Chattanooga Pulse

Written by Ernie Paik
Wednesday, 28 January 2009 18:37

Hot Chip with Robert Wyatt and Geese
Made in the Dark
(Domino)

The London outfit Hot Chip is best known for its dance-oriented, electronics-heavy songs, but some of the best tracks on its third album Made in the Dark, including the title track, were more relaxed, contemplative, even soulful numbers without a dance song edge.
This new 4-song EP from the band reworks several of those particular selections, sometimes dramatically, with vocals from Robert Wyatt, the venerated 64-year-old solo artist and former Soft Machine member.
The enhanced version of “Made in the Dark” features subtle brass parts and not-so-subtle mouth harp twangs, heard in stereo, while Wyatt sings backup for Alexis Taylor’s lead vocals. The two perform with a tag-team approach on the next number, “Whistle for Will,” which uses strings, cymbal taps and swells, and timpani rumbles to shape a dignified scene that’s much more sonically full and engulfing than the original. Just about every element of the original is stripped from this take of “We’re Looking for a Lot of Love,” such as the reverent organ and beatbox handclaps, and they’re substituted with a bed of whispery strings, jumpy pizzicato violin notes, and backwards vocal snippets, forming a thick, inviting cloud. The final song doesn’t feature Wyatt, and it’s a version of “One Pure Thought” radically transformed by Geese; it actually fits perfectly on the EP, creating a gentle hailstorm of notes and string textures.
Wyatt is the sort of fellow whose voice demands respect, and it’s a daunting task for Hot Chip to complement Wyatt’s singing, which is warm, affable, comforting, and humanly vulnerable; thankfully, the tasteful, yet interesting arrangements on this EP do him justice.
Shelleyan Orphan
We Have Everything We Need
(One Little Indian)

The British group Shelleyan Orphan, formed by Caroline Crawley and Jem Tayle a little more than 25 years ago, suffered through plenty of eye rolling and accusations of preciousness.
You see, the band was the modern equivalent of a devoted Pre-Raphaelite, taking inspiration for its name from poet Percy Shelley and even creating a music video (“Shatter”) based on the 19th-century Millais painting of Ophelia’s idyllic flower-strewn drowning. Shelleyan Orphan was hardly like any ’80s contemporaries, preferring mini-orchestral arrangements with prominent string and reed melodies and singing jubilant and reflective songs with a nature obsession. After calling it a day following the release of their third album, Humroot, in 1992, the group is back with an agreeable fourth album We Have Everything We Need.
The opener, “Bodysighs,” demonstrates that one of the band’s strong points still stands: pulling off calculated arrangements with careful, deliberate strokes. For a fan, it’s almost a relief to hear certain elements, like the entrance of Crawley’s lovely-as-ever voice, a bassoon melody, or a brass flourish. The group tries a few new things, like serving up a country tune, “Something Pulled Me,” complete with fiddle and banjo, and rocking out uncharacteristically on “Bosom.”
Otherwise, the rustic glimpses seem to have a little restraint, not fluttering and darting about as much as before; the members stretch their arms with a lush charm (“Your Shoes”) or even take a cue from musical theatre balladry (“I May Never”). The biggest surprise is that Tayle’s voice has graduated from its former unabashedly fey high-pitched state, settling into a more palatable, oaky, and masculine voice. Not everything works on We Have Everything We Need, and some of the lyrics are best left unscrutinized, but it’s a welcome return.