Rock and Pop: Record of the Week - Dictaphones vol. 1 - Emit Bloch
Published: 25 February 2010
by ROISIN GADELRAB
THIS choice has nothing to do with the charming handwritten note that tumbled out of the envelope with this album. Dictaphones has the kind of rough quality that can fool the listener into thinking a vinyl has crept into the CD player. In truth the distortion is a result of Bloch’s rejection of glossy production, instead recording straight into a dictaphone. Americana is everywhere now but none so raw as this, and quite possibly the better for it.