WHAT Half Film - East of Monument
WHEN King Tut's, Glasgow - 14 October 1998
Twilight music. Shadowy and monochrome, Half Film move around on the edge of your senses. Sometimes it feels like it isn’t even there at all. I saw them supporting Swell at King Tut’s during 1998 and finally got the album from One Up in Aberdeen. These were the days before digital ubiquity so tracking music down was much more of a challenge. It’s an undiscovered minimal gem that probably has a more sinister heart than I think. It pulses and sighs and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t sing a single lyric of it back to you.
For an album that I’ve listened to constantly for 18 years it’s unusual and fitting that I don't really place it to a single location or event. Seeing them live obviously had some kind of impact on me as I sought out their album but, like the group, it’s an elusive and enigmatic memory. It's just, well, there.
There was one more album from Half Film - “Road to the Craters” - in 2000 and then silence … until this year. They’ve come together again under the name AWMA and their debut EP is cast from exactly the same slow burning nocturnes as Half Film. Recommended.