datarock - datarock datarock
nu-rave is over. long live nu-rave.
well sort of.
now that people are beginning to talk about other musics in 2008, i can’t deny that i am soaking up a lot of the music that was released under the banner of nu-rave and loving it.
one example would be this wonderful album by the norwegian duo,datarock.
for one reason or the other, the hype that surrounded the release of the album last year passed me by. everything just felt contrived, and artificial, thus meaning i never felt the urge to listen.
then, earlier this week i saw the album going cheap, and remembered reading that the lads are involved with the production of the forthcoming annie album.
well, that’s a good enough association for me.
a quick jaunt back to the shop, a few quid thrown on the counter, and bam, ireallylovemusic has a new favourite album for 2008.
just a shame it was released in 2007.
42 minutes of nerdy xtc vs talking heads vs devo excellence with lyrics that indicate they are not overly serious about their art.
starting off with a short guitar stabs of bulldozer, the listener may be concerned that the album is nothing more than a hipster friendly blast of overly familiar angular guitars, but fear not, as soon as the cheap and cheerful casio synth riffs of i used to dance with my daddy kick in, all becomes a lot more enjoyable.
melodic twists and unusual synthetics across the rest of the album make for a hugely enjoyable listen.
yes, there are massively obvious headnods to the references as mentioned, but the songs are strong, and the execution done with affectionate attention to detail (the hard stereo phasing of the jangle guitar on fa-fa-fa, the choice in the presets used etc etc), meaning that any such concerns of originality are quickly discarded as the overriding emotion is one of pure joy and pleasure.
basically, had clor got around to making a second album, then they could have only hoped it would have ended up as excellent as this.
if you spot datarock datarock lying unloved in a sale bin, then my advise is to buy, cast aside the cynicism and enjoy.
more detail : here