Caspian

"I Wonder/Under A Capricorn Sky" is Single of the Week!

The good people at Boomkat gave Sleeping States single of the week:

scroll down a wee bit to read it on the main page

and here is what they had to say about the single:

New labels are always tough to market… I mean how are you supposed to play it now in a world where we are perpetually told that music is worthless and we are moving further and further into a digital age? Well I’ll tell you how, you’ve just got to forget the nay-sayers and follow your heart – do what you think is right and for the right reasons, and chances are if it means that much to you then people might notice, and that’s exactly what I get the feeling is happening with the lovely new Caspian label. Coming from a mysterious base in London, the first thing that you’ll notice about this debut 7” from the label is just how unbelievably lush the packaging is. With a master-bag sleeve designed by Islamic script-artist Jila Peacock and embossed and glossed white on white (you have to see it to believe it, trust me) there’s a sense that you are investing in something collectible even before you hear the music…and then you play the record. I can’t say I was familiar with Sleeping States (the pseudonym of Londoner Markland Starkie) before I heard this 7” but darn, talk about being struck down – as soon as I’d heard the opening guitar break on ‘Under a Capricorn Sky’ I knew I had found a new love. This is gorgeous music in the vein of Vincent Gallo’s almost peerless ‘When’ album, simple, romantic guitar melodies embalmed by Starkie’s unique wavering falsetto, it’s the sort of music that if we still made tapes for our girlfriends/boyfriends we’d probably make sure was on there, at the start… and maybe at the end as well. All this and ‘Under a Capricorn Sky’ is the B-Side? Well the A-Side ‘I Wonder’ is a more upbeat number, for some reason reminding us of an acoustic Autolux or the quieter moments of the Pixies, and you just can’t help but be drawn in by its gorgeous hooks. Without a doubt one of the best 7“s we’ve heard all year and the beginnings of a little label that promises big things indeed… Limited to 500 copies only, and really quite sublime…. Buy!

28/07/07