Canon Noise (Too Young To Die - Saint Etienne)

Member Name: indiecater

Product:	Too Young To Die - Saint Etienne
Date:	26/04/02 (146 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Electric Light Orchestrations.

Disadvantages: Soul Hugging Is So Tough.

Blessed with a singer who possesses a faintly Motown edge and a backing duo who can't help but layer on sweet electronic pulses St. Etienne are quite unlike anything that has hovered around the British music scene over the last decade. Their music drifts elegantly from conscientious (and by this I mean it has soul) lounge music to frothy euro disco while still retaining a killer melody and the odd wry lyric.

The band first started playing together back in 1990. Their debut 'Foxbase Alpha' arrived in 1991 and highlighted a new band with the imagination and courage to take pointers from disparate sources and uncover something bright and endearing. The follow up 'So Tough' in 1993 spliced so many sound bytes it was incredible that the whole thing worked so well ('Conchita Martinez' sampled Rush's 'Spirit Of The Radio' in a mix that was as swinging as Tarzan after one too many bananas).

It's hard to view Neil Young as anything more than an old goat but you have to tilt your toupee to anyone who can write a song as succulent as 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart'. St. Etienne transform his song into a slowed down beat fantastic opera. Plinking rather than plonking the rhythm is as frivolous as a Moulin Rouge routine but not in any staged way. Perfect music to spice up your dreams as they go a bit naff half way through. Credit must go to Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs for their interpretation but the vocals Sarah Cracknell's voice are equally sucrose.

Sounding like a slowed down Lightning Seeds composition 'Kiss And Make Up' swerves through a field of beat emerging at the other end a little brittle but remaining a perfectly formed sugar lump . So simple and frighteningly slight yet it manages to surge through your aural canals like a tidal wave. There is a marked progression on 'Nothing Can Stop Us' where farmhouse chunky basslines and s
avvy brass wrap cotton-wool-like around the ethereal vocals.

'Join Our Club' was another leap forward. As progressive as any dance artists of the time St. Etienne married intricate beats with a intelligent voice to create a seamless vision. 'People Get Real' was the sound of the band showing off. 'Get on the floor and look real sexy' was the cry from the offset and certainly it's hard to see how even the most badly manicured oaf could look anything other than cool when stepping to its grooves. Swirling like well directioned smoke into the path of a huge fan the ideas are let loose and scramble in well textured directions to coerce huge sighs from all and sundry.

At first there is an intentional sloppiness to 'Avenue'. It clicks by like an antique grandfather clock but somehow finds the wherewithal to sound cohesive. There's no denying that it lacks some of the sparkle of earlier singles. A tad frustrating and Cracknell's intermittent wails for once grate a little. Thankfully this blemish is brushed cobweb-like aside as the fruity ensemble of 'You're In A Bad Way' side-steps cracked pavements and the distant thunder to colour your thinking. The singing has a Diana Ross like purpose and the skewed keyboards weave technical compositions with the accuracy of a well drilled Ian Harte free kick.

To be truthful, little divides the sequence of effects utilised by St. Etienne. The thinking mans keyboard player squares up to lush vocals, throw in a simple beat and the whole thing hits the target over and over. 'Who Do You Think You Are' for once picks up on a more serious subject. Rejection is dealt with head on and the surprising opaque delivery actually makes you sit up uneasily bauking at your actions years earlier when you broke that girls heart. As if to add a degree of contemplation to proceedings 'Hobart Paving' highlights the
band moving down a gear again to somehow approximate a comforting shoulder.

Fused with the clammer and innocence that makes the season so special 'I Was Born On Christmas Day' just refuses to step out of the limelight each December. Tim Burgess (The Charlatans) is demure, a perfect foil for the snow covered vixen Cracknell. The playing is loose and agile, as precise as a cursory descent down a badly serviced chimney without getting you're oversized trousers sooty. As the bells toll mischievously in time with the altogether romantic interludes the key to your heart is slowly turned anti-clockwise.

'Pale Movie' from 1994's 'Tiger Bay' is a jumped up take on Madonna's 'La Isla Bonita'. Surly, confident and persuasive the tune knows that attitude is half the battle when trying to catch the listeners attention. The fact that the ideas present may be a little thin on the ground does little to hinder the ensuing fiesta. To remedy the situation 'Like A Motorway' packaging updated Kraftwerk electronica with alluring vocals bolts from out of the blue. The whole melange has a trippy feel but the elegant production values makes it an aspiring aural snack for all tastes.

'Hug My Soul' is another step up the ladder to mature sophistication. The essentials are present but the added allure of hidden strings boldly proclaim that St. Etienne had finally found their most rounded angle. Shuffling like an alert Broadway dancer 'Hug My Soul' hangs around long enough to end the album on a near high. 'He's On The Phone' is perhaps the most remixed of all St. Etienne's compositions (Aphex Twin, Chemical Brothers no less) and is a frightening indication of how the trio can twist their ideas into impressive sonic sculptures. The bands progression from coffee table to dancefloor was complete.

St. Etienne have beco
me dab hands at releasing compilations pieces. As well as this album and the aforementioned 'Casino Classics' they got around to releasing 'Smash The System' last year. The latter pulls all the bands singles together since their inception 12 years ago. As a document it is probably more concise but the innocent yearnings and savvy observations of this compilation are hard to beat.

'Too Young To Die' is surely the best music ever produced for coffee sippers the world over who crave more than the caffeine kick to spark them into life. Try the album out as you do the dish washing. At first you won't take any heed but as the minutes drift by you'll struggle to contain the bubblefest instigated by your rhythmic hand movements. As your legs wriggle in suspiciously chaotic fashion you'll conclude that the CD currently doing the rounds in your player is positively affecting the most mundane of tasks. As you dance like no one is watching, hum to the melodies like you're about to take the stage and most importantly getting your friends to lend an ear while you pour that vintage cider you'd been saving up the incessant rain outside taps on the window in time. 'Too Young To Die' perfectly puts the elation back into compilations.


Postscript: St. Etienne continue to produce great music. Listen to 2000's 'The Sound Of Water' and their new album out this summer to see why!

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