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Album Review
by SashaS
26-2-2002
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| Buzzin' kunst |
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ShelleyDevoto: 'buzzkunst'
(Cooking Vinyl)
ShelleyDevoto album is like finding a musical equivalent to the ‘God’s particle’
Back to the future, to art-anarchy… Once upon a punk time there was a band in Manchester called Buzzcocks but its two leading lights separated after one prime EP, ‘Spiral Scratch’. Pete Shelley continued on with the band, Howard Devoto formed the seminal Magazine that would be past tense by 1981. 25 years down the time-corridor the two have regrouped and recorded ‘buzzkunst’.
Are you ready for some beauty in your life? Look no further, a market seller screams, here is the solution! ‘buzzkunst’ is relaxing and yet engaging, playful but enlightening, minimal and insightful, pastorally romantic and romantically pessimistic… Sonic philosophy! (Well, philosopher Wittgenstein’s dying words, “Tell them it’s been wonderful”, get quoted on ‘System Blues’.) There is an incredible amount of familiarity here but it is its strength rather than blatant rehashing. The drama is heightened, the tonal charges set deeper, musical language is as limited as human imagination.
Aside an echo of Bowie instrumentals (of Eno’s legendary production), it recalls Magazine here (‘Can You See Me Shining’) and Buzzcocks there (‘’Til The Stars In His Eyes Are Dead’), adding a dash of Philip Glass and a portion of Can, some Kraut-rocking… Bowie’s ‘Low’ lingers in ‘Strain Of Bacteria’, Magazine’s ‘Recoil’ (from debut ‘Real Life’) lyric is recycled on ‘A World To Give Away’, ‘System Blues’ contains Mansun’s (during Devoto’s short collab with the band) rejected lyric… All mixed and moulded to be as fresh as the spring flowers.
The intervening years have been spent in pursuing different interests, Shelley more engrossed in emo-side of things while Devoto devoted his time to the arty side; it’s like McCartney versus Lennon… One wanted punk-pop creativity, the other went the art-rock way but when you put them together – some different kind of magic happens! Funky-rocking, cyber-dancing, pop-gothic… ‘Deeper’ is the album’s love song.
There is no consideration to the market demands, there is not a single thought of having to write a hit, experimentation is high order here… Now, après le disque, Pete Shelly is back fronting Buzzcocks, Devoto works on his own musical and literary projects such as writing and recording his autobiography ‘Insects!’, which leaves ‘buzzkunst’ as, supposedly, one-off. Let’s pray it ain’t…
By the way, kunst is German for art; ‘nuff said.
8/10
SashaS
26-2-2002
ShelleyDevoto’s ‘buzzkunst’ album is released 25 February 2002 on Cooking Vinyl
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