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Artist: Momus
Label: American Patchwork Category: Music Average customer rating: Media: Audio CD Number Of Discs: 1 UPC: 708527100523 EAN: 0708527100523 ASIN: B00008DKAW Release Date: 2003-03-11 |
Oskar Tennis Champion
Tracks:
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Album Description
Under the influence of Jacques Tati's film 'Playtime', OTC focuses on the juxtaposition of electro-acoustic avant sound with vaudeville-style stories & slapstick. This direction was rehearsed in albums Momus co-wrote & produced for Mashcat (Japanese singer Emi Necozawa) & Milky (his ex-wife Shazna) for Japanese labels. This trilogy of albums ('Mashroom Haircat', 'Travels With A Donkey' & finally 'Oskar Tennis Champion', the only one available outside Japan) represented Momus' need to reconcile a love of new experimental laptop groups like Scratch Pet Land, DAT Politics & Discom with his own particular evolution of the traditional song format -- a unique mix of pastiche & unreliable narration, role playing, kulturkritik, comedy, provocation & devil's advocacy. 'OTC' has been tweaked, mangled, glitched up & remixed by a young 'reproducer' - 22 year-old John Talaga, who also makes records under the nameCustomer Reviews:
A cold and psychedellic MOMUS lp that wants to be GERMAN?.......2003-04-08
Unlike "Folktronic", "Ping Pong", etc., "OSKAR" is NOT a catchy album. There aren't many catchy hooks and immediate perverse themes. "My Sperm Is Not Your Enemy" is the typical MOMUS track but and so is "Multiplying Love". They have that Momus perversity that we all love... But the others are filled with odd references, weird situations, and wild themes for the well-read individual. "Beowulf" is a perfect example. We all read "Beowulf" in high school, right? MOMUS puts a weird spin on this tragic hero who is never full appreciated because he is deformed. The wild situations continue. "Lapdog" is about a person who is sent to Antartica and is followed by penguins. "Is It Because I'm A Pirate?" is about a pirate who cannot go on a normal date because he is known for killing and robbing people. No other artist could get away with these songs!!! That's why we love Momus!
"Scottish Lips" is a cute little tale about silly things that make us love one another.. In "Multiplying Love", Momus asks his lover, why be mad at him for loving anoher girl? "I'm simply multiplying love, there's never enough in the world."
While the other MOMUS albums INSTANTLY grabbed my attention, this one took some time to grow on me. "Ping Pong" had "I Want You But I Don't Need You". The "Don't Stop The Night" LP had "Hairstyle Of The Devil". The "Folktronic" LP had many catchy songs like "Appalachia", "Smooth Folk Singer" and "Finnegin The Folk Hero Of HTML". The "Little Red Songbook" LP had "Born To Be Adored" and "Symphonies Of Beethoven". Well.. "OSKAR" does not have any of those tracks that INSTANTLY stick in your head... Instead, you have to let the album wash over you and you have to appreciate it.
"Little Shubert" is in German! and now, it comes to the part of the review. This LP is COLD and wants to be German. The title track is about his Tennis champion uncle who wants to build a part of a city and gets into some weird situations. For the most part, the album has COLD imagery. Snow... snow and snow.. "Lapdog" takes place in Antartica. "Pierrot Lunaire" talks about being "in the bleak midwinter" and "The Last Communist" has that COLD Russian feeling.
"The Ringtone Cycle" is an instrumental song by Oliver Cobol. It recaps some melodies on the album.
Overall, "OSKAR TENNIS CHAMPION" is a new kind of MOMUS lp. He's constantly changing and growing and it's a beautiful thing. Flesh did a great job on the "re-production" and MOMUS has a whole NEW sound. It's full, it's wild, it's odd, it's psychedellic sounding without drug use or drug references. IF you are NEW to MOMUS, I suggest getting "Philosophy Of..", "Ping Pong", "Folktronic", "Poison Boyfriend" and "Tender Pervert" first... but every MOMUS album is different and this one is too. While I would not say it is one of my favorite Momus albums, it's well done and over-flowing with literary references, name-dropping, European issues, and it's all wrapped together with Nick Currie's wild outlook. It's new, it's different, it's wild... It's MOMUS.
Momus Goes American.......2003-03-15
Music Album:
Music CD
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