Music
- August 19, 2009
- Reviews
08/19/09
Saint Etienne—Foxbase Alpha

jj -- jj no 2 Since we have previously covered The Tough Alliance and Air France in previous reviews, you should know by now that the Swedes make exceptional beach music. The group known as jj are no different, their blood-spattered pot leaf album art telling the whole story--this is blissed out music with something a little transgressive and sinister beneath the surface. But don't let that get you down. From the Ibiza grooves to the psychedelic Lil Wayne covers, this is a joyous listen.

Saint Etienne -- Foxbase Alpha And since so many of the aforementioned Swedish groups have been stealing moves from the Saint Etienne playbook, the recent reissue of the great Foxbase Alpha is a perfect time for a reassessment of this group. Well, not really that much of a reassessment because we used to think they were great and we still do. Still, we're happy to report that all of the sampled movie dialogue and familiar drum loops have aged well (particularly since we have since forgotten how cliched that sound was in the 90's). Buy the reissue and fall in love all over again.

Yacht -- See Mystery Lights Jona Bechtolt's indie dance project Yacht is not the type of music you would want to put in a time capsule or engrave on a disc to send into space to show other galaxies an example of our culture. This is not music for posterity. This is fun music for dancefloors right now. Like, this summer. As that, it's more than adequate. It gets the job done.
And since so many of the aforementioned Swedish groups have been stealing moves from the Saint Etienne playbook, the recent reissue of the great Foxbase Alpha is a perfect time for a reassessment of this group. Well, not really that much...
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