Strange Geometry

Clientele, amor de dias | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 11, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Merge Records
• ASIN: B000BB18EK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,860 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

London's purveyors of lush melodies and gorgeous, hazy pop are back with twelve new tracks of dreamy folk, shimmering psych guitars, and string arrangements. This is the band's third album to date, following 2003's "Violet Hour" and 2001's singles comp, "Suburban Light". "Aggressively, gratuitously lovely, modernizing the chambery charms of Love's 'Forever Changes', The Zombies, and Galaxie 500" - Spin.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars their best yet, October 17, 2005

By 

wordtron (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Strange Geometry (Audio CD)

what you get is more of that clientele sound -- nostalgic and melancholic, autumnal, romantic, painterly -- but improved by less reverb and cleaner, sharper production values, tasteful application of strings, and more melodic and tempo variation. kind of a poppier and less sexy tindersticks, or like being slightly depressed on a rainy day in your third year of college, flipping through a monograph of magritte, smoking your last cigarette, thinking about the night before...

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't know the other albums, January 9, 2006

By 

V "here" (there) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strange Geometry (Audio CD)

but I really like this album. bought it after briefly listening to it at a store, but didn't 'get it' until i put it on and just sat on my bed in this whitewashed room and relaxed. the lyrics are obviosuly quite literate and delivered with a poetic rather than melodic charm. the music though singleminded remains efficiently evocative of a warm, reflective mood. they don't sound like anything from the sixties as i seem to have read a few times, but more like a mellower version of smiths, echo and the bunnymen, felt guitar rock or if anything yo la tengo's 'and then nothing...' album. though their overall aesthetic could easily be misinterpreted to be sixties-ish, i think it has more to do with their ability to keep their music consistent and endearing

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars if it ain't broke..., October 13, 2005

By 

M. Lohrke (Saratoga Springs, UT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Strange Geometry (Audio CD)

i find it somewhat difficult to be remain objective when discussing the clientele--i simply adore this band. when people ask me 'what do they sound like' they're one of two bands for which i simply can't find a reference point (the arcade fire being the other). the clientele is band that sounds like nothing you've heard before, yet somehow familiar at the same time.

'strange geometry' bears more resemblence to 'suburban light' than to its predecessor, 'the violet hour.' even though 'suburban light' was a collection of singles, tracks from e.p.'s, etc, it was thoroughly cohesive album. each track seemed cut from the same cloth. 'the violet hour,' (the first proper l.p.) while evoking a similar atmospheric aesthetic, was less immediate, less engaging the 'suburban light.' 'strange geometry's' lead track and first single, 'since k got over me' is vintage clientele--slightly reverbed/delayed guitars, airy vocals, walking basslines. it's a song that would've fit nicely on 'suburban light.' (and better than any track on 'the violet hour'). this similarity, i think, is part of the clientele's appeal: you know exactly what you're getting, but despite that knowledge, you're never disappointed because it's such a unique and beautiful sound. and it seems so apropros to release this album in october because the clientele are very much an autumnal band.

the majority of the album's track are, in fact, steeped in autumnal atmosphere. as i mentioned on my review of 'suburban light,' the clientele sound sucked straight out of 1967 london. it's all about golden hues, gray skies, turning leaves, sunrises and sunsets, silhouettes, flowers, gardens, ivy, butterflies, and faded photographs. yet they pull it off. in lesser hands, the clientele might sound contrived and pretentious. thankfully alasdair maclean's vocal delivery is beguiling and compelling. he's a fine, fine vocalist, unique in every way. and as musicians the band are top notch. don't listen to the clientele casually, for there's some pretty complex arrangements within the songs--a testament to their song writing abilities. it's not easy to write complex songs that sound so darned pleasing to the ear. and it's particularly nice to hear louis phillipe's restrained string arrangements on the album. it gives the album an added depth and complexity without burdening the songs.

it's a shame the clientele don't have a wider audience. during the first half of the decade they've released some of the most beautiful, contemplative, emotive and original music i've ever heard. i simply can't get enough of them. as i said, i can't really be totally objective, but this already ranks as one of my top three albums of 2005. buy it. it will rank high on your list, too.