Apr 26, 2009

Celebrate, Sundaze 2 D Dolls

The Dolls - The Dolls (05 flac 271mb)

The Dolls are Antye Greie aka AGF (Germany), Craig Armstrong (Scotland), and Vladislav Delay ( Sasu Ripatti ) aka Luomo (Finland). Huume Recordings are happy sponsors of this collaboration between three solo musicians, admirers and explorers. Craig Armstrong (Massive Attack, Moulin Rouge soundtrack) had heard AGF's (Antye Greie) music and became a fan. He invited Antye to sing on his second solo album, As If To Nothing, and they performed a few successful shows together, with Vladislav Delay as central groupie and sometime performer. Armstrong later recorded a few of the songs off his solo piano album Piano Works in Berlin at AGF/Delay's home studio, dipping into idea-sharing and collaboration. They recorded hours of piano played by Armstrong, bringing in their computers and various studio toys. And at times when the machines didn't do their thing anymore, then the piano itself became a platform for something new, going well beyond "treated piano." The Dolls believe in the soothing qualities in music, both as a catalyst for themselves while making it as well as for soothing frayed nerves for the modern condition. But this trio of authors also believe in the child-like catharsis of music-making, even to the point of nonsense. Using drums, piano and vocals, The Dolls take on character-roles, transforming the pieces into multi-layered musical fantasy. Different generations with various backgrounds, musical ideas and visions meet here and mix-and-match there, leaving behind something you haven't heard before. Whilst it would have been blindingly simple for a collaborative project such as this to disappear into esoteric clouds, it is to the proponents considerable credit that 'The Dolls' remains not just accessible throughout, but nigh on irresistible; fusing an opaque sense of calm with fissures of elaborate detail. In short, imagine all three of the proponents at their best, then try and visualize how this would sound in perfect harmony.



01 - Martini Never Dries (6:16)
02 - White Dove (3:36)
03 - Soul Skin (5:14)
04 - Dolls (3:24)
05 - Night Active (1:38)
06 - Choices (3:49)
07 - Kukkuu (2:35)
08 - Collect The Blue (5:26)
09 - Star Like (6:10)
10 - Motor City (5:26)
11 - Favourite Chord (4:15)
12 - Sunbird (5:07)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

3 comments:

  1. Can you be so kind as to reup this? One of the few of Delay/AGF I do not have.

    Andre

    ReplyDelete
  2. Please re-up. I'd like to give this a listen. thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. LoveYourSite4/5/20, 2:40 AM

    Hi Rho, would it be possible to re-up this? Thanks in advance!

    ReplyDelete