From Mr. Tangent Sent Tue, Feb 9th 1999, 19:32
From Mr. Tangent Sent Tue, Feb 9th 1999, 19:32
Lassigue Bendthaus - "Jealous Guy" cd single (Kk Records - kk179)
Jealous Guy [Poeme Syncope] (J. Lennon) 4:18
Superbad [Digital Soul Substitute] (J. Brown) 3:40
Thatness and Thereness [Mental Karaoke] (R. Sakamoto) 3:18
Jealous Guy [Poeme Non-Syncope] (J. Lennon) 4:27
Total - 15:43
--
The opening track is a cover of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy" as the title
tells us - it's a beautifully somber rendition that actually made me cry
upon listening to it. It's that type of song that makes your recall past
loves and things that you should have done but didn't. The music opens
with a compressed piano melody then slowly morphs into sublime echoed
vocoder vocals. The track has piano in the background throughout the
entire song in some form or another with subdued, slow electronics
pulsating rhythmically along side. This song could very easily fit in with
anything from the "Render" album.
Next we have "Superbad" which wasn't as funky as I thought it was going to
be given that it was a James Brown cover after all. Even so, it does have
a slinky funkadelic feel to it. The most striking thing about the song is
the quite unique vocals - which are processed in such a way that they
sounds amazing. It sounds like he took the vocals and somehow re-modulated
them - the liner notes mention a software that he developed called "Raw" -
so I assume he used this on the vocals. ("Raw" does vocal simulation based
on vocal resynthesis generated by original vocal raw material. This is a
'composition versus combination' product. - from the liner notes) There's
some interesting digital editing and solo synth noodling at the end of the
song that sounds both amazing and confusing - it sounds slightly out of
time, but really isn't. Not quite what I was expecting for this cover but
very pleasant nonetheless.
"Thatness and Thereness" which was composed originally by Ryuichi Sakamoto
comes in next. It's another piano-laden piece with electronics strung over
the top. Mid-paced drums studder quite impressively (Uwe's drum
programming is legendary) while reverbed piano mingles its way into your
listening space. No vocals are present - but really aren't necessary
anyway. This track reminds me of an electronic version of some of the
songs by Angelo Badalamenti on the "Lost Highway" soundtrack.
The second version of the "Jealous Guy" track sounds very similar to the
first version with the only main exception being that it never adds drums
to the mix - as the Poeme Syncope version does. It sounds nearly identical
other than that fact. About 1:11 into the first mix the drums come in but
on this version the drums never appear - but you won't probably notice as
the drums are inconsequential in light of the exquisite music.
In the end, I'm probably highly biased - but if you liked "Render" then
you'll stop reading right now and rush out and buy this. With this
installation I am salivating for the upcoming album "Pop Artificielle".
"I didn't mean to hurt you... I'm sorry that I made you cry, oh well...
I didn't want to hurt you... I'm just a jealous guy...
I was feeling insecure... you might not love me anymore...
I was shivering inside..."
Mr. Tangent