Love & Other Planets

Adem | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 26, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Domino
• ASIN: B000GH3CUW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,668 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Fridge sure was a hell of a band, recording a handful of unheralded and excellent records and later birthing the careers of Kieran Hebdan AKA Four Tet and TKTK AKA Adem Ilhan AKA Adem. The sophomore release by Adem, Love and Other Planets further melts textures from the folk and electronic worlds together, as if Sufjan Stevens had decided to collaborate with Nobukazu Takemura. It's so gorgeous, it's tough to imagine why Adem is, if not a household name, then at least on the lips of one person on every block. Each song on this record is plaintive, intricate, heartfelt and smart—not an average combination, by any means. You might think the last thing the world needs is another precious indie concept album about "love," but that's only because you haven't heard this delightful little recording. --Mike McGonigal

Product Description

This London singer/songwriter ups the ante in terms of sonics and songwriting ambition on his second album, leaping into experimentation yet still keeping his trademark strong melodies and heartfelt delivery. It's a far-reaching and beautiful record, bound together by a truly universal concept.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another favorite of 2006, February 5, 2007

By 

Professor Cornelius S (D/FW, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love & Other Planets (Audio CD)

I like four tet and fridge whose connections to Adem brought him to my attention. The music and melodies themselves, regardless of subject matter, are enough to make this a good album. But what really sets this one apart for me is the use of cosmological facts and phrases for poetic symbolism over a backdrop of folk music. Songs have been written in conjunction with space for god knows how long, but I'd never run across one that does so with the sensibility that "Love and Other Planets" does. Instead of using the metaphor in a cliche, retro-futuristic manner, Adem sings about the subject with perhaps some of the same rhetoric as Carl Sagan's Cosmos television series, exploring inherent human questions and emotions towards the mystery of space and the exploration of it. Also, some principles of astronomy are used in the lyrics to mirror the intricacies of our relationships: "I saw you and moon... when I arrived I found only tombs, 'cause light is a liar telling old truths" which is just one of an album full of imaginative lyrical images with double meanings. To space nerds, folk fans, and anyone who values good, conceptual music, I recommend "Love and Other Planets".

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling song-writing produces a captivating album, June 28, 2009

By 

Piers Moktan "Piers Moktan" (Khorsor Elephant Stable, Nepal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love & Other Planets (Audio CD)

Wow-this is just so beautiful that I can barely contain my proselytising excitement. My discovery of Adem Ilhan's music was dictated by his involvement with the innovative post-rock/electronica band Fridge (who have just reformed and issued a new album), from which Kieran `curly' Hebden aka Four Tet also emerged. Kieran Hebden's pioneering work in the directions of folktronica and jazztronica has resulted in some of my favourite albums of the (still so young) 21st century, securing him an acclaimed status amongst contemporary legends like Boards of Canada. Considering how much I adore Four Tet (especially the `Pause' and `Rounds' albums), it seemed fairly likely that Hebden's bass-playing bandmate from Fridge might be equally talented and just as likely to craft a masterpiece. The reviews suggested as much, and on this occasion I wasn't disappointed. It seems that since graduating from their apprenticeship in Fridge, both have gone onto surpass their earlier achievements.

Rather than the instrumental folktronica of Four Tet, Adem has distinguished himself with something more akin to laptop folk, where the songwriting comes first, with vocals and acoustic instrumentation taking precedence over electronic production techniques. In the classic Nick Drake-style singer-songwriter mould, it's the man and his acoustic guitar that are at the forefront (think José González). As with Nick Drake, Adem's voice bears the beauty of a fragile honesty, and it's utterly captivating. Nonetheless, Adem's studio savvy and arranging skills remain key ingredients in his production of such infectious songs, placing him alongside the fantastic Tunng in this respect.

The songs on `Love and Other Planets' reveal a continuity in conceptual theme, providing a coherence that is the hallmark of a great album- this is no mere aggregate of songs. And if you assume that his tactic of metaphorically connecting love with galaxial imaginings will result in some kind of narrative of alienation, rejection and despair, then you'll be very wrong indeed. He may be singing of astronomical space, but this does not connote a cold and distant place, rather it's about the cosmic wonders of the spaces between us. For Adem, `Love and Other Planets' is about the way the privileged sight of a star going supernova can suggest the exhilarating magic that explodes in one's heart when love strikes, or the exciting possibilities of shared journeys through life symbolised by the beginning of an interstellar odyssey. Great songs, great music, great album- a classic in the making I suspect.