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T O P I C R E V I E W
lemonade kid
Posted - 21/08/2011 : 23:18:33SPARKS
Always so interesting strange and witty.....a mix of glam rock. art rock, Beatles pop sensibilities, disco, 60's psych Zappa strange....extreme & amazing stylistic changes over 40 years!
Sparks' musical style has changed dramatically over their forty-year career. In the beginning they attempted to emulate the sound of their English heroes, such as The Who, Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd and The Kinks, sometimes even pretending to be an English band while on the LA club circuit. They relocated to England during the Glam rock era where, despite cutting an odd figure on this scene, they found success with their polished brand of intricate pop tunes and convoluted lyrics. By the second half of the decade, they were concerned that the sound they had developed while based in England was in danger of becoming stale; they returned to LA, determined to adopt a more "West Coast" sound. This they achieved with producer Rupert Holmes on Big Beat and (sans Holmes) on Introducing Sparks.
However the band were not satisfied with the results, which they felt lacked personality, perhaps because of the reliance on session musicians. This led to the most dramatic change of style the band would attempt, when they teamed up with Giorgio Moroder, dropped the band format altogether and produced No. 1 In Heaven. This album is regarded as a landmark in the development of electronic music and greatly influenced bands which would emerge in the following years.[3][6] They soon returned to a more traditional line-up, which remained until 1988's Interior Design. There then followed a long hiatus until 1994's Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins, which was a foray into the techno dance world, which they had helped to spawn back in the late 1970s.[30] While their style has remained on the same path since Gratuitous Sax..., they have nonetheless continued to push the boundaries of conventional pop music and songwriting, remaining both innovative and highly influential.[4]
Lyrically, the band's style has been described as coming from "the school of Cole Porter, favouring caustic wit over trivial personal problems, ...achingly clever lyrics seesaw between superficial gloss, profound sentiment and the incomprehensibly bizarre."[3] Repeated lyrical motifs have become a distinct feature on recent albums. On "My Baby’s Taking Me Home" off Lil' Beethoven (2002), the song title is repeated 104 times, with no other words being used, other than a spoken interlude.[6] Similarly, on the same album, "Your Call Is Very Important To Us", uses a corporation style call-hold message: "Your call is very important to us. Please hold" which is then sung with some additional words: "At first she said your call is very important to us, then she said please, please hold." The only other lyrics in the song are "Red light", "Green light", "I'm Getting Mixed Signals" and "Sorry, I'm Going To Have To Put You Back On Hold". These elements are layered with a simple piano line to create a highly textured effect.[23]
Into these guys...still going strong with their newest and highly regarded CDs like "Lil' Beethoven"'
SPARKS
Sparks is an American rock and pop band formed in Los Angeles in 1970 by brothers Ron (keyboards) and Russell Mael (vocals), initially under the name Halfnelson. Best known for their quirky approach to songwriting,[2] Sparks' music is often accompanied by intelligent, sophisticated, and acerbic lyrics,[3] and an idiosyncratic, theatrical stage presence, typified in the contrast between Russell's wide-eyed hyperactive frontman antics and Ron's sedentary scowling. Starting with their masterwork, "Lil' Beethoven" in 2001, the band began performing their albums in their entirety. 2008 saw the band perform all 21 of their albums in successive nights at the Islington Academy and Shepherd's Bush Empire in London.[4]
Though the band's long career has seen them successfully pioneer many different musical genres; including glam pop, power pop, electronic dance music, mainstream pop and most recently chamber pop, Sparks have created their own unique musical universe. While achieving chart success in various countries around the world including United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the United States, they have enjoyed a cult following since their first releases.[5] Sparks have been highly influential on the development of popular music,[4] in particular on the late 1970s scene, when in collaboration with Giorgio Moroder (and Telex subsequently), they reinvented themselves as an electronic pop duo, and abandoned the traditional rock band line up.[6] Their frequently changing styles and visual presentations have kept the band at the forefront of modern, artful pop music.[7] They are held in esteem by such bands and performers as Morrissey, Kurt Cobain, Franz Ferdinand, Arcade Fire, Fang Island, Ott, MGMT, Sonic Youth, Ramones, Duran Duran, Bjork, Depeche Mode, New Order, Def Leppard, Faith No More, The Pixies, Ween, Mark Burgess of the Chameleons[9] and They Might Be Giants, all of whom cite Sparks as a major influence.[3][6]
The 2002 release of Lil' Beethoven, their "genre-defying opus",[10] as well as the more recent albums Hello Young Lovers (2006, their 20th studio album), Exotic Creatures Of The Deep (2008), and their latest fantasy musical The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman (2009–2010) have brought Sparks renewed critical and commercial success, and seen them continue to "steer clear of pop conventions."[11]
Sparks are best known for the song This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us which reached number 2 in the British charts in 1974, "When I'm With You" which topped the French Charts in 1980, and "When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way'" which topped the German and European charts in 1994/95 and was the top airplay record in Germany for 1994. They are also noted for Russell Mael's falsetto voice and Ron Mael's keyboard style as well as their stage presence.
Introduced by Keith Moon and Ringo....the audience looks to be in shock and goes wild!!
And from their great Lil' Beethoven LP....please give alisten....they are so interesting and creative here!
The legacy continues
After Balls, the band resurfaced in 2002 with the release of the album which has been described as their "genre-defying opus". Lil' Beethoven, featuring quasi-classical arrangements of strings and choirs,[12] led to renewed interest in the band, for instance Record Collector magazine named the album as one of its "Best New Albums of 2002", describing it as "... possibly the most exciting and interesting release ever from such a long established act"[20] and later in 2003 saying "... it really does feel like one of the best albums ever made."[6] A UK and European tour had the band playing the entire album each night in the first half of the show, with fan favourites making up the second. The line-up now included former Faith No More guitarist Dean Menta in addition to Tammy Glover on drums. Long-time fan Morrissey invited Sparks to perform at the 2004 Meltdown Festival, of which he was curator. They performed their breakthrough Kimono My House album, followed by Lil Beethoven, both in their entirety.[10] Also in this period, the duo appeared in the video for Justin Hawkins's cover of "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us", in which Ron and Russell play the referee and MC at a darts match between Hawkins and darts champion Phil Taylor. This version of "This Town" reached No. 6 in the UK charts.
Sparks "Perfume" (2006) Play sound 23 second clip of Sparks's "Perfume". Problems listening to this file? See media help.
February 2006 saw the release of Hello Young Lovers, their twentieth studio album.[19] The album is regarded as carrying on where Lil Beethoven left off, being described as "... cynical, intelligent and very, very funny",[21] it has met with considerable acclaim.[22][23]
The brothers tend to be dismissive of the latest trends in popular music, seeing most current bands as lacking musical ambition and experimental drive.[4][10][11] Indeed the predictable trends in much of modern rock, as they see it, served as inspiration for their latest album.[11] However, they have expressed admiration for Eminem and Morrissey.[10][13]
The pair appeared in the season 6 finale of the US TV show Gilmore Girls, performing "Perfume" from the album Hello Young Lovers. They released a live DVD of a September 2006 show at the London Forum as well as a long-awaited CD release of their previously unavailable 1977 album Introducing Sparks. The track "Perfume" was featured in a Dolce & Gabbana TV commercial in 2009.[24]
On May 12, 2008, Sparks released the single "Good Morning", taken from the album Exotic Creatures Of The Deep.
May and June 2008 saw the 21-night "Sparks Spectacular" in London, where they played each of their albums in chronological order during the first twenty nights, and premièred their new album on the twenty-first concert on June 13, 2008.[25] Each night, they performed an album in its entirety followed by a rare track — many of the songs have never been performed live before. The band asked their fans to visit their website and vote for the track that they'd most like to hear the band perform during the second half of the 21st concert after the première of Exotic Creatures Of The Deep, though Russell Mael admitted that he and Ron would probably influence the poll a little.
Fans who bought a "Golden Ticket" (which allowed entry into all 21 gigs) also received a poster signed by the band and a CD single entitled Islington N1, a reference to the postal address of the venue for the first 20 gigs.
In 2009 the band played two consecutive nights at the London Forum on 20 and 21 March. They played Exotic Creatures of the Deep in its entirety at both gigs, followed by Kimono My House in its entirety on the first night and No. 1 In Heaven in its entirety on the second night.
Valentine's Day evening 2009 saw Sparks perform the same show featuring their Exotic Creatures of the Deep and Kimono My House albums played in their entirety before a sold-out hometown crowd at the Mael Bros. alma mater in Los Angeles, UCLA.
Sparks "Escape (part 1)" (2009) Play sound 24-second clip from Sparks's musical, The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman. Problems listening to this file? See media help.
On August 14, 2009, the band premièred the radio musical The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman,[26] commissioned by the Swedish public radio (SR) and featuring the Mael brothers themselves and Swedish actors Elin Klinga and Jonas Malmsjö, both of whom worked with Bergman in his lifetime. The musical, partly in English, partly in Swedish, tells the story of Bergman's supposed relocation to Hollywood after his breakthrough with Smiles of a Summer Night (1956), and the surreal and discomforting encounter with the movie capital. On October 28, 2009, the UK's BBC 6 Music held a similar event in London whereby the musical was played in its entirety before a live audience at BBC Broadcasting House in London and later to be broadcast with a Q&A with the Maels. In interviews for Swedish newspapers, the band said they hoped to be able to theatrically stage the musical as well as turn the musical into a feature film. Amongst the filmmakers cited as undertaking "The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman" with the Mael Brothers is Canadian avant-garde director Guy Maddin.[27]
Ron and Russell Mael appear as interview subjects in the 2009 documentary The Magnificent Tati, discussing their proposed involvement during the early 1980s in a Jacques Tati movie titled Confusion, for which a screenplay was written but never shot due to Tati's death.
In 2010, Sparks remixed Yoko Ono's song "Give Me Something". September 2, 2010 marks the debut of the new theme songs that Ron and Russell have composed and recorded for NPR radio's Bookworm show, broadcast in Los Angeles on station KCRW. The two songs mark the first time in 21 years that the Bookworm show has used a new theme song, these being commissioned by show host and Sparks fan Michael Silverblatt. The compositions are entitled, "Where Would We Be Without Books?" and "I Am A Bookworm."
For the encore of what may have been the final live date ever in America for Faith No More on December 1, 2010 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, Ron and Russell Mael were invited by Mike Patton and Co. to perform the Sparks' classic hit "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us." To a surprised and ecstatic sold-out crowd, the brothers reprised the song that also appears as a collaboration with Faith No More on Sparks' 1997 album Plagiarism. The original Sparks' version is from their 1974 classic LP, "Kimono My House."
On June 25, 2011 as part of the Los Angeles Film Festival, Sparks will present the World Premiere live performance of The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman. Film maker Guy Maddin will provide directions based on the screenplay, with Ron and Russell reprising their recorded roles on stage. The role of Ingmar Bergman will be performed by Finnish movie actor Peter Franzén. Ann Magnuson will do the role of Greta Garbo, and Rebecca Sjöwall will do the role she performed on the original album as the Starlet. Tammy Glover is also reprising her role that she originated on the original album as The Hollywood Starlet.[28] The show will be at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood, a fitting place to enact the premiere performance live. The group are showcasing at the film festival in their quest for funding for the feature film version.[28][29]
_____________________________________________ Sometimes I have good luck... & write better than I can. -Hemmingway
5 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)
rocker
Posted - 02/08/2013 : 16:53:42 All I will say is that these guys have 'fertile imaginations that never ever get old. What can we call their music, eh?????????? This is way ahead of so-calld avant garde.
Posted - 26/07/2012 : 14:04:13 they have nonetheless continued to push the boundaries of conventional pop music and songwriting, remaining both innovative and highly influential.[4]
..I think you can hear it in virtually every song thy've done!....
lemonade kid
Posted - 22/08/2011 : 19:46:50
quote:Originally posted by Signed RW
I've been fortunate enough to have seen them play live tons of times, dating back to when they were still known as Halfnelson. Check "Let the Monkey Drive," from "Exotic Creatures of the Deep." It's about a very entertaining road trip from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara, one which I've made many times...
Thanks rick....wondered if you had been following the 'Sparks' brothers over the years. The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman project sounds very ambitious and interesting.
(How are you? Busy times.)
_____________________________________________ Sometimes I have good luck... & write better than I can. -Hemmingway
SignedRW
Posted - 22/08/2011 : 01:29:07 I've been fortunate enough to have seen them play live tons of times, dating back to when they were still known as Halfnelson. Check "Let the Monkey Drive," from "Exotic Creatures of the Deep." It's about a very entertaining road trip from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara, one which I've made many times...
Mark Burgess of the Chameleons[9] and They Might Be Giants, all of whom cite Sparks as a major influence.[3][6]
