Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Downloaded For Love


It's day 3 of my Bent bender, and today's post is about the download only album Downloaded For Love. Back in July 2001 the band, in conjunction with venerable Brit music paper The NME, offered up a new song every day for 10 days on the paper's website. At the end of the day the track was gone, so you really had to be on it. Finally they offered a printable cover, et voila!, a full length LP of the same quality, quirky electronica as it's older sibling Programmed For Love. For free. It was a great idea, and is a pretty good record too. Your Smile In My Eyes is a breezy, easy listening tune with suavé bossa-nova beats, guitars and accordions and some smooth vocals. Pussycats is definitely the goofy side of the duo, with it's kitty noises and repetition of the word pussycats. Some people might find it annoying, but for me it works - the melody and bass pull me in - and I love the sound of the kitty purring at the end. Love Is In The Air is Bent at their beguilingly ambient best. With it's gently pulsing percussion, nature sounds, strings and a lovely guitar motif, and yet another bewitching vocal, you cannot help but drift gently along with it.

If you like these you'll be happy to know that the band have made the album available at it's website's media page which is here. Go get it!


Newsworthy
- The first new Kate Bush album in 12 years. Wow, that's been a while.

- Talking Heads back catalogue is remastered and reissued as DualDiscs, with all kinds of previously unreleased audio and video. Remastered by Jerry Harrison. I can barely contain my self.

- Have you seen the tracklisting for the Sire Records 40th Anniversary Boxset? It's 3 CDs and a DVD, and it's almost as cool as the Talking Heads reissues.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Michael! Bent really interest me. I have a few of their songs on various compilations, and really like what I hear. My favourite is "Cylons in Love", which has been given a whole new dimension thanks to the current Battlestar Galactica series. I must put one or two Bent CDs in my shopping basket soon . . .