Kyte

Kyte is more from the deep vault of Damien Youth/Robyn Nice projects, and while it's not as distinctive as the Surprise Symphony and Magic Island records the pair have done, it can be easily recommended to those listeners who like those records. For the most part this hovers around the folkier side of the duo's post-Syd Barrett-isms, with that rich, dark psych folk brew typical of their work. If they, like Barrett, sound somewhat depressed and hermetic in their retreat into fuzzy inner landscapes, they don't sound quite bummed out enough to be of danger to themselves or others. It's music to play on rainy autumn days when someone you want to be around isn't here. And there are plenty of such rainy days in England, a country these songs reflect in their melodic folkiness, no matter that Damien Youth has used Louisiana as his base. The folkiness is more in the matter of song structure than instrumentation, actually, since there's plenty of organ and piano, with occasional beguiling electronic effects. "The Cage" sounds especially Pink Floydian in its acoustic guitar-organ combo. By contrast, "Colonies" has the kind of overmodulated fuzz blasts that make you rush to turn the stereo down, especially in this context, where most of the tracks are so gentle and low-key. ~ Richie Unterberger|