Customer Reviews

The Lemon Of Pink

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's hard to think how anyone could follow up such a strikingly unique release as Thought for Food, The Books first masterpiece. As with their songs, the Books seem to approach their album progression with a knack for mixing subtle and drastic evolutions to startling effect.

The most immediately noticeable difference in the Lemon of Pink is the greater use of vocal tracks; indeed, many tracks even feature singing! This departure from Thought for Food initially turned me off the album, I expecting more of the eerie hauntings of Thought for Food. The more I listened though, the more I was amazed at their ability to create synergy between eclectic sound samples and organic vocal tracks.

The result is what I believe to be a much more accessible album than Thought for Food. While Thought is more immediately striking with its ommissions of many elements considered indespinsible to a modern record, the Lemon of Pink actually pushes the envelope further with its synthesis of traditional and innovative sound. While Thought for Food was clearly a product of modern innovators, The Lemon of Pink seems pulled out of some past that never was, evoking in one feelings of odd familiarity and even nostalgia despite the fantastic newness of it all. The soothing vocals on the title track evoke a long lost lover or friend whispering of mysteries wrapped in the haze of time.

The Lemon of Pink could be compared to a piece of fine sculpture. A casual glance reveals a work of startling beauty, while a careful study yields countless intricate details and attentions that establish it as the work of a master. While some tracks may seem indulgent(bonanza, explanation mark), when considered as part of the whole their place and purpose becomes apparent.

And of course, the Books trademark fascination with language and wordplay permeates the work, from the name of the album and tracks to cryptic vocal samples such as "with your eyes closed, close your eyes," and "something unknown is doing we don't know what."

I've had this album for around eight months now, yet with every listen I discover new subtleties I hadn't heard before. To give this record anything short of five stars would be criminal, and I highly recommend The Lemon of Pink to anyone with an interest in beautiful compositions at the frontier of music. Country and Eastern aficionados too.

I know. I know exactly what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Second album. First album was amazing. Could be it was an unrepeatable task." It was, thankfully, mercifully, astonishingly, not. There's a vocalist, Anne Doerner, singing on several of the tracks (It's really okay, I promise. I wouldn't have believed it either until I heard it.), but more than anything this sophomore offering underscores the postulate offered on their last record: that they are, in fact, more than anything, a crazy American folk band. Yes, samples abound, alongside the concomitant banjo licks. And the flavor of electronica tingles a little more shockingly on the tongue. But this, my friends, is The Books second album as only The Books (as you imagined they just might be) could have made.

I did not intend to buy this cd.
I merely walked into a record store and decided I'd take advantage of their cd players that they allow customers to use for previewing purposes. I had already bought a cd that day, and I was certainly not going to buy another so soon. I put the head phones on, and was instantly blown away under 20 seconds. Jaw dropped, eyes full open, scrambling to check the interior of my wallet.
2 minutes later I bought this cd.
This is an excellent CD. A complete classic.

Its probably not very accessable, but if you are a fan of Four tet, or Manitoba, you might find this a natural extension. I'm blown away.
Damn you record store!!!

A fun listen for anyone interested in unconventional sampling. The album is a cornucopia of acoustic-derived samples and cascading textures, marred (but only slightly) by an overabundance of tongue-in-cheek spoken snippets. A less self-conscious approach might not have resulted in such a joyous, surreal romp through popular culture and quasi-mysticism, though.

Any neo-folk revivalist type should own this -- as a reference, at least -- of what else they can play when they burn out on covering "Uncle Penn."

If you listen to this album a few times you will start to feel like it retells all of human history. The messages of the songs are beautifully articulated through soundbites and lyrics that give some of the most poignant and relevant advice I have ever heard. The swells and breaks in the music are so beautiful they make me want to cry. I really think this is some of the most revolutionary music out there today. Please find a way to listen to this album.

This band blew my mind when I first listened to them. If you are looking for something new and exciting, and are kind of bored of whatever's coming out these days, give it a try. If you aren't into Avant-garde music, you might have to give it a few listens, but even then you will like it.

Following John and Yoko's prototype from the The Beatles (white album) but perhaps not being directly influenced by the bizzare recording, the experiment continues in recording music and singing plus anything that isn't. The idea of having a blank slate appeals to any artist. If The Books represent a page in the evolution of this genre they should be given credit for producing expressionist art that is more entertaining than merely interesting.

I do like experimental music, but this is just extremely unpleasant to listen to. It is so chopped up, with in some cases very repetitive samples (where one clip will repeat over and over within one song, like a person's voice or a snip of that) that it really almost sounds like something is defective. I should say that there are definitely some songs that are worse than others, and there are a few that are listenable, but the previews make it hard to judge because something that sounds ok for 30 sec can be highly irritating for 2 to 5 minutes. I've listened to the 2 albums from the books that I purchased, this one and This Way Out 2 times so far, and my impression hasn't changed. I'm quite disappointed. Lesson to learn: don't buy 2 albums from a band that you don't know well without listening to at least 1 or a couple of songs first. Perfect example on this album is, "There is no There" is a pretty good song, but then "Take Time" is 'disruptive' and something that you would want to skip if it came on the stereo (there is more than 1 minute of the 3 minute song of someone repeating "Take Time" over and over and over and over and over and over and over....annoying to read that, right?). One last note is that I think definitely people might find this interesting, but I don't think it is something that would be listened to often. I have a couple of long trips coming up, I will keep listening and I'll update this review if I come around. I read another review calling it Glitchtronica, that makes some sense, basically songs that could be good have glitches interspersed which make them difficult to enjoy ("Don't Even Sing About It" is a perfect example of this, at 2:42 into the song it sounds like wooden wagon drove through the studio).

The Books are one of my personal favorite artists of all time. Not just musicians, but artists who inspire and evoke great emotion. The Lemon of Pink was my first exposure to them, and I believe it to be their best album still to this day. As a cohesive work, it spans all emotions from happy to sad to confused to curious. Every sound is remarkably human and touching. Listening to this on vinyl sometimes makes me cry. It's that good.

3 1/2

Still a singularly spellbinding work of creative glitchtronica, this promising offering from the low key act may not have been the marker to take Books over the top as initially expected, but adeptly provides acoustic and sampled orchestrations to stimulating effect regardless, even if the approach does loose steam on its second side.