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Album Review
by SashaS
9-4-2002
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| 'Alright On Top' for Luke Slater |
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Luke Slater: 'Alright On Top'
(Mute)
Luke Slater’s disc could easily qualify for the electro-pop record of the year
Luke Slater’s sixth album ‘Alright On Top’ comes just few days after the announcement of Frank Tovey/Fad Gadget’s premature demise and few weeks before the Moby’s new single, ‘We Are All Made Of Stars’, appears in stores. The reason for mentioning these two is that they all come from the same stable, Mute, and have been inspired and influenced by Kraut-rock.
Although Slater’s ‘Alright On Top’ bears that Mute label’s ID experimento-sound it finds him locating his creative language and realising a corker of an album that has provided this reviewer with many a pleasurable hour over the past two months. It is essentially electro-pop but not of the kind where you get plenty of cheap keyboards and drum-machines: this is solid gold, every track a killer and each following its own diverse path. Like the automaton-pop of ‘Stars And Heroes’ or Kraftwerk-esque ‘I Can Complete You’ or the closing grandiosity of ‘Doctor Of Divinity’,
Alike Moby’s take on the new single that is essentially Krautrock/electro-disco/pop, Slater’s pieces often put a spell on one’s perception: From the opening chords of ‘Nothing At All’, this is a magic ride that never lets off. Teamed up with the mighty vocalist that is ex-Aloof’s Ricky Barrow, Teutonic rimeness has hardly ever been counterbalanced with such funky vocal.
This is not a nostalgia tripping by an overzealous devotee but usage of electro-sounds as basis for exploration into the future’s higher ground. As in the case of Fad Gadget, and many other Mute artists who set the milestones but hardly ever got awarded the chart action (including Moby until the ‘Play’ album) and sales they’d deserved, Slater doesn’t fit the profile of the time and the appeal of this album will be selective. It is difficult to fight the media-frenzy of TV’s pop-manufacturing ‘l’etoile-pour-le-moment’ that clogs nation’s attention more than soap-operas and football combined.
In the anomie of cynical music for sad boys and girls, Slater’s an arcane legerdemain of sounds, he is an oracle who should be listened to intently. Machine-driven music hasn’t sounded this humane since Bowie left Berlin.
Hype gets in the way of your taste, resist the futile and award yourself something different, worthwhile, moving and catchy. The standard of your life’s soundtrack could improve immeasurably.
Luke Slater should be a megastar.
8/10
SashaS
9-4-2002
Luke Slater’s album ‘Alright On Top’ is released 08 April 2002 on Mute
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