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Turin
Brakes
Ether Song
label: Astralwerks / Emd
released: 03.11.03
our score: 3.5 out of 5.0
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For a band
that had their debut album nominated for a Brit Award and the
Mercury Music Prize, Turin Brakes haven’t made as many waves
as you might expect. There wasn’t the anticipation in the
run up to the release of Ether Song that other bands have
generated when following up big debut CDs. Sure, The Optimist
LP spawned a few low key singles like "Underdog (Save
Me)" and "Mind Over Money," but it didn’t
really get the audio taste buds watering. And so Ether Song
will arrive on the scene on March 3, hot on the heels of the quality
single "Pain Killer" but not really promising to blow
us away.
And it’s
just as well because it doesn’t blow us away at all. In fact,
those of you who part with your cash for Ether Song will
be buying just another guitar album, one that gets off to a cracking
start with "Blue Hour" and "Average Man" but
then spirals down to normality. And by the end when you get to
"Panic Attack" and "Rain City," Ether Song
becomes nothing more than a random album with guitars and a melancholy
undertone. Clearly influenced in places by the wailing of Radiohead
and sounding in other places like a watered down Remy Zero, Turin
Brakes are clearly talented but not clearly distinguished from
a myriad of other bands emerging from the “New Acoustic”
musical age.
Ether Song
was recorded in three weeks during last summer in California of
all place, which seems a little at odds with what Turin Brakes,
a down to Earth UK duo, appear to stand for. But while the album
is personal and pleasant enough, it doesn’t hit home and
stand out like I hoped it would. It’s a coffee table album;
you’ll look cool if friends see it lying around your house
but it blends in with too many others you own.
27-Feb-2003
9:48 PM
If you
liked Ether Song...
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Tracklist:
1.
Blue Hour
2. Average Man
3. Long Distance
4. Self Help
5. Falling Down
6. Stone Thrown
7. Clear Blue Air
8. Pain Killer
9. Full of Stars
10. Panic Attack
11. Little Brother
12. Rain City
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