written by Jeff Johnson
Go out and buy this album. There is no way for me to be any clearer about my feelings than that. It is a phenomenal album! It is the first entry into my notes on favorite albums of 2006. I know it’s early, but I will say that if this disc doesn’t make my top five at year’s end it will have been an extraordinary year for music in my book. I simply cannot imagine that there are going to be five releases this year that would overtake this one. Rampant pessimism? Maybe. But more to the point is that it represents how strongly I feel about this debut effort by the French-Spanish electronic duo.
Every so often an album grabs you by the imagination and carries you across a landscape of sound, which, while you are quite sure you have never visited before, feels inviting and familiar. The last time I felt this way the first time through an album was when I got my hands on Radiohead’s OK Computer. The truth is that it isn’t even my favorite Radiohead album — that honor is reserved for The Bends — but it struck me like a bolt of musical lightening. I am not trying to compare Vacabou to Radiohead but instead referring to the fact that such is the impact this disc had on me. It exists on a somewhat dream-like plane. I actually have to keep pausing the disc as I write this because I can’t keep from zoning out and just listening to the music. It is that engrossing. I am not your typical fan of electronica, as I often times feel as though electronic musicians try way too hard to impress with their programming abilities by throwing every trick into each song. Many of these artists have absolutely no familiarity with the principle of less being more. Vacabou has really succeeded in holding my attention in the often times completely sparse musical web that they are spinning. They have no trouble stripping things down to the bare minimum, or at the very least slowly layering one element or beat on top of another. In this way they allow you to really taste each and every ingredient within the mix. It is so much easier to savor the subtleties that are contained in their music because they are not drowned out with unnecessary hindrances.
Singer Pascale Saravelli’s voice feels like audible love, it is so gorgeous and unfettered by pretense. I can feel the emotion dripping with every syllable. I can also feel the sincerity of those emotions as if she is truly speaking to me only. The one word that I can come up with to describe the feel of this disc is transcendent. It is at once tranquil and stimulating. I have to be wary of listening to it while I drive because I tend to lose my focus.
I suppose if I were asked to compare them to someone it would have to be Portishead. Truthfully, though, this album is so much more complete than anything I have ever heard from Portishead. The one track that I will try describe specifically is “Barunka Left,” as it is among the best cuts I have ever heard on any album, period. It is a perfect example of gradual layering, with one element after another being slowly added and at times stripped away again down to the point where it is just an acoustic guitar. Then that striking voice kicks in and I feel myself melt away into musical oblivion. This song hangs in the recesses of my subconscious many hours after listening to it. I can feel myself start to sway to an imaginary tempo that I soon realize is this song being drawn back into my being. It is a song that makes me happy, period. I’m not sure how much more praise I can heap onto this outstanding work. I would hate for it to feel gratuitous and cause any kind of backlash in your mind. I simply have trouble feeling as though I have gotten all of the praise that I feel for it down on paper. Maybe I have though.
I will summarize by saying that so much music is fairly disposable in nature, even if it is good or enjoyable it doesn’t really change you in any substantive way. This album does change me, as did OK Computer. It is not a work that will be mentally discarded only to pop up once in a while on shuffle mode in my iPod. It is one that I will actively seek to listen to in order to make me feel a certain way. I can’t entirely describe how it makes me feel and it doesn’t really matter as it will affect you differently, but I do think it will affect you. Again I implore you, buy this album.
Author’s Note: I wrote this review yesterday and I read through it again today. Wow does it ever feel rambling and pretentious. It definitely has a stream-of-consciousness quality to it. I am going to refrain from rewriting though, as I think it is the most honest assessment of the disc that I can come up with. Anything that I would try to replace it with would be way too self-conscious and sterile. So take it for it’s worth. After all, I still stand fervently behind my sentiments of appreciation for what this album has to offer.