What The Hell Are You Doing ? [Full Time Hobby Promo]

Reaching a two-digit anniversary is quite an achievement for a label these days, in times of digital / streaming takeovers and still decreasing sales per release, especially when this specific label is not focusing on like hit music only but going into niche territories and allowing artists to evolve and unfold free of commercially lead restrictions. Such a label is the London-based imprint Full Time Hobby which is celebrating its tenth anniversary with the release of "What The Hell Are You Doing?" a 2CD album chronologically reflecting upon the labels history throughout the past decade. Going from the labels early days with Viva Voce's raw Garage Rock turning intimate Indie song "Alive With Pleasure" and Autolux' drum roll heavy "Turnstile Blues" pleasing those loving a neat dose of distortion and Grunge, anthemic, tongue-in-cheek Weirdo Folk catered by the well-admirable Tunng via badgering, hard flangered Indie sporting heavy brass sections - see Malcolm Middleton's "We're All Going To Die" for this one - to thrilling Wave / PostPunk affairs with Fujiya & Miyagi's "Knickerbocker" the first CD of this set covers the period from 2004 to 2009, closing with The Leisure Society's "The Last Of The Melting Snow" - an intimate piece that exemplifies the labels musical turn towards more acoustic and Folk-related releases.



With Timber Timbre catering the opener of CD2 named "Demon Host" we're entering the spheres of fully acoustic Alt.Country as some might name this musical genre, followed by classic Beat- and Flower Power-reminiscing polyphonic vocal harmonies  of Hooded Fang's "Tosta Mista" and the awesome, lovely, swinging stop-and-go Funk of The Magnetic North's vernal "Rackwick" there's a lot of variety to love here for sure and the story continues. Cheek Mountain Thief's are going back to sweet folk'ish melancholia with "Cheek Mountain" whilst Braid's "Freund" turns out to be one of the cutest space ballads of all time, Seams is entering electronic dancefloors with a Skweee / Electro / Future Garage-fusion called "Punch" and Omega Male's "Testosterone" is a dead cool, super-dope affair with a bit of a shady attitude.  Epic distortion orgies on (Neo)Kosmische are to be found in Pinku Noizu's "Moped" and more musical greatness is served by the likes of Smoke Fairies, Samantha Crain and The John Steel Singers before the most recent "Crushed Pleats" by Dralms makes spaced out, Psychedelic SynthPop the most desirable genre ever. What a great package - guess we're turned into fanboys now!