imaginary trip sounds

Matt Benbrook e Paul Herman criaram o projecto Skinny em 1996, projecto esse que mais tarde viria a ser desenvolvido por Benbrook a solo. Encontrei pouca informação sobre o projecto mas é certo que foram lançados dois álbuns, The weekend (1998) e Taller (2001). Depois disso não há mais registos discográficos de Skinny. Nestes dois álbuns, é apresentada uma sonoridade trip-hop, com alguns breaks pelo meio. Há samplers de voz, e há uma voz masculina nalgumas canções. Há pianos e guitarras acústicas e há uma produção cuidada. Trip-hop da velha escola a marcar presença.
Vou deixar aqui uma crítica (tirada daqui)ao seu álbum de estreia e mais em baixo podem conferir o dito álbum.

"A trip-hop concept album, Skinny's The Weekend works gloriously. The theme isn't overbearing - the songs stand on their own, but sprinkled liberally throughout the record are time references to relate the song's position within the cycle, or reemphasize the title.

Bookended by "Intro" and "Outro", pastiches of the album's musical themes, the concept follows a character through his bus ride home ("The Bus Song"), a night on the town ("London Tonight", "Friday Part 2"), an early-morning walk home ("Come Down"), a coupling (the dreamy "Getting In", "Sex"), to a sated resolution ("In God's Hands").

"Failure", the single which kicked it off for the duo of Paul Herman (guitars/vocals) and Matt Benbrook (programming/ keyboards/drums) is the most independent of the set. Cousin to Beck's "Loser", a crooning "Why have I always been a failure?" lounge-lizard vocal blends with lost love lyrics - "lying in my bed for hours/rolling up and feeling down". It's an addictive tune, justifiably a dance floor filler, the vocals perkily counterpointing the heartache.

Paul Herman's voice is a chameleon. There's a lazy sensuality to his drifting vocals that recalls Michael Hutchence in his prime ("Come Down", "Mr. Goodstuff"). On others, his voice is a hand tracing the contours of a cheek, a tongue licking a neck, or a nudge in the ribs with a sly wink. "Getting In" - "I hardly know you/but you look good/go on/ give in/it's early morning/we can sleep in/I like it when you laugh/& pretend to look surprised...I can't keep from wondering/ how you'd look in my bed" - is sung with a randy charisma that is pure bliss.

And who can't identify with night-after lyrics like "Every step I'm taking/is taking me a lifetime/The darkness is disturbing, but I'm finding it peaceful/It's 6 a.m./ All the ghosts are on the street now" ("Come Down")? A familiar experience, when morning arrives and one is making his or her way home with the rising sun.

The meticulous production is a joy - songs blend using ambient street noise, footsteps, people laughing, rain, and so on, to tie the journey together. Listen closely and you'll hear fireworks (shades of To Catch a Thief's metaphor) during "Sex". The sly touch is appreciated. At 7:40, figure out your own Bo Derek accompaniment - the shifting, rise and fall rhythms had me recalculating my bookmark several times.

Think of it as a snapshot for the spirit of the 90s - a soundtrack for those who wring enjoyment out of the working week respite. There's pleasure in following every stage from the mundane observations on "The Bus Song" to the stunning closer "In God's Hands", with its gospel singer chorus. It's a jubilation-inducing journey."

Skinny - Failure

The weekend download