claudia brucken + andrew poppy - another language
2 of ztt most elusive artists in recent times combine to make an album of select cover versions. obviously after 10 years of recording studio avoidance claudia has got the bug once again, having released the glorious onetwo ep and now this new collaboration with ztt minimal neo-classical composer andrew poppy. however, instead of the full rich orchestrations (real or synthetic), that the listener may be used to from both of these artists, this album is a instrumentally raw stripped down affair with most of the songs being a single instrument (mainly electric piano or guitar) matched against claudia's distinctive vocals. as claudia was never fully loved for her vocal style this is a brave move, and for the most part the album is hugely successful. with the duo choosing some rather interesting choices, some very well known, others completely off the map.
so the good ones are mainly songs where i know and love the originals so this has to mean that 'drive in saturday' (BOWIE), and 'running up that hill ' (KATE BUSH), AND 'YOU DO' (MCALMONT/BUTLER) are regarded by me as outstanding versions. andrew is on fire on the piano and claudia just sounds wonderful in such open and untreated form. my favourite tracks seem to be the ones which feature piano as despite not knowing billy mackenzies original, the duo's version of 'breakfast' sends shivers up my spine.
a word of warning - i do wish they hadn't bothered with 'wooden heart' a dreadful sonG in both the elvis version and this one, luckily this is dropped onto the end of the album so can be easily sidestepped.
i understand that this album will probably be akin to sacrilegious, especially when they approach such classics as radioheads 'nice dream' and Marianne faithful's 'broken english', but AS WITH THE REST OF THE ALBUM, these covers are done with love and total respect for the originals. THIS IS not a quick cash in, career revival exercise. THEY HAVE not STRAPPED one tacky dance beat ONTO ANY OF THE SONGS to propel these to the top of the charts as so many cover versions seem to use these days. making the album come over as a true labour of love. as well as giving fans of the glory years of ztt an insight into the artists involved. making the 43 minutes somewhat intriguing and rather unique in 2005, MakING me want to hear more from both artists concerned - especially the onetwo album and the forthcoming andrew poppy boxset - these are glorious times for ztt fans again !
track list :
1. Lipstick Vogue
2. White Noise Maker
3. Drive In Saturday
4. Broken English
5. Nice Dream
6. Running Up That Hill
7. Amsterdam 1897
8. Breakfast
9. Die Nebensonnen
10. Libertango
11. You Do
12. Wooden Heart