Customer Reviews

Immolate Yourself

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

 

 

I first took interest in Telefon Tel Aviv after hearing this album on the way back from a club in Tel Aviv, incorrectly assuming it to be a local act. Bringing a perfection of dark ominousness to the Intelligent Dance Music genre, this album is filled with great songs but can only truly be appreciated with an uninterrupted playing from start to finish. Get in your car, turn the volume up, the cell phone off, and drive with the flowing yet strangely jagged sounds and get lost for 46 minutes. Unlike their previous works which had great songs and mediocre songs this is their finest album, undoubtably a testament to a promising future, but cut short by Charles Coopers untimely death this is also sadly their last. So if youre like me, left wanting more, I highly recommend the one-man German IDM acts Nitrada and Apparat, Unfortunately Nitrada is only available on the German Amazon site, and even there the supplies are minimal, but you can search the web and download the 2 albums online for $7 and $3- well worth it.

Flawless the entire way through. The perfect blend of old and new. They take a chapter from Brian Eno's book of tape music, but make it accessible and catchy. Vintage synth virtuosos. Unwavering dedication to pure art; no compromise.

The saddest album ever. I wish Charlie could be here to see the accolades come in.

I am not at all familiar with TTA's previous work, but my first comment after my first listen was "this is the new OMD CD we've been waiting decades for." It's moody but gentle, and I can't stop listening to it.

I can understand how some people find this album a bit underwhelming but I think it's amazing. It's just hypnotizing from start to finish. So dark, so moody, yet somehow catchy. The beats are fantastic, the production is brilliant, and the vocals are great -- just another instrument really. It's a shame how few people have even listened to this album. I think it's easily one of the best of 2009.

What follows below is a review for an album whose title has been rendered regretfully apt. The sudden passing of Telefon Tel Aviv's Charlie Cooper only two days after the group released their long-awaited third full-length studio record is a coincidence suggestive of a sacrifice: an untimely departure at the arrival of something so great, yet so final. The well-deserved reception of Immolate Yourself, made public on 20th January, has since seen TTA fans buzzing with excitement across music forums worldwide. Based in Chicago and originally from New Orleans, the duo comprised of Cooper and Joshua Eustis had opted to join Berlin's BPitch Control community shortly after their successful release of Remixes Compiled (including Apparat's `Komponent') provided clear indication as to why such a marrying of talent would be ideal. Previously signed on with Hefty Records, their earlier albums Fahrenheit Fair Enough (2001) and Map of What Is Effortless (2004) had been emotive masterpieces in their own rites. Early introduction into the world of TTA meant listening to tracks such as the first's title number, `Introductory Nomenclature', and `Nothing Is Worth Losing That', with an awe reserved to the contemporary electronic greats who so masterfully balance the timbre of their glitches, the time-delays on snare and the synthetic chorus in reverb that unfailingly elevates the entire listening experience. Telefon Tel Aviv have always presented something so beautifully understated with their music's philosophical allusions as evidently inspired by science and literature ('What's The Use Of Feet If We Haven't Got Legs?'). But beneath that, their unique chameleon metamorphosis integrating sounds across genres (most notable R&B and ambient) into a quasi-minimal techno has never ceased to impress. And Immolate Yourself takes that even further, bringing in some New Wave inspiration ('Helen of Troy', `M') with all the heavy 80s synth necessary for nostalgia to boot. Yet, somehow it still manages to sound very much like TTA, culminating halfway through on the hauntingly poignant `Mostly Translucent' so worthy of replay and reminiscent of that driving force behind the fifth on their second LP. But all of this is beside the point. Because it is in this nature of TTA's sound that Charlie Cooper will be remembered. Joshua Eustis, in a eulogy on MySpace for both his groupmate and close friend since high school, wrote: `We have been so fortunate to tour the world together, while at the same time having a massive amount of laughs at one another's expense... His musicianship was surpassed only by his greater gift to the world -- his warmth, his generosity, his unquenchable humor, and his undying loyalty to those whom he loved. Aside from Charlie's singular genius and musical gifts, I can tell you that he was a total sweetheart of a guy, and a loving friend and confidant to people everywhere.' At the age of thirty-one and earlier having been set to tour North America with Matthew Dear, Cooper is survived by his parents, sister, nephew and `more adoring friends than the Universe has dark matter.'

Charles Wesley Cooper III
12 April, 1977 - 22 January, 2009

fantastic album. From the first track (The Birds) to (You are the worst thing in the world), this is nothing short of a masterpiece.

TTA's soulful sound inject much needed depth and heart into the sometimes empty and cold computerized music genre.

this album is dark yet enigmatic, it gets better with each listen. The depth of the song writing and the musical arrangement is phenomenal. The fact that this album was made right prior to the death of one of the 2 members makes its somber, reflective mood resonate even further. Its a pleasure to listen to this album.

RIP Chris Cooper, your talents will be missed.

A perfect album. Unappreciated and unknown by mainstream electronica fans. But still inspires and overwhelms many loyal fans that have given Telefon a true listen. This is music that you feel deep inside, that takes you to a beautiful and mysterious place.

I don't even know how to describe this...Ambient dark and dreamy. Great solace music.

This album is an orchestration of ambient electronic music, with wonderful beats and vocals. This album definitely made it into my top 10 electronic albums.

It may take 2 or 3 listens before the gravity of this album sets in. Definitely give it a few run throughs before making up your mind.

This album sets a mood like nothing else. Much like looking through film photography that "put you there".

A few years ago, I learned about M83 and became obsessed with their sound. I had heard of Telefon Tel Aviv, but hadn't really sat down to listen to their music, until this year the same person that introduced me to M83 showed me the way into TTA's music.

This is an experimental, atmospheric album that will please lovers of ambient as much as those who enjoy electronica. With the death of one of the members of the Chicago-based electronic-music group within days of the album's release, Immolate Yourself may very well be their last album. This is a work for the ages and certainly one that makes its way into my personal Best of 2009.