Word: synth
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...familiar tonal palette over the course of an entire album while eluding the joint specter of drudgery and repetition.Yet rather than a sprawling masterwork, “So This is Goodbye” is a cohesive album, whose melodic bass lines issue taut rejoinders to lazy keyboard echoes, delicate synth arpeggios, and efficient percussion—complete with judicious handclaps, especially on “First Time” (alas, sans cowbell).Despite the album’s electro-sheen and programmatic counterpoint, singer Jeremy Greenspan’s high, reverb-enhanced vocals imbue the tracks with a necessary human...
...intense and involving in a manner very rare for a rock song.“Dear God Please Help Me,” follows, which is the most effective track on the whole album. It is sparely orchestrated, with a slight mischievous twinkle that distinguishes the piece from the synth-pop to which Morrissey occasionally threatens to descend and allows the listener to concentrate on the words and delivery. The lyrics are vintage Morrissey, telling a tale of failed, confused lust; there are “explosive kegs/ between my legs” which soon leads...
...wordless howler on Tricky's finest albums) and musical partner Will Gregory also have a sublime pop sensibility. Ooh la la is a sticky homage to Norman Greenbaum's Spirit in the Sky and Kylie Minogue's lyric book ("switch me on/ turn me up"). Meanwhile, the synth-rock ballad Number 1 has enough instantly memorable atmospherics to make its title prophetic...
...self-duet from lead singer Laetitia Sadier, and “Whisper Pitch” is a more-successful-than-usual foray into psychedelic syncopation that morphs into a pretty ballad. In these songs, though, are just about the only musical moments that manage to separate themselves from the synth soup that is the rest of the record, and even these seeming standouts will struggle for attention once added to Stereolab’s already enormous back catalog. Stereolab hasn’t made much bad music—there’s still enough spark and talent left...
...condescending tone turns “But you’s a scary dude / Believed by very few” from good to “Oh, shit!” And the beat is downright epic. DJ Toomp delivers the marching strings and gut-rumbling bass synth to produce the kind of track you’ve always wanted to hear play when you walk into rooms. Fitting that such a brazenly cinematic song should be used to sell a movie...