King Of Woolworths - 'L'illustration Musicale' (Mantra)
3/5
By: Thomas Hannan
The name of the artist in question, admittedly, screams 'novelty record'; surely, anyone pert enough to name themselves 'King' of everyone's favourite retailer of entirely random products has to have an asinine side taking quite a prominent place in their work? Well, if the King in question, AKA a Mr Jon Brooks, does like to play the clown from time to time, he does it on the side. 'L'Illustration Musicale' is far from a joke.
The follow up to his well-received 2001 debut 'Ming Star' is a classy exercise in intelligent dance, laid back and introspective in a fashion you'd usually associate with the likes of French luminaries Air. From the outset off a bass-riff heavy 'G-Plan', it's a rather introspective affair with little room for enjoying free experimentation, but an admirable focus on the importance of composition in each and every piece, something so often overlooked in the genre but so vital to any album worth the case it comes in (this one being a rather stylish fold-out cardboard item, you may like to know). A dreamlike 'Sell Me Back My Soul', on which Dot Allison fulfils her contractual obligation to appear on numerous clever dance records far more frequently than she releases her solo work, proves the point perfectly, with Allison's striking vocals combining hauntingly with the King's arch musical backdrops.
Yes, guest vocal appearances are very much a part of 'L'Illustration Musical'. The album features not only Allison and notable newcomers such as Japanese songstress Cima Cima and a mysterious man known only as 'Med', but also the ever-welcome tones of The Delgados' Emma Pollock, who provides the album with its standout moment in the excellent 'Nuada'. Other highlights come in the shape of 'Delia Derbyshire' - an ode to an early sampling innovator, with its understated faint bleeps and captivating percussion, a melancholy 'Evensong' and '123 (Brillo's Beat)' - a tune Brooks created to cheer up his sick cat; apparently, the upbeat xylophone strut is a hit with the felines, and it works on us too. That cat got taste.
Sadly, it's one of the few sections of the album where the pace is varied slightly. Whilst the instrumental trickery that carpets the record is undeniably of consistently high quality, the apparent lack of desire to mess with the tempo of the album to any blatantly noticeable degree means that at the times when 'L'Illustration Musicale' needs to be shocking you with its intelligence, it unfortunately gets relegated to being simply pleasant if uneventful background music. By the time the final piano chords of closing track 'This Is Radio Theydon' have faded into the distance, despite having enjoyed the ride, there's disappointingly little you'll find instantly memorable about the previous hour or so you've spent in the King Of Woolworths' company.
But in the presence of royalty, aren't we mere plebeians meant to consider ourselves not worthy? If so, then King is perhaps an ambitious title for Brooks at this stage. On the other hand, it's hardly as if you ever want to listen to an album and feel inadequate in its presence. With 'L'Illustraition Musicale' we're actually kindly made to feel right at home. An impeccable host with the odd surprise along the way... Can't say fairer than that.
Artists in this article: King Of Woolworths
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