Damian Lazarus: Smoke the Monster Out
Damian Lazarus: Smoke the Monster Out
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Monday, 04, May 2009 03:43
Get Physical, out now.
In a nutshell...
Eclectic musings from Mr Crosstown Rebels.
What's it all about?
Damian Lazarus is known as the head honcho of leftfield bastion of icy electronics Crosstown Rebels, a spinner of tough European dance grooves and all round caner supreme.
Smoke the Monster Out is a bit of a curveball in that it's a long-player featuring Lazarus singing and a musical palette much broader than the contemporary minimalist beats and late, late nights he's known for.
Who's it by?
Ex-tabloid hack Lazarus' tastes have cast a shadow over the more hedonistic and darker areas of digital dancefloors over the past decade.
He worked at the influential City Rockers imprint which anticipated the current appetite for all things 80s and electro well ahead of trend. Going out alone he created Crosstown Rebels, a more European and clinically clubby label working with a wide range of artists including Kiki, Hiem, Jennifer Cardini and Luke Solomon (who helped him with this album). To make it even odder he's working with Arthur Jeffes, son of the Penguin Café Orchestra's Simon Jeffes.
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Deeply unlikely. Lazarus is rarely seen in daylight, never mind picking up gongs.
What the others say
"Whilst recent mix compilations show that Lazarus' tastes are impeccable, Smoke the Monster Out suffers from a lack of overall direction. Surprisingly it is the ballad, folk influenced tracks, and inspired cover in the shape of Scott Walkers It's Raining Today where things become particularly interesting. In fact if you removed the weakest links like Memory Box, you could convince me this was a new direction for Belle and Sebastian. Well, Maybe." - Electronic Beats
"Everything about Smoke The Monster Out feels idiosyncratic, direct and carefully thought-out." - Female First
So is it any good?
The album is so far removed from Lazarus's techno outings it may as well have been made by a completely different artist. For fans of his dance-based output material, it could be disappointing but it's a brave move which may pay off in the long-term. DJ cum artist long-players can be notorious for having an uneven filler to killer ratio.
Tunes such as Moment, After Rave Delight and Bloop Bleep show there's much more widescreen pop ambition going on than just boom boom boom. He deserves plenty of props for having the balls to jettison his turntables. Prepare to be surprised...
6/10
Jim Ottewill