No other record reviewed on SCQ this year has maintained its enigmatic feel as fully and reclusively as Dustland has. The sophomore album, delicately put forth by Finnish brothers Samu and Ville Kuukka, is a low-key but stirring affair that delivers more with each listen. From out of that record’s shadows, The Gentleman Losers discuss Dustland, their recent remix for Bibio, and some favourites of the year.
SCQ: What have been some of your favourite records of 2009? Gush away.
We haven't really been up to date regarding new releases this year, i have to admit. We often find ourselves listening to older stuff. We've been playing Lee Hazlewood's Cowboy In Sweden quite a bit. Scott Walker has found his way on my record player a lot, especially Scott 4. And i'm personally mad about Les Baxter's exotica stuff from the 50s and 60s.
More recent stuff that we've enjoyed:
Little Hells by Marissa Nadler
Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle by Bill Callahan
You Can Have What You Want by Papercuts
A Woman A Man Walked By John Parish & PJ Harvey
Silence Of Love by Headless Heroes
Ambivalence Avenue by Bibio
SCQ: Be it from the radio, lost on Myspace or from your roster, what song(s) could you not stop spinning?
This one's easy: Future Primitive by Papercuts, from the aforementioned album. Man, i wish i'd written that guitar hook!
SCQ: Seldom celebrated but crucial to The Album’s identity is cover-art. Can you offer any shortlist of personal favourites from the past year?
Cover art is hugely important. It's all part of the concept known as the record album, which is also our chosen art form. I'm pretty happy with the artwork of our own Dustland. But what else... Memoirs At The End Of The World by The Postmarks comes to mind. The Eraser by Thom Yorke was wonderful too. I'm sure there were many others that i can't recall now.
SCQ: When you look back on what transpired this year, what will stand out as your most memorable professional moment(s) of 2009?
The release of Dustland, clearly. It took such a long time to get it out - not a matter of artistic block, but just a question of logistics, really. We're really happy with it, too. We wanted to take our vision further and i think Dustland is more of a whole than our debut was. I think we got the mood right. Then we remixed Bibio - or, actually, reworked. We had a good time doing that.
SCQ: Most of us probably haven’t thought as far as New Years Eve plans but still, looking forward, what do you have on the horizon for 2010?
We will be working on a bunch of projects in 2010: we will be heading back to Berlin to record a new Gentleman Losers album, then we're doing a collaboration with American bass player and composer CJ Boyd, and then there will be another project of more ambient stuff that we have no name for yet.
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