Tropical Brainstorm

Kirsty MacColl

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 24, 2001)
• Original Release Date: April 24, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Instinct Records
• ASIN: B00005ABK0
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,215 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com's Best of 2001
"I know an island where the people are kind / And the rest of the world seems far away / Maybe it's only in the back of my mind / But I know when I go that's where I'll stay." One could not wish a better end result for the late Kirsty MacColl, whose last album opens with this prediction. Tropical Brainstorm serves as a sunny and joyous bookend on a career cut tragically short. Musically, it is a bit of a departure, favoring vibrant Latin-flavored flourishes over the slightly darker jangle of earlier material. There is, however, no mistaking the album's creator from a lyrical perspective. "Treachery" giddily turns the star-fan scenario on its head, imagining MacColl stalking a fan who has abandoned her for the musical flavor of the month. "Here Comes That Man Again" is a decidedly naughty and wise survey of cyberculture's impact on modern romance. In "Us Amazonians," a hearty romp that's easily as good as anything off of Paul Simon's The Rhythm of the Saints, the narrator punches out her true love to show him what's truly important in life. These are not your ordinary pop songs, and that's a fitting way for things to end, if they had to. MacColl always held a singular place in Anglo-pop. She was equal parts Morrissey as a less self-obsessed heterosexual woman and Flannery O'Connor as pop star. In other words, unique, and an incredibly precious resource for music to lose. --Bob Michaels

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hasn't left my player for two weeks!, July 30, 2001

By	Jenn "jenncw" (SoCal) - See all my reviews

What do you get when you combine a sly British wit with an open Carribean beat and a genuine love for the Cubanos? Kirsty Maccoll! I bought this one after one listen in the store, and I haven't regretted my purchase one bit. From the fun "Mambo de la Luna" to the lighthearted sarcasm of "In these shoes" or "Here comes that man" or "England 2: Columbia 0" to the wistful "Auntumngirlsoup" to the brilliant latin beats of "Alegria" this album is a must have. I laughed nonstop through "Treachery." Starts with "I'm stalking a fan..."

Even the lyrics in Spanish are clever and fairly easy to follow, even for a student whos hasn't spoken in about four years. If I were you, I'd buy this one and "dance around in my socks."

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like Kirsty -- It Glitters, It Shines, April 29, 2001

By	Eric Love "[e-mail]" (Broomfield, CO USA) - See all my reviews

I first heard of Kirsty MacColl back in 1989 or '90, singing "Fairytale of New York" with The Pogues, the most clever, heartbreaking, and lovely Christmas song. It is like Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life," hung up with tinsel and mistletoe.

Kirsty's talents come out in full form with "Electric Landlady" from 1991. "All I Ever Wanted," "He Never Mentioned Love," "We'll Never Pass This Way Again," and "Halloween," are so wonderful because they aren't overwrought, and as a songwriter, she refuses to romanticize love all out of proportion, turning it into something niave, artificially sweet, and marketable but ultimately silly and unfamiliar. Kirsty proved that something intelligent could happen while translating relationships into songs -- that the pain and frustration they create could be transformed into something lovely, in part because these things are so familiar to people who have been in love. (Kirsty and Lloyd Cole are the only ones who seemed to get it.)

The Latin-Cuban influence heard on "My Affair" courses through "Tropical Brainstorm" from start to finish and the results are simply brilliant. Beneath the marvelous beats and rythms of islands is classic Kirsty. Love still goes wrong in "England 2 Colombia 0," "Autumngirlsoup," and "Wrong Again," but more often than not it is smart and sardonic, as in "Designer Life," "Celestine," and "Us Amazonians." My favorites -- "In These Shoes," "Treachery," and "Here Comes That Man Again" -- place Kirsty on top, well in control . . . sort of . . . in three different situations with men, and involve her protagonists and: (1) the problems they have with very stylish but inconvenient footwear; (2) "infidelity" in the record store leading to stalking and voyeurism, and (3)cybersex and voyeurism.

"Tropical Brainstorm" is now being released in the U.S. just over a year following it's appearance in Britain, and not quite half a year since Kirsty's death. The album gets better with every listen and, of course, leaves her heartbroken fans wondering what would have come next (probably not the "thrash album" she promised after her very last appearance on "Later With Jools Holland", but who, I ask, would have complained?).

All of Kirsty's albums deserve to be heard over and over again, and for the newcomer "Tropical Brainstorm" is a fantastic beginning. For the rest of us, who loved Kirsty and miss her terribly, this recording confirms what we already knew: she was a singular talent, ruthlessly honest about love's joys and sinister leg-traps, gorgeous, vulnerable, luminous, and simply beautiful.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A jubilant, memorable coda to a great artist's career, March 23, 2003

By	David Kaminsky (Edmonton, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Two years after my first listen, I'm still amazed by the range and depth of this CD. From the tropical exuberance of the Cuban-influenced "Mambo de la Luna," the Brasilian-tinged "Celestine," and the tango-esque "Treachery," to the humour of "England 2 Colombia 0" and "In These Shoes," the spare, understated emotion of "Head" and "Golden Heart," and the touching directness of "Things Happen," this work confounds the boundries between musical genres (jazz, pop, salsa, samba, etc), stylistic influences and inspirations. Above all, the work is richly infused with Kirsty's love for Latin/Brasilian music, culture, and perspective. The standouts include the haunting "Autumngirlsoup," the hilariously camp "In These Shoes," and the amazing subtlety and warmth--and the delicacy with which adolescent obsession is handled--in "Things Happen." The album is a fitting tribute to the life and talent of one of the most sensitive, intelligent, and interesting singer-songwriters of our time. In a musical landscape dominated with hype and image, its singers often devoid of any true talent, the voice of Kirsty MacColl is needed more now than ever. We miss you so much, Kirsty.