Diamond Mine

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins

Nominated by Matt Saywell

What a beautiful voice. I listened to Diamond Mine in the background while working today and I kept stopping and thinking that. How beautiful.

King Creosote (Kenneth Anderson) is from Fife, Scotland, and Jon Hopkins is an electronica musician from England. And they sound they produce is just, well, beautiful, and earned a Mercury prize nomination in 2011.

I won’t try to dissect this album (if I’ve managed that yet) because it washes over  you, in a lovely way. They create a soundscape, and layer it with kindly lyrics and melodies. They mention a cat along the way, which caught my attention because my cat, Roger, was curled up next to me at the time. And I think there are birds, and some loss, and Scotland, and lots of love.

Though different in many ways, it reminds me of listening to Sigur Ros, which also makes me feel all melty. I was fairly cross at certain points today and listening to this created a sense of ‘ah well’.

What the heck, I’ll say it again. Beautiful.

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