Album: Midlake, Late Night Tales (Late Night Tales)

The low-key, chill-out format of the Late Night Tales series of band-curated "mixtape" compilations lends itself well to Midlake, whose selection tracks the fringes where disparate strains of art-rock, folk and folk-rock rub up against each other.

It's an intriguing blend of old and new, with antique obscurities by such as Jimmie Spheeris and Bob Carpenter alongside more recent cuts from the likes of Espers and Björk. As well as being artfully chosen, they're cleverly sequenced to segue together effecting seamless transitions from Fairport's "Genesis Hall" to Steeleye's "The Blacksmith", Nico's "These Days" to The Band's "Whispering Pines", and, most unexpectedly, Scott Walker's "Copenhagen" to Midlake's own "Am I Going Insane", their oddly effective transformation of a Black Sabbath song through jangling 12-string guitars and harmonies.

DOWNLOAD THIS Genesis Hall; Am I Going Insane; Silver Soul

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