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The Books The Lemon of Pink Released in 2003 9.8/10 Styles Folk Cut & Paste Electronica Song Highlights The Lemon of Pink (Part 1) Tokyo Take Time |
Following 2002's highly acclaimed Thought For Food, The Books' second album, The Lemon of Pink opens with the two part title track - a piece of attractive folk music accompanied by some gentle female vocals. What immediately sets The Books apart from the modern-folk collective, however, is the decision to blend this genre with the most unlikely of companions - experimental electronica. Don't be confused, though - this isn't folk with beats and samples thrown in. The Books have created some exquisite folk melodies, as complete songs, and then spliced them up and rearranged them in a glitchy, scattershot collage. Banjo strings twang and then cut out, only to be overlapped by softly whining violin, with vocals interspersed throughout. These vocals vary accross a range of different accents throughout the album, making for a great cross-culture feel. This patchy, rearranged style invokes the image of a massive tapestry of folksy pictures, each one individually beautiful, combining for something awe-inspiringly chaotic. Within the disorder of the production, there is still a general feeling of things being where they're meant to be. The Books don't abuse their cut-and-paste aesthetic, and there are decent sized stretches of the album which remain intact in their original form. There's a wonderful feeling of the album hanging on by a thread to some sort of shifting structure. Too many electronic artists find that experimentation comes at the cost of accessability (and therefore, listeners). By saturating the folk songs with irresistable charm and a sense of inviting warmness (which is always genuine, never forced), The Books manage to neatly sidestep this issue. Even once these songs have been disected and rearranged, that warmness still survives the transformation. The ability to make instantly unique music, which is somehow challenging and engaging all at once is a feat not to be ignored. The concept of a cut-and-paste sound collage is facsinating all on its own. With all the magnetic beauty of folk acts like The Dirty Three and Augie March to boot, The Books have created a virtually unprecedented work of electro-accoustic craftwork. Highly recommended. |