- with an eclectic coming together of modernistic electro experimentation, nu-folk/rock and some good old progressive undercurrents, The Television Of Cruelty demonstrate their insatiable appetite for the unusual and the slightly obtuse!
Play 90 second soundbite of 'American Bar' @ 'CD quality'
- with an eclectic coming together of modernistic electro experimentation, nu-folk/rock and some good old progressive undercurrents, The Television Of Cruelty demonstrate their insatiable appetite for the unusual and the slightly obtuse!
'Dead Sea Shanties' is also kinda different insofar as it's split into two distinct halves; 'C Side', 'Dead Sea Shanties' and 'B Side', 'The Nettlemen' - the former 'a plot outline for a film', the latter a storytelling fantasy! See, different!! I have to say that once the initial threshold has been crossed, the music takes a form of its own as it trips lightly but indelibly through a host of modern musical forms, stamping down genre barriers as it goes. 'Dead Sea Shanties' is a five track 'soundtrack' that's bright and optimistic and begs to be revisited and re-played. Constantly 'on-the-move' in terms of style and feel this is probably the more diverse 'half' of this wonderfully inspired work - indie meets electro done with serious sensitivity and respect for its lyrical side. For me, 'The Nettlemen' is more punchy and reminds me somewhat of the more 'progressive' early Genesis (the Peter Gabriel variety!); beautifully scored keyboards driven by thumpin' but punctuative percussion, soaring guitars and an overall feeling of warmly delivered soft-rock.
The Television Of Cruelty have put together another seriously compelling album here - possibly slightly better mixed and produced than its fore-runner, 'Lower England', and better for its attention to detail. The somewhat elusive but totally focussed The Television Of Cruelty have come up with the goods once again - 'Dead Sea Shanties' (and 'The Nettlemen') is a pretty 'big' sounding project and the 'band' have managed to do it full justice here - it really is the mutt's nuts!
The Television Of Cruelty show once again that their amazingly varied take on modern music is not just workable but truly viable - The Television Of Cruelty may not be totally commercial, they aint yer average pop group but, they certainly know how to put great music together and deliver it with passion and believability through superior musicianship and somewhat off-kilter but majestic creativity. 'Dead Sea Shanties' by the enormously talented The Television Of Cruelty is part contemporary nu-folk and part pure progressive! I absolutely love it and there should be many takers for this excellent album.
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