Drowned In Sound Let’s get one thing straight. This isn’t "Hospice" by The Antlers. There’s no wallowing in exquisite misery; no catharsis and cleansing exclamations of pain. Almost no suffering is inferred in Brace/Choir’s "Turning On Your Double". To paraphrase another detached paean to mental illness, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s "The Yellow Wallpaper", it instead creeps around the room, carving its shoulder into the plaster. The distortion scratches at the mix, but never tears it completely, while the threat of explosion is always bottled and hidden before it can deliver.Whether that makes this a record devoid of hope is another matter. The bright, hollow-body guitars frequently suggest light, cutting through a fog of repetitive krautrock rhythms and psychedelic organ swells. Themes of disorder and schizophrenia are heightened through the band’s decision to write and record each other’s lyrics and instrumentation, while disorientating production techniques layer different words on top of each other, creating a sense of discomfort that is both uneasy and compelling. The variety of ways in which the album title can be decoded (switching on? An erotic outcome? A violent act?) only adds to the murky allure.That anxious compulsion is alluded to by the words within (“I have been very lucky / it’s not enough”) and the detached manner in which the band perform them enables the record to again echo Gilman’s doomed narrator and creep up through repetition. A sentence fragment previously unheard that suddenly becomes clear; a subtle organ swell that drastically alters the tone of the song; a hiss of feedback that suddenly brings menace to an otherwise unthreatening atmosphere – these are the places where the album will earn its devotion.There are the remains of many bands here, too. "Be Let Down" is a Mogwai ballad through and through, while "Coil" recalls Munki-era Jesus and Mary Chain. "Satisfier" ups the pace for a welcome injection of energy that echoes the frenetic abandon of The Velvet Underground as itchy guitars propel the song to its inevitable destruction. Crucially, though, these influences don’t detract from the distinct identity of the record. There’s a huge amount to like here, whether you choose to analyse the content or not. Suffice to say, however, that it’s not something to put on in the background – "Turning on Your Double" simply will not acquiesce to an indifferent listener. Like the afflictions it seeks to replicate, it’s going to take time to understand, and then more time to appreciate.So, is it a complete success? Inevitably, no. Writing a debut LP about the nature of duality, power and sickness which demands complete attention as a single piece of work is an ambitious project. While there are truly memorable moments, such as the entire four-song stretch that closes the record, there are also missteps along the way. "Fallmen" tackles the killing of Osama Bin Laden, but it staples that weighty subject to a wholly uninteresting structure that meanders for almost 10 minutes without much in the way of melody or evolution. Opener "Biond" seems out of place, too, and isn’t enough to draw the listener into the album. Maybe the intention is to make listening pleasure a challenge from the outset, but there are enough inviting passages scattered throughout to suggest that alienation isn’t Brace/Choir’s goal.This is unlikely to be a release beloved by millions. There is too much that drifts aimlessly and refuses to concede to traditional songwriting constraints. However, those who are willing to take the time and give themselves to the world Brace/Choir have created will find pockets of wonder capable of stealing the breath from their lungs.7/10(Aidan Reynolds) http://drownedinsound.com/releases/18091/reviews/4147448- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - AllMusicGerman space rock quartet Brace/Choir toiled long and hard on their sound, letting it gestate for years before releasing a brief self-titled EP in 2010 and spending years after that perfecting the eight songs on their stunning proper debut, 2014's Turning on Your Double. Though the four members switch instruments and vocal duties on almost every song, the album holds on to a striking continuity, with each trance-inducing track melting into the next. Washed-out guitar tones echo the best of shoegaze legends like Ride and the Boo Radleys while shadowy organ drones support many of the tracks, recalling the best of the early Kranky Records space rock roster. Along with these dreamier influences, Brace/Choir also manage to break into Krautrock grooves as obtuse as Faust at their funkiest, or as pulsing as Stereolab. ★★★★☆(Fred Thomas)http://www.allmusic.com/album/turning-on-your-double-mw0002614071- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -The Sunday Experience Clearly making an early bid in the album of the year stakes in our gaff – and yours I sincerely hope or else we‘ll visit upon your dwelling and pin your ears to it – is the Tapete released full length from Brace/Choir entitled ‘turning on your double’. mentioned in passing a short while back here when we previewed the bollock dropping twin set ’5 fingered leap’ and ’satisfier’ both incidentally featured on this 8 track colossus, the former a slowly uncoiling psych drone drilled hymnal mantra imbibing on the smoky hazes of Bardo Pond and mystically threaded through a shadowy 60’s sonic vortex carved out by Jefferson Airplane and Curved Air, the latter a skull crunching cosmic meltdown that disciples perched at the astral altar of the hookworms would do well to bliss out to. ’turning on your double’ is slyly seductive in its spellbinding purr, its becoming craft enabled by the collectives refusal to nail their colours to one generic mast. Here you trip across the gorgeously willowy and uber chilled recline of the exquisitely shimmered ‘enemy’s friend’ whose west coast lazy eyed hallucinogenia pouts and purrs like a sedate whose parentage owes to a cross matching of Schizo Fun Addict and Werewolves DNA. Itself proving to be no slouch in the ear candy stakes the arresting opining detail of ‘be let down’ sumptuously purrs to a hushed hollowing hue that recalls the slow to burn artistry of galaxie 500 albeit here rephrasing from a Neil Young songbook. Elsewhere the fringe flipping monochromatic mantra that is‘fallman’ is subtly subdued in a late 60’s slinky strut grooved smokiness the kind of which might just turn heads aplenty among the psyched out sound loving fraternity. If howling desert dry twang-a-rama be your bag then the cool as f*** ’Coil’ ought to see you filling your boots while simultaneously instilling a nagging desire to revisit your flaming stars and devastations grooves of yore which leaves the expansive progian master class ’1 is 2’ to draw matters to closure though not before taking you by the hand for an astral ride on Floydian ocean waves piloted by Porcupine Tree.(Mark Barton)http://marklosingtoday.wordpress.com/2014/02/24/bracechoir/- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Prog MagazineThe notion of psychedelic music generally conjures images of bright, swirling colours, exuberant hallucinogenic-induced trips and freaky flares. Brace/Choir's psychedelica is decidedly darker, and more minimalist in nature, and "Turning On Your Double" comprises eight meditations on social and individual battles with mental illness, through the medium of brooding trance rock. Heavy material then, but presented pretty damn seamlessly, and not at the expense of the music itself. Accordingly, "Biond" sets a beautiful, quietly sad but oddly carthatic tone. Not a huge amount happens, but the hypnotic, stirring melody, framed in delicate swathes of electronics, are such that you don't want them to stop. Subsequent tracks build on this with impassioned edges, pretty lo-fi indie elements and atmospheric, sustained guitar effects. More sparks are ignited in the likes of "Coil", an uptempo, progressive indie-rock success. How much you enjoy much of this depends on your trance/drone threshold, but "Turning On Your Double" still emerges as an enigmatically moving, thought-provoking record. Music for loud listening, deep thinking and floating into oblivion.(PG)http://postimg.org/image/s4bxxl6gj/