Impossible schemes...
I’m really enjoying this album, and well impressed with the cohesion that’s been achieved in track selection and in re-working songs neatly together from their various places and periods. It all makes for a synth-Pop album that I’d be happy to give as a present to anyone who’d never heard of John or had no interest in that electro stuff
well there must be someone amidst the chatter and babble of electronic noise all around us from phones to video games to give this punchy CD to, perhaps a prisoner in a deep dungeon, or an alien who’s just discovered ears, or your teenage niece or nephew who’s thankfully grown out of their Coldplay albums.
Kicking off with
Adult Concerns, which washed over me a bit, although an instrumental opening made a nice change, I wonder what it would be like to hear lyrics with it. Of course knowing Johns reworking addiction I’m expecting it to turn up on a future album complete with added tweaks and bleeps, Louis on the backing vocals and John crafting out a wry storyline about suburban internet infidelity, and the resulting online global myopia from staring too long at the screen.
The original
A Million Cars has more edge for me, at first I thought this new version might just have flashed past leaving no impression, but it eventually
”na nah’d” its way into my mind and drove me quickly into the Pop heaven of the
’From Trash/Impossible/Friendly Fire’ trilogy, where a slightly more beefy
Trash had me happily stomping around the flat from the floor to the door like I was leading an imaginary invasion. There’s a momentary pause for
Impossible where it now seems that I’m hearing the
”smack my bitch up” melody slowed down, with robot John on vocal repeat, and a Gardenesque break:
”…and you could taste it in our lives” makes this my favourite track on the CD, and then coming in to end this three part best moment on the album for me
Friendly Fire glam rocks itself up for a fun cabaret performance.
X-Ray Vision, nice intro, I much prefer this warmer reworking with more definition in its added musical touches.
The Man Who Dies Every Day, its Kafkaesque Hero has echoes now of Telekon and seems to have a touch more humour,
“Alright!”. I love the hypnotic rhythm of
Walk This Way, its funky, but not junky, still just about enough darkness with only a little froth on top, overall I think I’d be happy if John wanted to continue a bit longer in this direction, just go easy on the milk.
Dislocation, it made me think slightly of Tin Drum as its new place of location, Its interesting, and although I’d still take the sublime mystery of the ‘vox original whatever re-workings come along, I really like the ‘fatigued’ rhythm and beat of new
Dislocation, and also of
Walk This Way. I think both of these two tracks would be good starting points for a new album direction.
Drive kind of ran out of fuel for me, maybe a bust transmission lost its original powerful edge for it, but I don’t reckon much for John’s chances if he turns up on Top Gear with this version. On first play
The One Who Walks Through You just came and went for me, although the quirky sounds help it linger, and once it gets into the main body of the song it does tighten up a little bit more.
Crash And Burn is now something more like a candle burning in an empty disco than the buildings ablaze of its original nature, more shouting please John, this was too polite an ending.
For me the majority of re-interpretations are good to have and hear, there’s even a few I’d completely swap with the originals, this is a fun album to play and after the recent re-workings and rediscoveries of Johns ‘80’s albums its set me back on course to looking forward to new and future work from him
