It takes a concerted effort not to judge this album by its cover, and opener "People's faces" does a pretty good job at shifting one's attention from the hideous, frightening artwork to the intricacies of Keith Canisius' music. Then you get about halfway into the song and you're not sure why it hasn't evolved into something else. After five minutes of repetitious instrumentation, the song finally starts going somewhere -- and promptly ends. Unfortunately, this pattern repeats throughout the album. Every song that opens with promise eventually self-destructs. The album feels like a meandering three-hour film that could have, in the right hands, been edited into a 90-minute masterpiece, and there are plenty of moments that betray the talents of the composer. Sadly, these moments just aren't enough. As background music, it's not half bad; as the follow up to Canisius' "Ferris wheel makeout", it's perplexing and, at best, a shadow of what it might have been. - Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Danish shoegazer Keith Canisius will release his third solo album "This time it's our high" on September 6 via . Hear a preview tune at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/keithcanisius
The Cocteau Twins are back! And now they're called... Rumskib! I don't mean for that to sound condescending; actually this luminous Danish duo recreates the sound of the ultimate shoegazer band better than anyone I've heard (even more than the previous nominee, Autumn's Grey Solace). There's no denying that multi-talented guitarist/songwriter Keith Canisius has Robin Guthrie's churning, atmospheric guitar sound down pat, and vocalist Tine Louise Kortermand has a sweet, pure tone that evokes Elizabeth Fraser without being an obvious imitation. "Where are the flowers" and "Crucial love games" are just two of the stunningly beautiful songs here, showcasing everything good about the dreampop genre in concise sonic settings. There's a couple of alluring instrumentals, too - the best of which is the bracingly moody "Ferris wheel blackout". This record is consistent and well-produced (Canisius and programmer/synthmeister Jonas Munk shared the honors in that department), and the spirit of the genre positively gleams throughout. So weep no more for the premature cessation of Cocteaus-style transcendence... this is easily the next best thing. - Kevin Renick
Keith Canisius