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┌────────┐
────┤ Info ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Artist | Beth Orton
Title | Kidsticks
Genre | Indie Format | Album
Source | CDDA Time | 37:31
Label | Anti- Store | 2016
Catalog | 7426-2 Rip | 2016
Bitrate | 242 kbps Size | 68.43 MB
Freq | 44.1 kHz Encoder | Lame 3.98.4
┌────────┐
────┤ Tracks ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
01. Snow 4:12
02. Moon 4:02
03. Petals 3:58
04. 1973 2:53
05. Wave 3:16
06. Dawnstar 4:47
07. Falling 4:22
08. Corduroy Legs 3:01
09. Flesh And Blood 5:43
10. Kidsticks 1:17
┌────────┐
────┤ Notes ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Singer/songwriter Beth Orton combined the passionate beauty of the acoustic
folk tradition with the electronic beats of trip-hop to create a fresh,
distinct fusion of roots and rhythm. Born in Norwich, England in December
1970, Orton debuted as one half of the duo Spill, a one-off project with
William Orbit which released a cover of John Martyn's "Don't Wanna Know
About Evil". She continued working with Orbit on his 1993 LP Strange Cargo
3, co-writing and singing the track "Water From A Vine Leaf" before
appearing with the group Red Snapper on their first singles "Snapper" and
"In Deep". In 1995 Orton teamed with the Chemical Brothers for "Alive:
Alone", the ultimate track on their "Exit Planet Dust" LP. After assembling
a backing band comprised of double bassist Ali Friend, guitarist Ted
Barnes, keyboardist Lee Spencer, and drummer Wildcat Will, she finally
issued her 1996 debut EP "She Cries Your Name". Her stunning full-length
bow "Trailer Park", produced in part by Andrew Weatherall, followed later
in the year.
When Beth Orton released "Sugaring Season" in 2012, she had moved as far as
possible from her 'folktronica' origins. She'd taken guitar lessons from
Bert Jansch, written more formally conventional songs, and used an organic
all-star studio band that included Brian Blade, Eyvind Kang, and Rob
Burger, with string arrangements by Nico Muhly. Four years on, she's
completely re-embraced technology. "Kidsticks" doesn't reflect the
synthesis of folk and electronica she explored with Andrew Weatherall and
William Orbit, though. After relocating to Southern California, she's
enlisted Andrew Hung of Fuck Buttons and prolific mixing engineer David
Wrench (Hot Chip, Caribou, FKA twigs) in delivering her most radical - and
musically playful - album.
This set leaves her acoustic guitar, when present at all, in the
background, replaced by layer upon layer of loops, beats, and synths that
frame her voice in (mostly) well-crafted, memorable songs. The polyrhythmic
series of loops in "Snow" recalls Talking Heads circa "Remain In Light".
Her vocals are delivered with stacked harmonies in call and response atop a
whomping bassline, skittering handclaps, and ambient washes. The wonky
synths and miniature breakdowns in "1973" wed early Daft Punk to late-70s
Kraftwerk as her voice rises dreamily to the top. First single "Moon"
features jazz drummer Guillermo Brown and bassist Bram Inscore. They create
a propulsive double-time rhythm track that would fill any dancefloor. The
melody is pure Orton, but Hung piles on a truckload of extra beats and the
cut moves in two directions at once: its lyric is tender and emotional, its
sound is hyperkinetic club hedonism.
"Petals" and "Dawnstar" contain Orton's distinctive, lived-in voice and
simply gorgeous melodies. The former contains a synth drop bass and
squalling psychedelic electric guitars in buckets of reverb, while the
latter is a spacious 21st century take on Frippertronics loops with a
thrumming bass drum, fragmented silvery synths, and string effects. They
surround her finest - and easily most expressive - vocal on the album. This
doesn't all work, however. The wispy spoken word and birdsong effects on
"Corduroy Legs" become monotonous after 30 seconds, and the title track
closer is an instrumental sketch that falls flat after the romantic,
sensual, synthetic pop-soul that is "Flesh And Blood".
These are small complaints on a record as exploratory and bracing as this.
"Kidsticks" isn't the sound of Orton closing her circle but opening it
wide. In her restlessness and self-discovery, she looks outward and comes
away fresh and renewed as a result.
┌────────┐
────┤ Group ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘