Errors

It's been 10 years now since seminal post-rock band Mogwai unearthed Errors from their bedroom and signed them to Rock Action Records. In their early releases, Errors championed a distinctly electronic brand of post-rock that was both introspective and dancey. On more recent releases ('Have Some Faith In Magic' and 'New Relics'), the band expand their sound with a stronger focus on dance and pop music than their early work.

'Lease Of Life' sees Errors putting even more distance between themselves and their guitar-heavy post-rock for a vibrant tapestry of electronic sounds that spans likenesses all the way from Pet Shop Boys to Graceland era Paul Simon. The trio experiment heavily with deep synth sounds and irregular drum patterns. Opener 'Collossal Estates' and the successive title track make use of tropical-sounding synth melodies and bright keyboard parts. Stylistically, Errors frequently move closer to eighties synth-pop, while incorporating electronica and leftfield elements.

Errors can be commended on their ability to evoke a soundscape which is both meditative and upbeat. This quality comes from the band's refusal in the past to assign themselves to the limitations of being either a rock band or an electro-group - this has allowed Errors the freedom in their experimentation to explore both of these areas to a pretty comprehensive degree.

Continue reading: Errors - Lease Of Life Album Review

If prizes were awarded for lazy references by association than the actual commodity itself, Errors would run away with first place every time. Formed in Glasgow and discovered by that city's own rock royalty Mogwai, who promptly signed them to their Rock Action label, it seems as though the 'post-rock' tag will stay attached to Errors until their dying day. Which is basically the equivalent of stating all French people wear Breton jumpers and munch garlic. Xenophobic assumptions aside, its ill-advised, uneducated comments such as these that create an unwelcome disservice to the affected communities concerned, and in the case of Errors, it appears their largely instrumental based pieces have attracted that label as much as the kinship they share with the musicians that run their label.

Continue reading: Errors, Have Some Faith In Magic Album Review