King
Of Woolworths
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| King
Of Woolworths - L'Illustration Musicale (released 24.03.03) Reviewed |
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The King is alive and well and making bizarre sampled sound
scapes in deepest Derbyshire. The band is a trading name
for Jon Brooks who has created this album as a follow up
to his 2001 debut, 'Ming Star'. If you don't have 'Ming
Star' you may still have heard music from it because one
of the singles from the album, 'Bakerloo', was used as a
soundtrack for an Orange TV commercial.
Apparently 'L' Illustration Musicale'
takes it's cue from library music. Luckily, the inspiration
doesn't come from badly scratched Jim Reeves vinyl that Brooks
found at his local book depository. Instead he utilises music
from the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop and the French equivalent
(name checked on the album title).
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These TV departments created TV soundtracks
from the sixties through to the eighties. Brooks names one track
'Delia Derbyshire' as a dedication to a particular Workshop
employee who he credits with inventing sampling because of her
method of creating musical loops by cutting and splicing bits
of tape.
Each track takes these odd, fragile, and often haunting samples
as the starting point of the song and gradually builds upon
them to generate a complete wall of sound. At times, the album
makes great incidental background music, which is fine if you
are fed up with music distracting you from more important tasks.
The few truly impressive tracks are the songs that move away
from the pulsing electro beats and add a very soulful dimension.
This is most obvious on the songs that include strong guest
vocalist contributions. Dot Allison adds a St. Etienne style
vocal to 'Sell Me Back My Soul' and the wonderful 'Nuada', which
is reminiscent of Morcheeba, has The Delgado's Emma Pollack
on singing duties.
Gavin Eves
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