Being away from the internet and computer for the last week was so refreshing and just what I needed to clear my head and catch up on some music that has been gathering cobwebs on my hard drive. Unfortunately, some of those albums will have to continue to gather dust, since the first album I listened to has been stuck on repeat since its first note left my speakers.
One of my favorite childhood books was Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are and I’m sure many of you are familiar with this classic children’s picture book. The story tells about the adventures of Max, who conjures up a land of scary-looking, yet silly monsters after being sent to bed without dinner. The reason I mention this story is because Joakim Bouaziz’s Monsters & Silly Songs reminded me of these “wild things” with their gigantic eyes and mismatched body parts. Just like Sendak’s “wild things,” Monsters (the album) is comprised of mismatched sounds encompassing a wide range of genres, including everything from electro pop to poppy techno to disco, indie, new wave, post-punk, rock, piano solos, and various electronic distortions.
Somehow the French electronic producer and Tigersushi head manages to pull off a remarkable album that blends so many mismatched styles. To use others words, it’s a “controlled disorder.” The singles are where the album really shines; “I Wish You Were Gone” is a solid sparkling dance-punk track that stands up considerably well to anything LCD Soundsystem would crank out. Follow that up with the new wave tinged “Lonely Hearts” complete with the Morrison-esque vocals of Poni Hoax’s Jim Kerr. Another standout song is the dark acidic techno single “Drumtrax” which has received remix work by Radioslave.
All three of these tracks sound completely different from each other and it’s hard to believe that they’re all part of the same album. But, somehow it works. Mixed in between the 16 tracks of the album are four “monsters” which are 16-40 second noise experiments that break up the rest of the songs.
Monsters is out now on K7 Records and can be purchased in vinyl and CD formats via Insound. Check out “I Wish You Were Gone” and “Lonely Hearts” below.
[audio:http://www.crackersunited.com/blog/downloads/03%20I%20Wish%20You%20Were%20Gone.mp3]
Joakim ”I Wish You Were Gone”
[audio:http://www.crackersunited.com/blog/downloads/06%20Lonely%20Hearts.mp3]
Joakim ”Lonely Hearts”