Issued in 1997, but not arriving on my radar until thirteen years after the fact,
Hushpad's sophomore 45 (that would be this one) was a pleasant surprise, albeit grossly belated. I'm still trying to figure out the "pad" quotient of this co-ed Illinois duo's moniker, but the "hush" utterly imbues these two tranquil spins. "Dear Jenny's" lilting acoustic persuasion recalls Nick Drake's plucked-to-perfection fretwork, by way of Unrest's ballad-esque "Isabel." "Goodbye Virginia" tinkers with a subtle bossa nova rhythm amidst a motif that's equally as lucid and serene as it's flipside. In doing my research on Hushpad I learned that they recently made available on
Bandcamp an album recorded in 1997, heretofore unreleased, titled
For Kites and String, that can be downloaded for a nominal fee. The a-side to this wax, "Dear Jenny" appears on there, but the remainder of the album features considerably more robust arrangements. You can acquaint yourself with Hushpad's first single over at
Shelflife Records blog.
A. Dear Jenny
B. Goodbye Virginia
https://rapidshare.com/files/4259325323/hushpad7.rar
