| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| starmekitten |
Posted - 02/12/2006 : 11:31:53
Anyone able to enlighten me? I've been hearing the new single perfume a lot on BBC R6 and it's damn catchy. I can't pretend to know anything else about the band though. R6/R2 have been showcasing the new album a fair bit of late as well.
My interest has been sparked...
sparked, hehe I crack me up. |
| 9 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Jason |
Posted - 02/13/2006 : 11:13:19
quote:
Originally posted by starmekitten
I have heard one track from li'l beethoven, I was in the car with my mother and we were driving to this little cornish town listening to radio 2 and jonathon ross played 'I married myself'. I listened intently and my mother kind of screwed up her nose. If the parents don't like it, it's got to be good.
I heard Perfume again on the radio this morning, I expect this afternoon I will wander round humming it.
"I Married Myself" is probably the prettiest and most radio-friendly song on the album. Some people will hate LI'L BEETHOVEN as it's so so repetitious, but the people who love it really love it. It's an album that sounds like nothing else (that I know of, at least). And many of the lyrics are truly hilarious. "Ride 'Em Cowboy" is one of the few songs that actually makes me laugh.
Most people's doorway to Sparks is KIMONO MY HOUSE from 1974. It's the album that's always mentioned when Sparks turn up on on "Best Albums of All-Time" or "Best Albums of the 70s" lists. It was my intro, too. I would recommend starting there. The CD is a bit elusive, but the music can probably be easily downloaded if you're into that sorta thing. |
| cassandra is |
Posted - 02/13/2006 : 08:29:15
yeah, that's right, another good point!
pas de bras pas de chocolat |
| Carl |
Posted - 02/13/2006 : 07:33:00
They also collaborated with Faith No More.
 pas de dutchie! |
| cassandra is |
Posted - 02/13/2006 : 07:07:38
Jason sums up pretty well their discography. But if you should just listen to some of their albums, I'll recommend the classics "Kimono My House", "Indiscreet" and "Propaganda". So much genius in these albums that it's hard to believe.
And I must mention that they used to open for Queen at the beginning of the 70's (which is another good point!)
pas de bras pas de chocolat |
| starmekitten |
Posted - 02/13/2006 : 05:34:26
I have heard one track from li'l beethoven, I was in the car with my mother and we were driving to this little cornish town listening to radio 2 and jonathon ross played 'I married myself'. I listened intently and my mother kind of screwed up her nose. If the parents don't like it, it's got to be good.
I heard Perfume again on the radio this morning, I expect this afternoon I will wander round humming it. |
| Jason |
Posted - 02/12/2006 : 22:07:58
When you get semi-deep into classic pop and rock music of the 70s and 80s and beyond the obvious stuff, Sparks are one of the great treasures that await you. Ron and Russell Mael are pop geniuses, always witty, always forward-thinking, and have been making music for about 35 years.
They write songs about things that no one writes songs about (like a song from the point of view of a sperm, like a song written from the point of view of the animals left behind when Noah's Ark was built, like a song from the point of a view of a dead guy up in Heaven singing to his girlfriend who didn't go through with their Romeo & Juliet-esque suicide pact, a song about a guy who meets people by crashing his car into their's, a song about a male model who disfigures himself so people will finally see past his looks, a song about a guy who happily gets kicked out of college and then wants back in because the girls are prettier there, and so on...)
It's not hard to find info about Sparks on several websites, but to sum up quickly --
Earliest Sparks 1972-1973 (the first album and WOOFER IN TWEETER'S CLOTHING, both just reissued on CD this month on the Wounded Bird label): odd, eclectic pop music full of strange sounds, with several songs that wouldn't sound out of place if they came out today.
1974-1975 (the albums KIMONO MY HOUSE, PROPAGANDA, and INDISCREET):
Their most famous and most well-loved period. Ron and Russell ditched their first band and went to England, got a new band (but still kept the name Sparks), and became stars there. The average Sparks song from this period is a high-speed glam-rock monster, with opera influences, loud guitars, twinkly keyboard lines, a melody so catchy you can't believe it exists, and Russell singing in an impossibly high pitch while still managing to keep up with how fast the music is. (This man's throat is not built like our's.)
1976-1977 (the albums BIG BEAT and INTRODUCING)
They ditched their English band and started working with American session musicians. The music is a bit more conventional, but still good. However, the albums are not quite as consistently as amazing song-for-song as the previous stuff. Again though, there are several very worthwhile songs. "Throw Her Away (and Get a New One)" was covered by The New Pornographers.
1979 (the album NO. 1 IN HEAVEN)
Their disco period. They got together with Giorgio Morodor and made one of the funniest and catchiest disco records around. This actually is my favorite Sparks album, but I wouldn't recommend starting with it. When Sparks changed with the times, the nice thing about them is that it doesn't feel like they were jumping on a bandwagon. Rather it just sounds like they were keeping their ears open to what was happening and became inspired. (Their second Giorgio Morodor collaboration is their worst album, and they agree, so I'll leave that alone.)
1981-1983 (the albums WHOMP THAT SUCKER, ANGST IN MY PANTS, and IN OUTER SPACE):
Their New Wave period. They got an entirely new band together and put out three incredibly underrated records of heavenly pop music perfect for parties. Russell is not as flamboyant with the falsetto here, but still a great and distinct singer. WHOMP and ANGST are two fine LPs loaded with songs that could and should have been hits ("Tips for Teens", "Mickey Mouse", "Funny Face", "The Willys", "Sextown USA"). IN OUTER SPACE is just a touch more somber, but maybe the most consistently great LP out of the three. The song "Cool Places", with Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's dueting with Russell, was a minor hit in America.
After that they kind of lost the plot a bit in the 80s, but... they came back in the 90s with...
1994-1998 and the albums GRATUTIOUS SAX AND SENSLESS VIOLINS and BALLS
Their techno period. GRATUITOUS SAX might go too far out into the techno groove thing for some tastes (like Crispy Water's above), but it does have the great song "When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way' and BALLS shows them writing some fine, concise pop songs within the genre.
and finally their 2002 album, LI'L BEETHOVEN shows them doing something incredibly and innovative wonderful. On this album, Sparks invent dance music without beats. The songs are built like dance songs with lots of repetition, but there are almost no beats or dance club throbbing anywhere on the album. In its place are lush classical music flourishes with strings and pianos.
Haven't heard the new album yet. REALLY looking forward to it, though.
|
| BLT |
Posted - 02/12/2006 : 16:23:17
My faves are the albums from the early to mid-70s (Kimono, Propaganda, and Indiscreet)-- the era in which they seem to have taught Queen how to be Queen. The main differences between the bands are that Sparks obviously write their songs on a keyboard instead of guitar, and the Mael brothers have a hilariously dry sense of humor.
The album from a couple years ago, Lil' Beethoven, is strangely fantastic. I don't think I'd go so far as to call it a rock album, but there's an entire song based around the corny old joke, "How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" ("Practice, man, practice!") |
| ObfuscateByWill |
Posted - 02/12/2006 : 12:01:04
Kimono My House is a great album. Very pop glam.
"This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us" is one of my favorites from that album.
I know rita and BLT are also fans.
*Take a bite of the chocolate coffin. |
| Crispy Water |
Posted - 02/12/2006 : 11:55:05
I bought a disc of theirs awhile back called Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins because the cover art was somewhat interesting. It probably rates among the Top 10 CDs I wish I hadn't spent money on.
Nothing is ever something. |
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