The work of the BBC
Radiophonic Workshop is widely recognised as one
of the main source of inspirations for contemporary
electronic musicians. If the early productions of the
Workshop were
created on very rudimentary equipment, the wider accessibility
of synthesisers, samplers and computers has broadened
the musical scope by facilitating the creative process.
If the Workshop’s imprint is still very much noticeable
today, in the work of artists such as Autechre,
Aphex Twin or Boards
Of Canada, the tedious process of assembling tapes
of incidental recordings is not one favoured by the
great majority of composers. This makes L’Illustration
Musicale all the more interesting.
Discovered by BBC Radio 1 DJ Mary Ann Hobbs, who started
playing Brooks’s music after noticing his posts
on a variety of web sites, the King Of Woolworths finally
released his first album, Ming
Star, a year and a half ago on London-based Mantra
Recordings, home of Dot
Allison, St Etienne and The Delgados to name but
a few. A slightly dark and tormented affair, using samples
of conversations and ambiences borrowed from sixties
and seventies films and TV programs, this first effort
demonstrated a great maturity in term of sonic structure
and creativity, with one of its best moments, Bakerloo
being picked by Orange to feature on one of their adds.
Named after and influenced by a little-known French
library music label L’Illustration Musicale, this
second album is based around the concept of incidental
music, championed by the Radiophonic
Workshop, and in particular by one of its most famous
members, Delia Derbyshire, after whom Brooks named one
of the tracks here. Swapping compulsive sampling for
more traditional method of creating electronic music,
the King recorded this album with analogue equipment
and tapes. The result shows a remarkable departure from
his previous work. The ten compositions included on
this offering are lighter and more accessible, and feature
vocal contributions from Dot
Allison (Sell Me Back My Soul), Pete Bellchamber
(Evelsong) and Delgados singer Emma Pollack
(Nuada). Brooks plays here with a variety of
atmospheres and textures, assembling his sounds into
complex constructions, yet retaining touches of innocence
through his gentle melodies. Mixing purely electronic
sonorities and acoustic elements, including xylophone
on G-Plan and 123 (Brillo’s Beat),
a track dedicated to his cat, and piano on This
Is Radio Theydon, already featured on the King’s
Dew Point EP, published last year, and the
sumptuous A12, Brooks’s music is enhanced
by his radically different approach to sound. Yet he
doesn’t succumb to the temptation of creating
entirely abstract pieces, conscious of the importance
of remaining accessible at all times. The main purpose
of music library is to collect sound sources in order
for sound engineers and musicians to organise them without
loosing any connections with their original context.
And that’s very much what Jon Brooks achieves
here. His melodies are simple yet effective, and put
in context by a clever use of sonic elements put at
his disposal.
By developing a different approach to the one adopted
on his first album, the King Of Woolworths doesn’t
so much changes musical direction as builds on his previous
incarnation. The gloomy samples have given way to more
luxurious ambiences, but the musical genius is still
very much at work here. All rise for the King Of Woolworths.
4.5/5 |
