Ladies and gentlemen, we are all floating in space! Never more so than in my own case this afternoon, sitting at my computer screen at work listening to Papa's Ear the 2012 album by Japanese Avant Indie duo, (no, I'm not sure that's a valid term either), Tenniscoats. Quite why a Japanese group should be called Tenniscoats is beyond my ability to explain, but what they do is very fine and are worthy of greater attention than it probably gets.
With a gently surreal album sleeve which seems to me to depict a bedroom carpeted in grass, the album itself has a similarly, otherworldly feel to it, though it's at once calming and strangely domesticated. Acoustic guitar, keyboards, bass, drums and horns float through the mix, and float seems quite the right word because that's what the whole album is in utter suspension from beginning to end.
Tenniscoats are well established in their own specialist circles, having put out records on a regular basis since their debut album in 2000. They're probably best known for their collaborations over the years with a range of indie maverick savants from The Pastels to Jad Fair and The BMX Bandits. I have no way of telling you if this is their best and as it's the first thing of theirs I've listened to but its a fine piece of work. Recorded in Stockholm in 2012 it creates and sustains a mood of contemplation. It's akin to spending an hour in a floatation tank without the need of getting wet.
Sometimes, as with opening track Higa Nobaru it feels like a futuristic western. Elsewhere it just seems like a series of ambient lullabies, elsewhere still as if it was designed as the best imaginable soundtrack to send you towards deep contented sleep. It worked for me this afternoon though I didn't drop off.
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