Search - Barry Adamson :: As Above So Below

As Above So Below
Barry Adamson
As Above So Below
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (10) - Disc #1

Barry Adamson's sophisticated adult indie pop is decadent, indulgent, and almost too smart for its own good. Adamson's lyrics owe a lot to the sly, dandy-headed work of Scott Walker and Serge Gainsbourg. The music on As Ab...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Barry Adamson
Title: As Above So Below
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Mute U.S.
Original Release Date: 6/23/1998
Release Date: 6/23/1998
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
Style:
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 724596903520

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Barry Adamson's sophisticated adult indie pop is decadent, indulgent, and almost too smart for its own good. Adamson's lyrics owe a lot to the sly, dandy-headed work of Scott Walker and Serge Gainsbourg. The music on As Above So Below displays all the overblown brilliance of Burt Bacharach's best, although it's no retro pastiche. It sounds utterly contemporary and big, like the soundtrack to a big-budget feature flick. There's a reason Adamson's music is so often compared to soundtracks--those swooshing musical movements, that full orchestra of sound, and the way his music subtly conjures a place or tells a story. But he's at his best in the middle of a groove, as in the last minute or so of "What It Means," a big bad voodoo noir stomp. --Mike McGonigal

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CD Reviews

Like tricky covering angelo badlamenti with portishead
shar@best.com | san francisco, ca usa | 09/18/1998
(5 out of 5 stars)

"i'm a huge fan of mr. adamson's work, and this album is some of his finest. his lyrics are descriptive ("...just a poorer imitation of the man i most resemble..."), inviting ("...take a small vacation from the hospital of sorrows..."), metaphorical ("...you can play the instruments, and i'll play the buffoon..."). a former bassist for The Bad Seeds, he shares mr. cave's affection for the romanticized tragic figure. jazz inflections and big band references mingle with r&b and rap (even a sample from Public Enemy!) to create an album unlike any other in recent memory. extremely listenable, i find myself humming infectious lines from these songs all the time."
The warmest welcome to Hell?
07/02/1998
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Quite simply, an impressive talent. The almost omnipresent sense of religious perspective that runs through this album gives shape to a very complete and rounded whole. Stand-out moments are the horn arrangements on "Jazz Devil" and the sheer intensity of "Still I Rise" which builds and continues to build like there's no stopping it. A refreshing listen, and gloriously dark around the edges."