Twitter Review: Madonna - Erotica (1992)

Something I seem to do from time to time is pop an album on and post a tweet per track as a mini review (an activity I don't put much thought into, but enjoy an awful lot, just because it's simple and not like writing a conscious review at all). So whilst in terms of writing I don't have the time or focus to blog much, since I have a dissertation to do), I thought I would post some of my twitter mini reviews every so often, starting with Madonna's starkly intriguing masterpiece Erotica.  Please also take on board that tweets really do carry their own irreverent tone and not meant to offend.

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Languorous, drowsy Secret Garden could very well be Saint Etienne. Can't give a higher compliment if I tried. Not one stinker on the album

7 Jan 

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I remember using lyrics from the Erotica album in an English essay, aged 14. Madonna's love everyone agenda on this album really worked IMO

7 Jan 

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AIDS downer In This Life is incredibly haunting I'm proud of her for writing about it. Almost too sad to listen to, but has a waltzing aroma

7 Jan 

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"brothers, sisters" gets my neck snapping, privately. The whole thing is terrible embarrassing, yet inanely stylish. Delicious whingeing

7 Jan 

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The undulating Why's It So Hard gets a hard time from its critics, Madonna goes Ace of Base. Tongue-curling whatdowhahavedododoberespected

7 Jan 

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1 of the finest displays of her talents, Rain finally relents the tension. Characteristically expressive sleek stylish she surpasses herself

7 Jan 

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Morbidly obsessed, overwhelmingly fragile. Words: strong choked-up verses, middle-8 that leaves the ground, chorus plays 2nd-fiddle to both

7 Jan 

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It would be a divine treat for her to perform this on tour. My most wanted, absolutely. Campy, statuesque and aloof - the perfect M facade

7 Jan 

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Starkly vulnerable bruised & rouged Thief of Hearts was the original Vanity but has depth & genuine merits not least its ice-cold pathos

7 Jan 

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Locking into the groove, Waiting speaks under her breath. The rhythm experience is divine. Luscious Jackson with a boner

7 Jan 

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VERY different to the image I must have had in my head. She was wearing clothes, glamorous and alcoholic. Pining in an almost funky manner

7 Jan 

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The morning-after pill Bad Girl, my first concious and private witness of a Madonna video on the ITV Chart Show. I was impressed but it was

7 Jan 

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Translating innuendos into heartfelt grooves, giving her the wrong exposure. Convincing songwriting, strong delivery, engaging. Life Begins

7 Jan 

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The first of the drowsy after-hours jazz moments, Where Life Begins is years beyond the contemporary reaction to its lyrics.

7 Jan 

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Deeper can't surpass Vogue; indeed it submits to it, as if adding fuel, by ordering "go with the flow". Maybe she just had a heavy period

7 Jan 

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Deeper's sweeping disco, once again yearning for solutions regarding her mother and father. Throwing herself head first into love's excess

7 Jan 

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Such stylistic shifts gave us Bye Bye Baby, a nice original stroke with the phone-call kiss-off. Deee-Lite's Call Me did the concept better

7 Jan 

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Bittersweet, dance-inspired Fever moves elegantly, playfully, the voice is cool but melts like ice. It sort of just fits there, but rich

7 Jan 

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Considered dated on it's arrival, Erotica's mumbles still breathe down my neck, I feel immobile to its commands.

7 Jan 

Rating: 9/10

The Return of Betine Zetlitz

Calling all electro gays and their admirers: it's time to lose your shit to the new Bertine track Electric Feet featuring Samsaya (think Madonna featuring M.I.A, but more chic).  Sadly the link cannot be shared on blogger, or else I am not able to figure out how to do so.  Instead, 'like' her page and hear it for yourself. Listen Here.

Freak Asylum - Album Sampler Review (2012)

 FREAK ASYLUM ALBUM TEASER MIX by freakasylum

Two well-established pros in the music business, Andy Lee and Kelly Llorenna, reinvent themselves as dance music’s new biggest threat Freak Asylum on their debut album Let The Madness Begin. The songs have a thrilling immediacy and their sense of all or nothing pays off in spades. Built on a sonic landscape of slick guitars and high-speed dance adrenaline, the music is slick, bulletproof and in hot pursuit of the charts.

With its knock-out chorus that’s as subtle as a tsunami, You Better Leave’s eager verses concentrate on a hostile romance: “and I’m scared, scared of what you’ll do to me” sounds more like a threat from Kelly and not the other way around.  Because it’s so stylish and well-pasted together, the sounds are rich and tightly constructed into unabashed hyper-pop with electronic underpinnings.

Scandalously charged opener Something To Say spits a furious F-you to the haters and recalls Garbage with its huge dirty guitar riff that practically licks you on the face, and it’s inescapable chorus. Kelly’s earthy vocals compete confidently with such a beast of a track. The rabid force doesn’t relent; an array of illuminating rock and electronica sounds all fuses together to create the album’s highest voltage. 

The distinct sense of accessible pop song-craft of the gutter-glam Wasted is tinged with melancholia and a wistful yearning, the chorus is swirling and (yet again) anthemic to the nth degree. The perfect soundtrack to waking up in a police cell with bits of kebab and condom packets stuck in your hair.  We’ve all been there, no? Kelly's sensitive vocal control really showcases a more vulnerable side to her timbre, not to mention the gleaming production gloss. A serious single contender. I'm having palpitations for this one.

Future single Throwaway Girl is anything but disposable. Sultry and surly, think Rachel’s I Said Never Again, but with an 18 sticker.

Filth-fest Fetish oozes glamour from every pore: thrashing guitars, and Kelly’s cackling purr is fired up. The bursts of off-kilter momentum play to Kelly’s pugnacious strength, it’s the album’s loudest carnage. Snarling “yeah” sarcastically to the point of sounding violent.

Above: Kelly lezzing it up with a tranny, making lesbians wetter than Niagara Falls nationwide.

Draping the songs with guitars, the dance-injected pop-rock formula creates a brutal and bruising dancefloor experience, with many moments to admire. The songs are filled with hooks like it’s an addiction. Whatever they’re taking, Freak Asylum are well over the limit and will leave your ears ringing for more. The album’s consistency easily outmatches even the highest watermarks of either Kelly’s or Andy’s previous work.  Aggressively pitched towards the club, their throbbing arousal for high-impact melodies are defined by an unwavering commitment to every song. The robust production fizz kicks into gear at every turn and Kelly’s ‘Lola Leethal’ persona loses none of her trademark steel-reinforced vox, completely in her element amongst the 'madness' of thumping rhythms and the glam-soaked euphoria.  Do I sound like I love this or what?

Rating:

9/10

Ultimate Pop Star Countdown: 15-11

11. Gina G - Ooh Ahh ... Just A Little Bit

From it’s immediately recognisable camp siren, it’s gushing sprint to articulate her groin-orientated feelings, and simultaneously the most embarrassing song to own up to loving (oh yes it is).  My obsession with Gina just won’t ever diminish. The album was a total fluke of course, but it was near immaculate (only the soggy Missing You Like Crazy wasn’t invited to the party). Every track a dance-pop convulsion or ballad with a sleek and chic mid-tempo gloss, MYLK might only have been a remix away from sounding just as polished, but Fresh! is Gina getting to have her cake and eat it quite frankly - everything about the songs and presentation felt so ripe, the songs at their best are bursting with Gina's gushing lyrics and the fast-lane Motiv8/Metro production adrenaline. Album highlights include the swooning Ti Amo, rampant Rhythm of My Life ("my brother doesn't like you, my sister thinks your cool" is blurted out in typical blushing speeed from Gina), sumptuous I Belong To You, kitsch hollering of the title track, the emotional peak of It Doesn't Mean Goodbye, the flamenco-flutter of Everytime I Fall (although the essential versions are the Todd Terry pop radio edit and the Metro dance version), the euro-groove of Gimme Some Love, the fixated Hi-NRG mantra on the giddy head-spin of Higher Than Love and the floaty trance-wave of Follow The Light.

12. Dannii Minogue - All I Wanna Do

Dannii’s plaintive vocals and the majestic production splendour were something of a revalation for the then sibling-obscured Australian singer. Sultry self-loathing or just lust and morbid self-inspection – she is almost certainly singing this song to herself, a craving to connect and face rejections head on.  After her remarkable make-over at the time, I imagine this must be what looking in the mirror must have felt like: so much wide-eyed marvel and euphoric stillness trying to convince or take it all in, but haunted by overwhelming disbelief.  It’s a compelling lyric, and her finest composition to date.  Aching for an illusion she seems to articulate an equal amount of contempt for ("I may not be the innocent girl that you wanted me to be"), and her confessional anguish might be restless but the delivery is remarkably poised and accomplished (not to mention deliciously cold in places), which creates a synergy between the internal themes she wrestles with. The appealing production is an illuminated cascade of graceful dance sounds - no other song on the album Girl quite matched this elaborate construction.  The album's other highlights included the regal and orchestral Disremembrance (imagine Ladytron meets Whigfield), the low key Am I Dreaming that washes over you, Heaven Can Wait (this one sounds lifted from a 60s Dionne Warwick record, and also ignites into its definitive dance incarnation on the strident Trouser Enthusiasts remix), the ecstatic Movin' Up, giving Italian diva Alexia a run for her euro on the rampant piano stampede on Keep Up With The Good Times, the deliciously twisted post-divorce calculation of the dark speed-ballad So In Love With Yourself, and the introspective Everything I Wanted.  However, the treacling and jubilant scintilation of the original 'Innocent Girl Mix' edit that appeared on the belated Unleashed collection, which remains the definitive Dannii long-player (somewhat ironically surpassing her botched greatest hits job with luxurious ease), has additional ad libs that are absolutely crushing in their prettiness and introduce new persuasive subtilties: coinciding with the drum and bass hurriedly splashing like water, spritzing synthesizers that beam like rays of sunlight, and swirling currents of indispensable 90s dance decadence par excellence creating the irresistible rippling charge, usurping melancholic momentum and optimum setting for Dannii's intriguing lyrical bite and enticingly expressive nasal-navigated vocal juice to truly shine.

13. Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence

The perfect pop song, drenched in gleaming synths, house music pumping galore, Dave's distilled drawl and impish beauty on the verge of destruction, the lingering backing vocal, world-weary verses, an awe-struck chorus that remains jaw-dropping in both its sheer intensity and simplicity, and not a second wasted.

14. Kim Wilde - Can You Hear It / You Came

You Came is her best full-pelt single, but the slinky ballad Can You Hear It has a sulky appeal washed into a mixture of regal nu-wave. Kim has a habit of blowing me away with her gentle serenades such as this, Thought It Was Goodbye and Someday.

15. Spice Girls - Move Over / Spice Up Your Life

Move Over, to me, is the blueprint for the style of No Good Advice, a chorus and spat out soundbites like graffiti. The most exciting time being a Spice Girls fan: anticipating THAT second album.  I still know the dance routine to Spice Up Your Life and am only ever a full bottle of vodka away from proving it.  Move Over was like their mission statement beyond being the Madonna’s next door girls or whatever.