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March 28, 2008
New Ladytron: Too Detached to Allow an Exclamation Point
Ladytron, one of the very few artists to be lumped in with the maligned electroclash scene and emerge successfully from it, returned this week by dropping off the first track from their upcoming Velocifero to little rapturous notice. Their previous album The Witching Hour was also an undervalued gem of modern synth music. Now that a follow-up is starting to become tangible, anticipation is creeping skywards.
"Black Cat" is not the undeniable neon injection that "Destroy Everything You Touch" was, not at all. It's more of a continually black and occasionally amazing Eastern European brush off. When Stereolab fluttered off into French the lilt of the language gave their singing a romantic fluidity beyond their lyrics' revolutionary bent. The effect of the sung Bulgarian here may be exactly the opposite, lending the whiff of (sexy) oppression to whatever it is that's being sung. The retro futurist backdrop has some great Blade Runner synths and old fashioned twinkling bells in its favor, as well as thundering drum breaks that sound recorded in an abandoned hangar. So right up my street, as usual.
Previously:
- Ladytron, Live @ the Irving Plaza
- Best Albums of 2005
- Numerology: ...going on Seventeen
Posted by Jeff Klingman at March 28, 2008 08:18 PM
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Comments
this is an unexpected surprise... i went to the Irving Plaza show back in 2005 and loved it. probably one of the best live performances I've seen ever.
Posted by: Jennson at March 29, 2008 11:43 AM
and did they really have to name their album after a scooter?
Posted by: Jennson at March 29, 2008 11:46 AM
it's true--scooters may not be a wise career move. They didn't do much for Lou Reed's street cred, but his commercial for Honda does make me oddly nostalgic for the menacing NYC of the early '90s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkXxFCu7kPI
Posted by: david at March 31, 2008 11:04 AM
I'm still kind of mad about that scooter ad six months after discovering it.
Posted by: Jeff K at March 31, 2008 04:07 PM
