Word: tracked
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Despite this, however, the production is the album’s most interesting element, creating rich arrangements that almost prevent the songs from becoming overly repetitive. The title track is the most impressive production feat: instruments cut in and out with a staccato aggression and Adu’s overdubbed voice hits multiple registers, weaving a tapestry of interlocking vocal snippets that drive the song’s dynamics from the arid determination of the opening to the rising chorus of wandering lovers. Distorted guitars and synthesizers howl like frigid winds through the track, slicing Adu’s distant...
...uniquely withdrawn yet powerful vocal style. Unfortunately, many of the songs are so mindlessly bland that it is easy to mistake her tasteful emoting for unfeeling coldness. “Morning Bird” is one of the few tracks which highlights and supports her unique vocals. The song traces a staggering piano figure down the sinewy and reserved melodic fragments that Adu shakes down with melancholic elegance. Here, her lack of obvious emoting benefits the song and her voice sounds more powerful than on most. The percussion is minimal—a tambourine shivering over the steady heartbeat...
...bass pattern lightly supports the Sunday-afternoon strumming of the laconic acoustic and the waves of organ that sweep through the wide-open spaces of the song like wind in fields of grain. Adu pulls off some memorable melodies, making use of her powerful and malleable voice, but the track somehow feels distant and merely pleasant. The instruments still sound prepackaged and the chord changes, while effective, remain obvious. The production, though nearly flawless, places more of an emotional divide between the band and the listener than there should be on what could have been such a relatable song...
...cursory glance, “Falling Down A Mountain,” the eighth LP from British group Tindersticks, seems to embody the helplessness its title evokes. Track titles like “Piano Music,” “Harmony Around My Table” and “Peanuts” imply an almost diminutive cuteness; frontman Stuart Staples’ baritone warblings often tremble with a mix of emotion and uncertainty, as if he’s on the verge of tears but isn’t sure why; and the minimalistic piano melodies often hesitate...
...Falling Down A Mountain” opens with the title track, immediately introducing the multi-layered, complex arrangements which characterize the album’s best songs. Subversive bass lines, syncopated drum beats and a tambourine lay down a solid foundation upon which wild trumpet riffs and trippy synths soon take over, creating an alternately jazzy, new-age feel. Stuart Staples’ oft-commanding vocals seem to politely refrain from overpowering the melodies, neatly weaving themselves into intricate tapestry of disparate sounds. An engaging prelude to the rest of the album, the title track exemplifies what makes the best...