Telepopmusik: Genetic World - Breathe the eccentric sounds of French electronic
dance music Telepopmusik: electronic dance music blends with electronic soul.
Every so often an electronic album pops out of left field with little advance fanfare, only to become the essential soundtrack for that year -- Air's Moon Safari, St. Germain's Tourist, DJ Shadow's Endtroducing, Zero 7's Simple Things. An early contender for 2002 is Genetic World, the kaleidoscopic debut by eccentric French soundsmiths Telepopmusik, who hail from the same Parisian dance/electronic scene that produced the likes of Air and Daft Punk.
Telepopmusik's futuristic melange of sounds, styles and beats is shaped further by an offbeat variety of international guest vocalists -- from stars of Berlin's electroclash underground Peaches and Chilly Gonzales to ethereal Scottish chanteuse Angela McCluskey to British rapper-poet Soda-Pop of Dirty Beatniks. Telepopmusik mixes deep hose beats with electronic dance passion.
Genetic World's futuristic melange of sounds, styles and beats is shaped further by an offbeat variety of international guest vocalists -- from stars of Berlin's electroclash underground Peaches and Chilly Gonzales to ethereal Scottish chanteuse Angela McCluskey to British rapper-poet Soda-Pop of Dirty Beatniks.
The overseas press has quickly taken note of Telepopmusiks' abundant charms. DJ magazine awarded the album five stars, suggesting that Telepopmusik "defies any set parameters, coming up with a selection as fresh and attention-grabbing as probably nothing you've heard before….If anyone deserves nominations for this year's 'Album of…' accolades, then these guys sure as hell are on good odds at the moment." Music Week called it an "effortlessly cool dance album," NME tagged it as "perfect genetically modified house," and Fono said, "France has provided some of the most interesting and innovative electronic music to appear in recent years and it looks like the next big thing is likely to be the excellent Telepopmusik."
Meanwhile, both Mixmag and Muzik gave Genetic World's hypnotic first single "Breathe" four stars, calling it "a right royal beauty of a record" and "a glorious piece of electronic soul, sure to be lining [DJ] boxes for a long time to come."
Genetic World lives up to the advance billing: Telepopmusik's core trio of Fabrice Dumont, Stephan Haeri, and Christophe Hetier (aka DJ Anti-Pop) combine traditional musical skills gleaned from writing songs in acclaimed indie-pop bands like Autour de Lucie (Dumont was a founding member) with a fearless taste for exploration into electronic music's shape- shifting universe. According to Anti-Pop, the idea was " to create a collective like Massive Attack. Before we were in bands that had only one singer, so there was this idea of being free and open to different possibilities. Now we can explore anything from deep house to '80s electro to more downtempo and abstract rhythms."
Within Telepopmuik's Genetic World, Angela McCluskey's gossamer vocals and existential lyrics glide over subtle deep house beats on "Breathe;" U.K. rapper Juice Aleem (of acclaimed Ninja Tune/Big Dada act New Flesh) spits out rhymes over folk-rock jangle on "Animal;" Soda-Pop aka Mau of Brit dance oddballs Dirty Beatniks tweaks "Trishika" with spoken word insanity; and the notoriously sharp-tongued Peaches and Chilly Gonzalez add their irreverent raps to "Let's Go Again."
"I was Dj'ing at a Peaches and Chilly show in Paris, and Chilly came up and told me he really liked my mix," Anti-Pop explains. "As for Mau, Someone sent us a tape of him performing a poem he wrote, which we turned into 'Trishika.' He doesn't really rap, he doesn't really sing; he has his own style, which is crazy - and perfect. As for Angela, we met when my former band was playing in New York on the same bill as her band, the Wild Colonials.
At one point, they did a Billie Holiday cover and she sounded incredibly spot-on. We wanted a voice that sounded like the '50s, so we brought her to Paris. She brings humanity and soul to Telepop. We kept all her first takes, sampled them, and made new melodies. When she heard the album, she didn't recognize the melodies she made!"
According to Anti-Pop, the group's formation was "an accident." The three met while they were playing in France's indie-rock scene -- Dumont with the acclaimed Autour de Lucie, Anti-Pop with Bel Air, and Haeri with Planet Zen. In 1997 they were approached to contribute a song to a compilation from SourceLab, the legendary label where Air got its start. Foregoing their guitars, the three grabbed a sampler and spent the weekend banging out their contribution, "Sonic 75."
The results nabbed the trio a recording contract and Telepopmusik was born -- with Dumont handling arrangements and sonic architecture; Haeri, trained as a sound engineer in electro-acoustics, building their nuanced house of sounds; and Hetier, in his DJ Anti-Pop guise, forging grooves out of scratches and random snatches of spoken-word (like the Japanese professor ranting about his search for the brain of Einstein on "Dance Me").
TOP: continue Genetic World album review.
Telepopmusik's latest is the rare album that will have you pushing "repeat" on your home stereo and then ending up in your car cd player when you have to leave the house. - Entrancing!
Just when I am preparing a feature on the "loss of creativity" in popular music (relatively speaking of course), I received a copy of Genetic World. I listen to a lot of music, all types, all flavors; it did not take more than a single spin for Genetic World by Telepopmusik to make it to my "A-List."
There is a lot to like about Telepopmusik's Genetic World: it both ethereal and earthy at the same time. Mixing deep house influences with electronic persuasions, blending subtle retro jazz and oh, so sweet, vocal stylings, it's difficult not to like this release.
Breathe makes an instant impression: the dreamlike quality is strong and instantly transports you to another level, while the beat keeps you grounded with solid dance rhythms.
There is a surprising amount of diversity present in Telepopmusik's latest album, ranging from electronic jazz to evolutionary hip hop to the retro Billy Holiday styled vocals of Yesterday Was A Lie. The first time I heard Angela McCluskey singing into a muted mike I felt chills: there was Billie Holiday, unmistakeable and unforgetteable.
Telepopmusik's Genetic World is more than music, it is an experience, a transcendence if you will, to a mood altering state that is both powerful and soothing, hypnotic and stimulating. If you equate music as an artform then Telepopmusik paints in broad strokes and subtle hues. And just as with fine art, it takes repeated viewings (or listenings) to uncover the layers of diversity. Genetic World is HIGHLY recommended.
::: Telepopmusik - Breathe lyrics
Reviewed by, jack "papa" baer 2003/05/07.
Blue Man Group | Venus Hum | Tatu
BIGBAER Urban Alternative Music Magazine ©2002-2005 BIGBAER.COM