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Album Review
by SashaS
10-9-2001
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| Don't Kill Rob |
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Don't Kill Rob: 'Don't Kill Rob'
(Source/Virgin)
Rob is a French songsmith who takes some unusual turns on an album that is utterly gorgeous
French do make some strange sounding music that is not a bad thing in the world where everything is pre-packaged for easy and instant consumption. The slight problem might be that it appears that the whole French scene is bogged down in some 1970s ideals. Well, with a twist, which elevates them above the pure nostalgia.
Rob, a protégé of Air, sails the same sees of cheese by employing modern musical methods to achieve atmospherics that reek of the past and are adorned by some forgotten feelings, tasting with some abandoned flavours. What makes this really precious is that it simply is so naïve, it sounds enthusiastic, it is as fervent as a kid with a new toy. (Hopefully it is not a cynical move to fool us.)
There is folkness, popness, psychedelia, electronica in songs entitled ‘De La Musique’, ‘Sitar Fight Ego’, ‘Running For The Gold’ and three varieties of ‘Don’t Kill’ to delight the most demanding listener. And not all of it is instrumental, there is ‘Power Glove’, vocalised by Astrale, which is simply angelic, let’s not beat about the cloud.
There are more magical moments here, it gets spellbinding and flowing like sonic beauty, it feels as liquid as time at the moments… A lazy comparison would be Beck but there are two guys apparently operating here. Rob is augmented by drums, percussion and guitars of Ivan B; there is also an overall feeling of more brains at work here, with a poem by Sonia Sanchez set to music in ‘Don’t Kill Dub’.
“French minstrel with a slo-mo romp into delicious orchestral power pop and off-centre guitar-laced grooves” reads the sticker on the casing and, for once, the record company is telling the absolute truth. Just go out and buy it; it’s a great chill-out album after a night on the tiles, probably the best ‘morning-after’ music of the year.
8/10
SashaS
10-9-2001
‘Don’t Kill Rob’ is out 10 September on Source/Virgin
Wordage: 336; Sun., Sept. 09, 2001; 15:23:06
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