Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Various

Hollow Smoke

Label: Sorted Records Release Date: 11/12/2006

19382
domgourlay by Dom Gourlay December 12th, 2006

Leicester independent label Sorted have been around and about for a good decade or so now. Having put out early releases by the likes of Prolapse and Cornershop back in the day, Sorted have plodded along merrily, going barely unnoticed outside the confines of Junctions 21 and 22 of the M1.

With Hollow Smoke, their most high-profile album release to date, all this is about to change, as the treasure chest of talent at their fingertips is quite frankly mouth-watering in the extreme. And, at a measly £5 for nineteen tracks, even old Ebenezer Scrooge himself wouldn't pass on this compilation for love, let alone money.

Not being a genre-specific label is possibly Sorted's greatest asset, and Hollow Smoke basically crosses more boundaries than Kevin Pietersen on a good day, meaning that whether your specialist subject is folk, rock, electronica, blues or punk, you won't be disappointed with what's on offer here.

Opening with redcarsgofaster's 'Open/Shut', a band many DiS readers will already be familiar with, their punkrocktechnofury leads astutely into The Fabulous Foxes' discordant 'Rescue Me' before charging like a headless chicken through a barn door with The Dirty Backbeats and their pikey bluegrass 'Sticks'n'Bones'.

In fact, it would be quite simple to just reel off all of the artists who've contributed to this record and give them a gold star each, as the [SKIP] button finds itself rarely deployed here.

Standing out from the crowd as unadulterated highlights though are Corby trio Chapter 24 and their The Who-bastardising riot grrrl squabble 'The Song That Dies Too Much', Her Name Is Calla's gentle strum 'Nylon', and Pacific Ocean Fire's East Midlands Grandaddyisms of 'In God's Hands'. There are many others on here that catch the eye (and ear), and at approximately 25p a song, you can't really ask for much more.

Top one, nice one, Sorted!

  • 9
    Dom Gourlay's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Drowned in Sound's Albums of the Year 2025


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing



Left-arrow

Adjagas

Mun Ja Mun

Mobback
19368
19427

Sarah Nixey

Sing, Memory

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Drowned in Sound's Albums of the Year 2025

  • 106149
  • news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145

    news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143
  • news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141

    news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139
  • Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138

    Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137
  • Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
MORE


    news


    Can You Help?

  • 105927
  • review


    Kate Nash - Made Of Bricks

  • 26283

    feature


    DiS is 6: Our 66, the top six

  • 95297
  • DiSband


    DiSband #7: Viva Brother

  • 77972

    Playlist


    15 Years of DiS in 15 Videos (Vevo Playlist)

  • 101593
  • Column


    Drowned In Sound's 40 Favourite Songs of 2014

  • 98608

    news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143
  • Column


    Lost Albums 2000-2015

  • 101481
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND