I've been revisiting
Faking The Books a lot lately and it does have that same warm, electro-organic glow that I love so much about the Notwists' excellent
Neon Golden, to which it was inevitably compared since Lali Puna is composed partly of Notwist guitarist Markus Acher, but it is still quite a bit different, and not just because of Valerie's vocals. Their music sounds more electronic than the Notwist...but then again,
Neon Golden is one of those unique electronic albums that almost makes you forget that anything's even plugged in. The electronics are still balanced with guitar and, in some songs, cello and violin like on the Notwist album, but without those endearing forays into folk music with banjo and other assorted instruments as on the Notwist album. Kind of like a lazy version of New Order with some added glitch? Nice and sublime, just not quite the classic that is
Neon Golden. But with every album I hear that initially seems to have some of that same charm, the more I realize how extraordinary was The Notwist's achievement, at least in my view. Probably also worth noting that it's a pretty nice sounding CD, not surprisingly mastered at Abbey Road by oldtimer Chris Blair, just as was
Neon Golden and many other good sounding CDs in recent times. 4 out of 5 obners from me and close to breaking into my top 10 this year. Might not, but close. "Micronomic" does rule. With one or two more of those pure pop blissouts it would definitely be in my top 10.
Still, a hearty
from me.
