Sunday, September 05, 2004
Late Record Review
I got a bunch of new CDs last week, two of which I'll have to think a lot more about before I have much to say. Those are Bjork's new Medulla and Jón Liefs' Dettifoss and other works. For totally different reasons, these two Icelandic albums escape me for the moment. Also, talking about Mozart is often like dancing about architecture, and others have talked about Ambulance LTD all over the place, so I won't bother on either count. Which leaves only one to talk about (which is fine by me, really):
April March - Triggers. (samples)
Elinore Blake is quite a bit older than she sounds, or than she looks on the cover of this album. She's been, in various forms, a mistress of pop culture for a long time, and April March is only one of her many guises.
March's music has a childish sweetness and naivété, but below that surface is very adult, and often elegant, songwriting and performance. The instrumental opener, "Résumé," is pure Bertrand Burgalat, lush and dissonant, like waiting for something to happen: a great way to start! Followed by "La Nuit Est Là," bouncy, happy music and beats, a spoken poem by a corpse, lying in wake under the stars. "Coral Bracelet," track 4, might be my favorite: over a tight groove, the sing-along lyrics are subtle and subversive...it's catchy without being an ear-worm. Number 7, "Sometimes When I Stretch," is cool, down-tempo, hallucinatory - the kind of song you might play all night, dancing close with someone you'll never see again after morning. Track 10, "There is Always Madness," is a cheery pop song, catchy and sweet, with an edge: "They wonder what I have, But that is only madness." ♪♪♪♪♪ out of ♪♪♪♪♪.
March's music has a childish sweetness and naivété, but below that surface is very adult, and often elegant, songwriting and performance. The instrumental opener, "Résumé," is pure Bertrand Burgalat, lush and dissonant, like waiting for something to happen: a great way to start! Followed by "La Nuit Est Là," bouncy, happy music and beats, a spoken poem by a corpse, lying in wake under the stars. "Coral Bracelet," track 4, might be my favorite: over a tight groove, the sing-along lyrics are subtle and subversive...it's catchy without being an ear-worm. Number 7, "Sometimes When I Stretch," is cool, down-tempo, hallucinatory - the kind of song you might play all night, dancing close with someone you'll never see again after morning. Track 10, "There is Always Madness," is a cheery pop song, catchy and sweet, with an edge: "They wonder what I have, But that is only madness." ♪♪♪♪♪ out of ♪♪♪♪♪.
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