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22 December 2023
When I first put Melomane’s new sophomore release, Solresol (Vermillion Music), into my CD player, my good friend Latta de Saint was in the room. The first track, “Complicated Melody”, starts the disc off.
“I don’t fucking believe it,” I said.
“What?” Realtoon inquired.
“I actually got a CD I like to review. Hot!”
And right off the bat, musically, Melomane reminded me of something. But I couldn’t place it. Their press release compares them to Calexico (a definite influence), Leonard Cohen (somewhat of a stretch), Beck (nowhere near as funky), and Stereolab (most definitely). But that still wasn’t it. What the fuck could it be?
It has been making me nuts for weeks now. Until tonight. It finally hit me: Os Mutantes. They sound like Os Mutantes,.. only they speak English.
The sextet combines guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, cello, trumpet, and samples. It’s pretty,.. indescribable, to be honest. It’s poppy, yet melancholy. It’s light-hearted in its vibe, yet dark in its melodies. It’s a mish-mash of a bunch of different things. And I dig it.
And it also invokes memories of me being young and watching episodes of The Banana Splits on television. Don’t ask.
At first, my only complaint was that I didn’t feel that singer Pierre de Gaillande’s voice was doing the music justice. But, as someone close to me pointed out, “Give him a break. He’s French.”
But as time went on, and as one listening turned into two, and two into many more, I have grown to like the vocals. Pierre’s voice actually fits now. And I no longer think that it is him that was out of place. I think it was me.
Songs to pay extra special attention to are the slow and saucy “Far Out”, the Modest Mouse-esque “The Cruise” (Yes, I made a GOOD comparison to Modest Mouse. Lay off.), and the lyrically addictive end track, “A Capella”. They’re all pretty yummy, though.
Since this is a sophomore album (and since most sophomore albums are typically mere shadows of freshman attempts), I’m now forced to hunt down their first album, Resolvo.
Goddamnit. More money for me to spend. Guess it looks like I’m off to sell more guns and drugs to children in the inner-city.
PURCHASE THIS OR SIMILAR ITEMS
“I don’t fucking believe it,” I said.
“What?” Realtoon inquired.
“I actually got a CD I like to review. Hot!”
And right off the bat, musically, Melomane reminded me of something. But I couldn’t place it. Their press release compares them to Calexico (a definite influence), Leonard Cohen (somewhat of a stretch), Beck (nowhere near as funky), and Stereolab (most definitely). But that still wasn’t it. What the fuck could it be?
It has been making me nuts for weeks now. Until tonight. It finally hit me: Os Mutantes. They sound like Os Mutantes,.. only they speak English.
The sextet combines guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, cello, trumpet, and samples. It’s pretty,.. indescribable, to be honest. It’s poppy, yet melancholy. It’s light-hearted in its vibe, yet dark in its melodies. It’s a mish-mash of a bunch of different things. And I dig it.
And it also invokes memories of me being young and watching episodes of The Banana Splits on television. Don’t ask.
At first, my only complaint was that I didn’t feel that singer Pierre de Gaillande’s voice was doing the music justice. But, as someone close to me pointed out, “Give him a break. He’s French.”
But as time went on, and as one listening turned into two, and two into many more, I have grown to like the vocals. Pierre’s voice actually fits now. And I no longer think that it is him that was out of place. I think it was me.
Songs to pay extra special attention to are the slow and saucy “Far Out”, the Modest Mouse-esque “The Cruise” (Yes, I made a GOOD comparison to Modest Mouse. Lay off.), and the lyrically addictive end track, “A Capella”. They’re all pretty yummy, though.
Since this is a sophomore album (and since most sophomore albums are typically mere shadows of freshman attempts), I’m now forced to hunt down their first album, Resolvo.
Goddamnit. More money for me to spend. Guess it looks like I’m off to sell more guns and drugs to children in the inner-city.
PURCHASE THIS OR SIMILAR ITEMS
artid
1531
Old Image
5_12_melomane.jpg
issue
vol 5 - issue 12 (aug 2003)
section
entertainmental