NME seem to grace us with the occasional covermount occasionally these days, certainly, with so much music available freely online, being a taste maker with freebies isn't a neccesity, so instead they have changed tack and are targeting the fanbases of established artists with, so far, divisive demo collections.
With new album upcoming and the marketing machine rolling into town, the spotlight this time falls upon the arch-dukes of pop, Franz Ferdinand, hoping to fire up interest in Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions, indeed, the title track of the album and preceding single opens this collection in demo form, although casual listeners will be hard pressed to spot the difference between this version and the one all over the airwaves.
And it is this polished finish, even on apparent demos and live studio versions that mark 'Evil Action' out in comparison to recent freebie demo collections in the same vein coming from The Vaccines and The Cribs. Franz are now seasoned veterans in this game, and even their demos are startlingly slick and well thought out, making this CD a well placed companion piece (or even cut-price alternative) to their latest release.
Four tracks taken from the new 10 track album are present and correct, either as demos or Konk studio sessions, and a further two tracks, including single Evil Eye, are presented as extended mixes courtesy of producer and DJ, Todd Terje, with the dance-tinged elements almost psychedelic production echoing back to Tonight: Franz Ferdinand and its remix collection, Blood.
Connecting the dots between Franz Ferdinand's previous exploits is also achieved by the inclusion of Do You Want To, presented as another Konk take, from 2005's You Could Have It So Much Better, and harking even further back, and rounding out the collection is a remix of breakthrough single, Take Me Out.
Daft Punk managed to steal the summer with uber-hit Get Lucky, and have been ahead of the music game for years, but when tasked with retooling Take Me Out, it seems the Parisian robots doth their metallic caps to the art-punk Glaswegians, their remix doesn't stray too far from the base template, instead it simply ramps up the tension of the chorus with some building synths, other than that, it lets the genius of the original recording shine through undeterred.
As a covermount, it is amazing value for money, and as a Franz Ferdinand artefact, it is a worthwhile addition to their growing back catalogue, showing that the world of angular pop and indie dancefloors just wouldn't be the same without them.
No comments:
Post a Comment