A Sunny Day in Glasgow – Nitetime Rainbows EP (2010) [Mis Ojos Discos] // Grade: B+

This EP could be 2 EPs. Or 3 proper singles and some B-sides, or a couple remix singles. Whatever you want—there are tons of ways to approach the Philly nu-gaze band’s latest, and just as many ways to totally love it. Fresh off the heels of last year’s so-incredible Ashes Grammar, the Nitetime Rainbows EP features (duh) the OG but newly mixed “Nitetime Rainbows”, plus 3 new jams and 3 remixes, all manner of ASDiG extras intent to sate die-hards until the tour rolls through town. But even though it has a bit of hodge-podge to it—there’s a lot of stuff here and it’s ultimately more collected than composed—this EP doesn’t feel like a bunch of junk thrown together on a whim, mere Ashes Grammar garbage repurposed to make a few bucks. Suspend disbelief long enough to take it track by track (or EP by EP) and you’ll unearth some truly gilded moments.

Skip around. The pacing is fine, but it’s open to interpretation; what are you here for? The A-side is piled with new things: a perfectly poppy “So Bloody, So Tight”, the simple, childlike “Piano Lessons” and, maybe most importantly, the atmospheric counterpoint of “Daytime Rainbows”. ASDiG has a serious knack for extending a theme through both name and concept (see: “Ashes Grammar/Ashes Maths”) and paired with the title track, this song has a real sunrise/sunset vibe about it. Sweet to start, all tangled with layered vocals and chime-like guitars, but gone just a little sideways by its finish.

And then the remixes. Cue for many to tune the eff out, sure, but I love the mere idea of edits and reinterpretations so this second half—the second EP, if you’re so inclined—is totally my shit. Buddy System turns “Nitetime Rainbows” into an angular, propulsive dance track, and Benoit Pioulard’s Acid Wash edit lives up to its name: crunchy, gritty, dipped in Clorox and shoved through, like, a food processor. But Ezekiel Honig’s mix, the most bare-bones and minimal of the bunch, reveals the most about “Nitetime Rainbows”; atmosphere-stripped and exposed to the elements, ASDiG’s dream-pop is recognizable via a flash of samples but still completely bare. A concept flowing in reverse. Which, when you think about it, is totally the point of an EP like this—a miniature bizarro world where the strictures of a full-length’s cohesive sound go crashing out the window. Point and counterpoint. True ASDiG style.