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ELECTRONIC COMPILATION MODESELEKTOR Modeselektion Vol. 04 (Monkeytown Records/Ninja Tune) ●●●●● PSYCH POP MELODY’S ECHO CHAMBER Bon Voyage (Domino) ●●●●●
It wouldn’t be a leap to call the Berlin-based duo Modeselektor completely brilliant. Through their label Monkeytown Records, and their own musical output over the last couple of decades, the pair have helped shape the landscape of electronic music. With this fourth volume in their compilation series, Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary show their continued ability to play with genre. Here they combine some of the greatest established artists and rising stars in a single dance record (well four 12 inch vinyls, if you’re buying the hard copy).
Modeselektion Vol. 04 at times manages to take the listener to dark sweaty rooms underneath concrete city streets – and to euphoric, packed tents in sunny fields, at others. With selections from artists such as Actress, Lone, rRoxymore and Glasgow’s own Solid Blake, the overall effect is a wonderful journey through tempo and mood.
French musical autrice Melody Prochet, who records as Melody’s Echo Chamber, is a smart stylist with her sonic dial firmly set to retro. She ostensibly draws on the classy chamber pop produced by her home nation in the 60s and 70s with a breathy come-hither vocal delivery employed by ingenious ingénues from Brigitte Bardot to Isobel Campbell. And there is an explicit touch of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg to the Gallic purring here of ‘Visions of Someone Special’.
But Bon Voyage is far from plain sailing. Prochet’s second album is more of a fractured patchwork, teaming insouciant strings and featherweight woodwind with distorted (multi-lingual) vocals and acid riffola. This latter element comes courtesy of her album guests, Swedish stoner rockers Dungen, who may well have been involved in the decision to record the album in Swedish woodland, as one does.
Lone’s ‘Smoke Signals’ is a real stand-out, boasting a dance floor-filling techno melody So, opening track ‘Cross My Heart’ opens with a cohesive blend of martial
and ending with a Four Tet, ‘Love Cry’-esque, infectious rhythm. The Nottingham artist has been releasing music since 2007, and this contribution is a real success. Another highlight is the playful warmth of Actress’ track ‘Watercolour Challenge’.
Reminiscent of the video game joyfulness of some old Crystal Castles’ tracks, this is far removed from some of the more agitated moments on the artist’s 2014 EP ‘Ghettoville’. Modeselektor’s contribution is their first release in three years, and it’s a high- tempo, earthy, track which carries the listener upwards into a floating, emotive technological crescendo. A truly powerful musical moment, ‘Kalif Storch’ shows the
pair are back with the same high standards of their past. Overall, there is a confident
unifying pulse through this rewarding collage of noise, melody and rhythm. Tracks move from dense and highly layered sonics, to mesmerisingly crisp, simple breaks. The album is a hybrid of genre which is rewarding of patience. The duo say the compilation was influenced by their 'thirst for effective dance music', and the result is a definite triumph. (Kenza Marland) ■ Out Fri 1 Jun.
drums and swooning strings but, two minutes in, the reverie is rudely interrupted by a skittering cosmic funk interlude with fluttering flutes and jazzy organ, followed by a proggy acoustic guitar break. At times, the cut and paste effect sounds like three different songs playing at the same time: a nod to the emotionally disturbed state in which Prochet composed the album.
‘Quand Les Larmes d’un Ange Font Danser La Neige’ is the longest, most expansive and out-there track, powered along by bursts of epic drumming (the latest instrument Prochet has added to her personal repertoire), guitar heroics and a spoken word interlude from Pond frontman Nick Allbrook. Such quirkiness threatens to derail ‘Desert Horse’, where the various helium vocoder sound effects and Zappaesque freestyling fail to coalesce. Prochet has described this track as a ‘monster’ but the discordance was eerily prescient: as she finished recording the album, she suffered a serious (and so far unspecified accident) from which she has only just recovered. (Fiona Shepherd) ■ Out Fri 15 Jun.
INDIE POP THE SCOTTISH ENLIGHTENMENT Potato Flower (Armellodie Records) ●●●●● POP LILY ALLEN No Shame (Parlophone) ●●●●●
Google ‘Scottish Enlightenment’ and you’re more likely to see results about Adam Smith and David Hume as there is of picking up details on this less than prolific four-piece. After their 2010 debut collection St Thomas, the band who describe themselves as ‘spread up and down Scotland’s east coast like margarine’ threatened to find themselves written about in those ‘where are they now’ columns. But finally they’re back and with a much tighter and more tune-laden set than their grittier first effort. There’s a pleasing old-school indie sheen all over Potato Flower which could
have your ears placing this anywhere between now and 1995. David Moyes’ sombre vocal style will occasionally make listeners wonder if Aidan Moffat has made an uncredited cameo (the first ten seconds of album opener ‘Keep the Cats Outside’ being a case in point). But before long, the leader and his crew (including brother Angus on bass) are carving out their own brand of Caledonia miserabilism with songs about life, death, domestic strife, and struggling against the odds.
Along with KT Tunstall and Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen helped to make the noughties pop landscape a more overtly female-friendly environment, effectively paving the way for the relatable and moderately mouthy likes of Dua Lipa and Anne-Marie. But rather than embrace her status as a pop trailblazer, Allen’s musical growth was stunted by a creative crisis of confidence and the apprehension that she was being manipulated in musical directions with which she was uncomfortable. Her openness in discussing her vulnerabilities over the years has been both a strength and a weakness, providing inspiration for fans and catnip for detractors. She takes a pop at those faceless critics on No Shame’s trancey opening track ‘Come On Then’ with scornful lyrics which just about cut through the electro miasma, and it would be satisfying to report that her fourth album is another “fuck you very much” to the naysayers. Instead, it’s as bland and fluffy as they come with only the continuing soap-popera of her diary-like lyrics to provide the daintiest bite.
‘Machinery’ starts off as a curious blend of Elephant Shoe-era Arab Strap She recalls her misspent youth on ‘Trigger Bang’ but the wispy likes of ‘Lost
merged with the feedback bits on Max Richter’s reimagining of The Four Seasons, but soon Moyes’ lilting delivery pushes the pulsing composition through to a less-trodden spot. Everything comes together wonderfully on ‘The Last Howl’, drums and lead guitar in perfect tandem when the singer My Mind’ and ‘Higher’ suggest an airbrushing of her impish edge. Despite its unrepentant title, No Shame regularly features Allen in slush puppy mode, coquettishly contemplating whether her beau is the one to grow old with on ‘Pushing Up Daisies’, taking a leaf out of the Adele piano ballad book
takes his leave from the song. Even a lesser light such as the quasi-ponderous ‘Colour it In’ is saved by a captivating rock crescendo. In our attention-span-
deficit culture, Potato Flower is certainly no quick fix and plenty will give up the ghost early doors. But give it time, let it grow and the gorgeous elements of this album will eventually find a welcome home in your skull. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Out Fri 1 Jun.
with ‘Family Man’, and writing about separation guilt from the perspective of her kids on the mawkish ballad ‘Three’ (‘when things feel black and white, we’ll do some colouring in, when you want to play, when you want to play with me’). At least she ends on a stronger note with the bittersweet ‘Cake’, a ska-pop swipe at male privilege which harks back to her fresh 2006 Alright, Still debut ‘Smile’ and suits her lilting, soulful delivery. (Fiona Shepherd) ■ Out Fri 8 Jun. 1 Feb–31 Mar 2018 THE LIST 101 1 Jun–31 Aug 2018 THE LIST 101