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Nodrog · 1 Jun 2007, 05:23

Sparks - Lil' Beethoven. Like Steve Reich decided to write a pop album. Fairly minimalist looped vocal phrases over a largely piano backing track, and it sounds absolutely fantastic. Hard to describe it in more detailed terms than that because its one of the most unique and original albums I've heard; as well as the obvious influences from minimalist composers, theres shades of Zappa in here too - not musically, because it sounds nothing like him, but in the sense of taking hilariously trite and meaningless lyrics and setting them to 'serious' music in order to create a surreal contrast. And although the lyrics are somewhat silly, the phrasing and vocal timbres involved in their delivery are brilliant and always interesting. One of the best albums Ive experienced for a while, a masterpiece.

Tracks to check out: If the first 2 tracks ("The Rhythm Thief" and "How Do I Get To Carnegie Hall", especially the former) dont appeal to you, then the rest of the album probably wont either. "My Baby's Taking Me Home" also stands out. "Ugly Guys With Beautiful Girls" is also great although it doesnt sound like the rest of the album since its more rock-inspired.

1 Jun 2007, 05:23	#216
Nodrog Registered User Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 8,476	Re: The GD Music Archive Sparks - Lil' Beethoven. Like Steve Reich decided to write a pop album. Fairly minimalist looped vocal phrases over a largely piano backing track, and it sounds absolutely fantastic. Hard to describe it in more detailed terms than that because its one of the most unique and original albums I've heard; as well as the obvious influences from minimalist composers, theres shades of Zappa in here too - not musically, because it sounds nothing like him, but in the sense of taking hilariously trite and meaningless lyrics and setting them to 'serious' music in order to create a surreal contrast. And although the lyrics are somewhat silly, the phrasing and vocal timbres involved in their delivery are brilliant and always interesting. One of the best albums Ive experienced for a while, a masterpiece. Tracks to check out: If the first 2 tracks ("The Rhythm Thief" and "How Do I Get To Carnegie Hall", especially the former) dont appeal to you, then the rest of the album probably wont either. "My Baby's Taking Me Home" also stands out. "Ugly Guys With Beautiful Girls" is also great although it doesnt sound like the rest of the album since its more rock-inspired. Last edited by Nodrog; 2 Jun 2007 at 10:09.