Olive, Jen - Warm Robot (Mega Blowout Sale)
SKU
23-Ape CD 028
“As a long time enjoyer of XTC, I occasionally check in on what Andy Partridge is up to, and recently came across a blurb about him producing this album by Jen Olive. Brief snippets I heard sounded interesting, so I gave it a try.
The first track, "Boulevard", scared me a bit, because with its from-left-field guitar technique and melodic sensibility, I thought "Here's someone wearing their XTC influences a bit too prominently....", but that fades before too long, and I start to instead catch whiffs of... what is that, Billie Holiday? Rickie Lee Jones? No, it's BJORK. The phrase "comes in colors" in "Warm Robot" sealed the deal.... Bjork's melodic affectations are all over the place here. Jen Olive has some progressive ideas about how "pop" music can sound, playing with densely layered vocals and non-obvious guitar techniquies, and I hope she is able to step out from under her influences and forge a distinctive voice of her own, as she does on the strongest couple of tracks, "All My Heads Meet" and "Here I Go", where I was able to forget about those influences and fully enjoy the hypnotic, melodic goodness.
As for Mr. Partridge, his fingerprints are clearly visible here, but for my money he doesn't seem to overwhelm the proceedings, but manages to tastefully support Ms. Olive's vision. This record was mostly made by just the two of them, with Olive playing the majority of the instruments...
Worth getting for fans of the aforementioned artists, and even, heck, Beach Boys fans, or, just free-associating here, A Fine Frenzy, Feist, Joni Mitchell, Wilco, Kate Bush.”
- LabelApe House
- UPC5038622122522