Etude: Interpretations To A Classical Form

Attrition | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 10, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Projekt Records
• ASIN: B000000BDJ
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,590 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Talk about a remix album! Leaving behind both the punky, experimental goth of their early recordings and the muscular industrial-dance of their more recent material, Attrition tackle the classical form on Étude, a disc of string interpretations of several of their more well-known tracks from the '80s and early '90s. You could hear elements of frontman Martin Bowes's affinity for the violin on Attrition's previous album, 3 Arms and a Dead Cert, but here he goes full-on, transforming even some of the band's stormiest electro-dance songs into somber chamber-music suites. Bowes's gruff, world-weary vocals are mostly absent from Étude, allowing Julia Waller's light operatic tones to take center stage amid Franck Dematteis's tragically sad violin and viola arrangements. The sheer beauty of the songs shines through the darkness, highlighting Bowes's ear for both melody and atmosphere. Especially affecting--even without the lovelorn lyrics of the original--is the pared-down version of "A Girl Called Harmony" (from 1991's brilliant A Tricky Business), on which Dematteis seems to cram each pull of his bow with incredible amounts of melancholy. Simply stunning. --Steve Landau

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Attrition in transition, February 26, 2009

By 

Michael A. Duvernois (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Etude: Interpretations To A Classical Form (Audio CD)

This is right after 3 Arms and A Cert, which was more classically inspired, with more real instruments, than the earlier dark electronic music. Here the violin pushes to the front, and we have a chamber music ensemble meets dance gothic music. And the end result is quite good. Different and worth a listen.