Short Haired Domestic is the new band and album from Tim Friese Green and his wife Lee, Tim of course is best known for Producing Talk Talk and Catherine Wheel, while Lee was the singer for Sidi Bou Said. For this album they have worked on the concept of making every song in a different language, now how well Lee sings in any of the languages is an interesting question and as sadly I don't speak more than a few words in any of the languages I'm no judge on that matter. I'm still undecided after a few listens if these songs will work better in a large mix rather than as an album, either way they are all cool and interesting to hear.
The album opens with A Song In Latin About The Importance Of Comfortable Shoes a decent techno dance song with cool bass and the Latin works pretty well, even if this Latin student isn't totally sure of how well the lyrics scan if you spoke Latin fluently and of course with a dead language that's a moot point, although the good Catholics among you may argue that point, either way this is a pretty catchy tune to leads you into the weird of world of a multi-language album.
A Song In Spanish Addressed To Men Who Drive Big Cars sounds well a lot like the first song, but sung in what sounds in places to be, Spanish being sung with a bit of a Lorraine Chase twang on it, so I keep thinking she's asking the blokes in big cars to buy her a Campari and soda and no that's almost certainly not what this subtly funky tune is about.
A Song In Japanese About Trying Things Out Before Committing is almost as odd in places as the songs title is, unwieldly with some weird scratching and glitchy noises, over a very basic percussion loop and spare piano, I'd like to know if the vocals make sense to any Japanese listeners.
A Song In Bulgarian For Lovers Of Gin has what sounds like some backwards horns and other odd sounds like they have seen the goat chains at the monastery in Zheman and I like to imagine them sitting sipping Gin by Stobs Pyramids, instead of Raki that was the traditional Thracian spirit. I like the weird swooshing noises like they are whistling through the Carpathian Mountains and the vocals are floating through the mountain passes.
A Song In German Concerning Gardens And Goodbyes has some birdsong on the intro and Lee's vocals have taken a far more Germanic bent, the nature of singing German appears far more distinctive as a language, over a spare drum pattern and some of the other instruments you might here in the Teirgarten as her regrets seem to become clear.
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A Song In Italian Saluting His Mother well what else would a good Italian boy do, but salute his mama with some Italo-disco, with a big medallion and shirt open to the waist, this has a super slinky guitar line and a very Latin funk feel to it.
A Song In Danish In Which There Is Much Discontent as I'm guessing here that the police have raided Kristiania again, or maybe they were getting frisked in the tube on leaving Kristiania and got upset at not following the advice to walk away, with the sort of woozy almost jazzy funk background of the sort you might hear at the Copenhagen Jazz festival on one of the stages In a hotel foyer.
A Song In Hindi For Insomniacs who are sort of dreaming of being back in Benares and falling out of the boat they are in as it drifts by a funeral pyre and then sitting on the banks of the Ganges to meditate over the rising phoenix of the way the vocals keep repeating Icarus over the snake charming dance routine dance funk, as they go up and down the steps on the Ghatts, as the cows remain seated looking on.
The album closes with A Song In Yoruba About Leaves, Memory And Time and it sounds nothing like any songs I already have in Yoruba, as this sounds more eastern European than Nigerian with an almost basic Accordion sound over floaty laid back grooves to soothe your soul with.
Find out more at https://short-haireddomestic.bandcamp.com/releases https://www.facebook.com/shorthaireddomestic
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