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TyronneCassius: 15 Again and so confused
September 29th 2006 00:17
French musicians have never been shy of the dance arena. During the nineties, Daft Punk made a name for themselves as premiere house and techno musicians, becoming known as one of the most successful electronic music collaborations of all time. Nevertheless, while some didn't make it quite so big, they have nevertheless become acclaimed in their own right, and the two musicians Phillipe Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francard have done just that with Cassius.
The result is vastly different from "Au Reve." The album begins with their first single, Toop Toop, a dance song with a heavy indie-rock influence. Everything about this song - bar the synthesiser - sounds organic, from the tight guitar riff, to the real drum kit, the scratchy vocals to the loose high-pitched harmonies. The song contrasts itself to the successive track, Rock Number One, an extremely tight jazzy hit with two different time signatures just to confuse the listeners. While the song exhibits more of an electronic and computerised influence, the female vocals rein the song into an arena which is so far in concept from previous albums.
This Song takes the jazz concept even further, reminiscent of the classic song Fever (Mrs. Krabappel sang it in the Simpsons). The song seems void of any sort of timing or even some sort of musical collaboration between the instruments, but it seems to work - of course, not for the five minutes the song takes up, but works to a certain degree. The title track would almost be a definite welcome for established fans of Cassius, fusing together the jazz foundations of previous tracks with the electronica of "Au Reve." The three tracks, from Rock Number One, to 15 Again seem like they were written together, after jaunted nights in piano bars and jazz clubs, because after this the jazzy components seemingly dissapear from their mind, to be replaced by more expected influences.
Unfortunately, the jazzy influences were beneficial to the album. The fifth track, All I Want loses these sensibilities and as a result becomes rather unforgettable and more an album-filler than anything else. Thankfully, its quickly superceded by the standout track of the album, Eye Water a Pharrell-produced cover of the opening track of the same name on their previous album, "Au Reve." The track is pure genius and has all the trademarks of Pharrell - smooth vocals, those deep harmonies and an ability to manipulate the instrumentation so that it sounds fresh and original. Cassius and Pharrell are definitely a potent mix, Cassius' electronica and Pharrell's organic sound becoming so accomodating to each other. While the repition of the the last minute may become annoying to some people, it is simple an addition to the pure genius that is one of the premiere producers of today (minus Danger Mouse of course).
The rest of the album almost pales in comparison, which is so unfortunate, because there remain some gems. The tracks become much more beat-based, clearly meant for the Ibizan context in which the album was made. See Me Now applies a very laidback almost Jamaican feel to an underlying beat that is almost unnoticeable amongst the surrounding instrumentation. A Mile From Here sounds like an attempt from the French duo to create a Pharrell-esque song without Pharrell himself, and it sort of works. The focus on the vocals rather than the instrumentation is apparent, with an intermittently fading beat, and a continuous but unintrusive synthesiser.
Jack Rock and Cactus sound like they were ripped straight out of Ibizan clubs and slapped straight onto a disc, Mylo-inspired club beats that are refreshingly different from the rest of the album. La Notte is where the duo's genius shines once again, combining a beautiful piano riff with an off-time beat and little else. Just as the title implies, the song is meant for the night. However, in a clubgoers vocabulary, the night of course refers to the early morning, when the music dies down, the intoxicants wear off, and you need that little transition from the heavier beats to the softer rhythms. Were the album to finish there, it would be an almost perfect ending - so don't be surprised to hear the groans of many when La Notte slowly fades out, only to replaced by the invading sounds of Cria Cuervos, a song that is almost certainly destined to be shunned in every case due to poor track choice.
Cassius' new offering is a scattering of various influences, from indie rock to disco, from jazz to Pharrell to Mylo. While "Au Reve" held some similar elements, "15 Again" is even moreso, though the relative looseness of the new album is definitely beneficial to its overall sound. Further exploration into jazzier foundations would be more than welcome, but it seems at times that sounds were simply cut and pasted together - This Song and Cria Cuervos in particular - and various other tracks are simply not memorable, whether due to poor production or alternatively to the chosen track listing. "15 Again" is an album suffering from many faults and yet so many rays of sunlight shine through that it is almost impossible to dislike it.
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