Crickey, are these cows playing the instruments? Somewhere in the German countryside, inside a small under equipped studio, four cows are constantly exploring their weird version of lo-fi electronic country music. They are known as The Lonesomes.
Well, either that or they are actually the solo recording entity of musician Adi Gelbart, who claims he is just the cows’ manager. Though the Lonesomes’ music originates from country, it seems to cover a great range of styles and influences from easy-listening through lo-fi minimalism to broken jazz and library music, creating an entirely new genre – “Cow-Fi”.
At times like a delicate update of Soft Machine, at other times recalling the offbeat insanity of Joe Meek, the deep psych vibes of Edan or the otherworld pop of Grandaddy, ‘This Is Cow-Fi’ is nothing if not unique and in these increasingly conservative times, a welcome breath of fresh air amongst the mass of slop rock and techno bores that abound.