(Repost) – Paul
I mentioned this release all the way back when I first started this blog. It’s funny i make it sound like it was a long time ago but it’s really only been like a few months. Anyways, no harm in reusing what i typed before so here’s a recap to refresh your memory. James Figurine, one of many monikers of Jimmy Tamborello (Figurine, Dntel, The Postal Service) is releasing a new album July 11th on Plug Research called Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake. From the song i’ve heard off the album the sound is a lot more electronic then what you would normally hear from The Postal Service/Dntel offerings. His own words to describe his sound:
In November of 2001 my band Figurine went on a
short tour of Germany with Lali Puna. Our label there, Monika, set us up
with a driver to get from show to show. She only brought three or four
tapes to listen to on the drives, mostly techno. I’d never paid much
attention to dancefloor-oriented electronic music, but listening to the
same tapes over and over again (especially Kompakt’s pop-leaning Total 3
and some 7”s on Parfum) while driving through Germany made a giant
impression on me. So this record was supposed to be an extra melodic,
minimal techno record with some sparse vocals, but my technopop tendencies
got the best of me, the songs slowly filled up, and this is what I ended
up with.
I think from reading that you have a good explanation to what you could expect from listening to the new album. I was able to listen to most of it earlier this week and it’s a pretty solid electronic album. There’s some really good techno/electronic tracks to be had, but a few left a bad impression on me as almost sounding robotic. I’m definitely not being negative, the sounds here are very unique and very much a nice blend of what you’d expect from Dntel/Postal Service. One of the tracks i was most looking forward to is the collaboration with Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley. She lends her vocals on “You Again” but it’s so minimal that you fail to even realize she’s on there until the tail-end of the song in which it’s just her humming in the background. It’s disappointing but what can you do, still a good song though. My gripe is just that she’s so under-utilized here just like on the Postal Service album Give Up, as the possibility of her beautiful voice coupled with electronica could make for some amazing music. On the other hand, on the track “All The Way To China”, you have Erlend Øye of Kings of Convenience providing his unique vocals and the end result being a really fun song that is as close to a Postal Service track as you can get. Also providing vocals on other tracks are Morgan Nagler and Sonya Westcott.
All in all Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake (wow typing that gets repetitive) is a solid release that will hold people’s interest long enough before the next Postal Service album is released. Not to be left unsaid, for those who are only familiar with Tamborello with The Postal Service, it’s worth checking out his other groups as well. I’ll upload a few songs from each to give you a taste.
Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake
James Figurine | “55566688833″
James Figurine | “You Again” with Jenny Lewis
James Figurine | “All The Way To China” with Erlend Øye
Transportation + Communication = Love
Figurine | “I Wait For You (By The Telephone)”
Figurine | “Eurodiscotesque”
Figurine | “New Millenium Song”
Life Is Full of Possibilities
Dntel | “Anywhere Anyone” with Mia Doi Todd
Dntel | “Suddenly Is Sooner Than You Think” with Meredith Figurine – (the little looping accordian sample around the 2:30 mark is fucking awesome)
Dntel | “Why I’m So Unhappy” with Rachel Haden
Dntel | “(This Is) The Dream of Evan And Chan” with Ben Gibbard – (everyone knows this, and it’s a damn fine pop song)
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