''Small Vessel'' is the second studio album by British

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

musician

SJ Esau SJ Esau is the music project of Sam Wisternoff, an experimental pop musician from Bristol, England. Although ostensibly a solo project, Wisternoff is often joined by the drummer Sean Talbot and has incorporated a variety of other musicians into re ...

. It was released on

Anticon Anticon (often styled as anticon.) is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1998 by seven musicians and manager Baillie Parker. It is now collectively owned among six musicians, co-founder Parker, and man ...

in 2008.

Critical reception

Matt Rinaldi of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

commented that ''Small Vessel'' "continues in the same genre-bending vein as its predecessor, blending elements of indie rock, folk, hip-hop, house, techno-pop, and industrial to create an end-product that is delightfully disorienting." Dave Gurney of ''

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, ...

'' gave the album 3 stars out of 5, writing, "Like being let into a friend's bedroom studio while he or she pores over partially and/or cryptically labeled tapes containing songs and experiments at varying states of completion, SJ Esau's sophomore effort ''Small Vessels'' has the initially intoxicating feeling of being let in on a secret treasure trove of restless musical creativity." He added, "Untitled bits of sonic debris mix with false starts of songs; hushed passages give way to lush arrangements of vocal and instrumental beauty bordering on the epic; and unexpected transitions and breaks suddenly expand or shrink the dynamic space in which they exist." Evan McGarvey of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' gave the album a 3.6 out of 10, stating that "''Small Vessel''s strengths aren't unique; you can find dozens of whimsical, pseudo-surreal songwriters of this ilk ( Why?, The Guillemots, Thee More Shallows, to start) who clutter their discs with fewer scribbles and less back-handed flippancy."

Track listing

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2008 albums Anticon albums SJ Esau albums