Artist: Thomas Dolby Album: The Flat Earth Year: 1984 Label: Amiga Style: new wave/romantic Format: Eac-ape-covers
Quote
Exceptionally
mature for a sophomore release, The Flat Earth holds up considerably
well since its 1984 release. This staying power belongs to a fantastic
ensemble of supporting players as much as to Dolby's songwriting and
crisp production. "Dissidents" steps in cautiously and conjures images
of blacklisted authors and ugly snow, gray from oppression. Here and
elsewhere, Matthew Seligman's bass is a welcome addition -- throughout
the album his work is lavish, growling, popping through octaves,
funk-a-fied and twinkling with harmonics. The title track, "The Flat
Earth," is a wondrous R&B daydream of piano and Motown stabs of
rhythm guitar. "Screen Kiss" has a similarly ethereal quality, and the
lyrics are lush with imagery, if occasionally cryptic. "White City"'s
drug reference and chugging groove is as murky as it is energizing, so
new wavers might find themselves frowning a bit on the dancefloor. Then
there is "Mulu the Rain Forest," a globally minded curiosity of
foreboding and disorienting samples that certainly feels a long way off
from Golden Age of Wireless. Dolby gets points for shrugging off any
obligation to formula, but this voodoo spell has an adverse effect on
the rest of the album. What follows is certainly a graceful recovery --
his rendition of 1967's "I Scare Myself" is a balmy jazz club cocktail
-- faithfully nostalgic, right down to a bittersweet trombone solo from
Peter Thomas. "Hyperactive" is, and always was, one part bizarre to two
parts infectious. Guest vocalist Adele Bertei fuels the fire to what
was already destined to be a memorable diversion, beyond the reach of
Top 40. Thomas Dolby's work on The Flat Earth harkens back to a time
when songs mattered more than the video, even as MTV was discovering
its strength. Last time the songwriter blinded us with science; this
time it's musicianship. ~ Glenn Swan, All Music Guide
1 Dissidents (4:56) 2 The Flat Earth (6:41) 3 Screen Kiss (5:33) 4 White City (5:19) 5 Mulu the Rain Forest (5:00) 6 I Scare Myself (5:40) 7 Hyperactive! (4:13)
Code
Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 3 from 28. July 2007
EAC extraction logfile from 1. April 2008, 21:56
Thomas Dolby / The Flat Earth
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Used output format : Internal WAV Routines Sample format : 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo