Bel Canto: “Dorothy’s Victory.”

1. Foolish Ship
2. Feels Like I’m Already Flying
3. You Rock My World Tonight
4. Disappear Club 5
5. Night Lady
6. Dorothy’s Victory
7. Tree
8. Happy Times Fly Fast!
9. Im Best ‘N Beihs
10. Corals, Jade and Pearls
11. Ladonia

Blend Abba-like melodies, Hooverphonic-style
electronica, a dash of 4AD sensibility, a smidgen
of Bjork and you have Norway’s Bel Canto. The
lead singer, Anneli Drecker, has a gorgeous
voice, the equal of Elizabeth Fraser, and when
multi-tracked, conjures up a glacial beauty. Her
compatriot, multi-instrumentalist Nils Johansen,
has a penchant for mixing pure popcraft with
electronic and ambient textures. The results are
mixed. For one, Drecker’s lyrical skills don’t
quite match the grandeur of her voice; this is
most noticeable in the radio-friendly songs.
“Feels Like I’m Already Flying,” and “You Rock My
World Tonight” are bits of fluff that could be
sung by anyone, anywhere; and the backing tracks
are firmly targeted on the top 40. The best of
these pop songs are the collaborations with
Rokysopp, such as “Foolish Ship” and “Night
Lady,” which have enough unusual twists built
into their structure to avoid blandness. The
album gets much better as the mainstream
tendencies fall away, revealing more
distinctive—and Bel Canto-like—material. “Tree”
is partially sung in French, and has the same
feel as Massive Attack’s collaborations with
Fraser. “Happy Times Fly Fast!” places Drecker’s
trademark folktale retellings (this one a
Japanese tale) into slick, techno dreampop. “Im
Best an Beihs” is a wordless Artic hymn wedded to
an Aphex Twin inspired ambient piece, while the
closing “Ladonia” starts off with medieval-trance
sounds before becoming a modern
Hooked-On-Classics piece (complete with
discobeats) and Drecker’s operatic warbling in
German.

http://www.annelidrecker.com

--Craig L. Gidney



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