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üter
Uter is a three-piece band from Glasgow playing electronic noise-pop in a lo-fi style. Uter (Declan Roney joined by Martin Johnstone
and Marceline Smith) have been playing live for about two years but studio-related business, which is mainly done by Declan, has been an ongoing thing for a few years.
A self-funded single Vibrato was released in 1999 followed by a 12" on OSCarr in 2004 which was received well with comparisons to Kraftwerk, My Bloody Valentine, the Jesus and Mary Chain and New Order. Further recordings for OSCarr are in progress.
Interviews
- Uter by Denim and Diamonds (from the Troublezine)
Discography
- Tomorrow's Clowns 12" [OSCarr,
January 2004]
- Vibrato 7" [Self-funded release, April 1999. Orange vinyl ltd run of 284]
Reviews
But, enough of records that real people might like. Let's talk obscure genius while we've still time...Far grittier and gloomier, but no less brilliant is Uter's 'Tomorrow's Clowns' (OSCarr). Covering The Jesus And Mary Chain and Kraftwerk and sounding not unlike some bastard offspring of the two, this Glasgow trio are in a world of their own. The transcendent title track - awash with scrolling metallic guitars - proves Pink wrong too. Clearly, God isn't a DJ, he's My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields.
Tony Naylor, NME, 24.01.04
This Uter record is a case in point. This four-tracker is consistently excellent. The stand-outs being not the craftily chosen cover versions of "My Little Underground" (JAMC) and "Ohm Sweet Ohm" (Kraftwerk come Auld Lang Syne) but (promisingly) Declan Roney's quite lovely "Tomorrow's Clowns" and "Vibrato." These would have even the hardiest LSD-reconstructed bad bwoys crying into their beer; crying for the shimmering, androgynous, mute-love bliss-scapes of 1988. There's no getting away from the comparisons, here in the high-lonesome harmonies, to My Bloody Valentine. Those seductive basslines: New Order. That crystalline feedback: AR Kane. The utilitarian drum-machine pulse: JAMC. It's quite lovely stuff.
Uter is for me. Great stuff and a very pleasant surprise.
It's moody, but with a slight electronic pop overtone, and might
be dubbed cocktail-electro, but with rumbling bass. 'Tomorrow's
Clowns' for example, is not unlike OMD, whilte the synth-drenched
'Trampaline' (sic) is a close cousin of Kraftwerk. 'Ohm Sweet
Ohm' IS Kraftwerk - a cover version, which speeds up in disconcerting
fashion. 'My Little Underground' is a Mary Chain cover but with
electronic noise as opposed to the Reid brothers preferred feedback.
There's another original song here - 'Vibrato' is the Human League
remixed by Fatboy Slim. Or vice-versa.
Miles O'Toole, Is This Music?
Uter Vibrato *** (Worth a shot)
A quirky piece of Stereolab meets Joe Meek instrumental electro
pop. Antique keyboards squelch and bleep over tin-pot break beats.
The more upbeat B-sides are best. Here's hoping we get to hear more.
Mark Robertson, The List, 29.4.99
One dose of Red Medicine later, and we're back with Glasgow's Uter,
who seems to be pretty much a one-man band, albeit in a fully
kitted-out home studio way, rather than strapping a few drums
and a harmonica on and going off busking (although I hear there's
money in that). And what we've got is an interesting little collection
of drum machine-powered instrumentals driven along by insistent,
warm basslines that bring to mind Fridge at their most outgoing.
'Tomorrow's Clowns' gets away with some cheesy keyboard washes
hidden away in the mix and builds up very nicely over its five
minutes, while Third Eye Foundation ambience swells underneath
the Glaswegian Krautrock of 'Accordination'. 'Tramapoline' is
inconsequential, but followed by a couple of interesting covers
that, were Uter's influences not quite obvious, might betray them
- we get a regal 'Ohm Sweet Ohm' by Kraftwerk, and 'My Little
Underground' being played by the Jesus and Mary Chain underwater
with short-circuiting Casio keyboards. Uter has 'no band
and no record deal, but would like both'. And it'd be nice to
see what he could come up with given both - some live drums,
nice production and more flashing boxes than a Dixon's Christmas
sale would spice up this already-enticing dis
h a treat.
Stuart Fowkes, www.diskant.net
Do you remember when the first Flying Saucer Attack album came
out? Do you remember goggling at the photocopied sleeve notes
that advised you to tape the LP with the recording levels too
high and listen to that instead of the record, for full enjoyment?
Do you remember how right it sounded when you did? Would you
like a small hit of that fidelity buzz today? Try Uter's JAMC
cover on this demo, recorded down a sewer with Kraftwerk's instruments.
Stick around while Uter's mate, The Sultan of Browney,
rewrites one of Uter's
own cuts by sticking a huge beat and a rap on top of it.
Jimmy Possession, Careless Talk Costs Lives
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