| Product: |
A Camp - A Camp |
| Date: |
16/09/01 (623 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Great sounds, Refreshing change, Nina sounds fantastic
Disadvantages: Not enough people know about it!!!
OK, so its not camp at all, but the title made you take a peek !!! As usual, I am sitting with the said record playing in the background, hoping to write an opinion that does it justice.
I am aware that many people haven?t the foggiest who A-Camp are (a variation on the A-team perhaps???). So let me explain a little. Do you know the Cardigans? The band that produced such well known hits as ?Lovefool? and ?My Favourite Game?? Well, this album is the first solo album of the Cardigans lead singer Nina Persson. On the album, she worked with Mark Linkous (of Sparklehorse) and Niclas Frisk (I?m sure he was in a band too, just can?t remember which one!!!).
Rumour has it the idea for A-Camp came about after a vivid late night bar discussion, when Nina and Niclas realised they shared almost the same record collection, and decided to get together and be creative. It went from there, creative they were, and then Mark Sparklehorse stepped in to produce the majority of the album. Released on Stockholm records (official site www.stockholmrecords.com) in early September, it has received some very good reviews from the press, but is still not widely known! I do believe this is in fact the second time it has been released?.
TO THE RECORD !!!!
I shall be honest with you. The first time I listened to A-Camp, I was not completely impressed with it. Mind you, I was in a car tearing down the A11 after a terrible day at work. You know how sometimes you buy a record, and love it instantly?then within 3 months you?ve played it so much that you hate it? Well, this is not one of those records. It is a record that will grow on you. Something new that you hadn?t heard when listening before creeps up and jumps on you each time you hear it. I love records like this, they keep your interest, and more often than not, will stay in your record collection for many years. So, persevere and you will find it is actually quite fine.
THE TRACK LISTING
-Fr
equent Flyer
-I Can Buy You
-Angel of Sadness
-Such A Bad Comedown
-Song for the Leftovers
-Walking The Cow
-Hard As A Stone
-Algebra
-Silent Night
-The Same Old Song
-The Oddness of the Lord
-Rock n Roll Ghost
-The Bluest Eyes in Texas
-Elephant
?.and there?s a video extra called Camplife (Part 1)!!!
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There are a mixture of songs making up the 55 minutes of the album. To start with the tunes are quite mellow, then there is a change in sounds and it becomes more frisky. The chilled feel then returns a while before things start to rock again. The last two tracks return to the more calm sounds of earlier numbers. It is certainly a little bit of a rollercoaster ride, but the tracks fit together very well indeed.
I thought at first that the production sounded quite tinny, but it was probably the stereo of the car I was in at the time. When I played it on my lovely stereo at home it sounded quite fine. Nina?s voice certainly stands out throughout, at times it is exquisite, and the instruments accompanying it work very well. There are a number of different sounds during the course of the album, from the Bob Dylan-esque harmonicas on ?I Can But You?, to the country souding guitars of ?Rock n Roll Ghost? and the rock style of ?The Oddness of the Lord?. Acoustic guitars feature heavily during the course of the record, and there are some good piano melodies too, and then every now and then some string arrangments appear. Some of the other sounds which appear would sound at home on an Air record.
Nina Persson and Niclas Frisk wrote 8 of the tracks, with Persson writing and co-writing a further 3. Lyrically I think the album is good. I find it amazing that Persson manages to write such good lyrics considering English is not her first language. As with such other European greats as Bj
ork and Abba, Persson can produce songs that are imaginative and create images for the listener. This so often intrigues me!!!
Standout songs for me so far include ?I can buy you? (there?s a chance you?ve heard this?it was the first single off the album!), ?Algebra?, ?The same old song?, ?Rock n Roll Ghost? and ?Elephant?. I don?t actually dislike any of the tracks, but sometimes I find myself feeling some of the instruments should be more prominent. Apart from this though it is a very good album, a magnificent debut. This record is good to chill out to, or to have playing in the background. I wouldn?t really class it as party music though. If you like the Cardigans, then this is definitely worth checking out, although it is different to their records. There are no other comparisons I can make to this album, it is a refreshing change from the many albums churned out in recent months. Have a listen, be prepared to persevere, and you too can fall in love with ?A-Camp?.
UPDATE! Exciting news for me! I contacted the lovely Nina Persson to ask her some more about this wonderful album, and got a nice letter back a few days ago. I'm a musician myself, so she has kindly agreed to offer me some advice. What a star. If you like this album, listen to Sparklehorse's new album too. Its amazing.
The A Camp website is up and running, visit at www.a-camp.org
© ALBONE
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