CD Albums - Reviews by TheJudge

CD Albums - Reviews by TheJudge

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
TheJudge 24th Jun 2023		CD Album Sparks - The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte (2023)	Review Although not quite as consistently outstanding as their previous two albums (Hippopotamus and A Steady Drip Drip Drip), there is still much to acclaim from these veteran funsters. They have once again taken a variety of influences and genres - Escalator is reminiscent of Kraftwerk circa 1973-77 for example, or perhaps the stuff Daniel Miller released on Mute at the end of that same decade - and melded them into their own style. That style includes, of course, their ability to write near-perfect pop tunes allied to lyrics seeing the world from a very particular viewpoint (Nothing Is As Good... being the prime example here) and also producing the odd flash of the astonishing, such as We Go Dancing, where satirical lyrics are combined with music which at the same time is reminiscent of 20th century orchestral music and provides the creepiest earworm I think I've ever encountered. A fine album. 4/5 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
TheJudge 20th Jul 2020		CD Album Sparks - A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip (2020)	Review It might have been thought impossible for the Mael brothers to have met the standards of 2017's Hippopotamus, but they have not merely succeeded, they have exceeded the quality of that album. All the Sparks trademarks are there: the varied musical styles and influences (Left Out In The Cold is in a distinctly Latin style, The Existental Threat is based on klezmer); the oblique takes on reality (Stravinksky's Only Hit postulates what would have happened if Igor had decided to write pop songs instead, for example); and the glorious battiness (Lawnmower, Onomato Pia). But there is a surprising melancholy underpinning many of the tracks Pacific Standard Time being the standout example. Perhaps this is what we can expect from a couple of septuaginarians. The musicianship and production are excellent, with the brothers clearly knowing who they can bring in to provide tight and dynamic playing. The outstanding track is iPhone, in which - in turn - Adam, Abraham Lincoln and Mrs Steve Jobs wrestle with the difficulty of trying to communicate with their audiences (Eve, the crowd at Gettysburg and Mr Steve Jobs respectively), hence the chorus, "Put that fucking iPhone down and listen to me!" Quite possibly Sparks' strongest ever album and a sure-fire classic. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
TheJudge 27th Oct 2017		CD Album Sparks - Hippopotamus (2017)	Review The 23rd(?) album by the Mael brothers finds them rejuvenated and operating with supreme confidence in their material. The quirkiness is there, of course; but it is allied to a strong understanding of such a variety of styles and genres that there is no sense of novelty for novelty's sake here. From the borderline Drum 'n' Bass silliness of Giddy Giddy, via a cheeky tribute to horizontal jogging to the orchestral pop of the title track, there is an assuredness and cohesion about the whole work. And only Ron & Russell could have the lines, "When you're a French director/You're an auteur as well/What does this mean?/Every scene/Must be obscure as hell" sung by an actual French director (their friend and sometime collaborator Leos Carax). There are so many echoes of other things here: the near-Beatles musical sensibilities of Scandinavian Design (Norwegian Wood Part II?), echoes of the style of early/mid-90s Chumbawamba in So Tell Me Mrs. Lincoln..., plus other influences which someone more au fait with the modern scene than I am would pick up on. All this is underpinned by superb arrangements and a very solid band behind them. This is Sparks' strongest album in nearly two decades, and it may be their most consistently strong outing ever. My album of the year! 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?