|
LemonJelly's first release was uniquely exotic enough to matter in a sea of faux-experimental electronica. The album is one of the finer examples of when techno can transcend dated confines (and remember in electronic music time goes by much, much faster then other genres) by not becoming a slave to methodical modulations and instead focusing on an all enveloping melodic approach to compliment any fitting percussion.
Even when they sample the faraway reports of American astronauts or a Russian choir there is something in the flavour of Lemon Jelly (Nick Franglen and Fred Deakin) that is quirkily English. Here, as some boffin belts out on Lost Horizons, their second album, "All the ducks are swimming in the water, faldaralderaldo, faldaralderaldo." If this album were an armchair, it would be orange and inflatable. There is nothing exceptional about Lemon Jelly's folky electronica; it doesn't so much push boundaries as graze happily inside them. But it does so beautifully, with a loopy glee that will get you in the end
a feeble attempt to substitute humor for good music. two or three good tracks. otherwise annoying. now, please enter that this feedback is not helpful because you disagree.
as a dj and producer in las vegas I listen to all types of music.a friend of mine gave me a copy of this cd the other day based on the psychedlic cover, he found in the used cd store.THIS CD IS THE GREATEST CD I'VE HEARD IN YEARS.the songs are just out of this world,IN A VERY TRIPPY,PSYCHEDLIC AND CHILLED OUT WAY,IN A STORY BOOK MANNER and the production of the cd is just,MIND BOGGLING.THE STERIO SEPARATION IS IMPECABLE,AND THE SOUND IS JUST BLENDED PERFECTLY.THERE USE OF ALL TYPES OF SOUND EFFECTS IS JUST STUNNING.THESE GUYS SHOULD HAVE MIXED THE CD IN 5.1 SURROUND SOUND.IT WOULD HAVE WON AN AWARD.SO IF YOU WANT SOMETHING OF MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR AND SERGEANT PEPPER GREATNESS ,GO BUY THIS CD YOU WONT BE DISSAPOINTED.CAN NOT WAIT TO HEAR ,LEMON JELLYS OTHER CDS.NOYZMKR,LAS VEGAS
The Bath EP feel good music; Yellow EP was Adventurous, and Midnight EP had a beautifully nocturnal or magical outlook. The album is actually a collection (call them a reissue, if you'd like) of the three EPs they had created. Now that we got the Yellow EP (known to me as the Morning album), the Midnight EP has plenty in store, if you enjoyed your stay at Yellow. Kicking off the Yellow EP was "Our Majesty King Raam", which is a bright salute to King Raam, as well as one of those tracks where you know they went over the time limit somewhere. After listening to this, it sounds not only like a blueprint for an excellent album like Lost Horizons, but it is a good beginner's guide for those who want to shake hands with Lemon Jelly through the headphones. If I ran the album, this would have been Lemon Jelly's concept album as an ode to one day, made from just three EPs representing Lemon Jelly's hellos.
Speaking of spiritual balance, "Page One" is only majestic if you, too, were to pretend that all around you weren't any pizza parlors, or any streets. "Nervous Tension" samples a Yoga-like tape to relax your mind, yet the music doesn't follow too much suit as the song sounds like it is trying to create a soundtrack of Portishead in a day spa. "Kneel Before Your God" sounds like the song that should have graced the What the Bleep Do We Know. Each one had some sort of a personality. I first bought Lost Horizons and fell in love with the album and Lemon Jelly, because it sent me on an adventure in different songs that I would never forget. Lost Horizons and `64-`95 were such adventures that we want to know where it will take us. All of that while listening to "In the Bath", and it made it even more enjoyable. Movie for it's soundtrack through your mind, and a good way to grace your thoughts on spiritual balance.
Now, as for the majestic "Homage to Patagonia", the 9 ½ minutes it takes to spread its worldly charm around is used when one half soundtracks a walk through Patagonia (complete with Chinese strings), and an ending as breathtaking as the sun to the common eye. Year of Release: 2004Headline: The Beginner's Guide to Understanding Lemon Jelly Every artist that to those who haven't heard of them is an "acquired taste" needs an introduction of some sort. Both of them were really good. Now to describe the bright Yellow EP.
For that concept alone in the song, it is one of the most beautiful pieces on the album. But for those who can get past the repetition will find the music quite adventurous. The weakest of the three has to be the Bath. Lemon Jelly has that charm.
"In The Bath" starts off with a spacious instrumental (none the bubbly), with the woman being made to say over the beat, "What do you do in the bath." And no one quite bothers to answer. The "greatest hits" album of '64-'95 just gave me Lemon Jelly's rendition of other people's songs, if he had a chance to remix them all into their own work. From that was born a balloon ride or a view over the canyon, with only your guitar to accompany you there. I knew nothing about Lemon Jelly's EPs. Just nothing but a field of life, as God once made it, with a sweep of evolution before your eyes. It made me want to picture getting in the shower, slipping on some soap and landing in an ocean, crawling through a pipe, only to end up in a kid's swimming Pool, step on the grass, to be flipped on the other side as the sun shines while the stereotypical Egypt walks towards me, and at the end, I come out of the bath floating in a bubble.
So, if you heard their EPs and only, then you are just learning all about the crazy, quirky, and overall rare charm of Lemon Jelly. Well, the Bath in terms of album sequence. An album so early is just rushing into them after and not letting anyone get to know your music or what you do, before expecting something righteous and good on the album. The end of the album is the Morning all over again. "Come" ends the collection appropriately with a dream-like interpretation of an angel leading you to a happy and forgiving world. Next, is "The Staunton Lick", where at the beginning is an awkward walk-through of how to play "The Staunton Lick" from an instruction tape on how to "Teach Yourself Folk Guitar".
The crash course is when you buy their further concept-based recordings. One that didn't even tell us what kind of man King Raam was, but an homage anyway. So I wonder what www.lemonjelly.ky has to offer. www.lemonjelly.ky, time-wise, ,may sem a little too long, but it is going to take you a while to get into the trip. "A Tune for Jack" is just a feel good travel through an instrumental for a sea elephant named Jack, and through both that and an interruption by a baby boy trying to say "bumblebee", the adventure seems pretty worth the trip underwater That was what it is like in The Bath. If they haven't, then this album would do well as the track to have a morning theme to it, because from the keyboard reminiscent of Roy Ayers, thissounds like quite an homage for the track.
The Bath will be in the middle for that to happen. That's where the real vacations begin.The Bath: 6.25/10, Yellow: 7.75/10, Midnight: 8/10Overall Rating Average: 7.25/10
|
