Customer Reviews

Attention

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Allthough I am a fan of gus gus's previous layered, textured , calmer releases, I LOVE this new sound. I had been waiting for a good dance record and when I least expected it gus gus drops a few members, gets a new label, and a flashdancey classy makeover. NOT what I expected, but Fabulous none the less. This record is intelligent, sexy, and refreshing. I wouldn't be interested in another Polydistortion, though just as marvelous , I really enjoy this new direction, and hope they continue to grow, and be innovative. YAY! for creativity, why does everyone want to buy the same album over and over?

This is a disc that appeals on many levels. Grooves, beats and lyric hooks get you right away, but nice synthesis, interesting engineering choices and odd beats keep the attention after repeated listens. Keeping attention isn't usually accomplished by dance albums, and this is most definitely a dance album. Lyrics are minimal and repeated, with no real attempt at song structure except for "Call of the Wild", which they didn't pen. Gus Gus chicken-steps their funky way acrss many genres, never failing through mere audacity and peculiarity. There are many shameless throwbacks to synthesis and dance music of the 70's and 80's, while going farther into the future with some sound treatments that are more edgy and noisy than most of their contemporaries. Yes, hi-hats are clipping, and that's a good thing. Gus Gus isn't out to be your typical dance band. You need to listen to catch the subtlety and the campy tongue-in-cheek dance audacity. That necessary attention is what makes them so valuable.

If electronic music can get any better than ATTENTION then... it must be heaven like! I'm already above cloud 9 with some serious breakbeats, deep house and some freash electroclash sounds on what I think is GUSGUS most stylish, well thought and crafted work till today, think about it as Giorgio Moroder meets Deee-Lite.
From start to end the sounds and beats develop from soft to deep to hard. Tracks # 3,4,5,6 & 7 are by far the best tracks and "Your Moves are mine" will make even DISCO song "Love to Love You Baby" sound PG13.
For the first time the lyrics are more people like and more soulful and Udur's voice is just amazing!

It's not easy to describe a group comprised of nine members in one record and three in the next, who are alternately jazzy and raucous, whose vocalists range from the sealskin smooth tenor of Daniel August to the puffin blubber mezzo of Earth and who dish out EVERYTHING with no holds barred electronic orchestration. But such is Gus Gus, based on their albums a work in progress from day one. They have been around for about a decade now but I just discovered them in 2004 and I count them my favorite new group. Hands down. Their music is all over the place - smooth jazzy ballads (Desire) to wild falsetto romps (Barry) to contrapuntally complex bleep and pop etudes (I.I.E.) and Matthew Herbert-style eJazz (Cold Breath). But they have produced some absolute killer tracks: Call of the Wild, David, Gun and Barry to name my favorites. Whatever has changed over time with this group, some demonic core remains in full control producing great music. Their website promises a new disk in early 2005 and I can't wait.

I just found out that these guys are going to play live in dc again soon and ended up listening to this disc again. Memories of how this scaled- down group from Iceland thoroughly rocked the 9:30 club a few years ago came flooding back. Apparantly some people still can't get past the fact that Gus Gus are no longer a nine piece mega-circus who make spooky downtempo albums for 4ad. To those people I say please GET OVER IT. Granted "Polydistortion" was a fantastic and timeless release, and in my opinion, "This is Normal" was mediocre. Still, the same electric Gus Gus heart beats strong throughout "Attention", only it's a bit dirtier, nastier, and funkier. This album grabbed my attention from beginning to end with it's raw electro and techno beats more geared for the dancefloor than the fat chair. There are still plenty of beautiful synths and textures throughout, just a bit more minimal and sparringly applied. The production on this recording is superb and they display a well-schooled knowledge of electronic dance music's history. There are very electro-sounding tracks on here as well as trancey and stomping, soaring techno-based songs. And no,these guys are not to be confused with the whole crap electro-clash scene or forgettable trance pap by the likes of Oakey or Paul VanDyke or whatever boring as sin cookie cutter designer hipster drivel is being made currently. There is a very cool Icelandic feel throughout the disc and singer Earth warms things up with some of the most soulful vocals to be found anywhere today. This is a very accessable and extroverted release that should be in any lover of electronic dance music's collection. This is not for people who can't get over the past or have a problem with dancing.

Don't miss this one, folks. Soooo listenable, over and over. Earth (purrrrr!!!), Biggi, Buckmaster, and President Bongo lay down trippy, frozen beats from trippy, frozen Iceland. Unique, smart, and icy.

Up until I bought this album, I hadn't taken too many chances on my techno music purchases. I bought this album after hearing "David," which is far and away one of the album's best tracks. Other strong tracks are "Unnecessary" and "Call Of The Wild."

Gus Gus was my introduction to a genre of music I later learned was called Electroclash--a return to the synthesizers and analog feel of such classic sounds as Soft Cell and some of the New Order remixes of the 1980's.

Some have complained that there are too many lyrics on this album. I don't get that. Here are the lyrics, in their entirety, for "Unnecessary": "You change the tide/Send the sea to me/You make the moon/Unnecessary."

It is repeated a few times, but for me they accentuated the song. Plus they are used much like all elements of Techno music, they are repeated as an element of the overall vibe of the song; that they convey a simple message is incidental. (Still, I like the simple message.)

Bottom line: This is a lively, fun album with great beats. Can we really expect more from a group making the beats to which we celebrate life?

I was excited when I learned of news about the forthcoming release of the new Gus Gus recording ATTENTION, having been very pleased with POLYDISTORTION and blown away by THIS IS NORMAL. That excitement turned into concern when I also found out that the Gus Gus personnel had dwindled from 10+ members down to 4, and new members were being added to the creative force. The most notable depatures were of the band's primary vocalists (Daniel Agust, Hafdis Huld, and Magnus Jonnson).

It turns out the revolving door membership in Gus Gus's ranks didn't necessarily affect the music negatively, rather, it produced the band's most focused, if least adventurous, album yet. The new Gus Gus wants you to shake yer booty, but the result is more like a pop album to tap your feet to than something that will provoke full body movement. The overlapping synths and drum programing on many tracks are too quirky to take to the dancefloor. (In a comical turn the album's only beat-less track is named "Detention".)

New vocalist Earth is well suited to the new direction Gus Gus is taking. Her voice oftentimes evoking that of Deee-Lite's Lady Kier, whose music ATTENTION most closely resembles (particularly on the title track). Daniel Agust makes a guest appearence as vocalist on the slinky groove of "Desire". The tracks that have little or no vocal accompaniment at times feel cold and mechanical. One of Gus Gus's stregnths, particulary on THIS IS NORMAL, was their ability to richly humanize their electronic music through their vocalists, but on the new record this warmth is sorely needed. "Don't Hide What You Feel" best captures the warm quality found in the previous recordings.

Despite these flaws ATTENTION is still a worthy listen for Gus Gus fans and for synth-pop lovers everywhere. If the membership continues to shuffle who knows what music the next album will bring? FINAL RATING: 3 and 1/2 stars.

How do you describe this? Its those wacky Icelandics again. To say its retro electronica helps a bit. All once can say is its, fresh, fun, deeply satisfying and immediately catchy, and not at all annoying.

There must be something about Iceland that allows its young and creative types to come up with new takes on things, do they just have too much time on their hands to listen to music and experiment? Who knows. But listening to Gusgus is like hearing two decades of electronic music be interpreted by someone from another planet, who then come right back at you with their unique and interesting version of the same.

The sound is stripped down, bright, slightly distorted, old school synth techno, with big chunky beats of all persuasions (a little house, a little progressive, etc etc). Gusgus glory lovingly in the varied legacies of 80s/early 90s electronica, and go at it with insoucient "tude" with just a little tongue in cheek.

The tempo is mid range and deep, and is one of those CDs you just keep putting on, it can be in the background or cranked up in the car on the way to the club; and yet its perfect "have people over" music. Gorgeous soul style lyrics on some songs keep the stripped down beats interesting, and some sexy sentiments. The lyrics run out towards the end and the chunky retro synth sound starts to wear a tad.

But this is far more interesting than anything else out there in the original (ie not remix) electronic field. Its beaty and quirky, everyone will like this. Buy it.

gusgus are among the seemingly endless array of talent that keeps streaming out of Iceland. For years, they were trendsetters on the dancefloor, mixing funk, electronica, trance and house in ways that appealed to club kids and discriminating musicians alike. "Polyesterday" and "This Is Normal" are both brilliant records, as are their various singles and remix compilations. "Attention," sadly, signals their demise. Not surprising, since most of the original band members have left (there were about 10 or 11 in 1996). Although gusgus never described themselves as a proper "band" but more as a fluid "art collective," an ever-changing lineup seems to be consistent with their original vision, but the four or five members that comprise the lineup on "Attention" (only one or two of whom are original members) are stuck in tired dance grooves and the white-trash-glam club kid gimmick. Gone also are the vocal stylings of Hafdis Huld and Daniel Águst (with no Emiliana Torrini in sight!). The vocalists here (one male, one female) are not terrible, but their style is more often than not monotonous. Not that there aren't songs on here that are as good as any gusgus single ("Dance You Down" and "David" are notable), but overall I'm left cold...