Labels: Deep Elm
Review by: Mike Whelan
I’m amazed that for such a small country, Sweden manage to produce lots of good bands. Deep Elm seem to have loads of Swedish bands on their roster, and I must have at least nine or ten albums by various Swedish artists in my collection. Apparently Logh are called “Log” in their own country, but another bunch of genius’s stateside are already called Log, so to avoid confusion, and any hilarious double booking mishaps, Sweden’s Log had to be Logh, if you get what I mean.
Banal name talk aside this is a pretty good album. It gets off to a rather ropey start with the minimalist “In Cold Blood,’ a predominantly acoustic whiney song that just made me want to turn it off. Thankfully things begin to pick up with “Yellow Lights Mean Slow Down, Not Speed Up’ which brings some more upbeat elements into the music, making it a much more attractive listen.
This is the sort of album that blends in well with whatever you are doing. The music is so laid back, so simple, that it merely flits at the back of your conscience. Another interesting (!) fact is that the album was almost entirely recorded at night, and indeed, I could imagine this being a good album to listen to after a stressful day.
One of my favourite tracks on the album is “The Passage’ which predominantly just uses guitar and minimalist drums, despite its simplicity it’s a great song, with quiet, whispered vocals and a nice tune. Other highlights are “Music For Flightrecorders’ and “Off the Ground,’ both very minimal and aching tracks.
I find it difficult to compare Logh t any other band, but this is only because I don’t usually listen to music that is so laid back. If you like quiet, predominantly acoustic, indie music then you should probably give Logh a listen.