If life was as uncomplicated as Andy Votel’s,
everybody would be much happier and the world would
surely be a better place. Cliché? I’m sorry!
Life is decidedly too easy for Votel. He likes graphic
design, so he’s a graphic designer. He likes playing
around with other people’s music, so he remixes
their work. He likes other people’s music, so
he releases their work. He like playing music, so he
makes records. The list goes on, and so does he. And
the annoying thing, for everybody else, is that is good
at whatever he does.
It all began some years ago in Manchester, when he started
spinning records in a variety of clubs. His famously
eclectic sets showed a hanger for anything new, fresh,
and a total disregard of boundaries. So, when he met
one Damon Gough and formed a record label, Twisted Nerves,
there was always going to be sparks of genius coming
out. Gough was the first one to emerge as a musician,
as Badly Drawn Boy, with a series of EPs, some very
rare, and an album, The Hour Of Bewilderbeast,
in 2000. Meanwhile, Votel was putting the finishing
touches to his first seven-track mini album. Styles
Of The Unexpected was released at the end of the
same year. Two years on, Votel returns with his first
proper long player. Aptly entitled All Ten Fingers,
probably a reference to the many pies he has on the
go, this record is a chaotic slice of pop hysteria if
ever there was one. All Ten Fingers reflects
the man congenital hyperactive life by never settling
in one particular genre. Instead, Votel rips apart post
rock, jazz, easy listening, French pop, film music,
and Joan Armatrading, mixing everything without effort,
as if it was the most natural thing to do. The result
is, at worst, disconcerting, and at best, fascinating.
Or is it the other way round? One thing is sure though:
take nothing for granted here. The diversity of the
instrumentation would have you thinking that it has
all been ripped off from some dodgy record collection,
but it is all unfolding there, in real time. Featuring
proper instruments and real musicians, including Elbow,
Sam Lynham, Tracy Elizabeth and Can vocalist Malcolm
Mooney, All Ten Fingers is as eclectic as can
be. The deliciously bizarre Metro Attitude,
which features the line “in fact, there’s
only your ears you don’t do nothing with”
in French, and Fly-Fly-Fly, inspired by the
Franck Perry movie Last Summer might seem totally
bonkers, but this is nothing next to Salted Tangerines.
Featuring Malcolm Mooney, wheeled out of his thirty-year
retirement to improvise on flying tangerines, fat women
and rhinos, the strange poetry of the piece is definitely
the highlight of this record. If some tracks reveal
a more laidback approach (Canter, The Viy,
with Elbow,), this album remains amazingly challenging
all the way through, defying all preconceptions of music
as Votel compiles as many genres as he possibly can
in an hour and ten minutes.
All Ten Fingers can prove hard work at times,
but it is however a brilliant record by all means, erupting
from all sides, surprising constantly, and eventually
charming its way to the listener’s subconscious.
This is the work of a craftsman, and a very good one
at that too.
4.3/5
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