Into Practice: Kitchen Practice Records Compilation Review

By Jon Milton

Its been just over a year since Kitchen Practice Records launched their first record ‘Let it Bleeds’ an impish collection of covers of different songs with that name, and to mark the occasion the label has released its first full length compilation showcasing its portfolio of artists.

Into Practice features music, sound art, poetry, and prose from 10 artists on the label, all curated by ‘mysterious narrator’ Twix Applegate. The 19 songs (including interludes) perfectly encapsulate the labels’ trademark eclecticism and mischievous nature. There’s the twisted folk music of Spider Noises who kick off proceedings with ‘Year in Amber’; Frank Lloyd Wleft’s ‘See Where you Land’ and No Country for Thin Men’s 'The Ballad of a Thousand Men Screaming’ which could have come straight from the C86 era such is the nature of their ramshackle indie; and the charming Watch Paint Dry and Friends of the Monday Table who bring along ambient electronica reminiscent of Boards of Canada and Ulrich Schnauss.

Listened to as one Into Practice feels a bit like an unnerving dream sequence in Twin Peaks; In between the more conventional music, Tsitra Park’s ‘Cookie Montage’ and 'Ad Content’ layer unsettling voices that disorient the listener and Will Ormsby’s ‘Playlist’ and Frank Lloyd Wleft’s ‘The Gilesgate Monologues’ poems regale the trials and tribulations of millennial / student life, with Uber, Amazon and Fantasy Football frequently coming to the surface.

Although comprised of seemingly disparate parts, Into Practice has clearly been designed to be listened to as one, which makes for a rewarding listen. As a compilation its unconventional, inventive and a little bit surreal, all of which makes Kitchen Practice Records an oddity well worth keeping an eye on.     

You can listen / buy the CD / download Into Practice at: 

https://kitchenpractice.bandcamp.com/