ALBUM REVIEWS Sébastien Tellier Sexuality
Lucky Number
The Gauloise of love. Sébastien Tellier follows on from 2005’s ‘Politics’ with yet another themed affair, leering lasciviously into the sensual sphere with the sort of style that only a Parisian could muster. Filtered through the fingers of Daft Punk genius Guy Manuel De Homem-Christo, Monsieur Tellier hits his stride with an impressively purple-edged post-coital pop-fest. Obvious comparisons to Serge Gainsbourg aside, Tellier has managed to make a record that unites the smouldering soul of Barry White with the icier grooves of old skool European electro, avoiding the lukewarm disaster the combination suggests. Only erring when he briefly strays into syrupy ‘80s euro-pop, this is a proper French fancy. Robert Byrne Mint Track: ‘Sexual Sportswear’
*** *
Robert Owens Night-Time Stories Compost
Truly visionary...
Giving voice.
MONEY
SHOT!
Paul Woolford presents Bobby Peru The Truth 20:20 Vision
Wooly’s alter ego produces an ice cool album.
MINT TRACK: ‘‘The Truth’
It’s some eight years since Paul unleashed his David Lynch inspired Bobby Peru guise on the world, and in that time the Space ressie’s profile and talent have blossomed at a feverish rate. Wooly’s new offering continues to swallow up the tangled funk and curveball acid of past 12-inches, but it’s his burgeoning Detroit influences that really come to the fore on ‘The Truth’ — a distinctly futurist vision weaving its way throughout. Icy beats reverberate all over, tickled by skittering toms, clattering hats and frenetic squeaks and bleeps. Then on tracks like ‘Aguirre’ and ‘Emotional Violence’, these elements cocktail with large synthetic waves — Carl Craig style — and the collision makes for some intoxicating, and damnenvisioning techno. There are a couple of older Peru tracks that make it on here too, ‘Venom’ and ‘Erotic Discourse’, but so freakish and time-warped were they in the first place that both slot glove-like into the album’s shimmering silver-lined midst. Paul may well have cut his teeth on the dancefloor, but with this album he’s solidified his position quite simply as a formidable electronic artist with a hell of a lot to say — and that be the truth! Dan Kinasz
****
Hot Chip
Made in the Dark EMI
Impressive evolution from dance nerds. The wonky, tech-informed, wilfully awkward grooves of Hot Chip just aren’t what you’d expect to emerge on a major label like EMI. But it’s impossible to dispute their sky-strafing ambition, and on their third album they’ve produced their best so far. Taking the disco, mutant r&b and indie influences of ‘The Warning’ and expanding and toughening them, on ‘Shake A Fist’ they favour a granite-tough hip-hop breakdown; the title track is tender, heartfelt weird soul; and on ‘Don’t Dance’ they craft a funky techno cut that manages to outshine their obvious progenitors Talking Heads and Devo. ‘Made in the Dark’ exhibits the genius they’ve been hinting at all along. Ben Murphy Mint track: ‘Don’t Dance’
****
If Robert Owens hadn’t managed to make it as a singer, he could have probably got a job doing the voiceovers for cinema trailers instead. For his voice has the same quality of making everything sound incredibly serious, as heard on house classics like Frankie Knuckles’ ‘Tears’ to Coldcut’s ‘Walk A Mile.’ The thing is, much as you wouldn’t want a voiceover over the main feature, so a full album of Owens’ booming lungs can get a bit tiring. He’s assembled a stellar cast of producers including Atjazz, Charles Webster and Kirk Degiorgio to craft some excellent deep Chicago-tinged tracks for him, but ultimately Owens seems better at being a guest than at throwing a party himself. Paul Clarke Mint track: ‘Inside My World’
*****
Grand National
A Drink & A Quick Decision Sunday Best
A beer and a packet of pop, please. Although Grand National may not be the finished article just yet, this album definitely builds on the foundations laid down by their promising 2005 debut ‘Kicking The National Habit’. Brimming with wistful and contemplative pop appeal, on the whole
108 DJ458.ALBUM 108
22/1/08 00:19:30