One of the happy things in the huge box of post waiting for us when we returned was a packet with 4 new ReR CDs — Huzzah!! I haven’t had a chance to listen to them all yet, but a quick skim suggests that this packet includes some definite winners.
- Radio banana by Aki Peltonen. How could you not love a title like that? Reminds me a bit of Brian Woodbury’s exceptionally fine Variety orchestra from last year; we’ll have to see if that comparison holds up. (ReR doesn’t have cover images up for any of these yet, so the cover above is from the Woodbury release.)
- Songs from hurt by Robert Iolini. This is a combination of music (sort of film score style) with actual “field” recordings of the forgotten (in Australia, but most could be anywhere) talking about their lives and circumstances. Could be really powerful stuff.
- Nita, L’Angelo sul Trapezio by Paulo Angeli. I really liked his earlier Bucato CD. This sounds totally different, but still good. More stuff that sounds vaguely orchestral and film-score-esque.
- Acnalbasac noom (try it backwards) by Slapp Happy. A re-issue of the original version (before Virgin Records gurped things up) of this 70’s release. Based on a quick listen it’s aged really well, and Dagmar Krause’s singing is some of the smoothest and least strident I’ve ever heard from her (although I like it when she’s strident :-) ).
I love the international nature of ReR’s releases. In this set, for example, Peltonen is Finnish, Iolini hails from Australia, Angeli is Italian, and the members of Slapp Happy came from Germany, the UK, and the U.S. In a world so over-dominated by U.S. and U.K. music it’s cool to be exposed to such excellent music from other parts of the globe.
I don’t suspect there’s anything in this packet quite as surprising and wonderful as Charming Hostess‘ Punch from ReR’s last release (or Chris Cutler’s excellent Twice around the earth), but it’s still early days. Regardless, it does seem like there’s some really nice stuff and a I look forward to digging into them more deeply.
