inspiration from a psychiatric institution in Madrid, a Dadaist phonetic poem by Hugo Ball, sound tracking films, art exhibitions, catwalks, sound installations, Steve Reich and Michael Nyman. He is helped on this journey by Jonny Daw(Death By Milkfloat, Collapsed Lung), and by ‘notional third member’ cellist and occasional vocalist Sarah Wilson (previous collaborations with Tndersticks and Belle and Sebastian).

‘Paper Cuts’ bursts into sharp instrumental relief with low keyboards notes gradually emerging from underneath, before the rappy vocal and clicking fingers commence the narrative. A steady percussive rhythm then takes up residence and tracks to the end of this unusual and interesting song. ‘Eden’ is a brief, beautiful, wandering piece of music comprising of piano and the most subtle strings. It reminds me of a soundtrack to one of those sad French movies. During the later stages it bursts into life briefly before falling back to its piano ways. Gorgeous. ‘Reichenbach Falls’ takes on the Dadaist Hugo Ball phonetic poem to create the most extraordinary (but surprisingly accessible) musical experience here. ‘Some Song’ is a spoken word song featuring Sarah Wilson. Instruments fairly rush along with a strong percussive and guitar presence;imagine an erratic heartbeat; with Sarah chasing and eventually catching up at the close. ‘Ha De Llegar’ is played in storytelling style and one can imagine the storyteller sitting in front of a crowd of fascinated little children seated on the floor in raptured concentration. Fairground type instrumentals complete another unusual but charming picture.

‘Two Sugars’ initially reveals a pitch black ambience, including warped sounds, before it begins to resemble a gently winding mountain stream through its use of fragile piano notes and twinkling keys, which eventually fade in the distance. Beautiful. ‘Printer Tzara’ takes on a kind of folk vibe with another Sarah vocal just audible through the instrumental fog.  Occasionally it emerges and eventually it wins. ‘Hi-Beam Blue’ is the album’s major highlight which opens with twinkling piano notes that fade into the distance and return as the rocky instrumental rush takes over to indicate some calamitous event. Then things calm to perhaps reflecting the immediate aftermath of the event when everything goes deathly quiet. Then the rock rush starts up again in more earnest to perhaps mirror the realisation of the dreadful event that’s taken place - the after-shock. Amazing!

‘Simple Lines’ moves along at medium pace driven by strings and then there’s an extended period of silence and I have to check to see if I’ve missed something in the track listing. Suddenly birds begin to quietly twitter and the mournful sound of a piano gradually emerges along with weird sound samples. Strings then appear as the piece treads a glacially slow and thoughtful path. The piano returns and birds twitter again this time with more clarity; as though someone has been awoken out of a deep sleep. ’Sanatorio’ ends up being one of the moving and graphic pieces of music I have ever heard.

LP:2 is no ordinary album. It creates pictures of sadness, life and death which are so graphic that in the still of silence that follows the music’s completion, one just remains motionless in thought. Certainly in my experience, this seldom happens. LP:2 is a genuinely moving and unique musical experience.

4.5/5