Label: Polydor Records (Germany), 0602527194851
Style: Synth Pop, Electro Pop, Techno Electronic
Country: Zurich, Switzerland
Time: 54:48
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 359 Mb
It
makes perfect sense that Yello have lasted longer and aged better than
any other synth pop outfit. When the Swiss group started out in 1979,
the bandmembers were already older and wiser than most of their peers --
singer Dieter Meier was already in his mid-thirties back then, and
Touch Yello finds him a sultry, smoky-voiced sexagenarian. He has
effectively become the Leonard Cohen of European electro-pop, with a
touch of Paolo Conte's Continental class and maybe a dash of Serge
Gainsbourg's genteel sleaze, and the comely female guest vocals that pop
up throughout the album make for a perfect Gainsbourg/Jane Birkin kind
of contrast. On what is only Yello's second album of the last ten years,
the duo of Meier and synth wizard Boris Blank has taken a somewhat
schizophrenic route; roughly half of Touch Yello is based around the
kind of pulsating, electronic dance-pop grooves that have been the
group's strength for three decades. On the other half, they venture too
far into moody, downtempo pieces full of chillout atmospheres and
bathtub jazz. By the end, one wishes the contributions of German
trumpeter Till Bronner would have been left in trash can of Blank's
laptop, as his parts take things entirely too close to smooth jazz
territory. Thankfully, the funkier, more dance-oriented cuts where
Meier's deep, dusky voice is right up front pretty much save the day.
Listening to tracks like the disco-drenched "Part Love," where Meier
comes across like some fever-dream combination of Barry White and the
guy from Trio, it's hard to imagine why anyone would want to mess with
such a winning formula. Still, when you've been around as long as Yello
have, you should be allowed to take a few detours, even if some of them
wind up leading you down the occasional blind alley.
(allmusic.com/album/touch-yello-mw0001804556)
01. The Expert (02:54)
02. You Better Hide (04:08)
03. Out Of Dawn (03:10)
04. Bostich (Reflected) (03:57)
05. Till Tomorrow (04:16)
06. Tangier Blue (02:39)
07. Part Love (03:43)
08. Friday Smile (03:30)
09. Kiss In Blue (03:33)
10. Vertical Vision (04:19)
11. Trackless Deep (03:19)
12. Stay (03:02)
13. Electric Frame (03:35)
14. Takla Makan (08:35)
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