Customer Reviews

Das Capital

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Not many artists re-record their own works and with good reason. Few can improve upon the original efforts, much less deserve a second chance. Not so for Luke Haines, the man behind The Auteurs, Baader Meinhoff, Black Box Recorder, and...well Luke Haines (see Christie Malry's Own Double Entry OST, represented here in the pre-intro Overture). Instead of having a hidden track at the END of the album, Mr. Haines puts the Overture BEFORE the first track. You have to "rewind" the first track to hear this.

After listening to DAS CAPITAL, you'll want to run back and listen to the originals to see how they've changed. Quite surprising, you hear that Mr. Haines has always used strings but it's quite easy to overlook them. Or more correctly, he cleverly blended them into the song, adding to the song's flavor or texture without you realizing this.

The album is rather short at 38 minutes (42 minutes if you include the overture). Mr. Haines' liner notes are full of bravado, although probably justified.

The songs, for the most part, retain the flavor of the originals with the exception of lots of strings. The versions here are more like extensions of the original instead of being different or re-interpretations. The lyrics are more intelligible and Mr. Haines' breathy, and at times sinister, voice is more apparent.

Standouts include "How Could I Be Wrong," "Starstuck," "Future Generation," and the new song "The Mitford Sisters." While I can't recommend this as a Luke Haines "primer" because the songs lack the forcefullness of the originals, it serves as a nice addition to the prodigious and brilliant career of Luke Haines.

Luke Haines wished to release a retrospective to remind the public of his brilliance, but being Luke Haines, it couldn't be something that made it easy for people to get easily acquainted with his work: no, instead, he had to transform it by rerecording it all with a string orchestra. The track selection is a little odd, with the omission of such essentials as 'Light Aircraft On Fire' and 'New French Girlfriend', but the rerecordings are always interesting, complementing rather than actually surpassing the originals. So 'How Could I Be Wrong', originally an utterly brilliant but somewhat understated indie-rock track, gets slowed down, with ridiculously overdramatic strings and wailing, melodramatic guitar added. It sounds almost like a pastiche, but while not being better than the original, it's interesting for the fan. In the case of 'Baader Meinhof', Haines actually surpasses the original, which was not the highlight of the album of the same name, making it sound like a more complete song, and probably the best thing on this album.

Sometimes intensity is lost, as with the (nevertheless good) version of 'Unsolved Child Murder', but on other tracks like 'Lenny Valentino' the addition of the strings just makes it even more savage, with the hairpin turns of the orchestra complementing the incendiary guitars perfectly. Haines has always used strings in his songs, but here they are right at the forefront of the mix, which is a bit odd at times, the vocals sounding a little too close and the sound consequently a bit sickly, which ironically makes the quieter songs like 'Starstruck' , 'Future Generation' and 'Junk Shop Clothes' the less effective (you would expect them to work best with the orchestra). Most encouraging, though, is that there is a brilliant new track here (albeit amongst two other less impressive new tracks): the awesome 'Satan Wants Me', which finds Haines pinning down a perfect melody, on top lyrical form ('the Dalai Lama's of the 3rd reich/the universe is really made of ice') and is surely his best new track in years. Overall, though (perhaps deliberately), despite being a sort of 'Greatest Hits' these versions cannot introduce a new listener to Luke Haines or The Auteurs, as they don't represent their normal sound, so this collection is primarily for the fan.

When I listened to this album for the first time I couldn't stand the cheesy instrumentation for more than a few seconds. Knowing the originals versions, it sounded like a karaoke session. The album grew on me a few days later as I was listening to it while doing other things. 'Showgirl', 'Baader Meinhof', 'Unsolved Child Murder' and 'Future generation' benefit the most from the orchestral instrumentation and choruses. For the first time I can focus on Haines' Lyrics ! The album almost sounds like Neil Hannon produced it which is a good thing. If you don't know The Auteurs, this could be a great starting point.

I like Luke Haines, I really do. I also like Sarah Nixey. And I truly believe they are at their best when working together (and with John Moore). My point is this: this album represents his pre-Black Box Recorder period so it's a hint of what was to be, and interesting for that. But it needs her voice, as she needs his writing. That being said, completists will probably be interested in owning this one. Anyone who enjoys this, and who's not familiar with BBR, should definitely take the next step.