Silent Shout



Review by Heather Phares

The remoteness of the Knife (aka Olof and Karin Dreijer) and the chilliness of their music makes it easy to conjure up images of the duo working in a studio that resembles the Fortress of Solitude, playing instruments carved out of ice. But if the vibrant pop of Deep Cuts was like the northern lights, then Silent Shout is a sunless, vast expanse of tundra. A much darker, more ambitious set of songs than the Knife's previous work, the album finds the Dreijers stretching their sonics and downplaying the overt poppiness of Deep Cuts and The Knife.

But, while Silent Shout isn't as whimsical or immediate as the Knife has been in the past, it's just as inventive, if not more so. Karin Dreijer's vocals are more striking than ever; treated as another instrument in the arrangements, they're layered, pitch-shifted, and tweaked until there's almost nothing left but tones and emotions. Her tweaked whispers on "Silent Shout" add to the song's pulsing, restrained, but very real menace; on "Na Na Na," she sounds like an alien diva.

Likewise, Karin's whimsical, detailed lyrics also have a darker cast, offering glimpses of strange people in stranger situations. "From Off to On" deals with voyeurism and TV addicts; on "Like a Pen," Dreijer describes a character's struggle with body issues with disturbing clarity: "Sharpen my body like a pen...something too small for a lens." Many of the album's songs -- especially "Forest Families," "The Captain," and "Still Light" -- have a hushed, eerie intensity, but Silent Shout also sets off flares of emotion against its frosty backdrops.

The fantastic single "We Share Our Mother's Health" is sleek yet chaotic, with marauding vocals set against frantic synths and beats that sound like the aural equivalent of blood bouncing on ice. The equally fantastic but completely different-sounding "Marble House" -- which was inspired by the classic French film The Umbrellas of Chebourg -- embodies doomed romance with its gliding melody and brittle castanet rhythms. The Knife eventually shows off its more playful side with the lumbering, cartoonishly macho "One Hit," which gives the album's sinister bent a mischievous twist. Truly unique -- even for a group as different as this one is -- Silent Shout is the Knife's most compelling work yet.

Youssou'n dour is from Senegal not Nigeria .

I'd say after the U.K. and U.S.A., it would be Australia and Sweden whom export the most music. Why this should be so, I have no idea.

I really, really like Kristoffer Ragnstam at the minute.

You can download a free mp3 here:
http://betterpropaganda.c...sp?id=1422

'Breakfast By The Mattress' is a great song.

I agree with a lot of the choices here, but I felt I needed to represent my home country with some stuff alot of y'all might not be familiar with:

Todmobile:

Stuðmenn:

And... the best selling artist in Iceland for the past 25 years... Bubbi. I think the only people I know of at the org that know who this is are Endo and Anx, speaking of which I'm still waiting for a thread from Anx on his Icelandic music purchases ... Bubbi has two fairly recent songs on his myspace site:http://myspace.com/bubbimorthens


[Edited 3/31/07 8:04am]

'Great artists who are NOT coming from the UK or the USA'

France - Serge Gainsbourg
Australia - The Grates
Germany - Kraftwerk
Jamaica - Bob Marley

theodore said:

I purposely looked for an older picture of Shakira.

bboy87 said:

Has anyone heard Dir En Grey from Japan? They are supposed to be hot right now.

HamsterHuey said:

Great album.

Darren Hayes - Australia




Darren first made it big as the singer in the group Savage Garden, he's written some the most famous ballads ever such "Truely,Madley Deeply" But in 2004 Darren made a 180 in his career and starting going head first into electronic music. With already being a talented songwriter with a beautiful voice. Brought out the incredible innovative and unique and just plain great album from darren "The Tension and The Spark" which i would HIGHLY suggest everyone to pick up **note, it was never released in the united states (soo it must be good) ** Darren also has new double disc album coming out in August. Which he recored lots of the albums songs off a vintage 1983 Fairlight syth that he bought off ebay!

Bebel Gilberto!!

Fairouz - Lebanon


Mohammed Abdu - Saudia Arabia


Layla Murad - Egypt


Asmahan - Syria

From Jamaica; "ladies and gentlemen, Miss Grace Jones"

Icicle said:

Man,
I used to love this woman.
Has she put out anything since SI?

//
[Edited 3/31/07 15:14pm]

Illustrator said:

"Basia on Broadway" (1995)



1. Copernicus
2. Cruising For Bruising
3. Third Time Lucky
4. Drunk On Love
5. From Now On
6. Baby You're Mine
7. Yearning
8. Take Him Back Rachel
9. New Day For You
10. Promises
11. Time And Tide
12. Half A Minute
13. Reward
14. Until You Come Back To Me
15. Dzien Sie Budzi
16. Brave New Hope

Icicle said:

Yeah I have that. (Love "Half A Minute" & "Dzien Sie Dudzi".)
I should've been more specific & said "Has she put out any new material since SI".

Actually I googled her name right after this post & found her official site.
It's actually looks good & says there's something out called Simple Pleasures.
I'll look at it more closely later.

sextonseven said:

[quote:fefe9f6ae1]

MikeMatronik said:

[quote:fefe9f6ae1]

Get it...it's marvellous.


[img:fefe9f6ae1]http://sid4u.free.fr/BZone/JPop/MaliceMizer/Gallery/Klaha/Klaha%20(57).jpg[/img:fefe9f6ae1]

Klaha is a better vocalist than Gackt!

Also try to download Beast of Blood! [/quote:fefe9f6ae1]

I have some money in my Paypal account that I've been looking to spend on something. Maybe that Malice Mizer album is it. [/quote:fefe9f6ae1]

OMG, She lloks like Annie Lennox in her first Eurythmics years!!

tritoncin said:

Both Klaha and Mana are men