Time. Space. Repeat : "Early Transmissions of Time. Space. Repeat" (Lost Children)

Over the last couple of months or so, I have decided to delve into the world of Netlabel's and web-only releases. These albums are usually free to share around but, as I have found, this does not necessarily mean quality suffers. I also decided, since I am fairly new to this, to stick with the labels I knew most about. Lost Children are a UK-based netlabel, that focuses on post-rock/instrumental/shoegaze releases. Their sole aim is to give young, aspiring bands a chance for their records to get to wider audiences, while keeping artistic and legal control.

One of these releases is from London based collective Time. Space .Repeat. "Early Transmissions of Time. Space. Repeat", is a selection of literally hundreds of recordings the band have made over the period of a couple of years and it encompasses everything that goes into making their massive, space-y sound. They seem to be influenced by every important guitar band from the last 20 years, so songs range from shoegaze, epic instrumentals, Sonic Youth style dischord and even some electronic tinged rock.

"Joy" is as good an opener you will ever hear, as two guitars and a bass furiously build things up waiting for the drums to kick in around the 1 minute mark. This track really gets the blood boiling and introduces the components of Time. Space .Repeat.

"Hush" follows and is a little different from the rock heroics of the album opener. It is aptly a quiet number, with barely audible percussion, glockenspiel and some rich vocal harmonies. Lasting well over six minutes, some distorted slide guitar adds a little extra towards the end.

After the distorted, ambient haze of "And The Ghosts Of A Thousand Dolphins Hangs In The Air", comes arguably the album's best track. "Blue Skies and Rain" shows that Time. Space. Repeat know a thing or two about writing a classic pop tune too. As strains of organ begin this track, My Bloody Valentine style guitars soon enter the mix producing a glorious melody. The Morrissey-esque vocals cap things off, but when the track up's tempo things really get moving here.

"Future Song" also shows the band in a different light. Starting off like an excerpt from the "Clockwork Orange" soundtrack, some electronic sounds propel this into and electronic/rock hybrid. With delayed vocals, this comes across like a slower more calcualted Dephece Mode.

Next up, "Mediatationnal" employs those sad, introspective guitar build up's, Explosions In The Sky are famed for, while some disitortion slowly creeps its way into this lovely guitar arrangement. "Blue Sky", follows, and is a brief reprise looping previous track, "Blue Skies and Rain", backwards much like a My Bloody Valentine experiment.

But, with the instrumental "Nothing Hill", Time. Space. Repeat again show some diversity applying an almost 60's style mellotron sound with a driving guitar rythmn, providing another highlight of the album.

"The Fear" features the first vocals for a while and starts like a ballad. Normailty is soon restored as the band finish with a mass of vocals, guitars and drums. "World Awake" ends the album and is a short, but optimistic instrumental piece, bringing back those chiming gloecknspiel sounds.

Overall, as a collection of songs recorded over a long period of time, "Early Transmissions of..." is a surprisingly cohesive album. Attention has been paid to the running order and there is plenty of variety. It doesn't become bogged down with too many instrumentals, which has been a failing of many a band over the last decade. While you can hear many of their influences, there is not one moment when you think it is a blatant rip-off, and in "Blue Skies and Rain" the band have a potential mini-hit on their hands!. This album can be downloaded FREE here.

Rating = 76%