Play 90 second soundbite of 'Colour Of Pleasure' @ 'CD quality'
Cook almost defies categorisation and I get the feeling he likes it that way. His music straddles electro-dance and synth-pop and is definitely more experimental than organic. I hear New Order, Orbital, Depeche Mode and several other similarly ilked outfits. I also hear William Orbit, Philip Glass and Kraftwerk. But, none of those comparisons are actually quite right; Cook treads all over the aforementioned with his ability to cover all ground and sound both homely and musically bi-polar. Cook can get your dancin' foot tappin' just as easily as he can cause you to stop in your tracks and take note of his aural landscapes and dreamy visions.
'Anaemic Arch' is as varied as it is vibrant and Cook is quite clearly a great musical visionary and a very competent and nimble-fingered keyboard maestro. Although openly admitting to being somewhat vocally challenged, Cook uses what he has very well indeed; he knows his limits and stays well inside his vocal comfort zone - and generally to pretty good effect. 'Anaemic Arch' is truly an impressive piece of work - there's some really tasty stuff tucked inside this eleven tracker. I'm particularly impressed with Cook's ability to mix things up - the album never falls in the trap of being simply 'one themed' - it's constantly changing and sending out loads of different vibes as it goes. All-in-all, 'Anaemic Arch' is a bloody good album; there's nothing to fault but loads to enjoy and loads to get carried away on. Cook can certainly compose and obviously has some great ideas. There's no doubting his musical prowess and you certainly can't knock his determination to create electronic music that's expansive, descriptive and joyously fresh whilst retaining solid pop sensibility.
Daniel Cook is Anaemic Arch - 'Anaemic Arch' is an absorbing and enjoyable trip through Cook's alter-ego world of digitally generated soundscapes and surprisingly cool pop-electronica. The album is extremely well put together and, I have to say, extremely likeable. 'Anaemic Arch' is as good as most similarly-genred works out there and if Daniel Cook can get his promotion sorted I could see him doing very well indeed - so now what's needed is - promotion, promotion, promotion!!
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