Firefox AK – If I Were A Melody (Razzia)The follow up to “Madame Madame” has been assembled in Berlin and the electro-stamp of that environment is the cornerstone here. There are echoes of the dreamier moments of Suicide amongst a Kraftwerkian smorgasbord. Glistening and pulsating in equal measure, this type of sound used to be employed to evoke the future. I’ve been reading a lot of positive reviews regarding Gary Numan recently and there are elements of Tubeway Army about this too. “Winter Rose” must sound pretty mighty pumping out on a high-spec club PA.
At one time, such synth driven things were considered cold or remote, but now machines can emote warmth. It’s no longer just about bpm in this post-Moroderist age. fAK is about 3000 times better than anything New Order ever even hinted at and Andrea Kellerman’s voice is an integral part of what sets it apart. The heart of which is pure analogue, the placement of the vocal within the electro-mentation strike me as finite. The guy who put this together evidently did that by design and not accident. This ain’t remotely rock’n’roll but it does verge on soul, albeit of an android-gynous variety. But hey, why read my gibberish when you can listen and make up your own mind.
Niccokick – The Good Times We Shared, Were They So Bad? (Startracks)Well, these Scandanavian kids have conjured up a noise that welds an Aha type commerciality to Pixies QuietLoud staple. But in addition to that, they’ve employed the secret weapon of a crack horn section plus some serious orchestral grandeur. I don’t mean brass players that are addicts stupid, I’m talking top notch players.
These Söderlund brothers are only youngsters but they’ve crafted another collection of real quality pop here. “The Art Of Doing Nothing” swings like The Skeletons Vs The Herd and there are acts that have been hauling their carcasses around the earth for decades that couldn’t muster that.
Here in Blighty, this could be lumped in with “Indie”. Niccokick’s sound is overwhelmingly optimistic bordering on stadium rocktastic. I’m not sure it has any place in this world because things have become so cynical that their oeuvre could be mistaken for something that it isn’t. I honestly believe that this could rid the world of yer Coldplays and Snow Patrols given a smidge of a chance. It won’t whet the whistle of some NBT readers but even they would have to recognise the luxurious musical fabric these guys have woven.
And whilst we're in the manor of sound, don't forget the screening tomorrow of "A Life In The Death of Joe Meek" at the GFT. See you there...
No comments:
Post a Comment