Various Artists - Plague Songs (4AD)
4/5
By: Charlie Potter
For 'Plague Songs', ten artists have been asked by 4AD and Artangel to make an album responding to and about the plagues taken from that bestselling classic 'The Bible'. Each gets a plague of their own to write about, Rufus Wainwright perhaps getting the coolest one to close with 'The Death of the Firstborn'.
Our editor at Rockfeedback has been on at me about Scott Walker for ages... and he's bloody right - his track on the album, 'Darkness', is incredible (Yes! F**king get in! Etc. - Editor Tom). 'Plague Songs' is indeed a compilation, which of course means there are some inevitably rubbish tracks, but if you want to hear something unlike anything else you have ever heard then Scott's your man. About as unusual, not related and far more interesting than Luke Sky-walker, it's worth hearing 'Plague Songs' just for his presence.
Most of the good music on this CD comes from the oldies. For example, ever since his mercury nomination Robert Wyatt has been cropping all over the place, bringing a much needed delicate yet powerful touch to the music world, and as for his compadre Mr. Eno, anyone who hasn't considered him as one of their heroes needs to do some more research. Without digressing too much, if you haven't ever read or listened to his musical and cultural theories, then really, you should - he's one heck of a lot better than I am to say the least.
Imogen Heap confuses the hell out of me. She's on a great label, releases some very strange singles, suggests that live she could be amazing and then goes on to churn out this pap. 'Glittering Cloud' is by far the weakest track on the CD and an annoyingly unwelcome surprise from someone who has so much potential. But the real shock track of the CD has to be from Laurie Anderson, and whilst I have to admit total ignorance when it comes to Ms. Anderson herself, this will surely scare the pants off you and is one of the most realised tracks in terms of sticking to the theme of the album.
The CD as a whole works as the perfect record label sampler. It gives you an idea of what 4AD is all about, and you get an exclusive track by a whole bunch of the artists they house. Previously a know-it-all, I for one have learnt a lot from 'Plague Songs'. It seems that 4AD are a vast resource of interesting and diverse music that hasn't been spoilt by stupid genre names and conventions, and I'll definitely need to be checking out more from an embarrassing proportion of the artists on this album.
As for the theme, forcing the artists to write something around a subject of someone else's choice seems a bizarre way of going about things, but it avoids many of the problems common with heavily crafted projects, and I'm still glad they did it purely from the geeky joy that I get from seeing who did what. Geek joy is pure joy.
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