Special Request

Bedroom Tapes

BY Daniel SylvesterPublished Jun 27, 2019

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In perhaps the most mundane reason for a "lost album" ever, Bedroom Tapes, the second of four LPs that Special Request (aka Paul Woolford) will release this year, was compiled from music that the British musician recently found while moving into a new home.
 
But the pure joy of Bedroom Tapes comes from discovering just how confident Woolford sounded early on in his musical career. Released less than a month after his tight and powerful LP Vortex, the eight tracks that make up Bedroom Tapes show Woolford hitting a lot of the same sonic pressure points. Songs like "Shoreline," "Entropy" and "Phosphorescence" all work off of echoed drum beats, bouncy bass lines and hop-along synth noodling.
 
Much of the collection rotates through similar RPMs and pulls from the same blueprint, with the repetitive 12-minute "Xenopsin" being the worst offender. Although Bedroom Tapes isn't a great jumping off point to demonstrate what Special Request does best, tracks like the throbbing "Thermatropic" and the joyous "Double Rainbow" make this "forgotten" collection a worthy listen for long-time fans.
(Houndstooth)

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