Roulette [Import]

Violet Indiana | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 21, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Phantom Sound & Visi
• ASIN: B00005ABRN
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #760,099 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Air Kissing

2. Busted

3. Sundance

4. Powder River

5. Little Echo

6. Angel

7. Poison Gorgeous

8. Hiding

9. Rage Days

10. Liar

11. Feline or Famine

12. Killer Eyes/Purr la Perla [*]

Editorial Reviews

VIOLET INDIANA Roulette (2001 UK 11-track CD album featuring Robin Guthrie [ex-Cocteau Twins] housed in a fold-out digipak picture sleeve - still sealed from new! BELLACD24)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but in small doses., October 22, 2001

By 

Adam Carroll - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roulette (Audio CD)

Cocteau Twins guitarist Robin Guthrie and vocalist Siobhan de Mare have teamed up to create Roulette, an album that, for the caliber of the people who made it, doesn't really impress me that much.

Guthrie's trademark swirling, dreamy guitar work is here in full force, while de Mare's vocals are passionate and immediate. When the combination of the two works, it really works well, as on the loungey opening track, "Air Kissing," with its brushed drums and simple guitar, and "Busted," a track that really evokes memories of Cocteau Twins, complete with the trademark wall of shimmering guitar sound and multitracked vocals.

However, as the album progresses, it really doesn't live up to those opening tracks. De Mare performs these songs well for the most part (aside from one moment on "Angel" where she's horribly out of tune, but I think that's deliberate), but as the disc goes on, her lyrics become very clichéd, and her voice actually becomes a bit tiring to listen to. Guthrie, meanwhile, starts to sound pretty similar as well - his production doesn't vary much from track to track, and song 7, "Poison Gorgeous," sounds much the same as "Busted." Before the CD ends, it just sounds like the duo have run out of ideas. On the plus side, though, Roulette includes a bonus video of a song previously released on their Choke EP, "Purr La Perla." Both the video and song are excellent, and they make a worthwhile inclusion.

In the end, there's nothing really _bad_ about this CD. It's just not all that innovative, and gets very repetitive when sitting through all the tracks. Listen to just a few selections at once to get the most enjoyment out of this one.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An elegantly crafted, melodic debut, June 2, 2001

By 

Erica Anderson (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roulette (Audio CD)

I was quite interested in hearing what Mono's Siobhan De Mare and Cocteau Twins' Rubin Guthrie's new project Violet Indiana was like. Was it going to be a blatant [take on] of Mono or Cocteau Twins? Well, it turned out that "Roulette" sounded like neither. Violet Indiana is an entity of its own. I'll admit I wasn't sure what to make of "Roulette" while listening to the first track "Air Kissing". Luckily I had nothing to worry when "Air Kissing" segued into "Busted", the second track of the album. In the grand tradition of trip hop music, the music is light and airy with the delicate vocals of Siobhan De Mare. The music itself isn't really innovating to be honest but I enjoyed the duo's debut album.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dreamy & ethereal, July 10, 2001

By 

"time-traveller" (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Roulette (Audio CD)

Siobhan de Mare(Mono) and Robin Guthrie(Cocteau Twins) combine their efforts in this new project, Violet Indiana, and the result is sensational! Though I am a big Elizabeth Frasier fan, it is comforting to be able to "understand" what the lyrics are!From the get-go, the CD sounds more like the more mellow side of Portishead with "Air Kissing". After that, you've got two songs ("Busted" & "Sundance") which are produced blandly and lack the necesary hooks. Things really mellow out after the third track but that's good because it seems the more downtempo the song is, the better it sounds! Unfortunately, by the time you reach halfway the CD, it all becomes a drone because every song is produced identical. So...my advise: listen to the songs individually (and not the whole CD) and you'll really like this collection.