Andy's Aural Advent: 6th Dec. Death & Vanilla - "California Owls"

As well as the gorgeous Ghost Box-style design, I was drawn to the sleeve of Death & Vanilla's To Where The Wild Things Are by the artists referenced on its sticker: Broadcast, Air, the Radiophonic Workshop, '60s pioneers Silver Apples and the United States of America. "I'll be having some of that", I said; the guy standing next to me in the record shop shot me a strange look. 

Comparisons to these acts, it turned out, are entirely apt: the Swedish group share a love of vintage equipment and primitive electronics (or at least electronics that sound primitive) and a beguiling, dream-like aesthetic; previous songs are called things like "Ghost In The Machine" and "Somnambulists".

"California Owls" is the poppiest, most entrancing track on the LP and bears more than a passing resemblance to the Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning" - hence why I'm posting it now (Andy's Aural Advent isn't just thrown together, you know).