Blood, Looms and Blooms, by Leila (Double LP on Warp)

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This record left blood looms and blooms feeling ecstatic.

hello there, thank you most very muchly for ur lovely review... but i chose here to clarify the issue of richard "producing" my first album.... i took him the DATS (remember those!?!?!?) 'cos he had posh hardware for transferring data and i then told him where to cut and paste between the various mixes i'd done at home. richard is one on my favourite people in the world...but "produce" my first record?...i think not. ..for starters,it would have sounded a shit load clearer if he had!!! ta again for ur lovely words leila

Review date: 14 July 2008

This record left Blushing Brian feeling ecstatic.

To Leila! My heart just flipped! So just for the record......Leila's first album merely had post production & sonic wizardry executed by Uncle Aphex...but in the ten+ years of listening to 'Like weather' he could have been moulding the clouds for all i care.....because this music sends you somewhere very special indeed! As long as you know I know you're the  actual master of these beautiful songs! Thanks for the dreams now i can see the sky! :0) LOL x

Review date: 16 July 2008

This record left our BRIAN D feeling ecstatic.

Never have I seen an electronic artist confound the public and refuse to tow the line quite like Leila. Her debut 'Like Weather' is an absolute genre smashing classic that still sounds like the future today. Who took the producers chair for that beauty? Ah. Richard D James of course. Well....XL she landed on next and they (as usual) didn't know how the fuck to "market" their secret star in waiting so she disappeared off the radar once more...for years....and now just pops up on Warp with a total corker of a "difficult" 3rd album. So many styles line up harmoniously on this delicate, absorbing eclectic opus. It's been an office fave for a couple of months now (ex towers resident Mingus was in love with it for starters & he were a hard man to please, bless!) & it grows & grows. From the moving downtempo opener, loaded with waves of emotive synths, understated drum pads & intergalactic twinkles to a playful soulful waltz dripping with slo-mo drum skitters. Then comes a cheeky broken beat electro wibbler wandering into a haunting ghostly jazz tinged torch song that sounds like Portishead on a less gloomy plain. Mettle you all know, a brooding stalker of a tune, well ominous! I could go on and on and write a fucking magazine about this album and about how every song moves me profoundly. It's a tender, graceful journey that shreds the myth of electronica being all po faced and injects some real soul & feeling into it's many gorgeous fragments. There's some techno elements scattered around the place but I'd say she just does what the hell she feels is right and in turn creates new landscapes of fantastical, exotic music that just evolves & evolves without having to pander to the latest cool plug-in or fad. Oh, all the guest vocalists add real power to some of these songs, old faces & new recruits such as Terry Hall (and he shines on here!) If you find a more diverse and satisfying album this year i'll eat my socks! 'Blood, Looms & Blooms' is utterly essential for anyone who loves the power of sound, It's well kaleidoscopic! Dbl Vinyl & CD on Waaaaaaaaaarp

Blood, Looms and Blooms by Leila (CD, £11.29)

Courtesy Of Choice by Leila (CD, £11.99)

Deflect by Leila (12", £3.99)

Deflect by Leila (CD single, £2.99)

Don't Fall Asleep by Leila (CD single, £4.99)

Feeling by Leila (CD single, £3.99)

Mettle by Leila (10", £4.79)