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 Calling
all music fans based in the UK... Do you want your views to be read
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Religious Knives: The Door
Hush Arbors:
self-titled
Popular
Workshop: We're Alive and We're Not Alone
Vivian
Girls: The Vivian Girls
Okkervil
River: The Stand Ins
Lucksmiths:
Up With the Sun (free download)
Various:
Be True to Your School (Fortuna Pop comp)
Deerhoof:
Offend Maggie
Of Montreal:
Skeletal Lamping Dbl CD
Headlights:
Some Racing, Some Stopping
Cherrystones:
A Dying Tradition - Halloween mix CD
The Manhattan
Love Suicides: Veronica 7"
Amadou
& Mariam: Sabali (single)
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Contact Details:
Email: SoundsXP
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SoundsXP,
30 Somerville Road,
London, SE20 7NA, UK
UK releases only.
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The Vichy Government
White Elephant
Filthy Little Angels
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Article
written by Matt H
Jul 2, 2008.
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| The Vichy Government -White Elephant |
Like (too) many artists the Vichy Goverment come across as misanthropes documenting the darker, seamier side of life and death. But, unlike most, they offer little by way of identification or glorification. Instead their short stories, characterisations and satirical polemics are laid out in a stark, cold light - no shades of grey. All are declaimed in stark, wide-eyed tones that bring to mind an insane computer from a dystopian sci-fi trying single-handedly to undermine anyone who's ever said "ooh I love Irish accents, they're dead sexy aren't they?"
Turning away from all but the very blackest humour, it's an approach that often implicates the listener in a way that, say, a Chris Morris satire avoids by off-loading some or all of the blame (however rightly) onto the media or politicians. This is especially true on the likes of Little Fishes' and Anmnesia Day's assaults on, well, just about everyone. Don't get me wrong though, there's no namby-pamby liberal guilt on display here - the more traditional baddies get a thoroughgoing pasting too.
The musical accompaniment reflects the refusal to offer anything easy to hang onto, from the simple ticking clock that backs the opening tale of a suicide to their more usual jaunty Casiotones. It's a take on 80s synth work that provides a perfect mirror to the impact of the voice - often superfically pleasant but eventually abrasive and a bit grating. You'll not sleep through this.
Apart they may be, but not without peers. The accent might be different and the tones less Scott Walkeresque - but a number of times they call to mind the more extreme edges of Cathal Coughlan's work. From the bitter spoken word tracks on his early solo album and Bubonique side projects through to the instrumental interludes on Viva Dead Ponies which find their equivalent here in Picnic on Pitcairn. (Not to mention the echoes of Sean O'Hagan's Microdisney melodies that suface from time to time.)
While I doubt anyone else is so unremittingly harsh, it's an approach that the Vichy Government make work for them. White Elephant is an intelligent and challenging listen. Yeah, it's potentially deeply annoying too, but if you're one of those who think 'challenging' and 'intelligent' are dodgy adjectives for an album, well, then you deserve everything you get.
Spread the word: Email this article
Untitled Document
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