Description:
The glue that sealed the disparate parts of 1997's Polydistortion is considerably less binding on Gus Gus's second album. This Is Normal comes on like a mix tape of dreamy digitalia, deceptively flip Europop, and jazzy house tracks. Iceland's favourite nine-member arts collective is no doubt digging the confusion. Of the album's 11 tracks, eight are commandeered by Daniel Agust's wondrous voice, which is boyishly strident and ethereal by turns. On "Ladyshave", the Kula Shaker-esque single, he enacts a seduction scene, enticing a lover (himself?) into the shower, only to lose his identity in the process. The succinct vo
The glue that sealed the disparate parts of 1997's Polydistortion is considerably less binding on Gus Gus's second album. This Is Normal comes on like a mix tape of dreamy digitalia, deceptively flip Europop, and jazzy house tracks. Iceland's favourite nine-member arts collective is no doubt digging the confusion. Of the album's 11 tracks, eight are commandeered by Daniel Agust's wondrous voice, which is boyishly strident and ethereal by turns. On "Ladyshave", the Kula Shaker-esque single, he enacts a seduction scene, enticing a lover (himself?) into the shower, only to lose his identity in the process. The succinct vocals of "Bambi" carefully twin the song's chamber-pop reserve, creating an impression of sublime ardency in the process. In comparison, the three cuts sung by Hafdis Huld are less immersing, but the trip-hop soundscapes of "Teenage Sensation" and "Blue Mug" provide a lush framework for her elegant phrasings. For the band's more dance-oriented fan base, "Very Important People" has the sheen of a sun-splashed Funky Green Dogs track. The album's inevitable remixes should kick its remarkable, if somewhat buried, grooves to the fore. Gus Gus is a complex, contradictory project. At its best, This Is Normal gives a glimpse of the blue flame locked inside its glossy northern soul. --Steve Lafreniere
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Manufacturer: 4ad
Release date: 26 April 1999
Number of discs: 1
EAN: 0652637900620 UPC: 652637900620
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