OSHIN

Oshin is the debut album by DIIV, one of the most exciting bands on the planet at the minute. It was released a couple of years back, it's dreamy hooks, indistinguishable vocals and sublime instrumentation captured the attention of the music buying public. It has a dreamy, mellow mood to it all round, which is contrary to the New Yorkers' chaotic live sets.Both sides open with two minute long instrumentals, titled Druun pt 1 & 2. Whilst Druun 1 sounds reminiscent of Joy Division's Disorder, the faster paced Druun 2 sounds cosmic and much more unlike anything else you've ever heard.In terms of sheer highlights, 3 songs stand out; Past Lives, Air Conditioning and Doused. Past Lives' descending melody sounds almost euphoric, but mournful too as frontman Cole Smith goes through one of his finer lyrical moments. Smith's songwriting style throughout is minimalistic, but effective.Air Conditioning is my personal favourite, and it is the longest song on the LP. It's the moment where DIIV's biggest influences come together to form the perfect blissed-out pop song; the dreamy guitar tones of Ride and the Cocteau Twins merge with the motorik rhythms of Neu! and Amon Duul. Again the lyrics are a really minor part of the song, but when dreamy guitar lines sound like they do on Air Conditioning, singing matters not a jot.The least dreamy moment on Oshin is Doused. Doused often ends DIIV's live shows for one reason: it sounds like it's about to finish for the duration of it's 220 second runtime. It's a very frantic song, but is easily the records highlight. Devin Perez's repetitive bassline and the fast descending riff too contribute to Oshin's Penultimate track being one of 2012's high points.Although it lacks dynamic variety elsewhere, catchy pop song How Long Have You Known?, the melancholy Follow and the harsh sounding title track add up to make Oshin one of, if not THE album of 2012, and poises DIIV's sophomore album to be one of the decades great records.I thoroughly implore anyone considering purchasing this LP, or tickets to see the band to do so. The album itself is accessible to begin with, but also a grower. The band clearly have a great taste in music themselves, because the likes of Joy Division, Neu! and Ride shine through on this wonderful debut album. Please buy it, you won't regret it.

Imagine layers of echo infused reverby guitars, with a suite of catchy pulsing driving drums and proper bass playing. The kind of music where each member is playing different notes in the same key and it all just runs together in a harmonious groove. In fact, without detracting from the recording, imagine Ian Brown way back in the mix with tonnes of Reverb in Fools Gold, jamming with Johnny Marr and Charlie Burchill AND Dave Evans on guitars with delay and chorus, backed by Adam Clayton on bass and the previous reviewers moderate Kraut Rock back beat. But imagine it's 10 times better than that just sounded. Catchy, infectious, almost dancy (but not in front of your mates) music for the sake of music. I think it's great - and very well arranged. Love it.

I had happily stumbled across the band on the Captured Tracks site and loved them straight away. A great mix of guitar, melodies and energy. The songs released gave a great glimpse of the quality of the band's material, but this album is even better! This band deserves great acclaim and success

Great album, the artwork on the vinyls sleeve is almost worth owning even if the album wasn't so enjoyable - fortunately both are great!

A great album - very chilled and hypnotic. Definitely one to play through from start to finish - just let it wash over you!

Daughter loved it!!! Awesome!! Great delivery!!

I saw DIIV as a supporting act for The Vaccines late last year and they almost outshone The Vaccines with their set. The singer emulated that of a Kurt Cobain reincarnation, which may annoy some people, but the sound of DIIV is not as heavy or melancholy(do not get me wrong, I'm a Nirvana!). Oshin itself is a great album with intricate guitar rifts giving the album an air of relaxation, before tearing back into excitement with songs like 'Doused', which personally is a standout song for me. I hope to hear more form DIIV, they are a promising act in the underground market going into the mainstream!

The cd cover was broken but I really needed for a dj session so could not return it

todo bien y sin ningún problema

Very good album.

Non li conoscevo, e devo dire che ho fatto un ottimo acquisto.

J'ai découvert cet album à la radio, avec un seul titre, mais je n'ai pas été déçu par l'album en entier ..

The amazing "Doused" is recommendation enough but there is a lot of diversity on this album which will keep you hooked. A mix of krautrock, reverb-soaked guitars, and pulsing rythyms. One of the albums of the year.