Bocctahne -- Slighted -- KRKRKRK Records New Zealand, 1999. [Last Sigh Magazine]

Track Listing

1. Empty World
2. Slighted
3. Faded World
4. Meditation
5. I Sold You For An Eye
6. Ghosting
7. Desert Song
8. Golden Hands
9. Tundra
10. This Sightless Earth

    I was unsure how to begin writing this review, so I'll just start with the basic facts. Bocctahne is a New Zealand band comprised of Megan Gallacher, Ed Wilson and David Khan (of various other kRkRkRk projects). The album itself was recorded on a simple home studio system, yet surprisingly, the quality doesn't seem to be affected at all.
    The music itself is basic darkwave/ethereal, with the swoony yet beautiful vocals, the sort of airy electronic melodies, and the ever present chorus in the background. A nice touch is the reverbed guitars, ok, I'm not a big fan of the electric guitar in electronic music, but it actually seems to fit in here, not over bearing or grinding, but adds a nice signature to what would have been an otherwise anonymous cd. The songs are well crafted and seem to follow a distinct pattern, but not so much that they seem to end up just being the same song remixed over and over.
    Although, on the downside, I did find some of the songs to be fairly dull, for instance the opening track consists of no other lyrics but "in this empty world" for ten straight minutes, but the album picks up a lot after that. This album has a nice swoony feel to it, kind of makes you want to just turn off all the lights, light some candles and sway and dance in the soft light for a while.

-- Jed Hartgrove