White Bread Black Beer [Import]

Scritti Politti | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 20, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Rough Trade
• ASIN: B000ECWYI0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #548,659 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. The Boom Boom Bap

2. No Fine Lines

3. Snow in Sun

4. Cooking

5. Throw

6. Dr. Abernathy

7. After Six

8. Petrococadollar

9. E Eleventh Nuts

10. Window Wide Open

11. Road to No Regret

12. Locked

13. Mrs. Hughes

14. Robin Hood

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If you haven't listened to Scritti Politti's Cupid & Psyche '85 lately, you may be shocked at how well it holds up. With the hyper-literate songwriting chops of XTC and a fluffy electronic sheen that remains highly influential, the damn thing is better than it ever was, filled with impossible sweetness and glistening pop songs that were--despite the helium lightness of Green Gartside's voice--deceptively ballsy. 20 years later, White Bread Black Beer flaunts many of the same qualities. Gartside may be in his 50s, but he's still pure High Fructose with his candy-colored saccharine tones, linguistic non-sequiturs (see "The Boom Boom Bap") and sweet--but blunt--atheism ("After Six"). Beer completely ditches the strong hip-hop influence of SP's last "comeback" album, 1999's Anomie & Bonhomie and replaces it with quieter, softer textures and ballads. Then again, the whole thing was recorded in the back room of Gartside's Hackney apartment so maybe he just lacked the production oomph to jazz it up properly. Not that it matters; Beer might be a relatively hushed and less exuberant record, but it's unmistakably Scritti Politti, bursting with a twinkling, bright likeability that makes us grateful for anything Gartside manages to release. --Matthew Cooke

Product Description

With the release of White Bread Black Beer, the first Scritti Politti offering in seven years, Green Gartside experiments with lush Beach Boys-style harmonies and Beatles-esque melodies, subtly subverting them with touches of hip hop and reggae. Gartside once again offers instantly embraceable, pure-pop pleasure. If you plunge beneath these shimmering surfaces, however, you'll discover greater challenges and richer rewards--reservoirs of feeling and layers of meaning residing within Gartside's carefully arranged lyrics. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They're back...and better than ever, June 29, 2006

By 

Andy "pleasantly surprised" (Mesa, AZ, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: White Bread Black Beer (Audio CD)

OK, first of all, this album is very different from everything that came before, so don't expect a repeat of earlier formulae. Almost every song here could fall under a different genre, but it all holds together like a concept album, though it isn't one in the typical sense. Some of you will be pleased to hear that there's no RAP on this one. In fact, there are no guest vocalists at all. Though this album is very different from earlier albums, the good news is that there is enough familiarity in Green's voice and lyrical style, that this is still instantly recognizable as being Scritti Politti. Amazon's editorial review for the US release draws comparisons to The Beatles (I don't hear it myself) and The Beach Boys (definitely, on a couple of tracks), but I think it might be more appropriate to compare it to...Simon and Garfunkel (believe it or not...and I mean this in the best way possible).

Supposedly, this album was recorded in Green's home studio. You could have fooled me--The production quality is superb and lush and polished to a mirror finish. The vocals are mixed way-up-front, which works so well since Green's vocals and harmonies are so strong. Many pop singers couldn't get away with being mixed that loud, but Green's breathy, childlike voice belies a strength and agility, and a great understanding of harmony and layering. Just to be clear here: Green sings almost the entire album in layers of self-harmony (or doubled at the very least) and it sounds fantastic. The music is all top-notch. It's mostly acoustic, but there are some electronics, and they are used tastefully, and to great effect.

The album starts a little lukewarm with two downtempo tunes; nice but not eyebrow-raisers. The third track abruptly launches into "Snow In Sun", a pleasantly Beach Boys-flavored tune with thickly stacked harmony vocals. Okay, my eyebrows are up; this may be going somewhere after all..

The fourth track, "Cooking" is irresistibly catchy, and one of the albums highest points. It is a sparse little tune (just acoustic guitar, bass and drums), where you'll really hear the touch of Simon and Garfunkel, and the melody will surely burn itself into your consciousness. Yes! We have liftoff!

The rest of the album is all over the map, stylistically, but always high-quality. There's some power-pop ("Dr. Abernathy"), a sardonic shuffle ("After Six"), a soulful ballad ("Window Wide Open"). There are some sonic surprises, but it all works. Another one of the albums high points is an ambient electronic dub piece called "Petrococadollar". This is stunningly beautiful, and worth the price of admission alone.

Overall, this album is an exciting new chapter in Scritti Politti's career arc, and I hope they have fantastic success with it. I also hope that it gets some attention here in the USA. This is easily the best eclectic pop album I've heard in years.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the Best Pop Album of 2006, January 8, 2007

By 

J. Brady (PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: White Bread Black Beer (Audio CD)

Make no mistake, this is not your Mother's Scritti Politti. Gone - if not especially missed - are the super-glossy, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Fairlight arrangements and the frantic, frenetic dance beats of the mid-Eighties. But what remains unchanged is what makes this album so special. Gorgeous, lushly arranged multi-tracked vocals, smart ( but not smarmy ) lyrics and a batch of particularly strong songs all come together to make what is without a doubt the best pop album of the last year. Most of these songs float along on little more than gently strummed acoustic guitar and very deftly programmed, subtle electronic textures. Purposely lo-fi, the spartan instrumentation makes the vocals and lyrics stand out that much more. Several tracks remind me of opening up a jewel box - simple but incredibly melodic keyboard lines married to Green Gartside's ethereal and eternally young, sweet-sounding falsetto. A very few songs here approach anything sounding "modern" - the opening track "The Boom Boom Bap" features impossibly deep bass and a rhythm somewhere between minimalist hip-hop and dub reggae. "After Six" could be a Gorillaz track if they had a better lyricist and knew when to quit. And "Dr. Abernathy" rocks just a *little* bit. Apparently self-produced at home, " White Bread, Black Beer" has very obvious touchstones in the already mentioned Beach Boys ( the vocal harmonies ) and the Beatles ( the lyrics and melodies ). I also hear the dub productions of Lee Perry here, in that there is a real clear, clean space in the mix. Not every available spot on the tape is covered with sound, and what you DON'T hear is as important as what you DO hear. Fans of the "Cupid and Psyche '85" might be shocked, thinking Scritti Politti have taken a step backward by issuing such a low key, minimal sounding album, and "White Bread, Black Beer" does sound much more like their very early, pre-"Cupid..." recordings than anything else. But I think "White Bread" betters that pop masterpiece in every way. It is my favourite album of the last year, and Very Highly Recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Green is cool, November 15, 2010

By 

Ned Belfry - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: White Bread Black Beer (Audio CD)

I listened through this a couple of times. Green's music grows on me over time and I need to listen more. I can tell you that there exists a level of craftsmanship in his music that is rare. If you are Scritti Politti fan, you should have this cd- there is no excuse for you not to. So get it now, before it's too late- lol. I actually think it's out of print here, because Barnes and Nobles doesnt have it. Act now.