The Secretly Canadian Newsletter

On the follow-up to her much-lauded debut Sweet Heart Fever, Scout Niblett has pretty much wiped the slate clean. A collection of songs that are minimal in their structure and arrangement, but complex in their passion of execution, I Conjure Series is a raw and bold excursion into the poetic universe of a vagabond of the new world. Comprised of seven songs on which she performs all the instruments (four are drums & vocals songs, two are guitar and vocals songs, and one is vocals-only) this mini-album was recorded live in Glasgow, Scotland at Chem19 Studios, just a train ride from Ms. Niblett’s hometown of Nottingham, England. On “Gymnastic (Fall Over)” she kicks open the saloon doors screaming “Let’s go! Let’s go!”. She’s on the drum-kit banging away like a chimp in a sandbox talent show. But how best to experience this playground romp? Walk too close to the sandbox and you might get goosed — yet if you’ve got the gall to stand like a voyeur behind the fence-line of the yard, you might get a cat-turd hurled in your direction. And she’s all teeth & smiling! With a record like this, it’s probably best to just jump on in whole hog without deliberation. A new drummer, Scout Niblett comes from the Half Japanese school of music-making, one which heralds the amateur’s capacity for imaginative experience. The result is a record that sounds like it takes as much from blues legend Elizabeth Cotten as it does post-punkers Huggy Bear. I Conjure Series is a playful record, but also a very serious one. Songs are dressed innocently, but bear heavy emotional tidings. The album is being released by Too Pure in Europe. Her second full-length is being recorded by Steve Albini in Chicago, IL and is slated for an early 2003 release.

Tracks

Gymnastic (Fall Over)

Linus

Kira Kira Boshi

Rimsky To The Rescue

New Beat Part 1 (Raking)

Makka Ni Moeru

Landing Strip