Eric Gaffney - Uncharted Waters

With last year's reforming of the original Sebadoh line-up and the re-release of their classic III album, it seems a fitting time to put out a compilation of Eric Gaffney's solo output. Having been recorded over the last ten years in a variety of home made studios and basements, along with mostly being self released on his own mail-order label, you'd be forgiven for expecting the quality of the 27 songs here to be of a wide variety. While never truly reaching the heights of the band in which he made his name, there is nevertheless some gold to be panned from Uncharted Waters. 'Cold Weather' and 'Too Bad Luck' are obvious stand-outs and hark back to his previous incarnation, but what is central to this whole compilation is the overwhelming lo-fi quality to many of these recordings. In a world where technology allows almost anyone to record and release note perfect bedroom albums, it is refreshing to find someone who has stuck to his guns and continued the same aesthetic throughout his career. [Garry Thomson]