Latest Luomo

michael

Bring out the vacuum
Any comments on Paper Tigers? (This has been released outside Japan already, I think?) I know the dude's Luomo moniker has some fans on here.

I thought his last Uusitalo album was like Vocalcity without the pop elements, and consequently a bit dull, but am pretty impressed with Paper Tigers really.

I don't like the slow lounge bar numbers so much. I guess he got into the piano idea from collabing with Craig Armstrong... and I suppose it can be construed as expanding into other avenues of pop, but it's just not an avenue I enjoy listening to, nor do I see that it sounds like he's exploring new options there.

You can listen to a few tracks here, including one of the loungey ones, The Tease Is Over.

http://www.luomoweb.com/


Actually, I never checked out The Dolls, but I don't particularly like either of Craig Armstrong or Antye Greie, so can't imagine I'd be thrilled. Mind you Greie does most of the vocals on the Luomo stuff doesn't she?


Bibble bibble..
 

Tim F

Well-known member
The album is not very good, sadly.

It's kind of what the cloth-eared haters erroneously accused <i>The Present Lover</i> of being.
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
I remember reading how much you liked The Present Lover, but what did those cloth-eared haters say? It was too pop? Too straight forward? I don't feel that way about this current album at all...
 

Buick6

too punk to drunk
I reckon it's as good as the BURIAL record. It's like if the BURIAL record were made for people like like to have sex with humans, as opposed to robots.
 

Tim F

Well-known member
Haters were saying <i>The Present Lover</i> was coffee-table-esque and emoting-not-emotionally-affecting.

I find the songs on <i>Paper Tiger</i> sound great but there's little of the emotional tug of <i>The Present Lover</i>, even though Delay hasn't messed with his sonic signature much at all this time around.

I definitely think the preponderance of vocals from that one breathy female are a big part of the problem. The male vocals on <i>The Present Lover</i> were hugely important to its success, I think.

Probably <i>Paper Tigers</i> is still a very good album, but it feels like a big step down from one of my favourite albums of all time. I'm not even that torn up about it - I keep on forgetting I have it actually.
 

borderpolice

Well-known member
Probably <i>Paper Tigers</i> is still a very good album, but it feels like a big step down from one of my favourite albums of all time.

i agree with you, but once you have made "vocalcity", what could Luomo possibly do that would not be a letdown?

"Paper Tiger" is more dubby, more noisy, less coherently employing vocals and text. Also, because Luomo, keeps most of his musical palette constant, there is little novelty apart from less vocal coherency.
 
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Tim F

Well-known member
Well actually in the bit of me you quote I'm referring to <i>The Present Lover</i>. For me, Luomo made <i>two</i> entirely different but utterly amazing albums, so there was no certainty that the next Luomo album would be a disappointment.

I actually like the Delay remix of Rhythm & Sound more than anything on <i>Paper Tigers</i>. Maybe he should have gone in that direction more.
 

Buick6

too punk to drunk
I downloaded the album off SoulSeek as a taste listen, and some dude has put the sound of a squealing baby intemittently though the traxx! Interesting counter-piracy method!
 

borderpolice

Well-known member
Well actually in the bit of me you quote I'm referring to <i>The Present Lover</i>. For me, Luomo made <i>two</i> entirely different but utterly amazing albums, so there was no certainty that the next Luomo album would be a disappointment.

I actually like the Delay remix of Rhythm & Sound more than anything on <i>Paper Tigers</i>. Maybe he should have gone in that direction more.

sorry for misunderstanding you. the Delay remix, as villalobos', is utterly divine, and it was on heavy rotation in my household for weeks on end. however, i'd have to say that all of Sasu Ripatti's (apparently that's delay's real name) records are very similar structurally on many levels, which is why i could not say vocalcity, present lover and paper tigers are very different records. but i see why one could take a different position.

Well, rereading my comment in my first mail on this thread, i find that i have been too negative: "paper tigers" is a really good album. I would loooooove to be able to produce something as good as this.
 

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
Sometimes I think Vlad is way ahead, other times I feel he takes a style thats been present for a while to a kind of aesthetic pinnacle.

Vocalcity was a peak in the style of that post Detroit, post BC, shimmery-synth type tech-house sound.

The Four Quarters took IDM motifs and sound design and balanced them with minimalism and VDs improv dub/jazz sensibilities. Its not unemotional by any means, but its extreme aestheticization makes it a peak of technical IDM, to me moreso than anything noizy that Autechre did. In a way I hear The FQ as an abstract counterpoint to Bjork's Vespertine album, which was the pinnacle of emotive IDM.

Vlad is one of my favourite artists for sure. I always go back to his murky beginnings for some good wallpaper.

Edit: credit where its due, it was Michael who first put me on to him.
 
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reinhold

New member
What did you all think of the recent Unai album?

For me, it's a pretty good replacement for what I see to be a lackluster Luomo album. Plenty of vocals -- all male -- just a lot of fun. Made for some good road-trip music this summer. At times it's a little too clean, but the closer "Exit Wounds" is a head-trip.
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
I've only heard one Unai track, on some really nice-nice (read: overly clean and coffee table) Naked Music comp, but I remember it stood out for being way more interesting than the rest of the CD. Having done a little search, it must be 'Loving That Lost Feeling'. I'm such a sucker for titles that are rearranging other titles / phrases / etc. :)

What I remember of the track it was kinda like e.g. Metro Area, quite bright and 80s disco-y, but with lots of squidgy/fiddly/ear-tingling sounds and atmospherics. Sound consistent with what you've heard?
 

Tim F

Well-known member
Unai's album is a lot like the two last Luomo albums, with a dash of erm Junior Boys maybe? His keyboards reminds me a bit of Rockwilder sometimes, oddly.

The album is pretty good. "Exit Wounds" is brilliant yeah. I also love "Steps To Heaven Are Steps To Me" - he's best when the melodrama is heightened to a factor of ten.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
present lover was like "take that shit off now or I'm going to stab someone" and this one is like "fuck you, I'll be back in an hour"

(but you see I DID bother checking it out. hoping, ofcourse, for another Vocal City or Multila)
 

zhao

there are no accidents
Unai can be pretty OK. but like Cherry flavored Double-Mint gum looses all flavor after about 2.3 plays.
 

swears

preppy-kei
Luomo is exactly what I need right now...gotta love the slickness.
I don't really like this stuff when it involves a lot of "organic" live instrument sounds, but that synthetic sheen just nails it for me.
 
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