Upland Band, The
Living In Paradise
The Upland Band is the one man band of Michael Beckett (aka kptmichigan, Super Reverb and ex- Tuesday Weld) who also produced, recorded and mixed the album, aided considerably by Dirk Kretz (Old Men Group, ex-Tuesday Weld) and Christian Obermaier (Eagle Boston, ex-The Innits). A small village, somewhere in the soft hills of Germany East-Westphalia, is where the stories from Living in Paradise take place, with the lyrics being informed by historical facts, objective observations and good old down and dirty village gossip. A concept album so to speak. The cast of characters ranges from a poorer than poor ragpicker, to a retired cop, nazi neighbours and the ghost of an unknown, downed Canadian bomber pilot to name just a few. The stories told involve, among others, a historical paper mill which was used for Methamphetamine massproduction, the hardships of life in the 17th century, a steam powered train on which you can eat Kale and sausages and get wasted to pleas for the villagers to try just a little harder. Stories and observations which propose that life and history in a small village aren't necessarily as boring and meaningless as one tends to think but are in fact a cog in the general scheme of things but also that time tends to forget. And all of this wrapped up in pastoral, softly psychedelic guitar pop, often eshewing conventional structures, with a penchant for repetition and a liberal sprinkling of dub techniques with an laid- back athmosphere that reminds of bands like Wilco or Yo La Tengo.