Me and Armini

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Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0883870028523 Label: Rough Trade Manufacturer: Rough Trade Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Rough Trade Release Date: 2008-09-08 Studio: Rough Trade
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Editorial Reviews: Icelandic-Italian singer Emiliana Torrini has achieved much, but gained comparatively little, off the back of a career that has blossomed in a nook out of the mainstream's line-of-sight for over a decade. She's been a voice for hire for dance acts aplenty (Paul Oakenfold, Thievery Corporation), was the lungs behind the sky-reaching "Gollum's Song" in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and co-wrote Kylie's weightless, post-minimalist gloss-pop classic "Slow"--endeavours that really should have made her a household name by now. Heading in a different direction her last solo album, 2005's Fisherman's Woman, was a pristine master-class in hushed exchanges, but bewilderingly also fell under the radar. With Me & Armini though you get the feeling that Emiliana Torrini might be a name that begins to stick from hereon in. Easily her most cohesive and pressing work yet, she evokes the delicious and warm-hearted certainty of Feist, sealed with the glistening inflections of her Icelandic home-tongue, like a homespun and less-eccentric Bjork. Her impressive range is showcased here like never before, from the guttural PJ-Harvey-isms of "Gun" to the Winehouse jazz of "Heard It All Before", bold Gwen Steffani-esque colours of title track "Me & Armini", right down to the Beth Orton wispiness of "Beggars Prayer". --James Berry
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: No no no Comment: Emiliana hang your head in shame. I loved 'Love in the time..' for it's lovely ambient beats together with that beautiful voice. Wasn't expecting the folky turn of 'Fisherman's' but still great (especially live). This latest offering is an example of someone with absolutely no idea as to what direction to take musically. I have no problem with taking different directions, but probably best not to take them all at the same time. This is a complete mess and a waste of - did I say already? a beautiful voice. D- must try much much harder. Customer Rating: Summary: Simply splendid! Comment: This is a top quality pop album - far superior to the bland homogenised pop mush that usually gets into the charts. Quirky, fun, memorable with good tunes and well written lyrics. I loved her last cd which was more folky than this but I like this more somehow - it's far more upbeat. A recommended purchase. Customer Rating: Summary: Like nothing you've heard before Comment: What a little gem this is. One wonders if anyone who isn't already a fan of Emiliana Torrini will even look at this album, but if they do, they'll be in for a new experience. It's not too short. It's not too long. In 12 songs, Emiliana goes from catchy pop (Big Jumps) to outrageously fun rock (Jungle Drum), with dips into dark, moody moments (Gun) and several delightful ballads. There's a little bit of everything here. Even existing fans will be surprised, because it's not really like either of her previous (internationally released) albums. Love In The Time of Science was her trip hop album, while Fisherman's Woman was so laid back, it was horizontal. Me and Armini is another fabulous release from a sadly underrated and little heard-of songstress, who has lived too long in the shadow of Bjork. Her day deserves to come. Customer Rating: Summary: Without you I would never rise Comment: Emiliana Torrini's last album was all wistful folk. Before that, it was all equally wistful electronic pop and the creepily pretty closing song to "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." But before all that, she dabbled happily in everything from jazz to J-pop, raw-throated indie-rock to the blues -- and she did a pretty good job at all of them. And while her fifth album "Me and Armini" doesn't quite explore EVERYTHING she's done before, Torrini slips back comfortably into some of the musical niches she has already carved. Her delicate pop is flavoured by tinges of other styles and genres, and sometimes those other sounds (as in "Gun") overwhelm it completely. "Somebody's got a long way to go/You're not sitting by the phone no more... Mmm, are we going crazy?/It's not fair to say we wasted time/In my view we just used it all up..." Torrini sings wistfully over a mellow folk-guitar. But she tries a totally different approach to a no-letting-go-love in the titular track -- it's an upbeat jazzy song with a vaguely stalkerish sound ("Some people think that/I'm heading for a meltdown... This I know/she doesn't love you like I do/yes it's clear/she'll never love you like me..."). A number of these songs stem musically from the bittersweet folk of her last album "Fisherman's Woman" -- the haunting seaside sound of "Birds," the prettily malicious "Ha Ha," and a string of low-key, folky melodies that rely mostly on Torrini's vocals and a guitar. But she mixes up the sound a little -- some of these melodies end with a thin mat of woobly synth, and the acoustic pop number "Big Jumps" is anything but wistful and low-key. It's all sunny joyousness and fun ("Go on, make some BIG JUMPS, BIG JUMPS/you afraid to break some bones?"). And then there are some songs that, stylistically speaking, belong to "Me and Armini" alone. These tend to be a bit darker -- there's the rhythmic organ-keyboard of "Heard It All Before," and the squiggling, fast-paced rocker "Jungle Drum" ("Hey, read my lips/cause all they say is kiss kiss kiss kiss!/No one ever stops/my hands are in the air/yes I'm in love!"). And "Gun" is a masterpiece of quietly distorted guitar, with Torrini murmuring a tale of despair, infidelity and gleeful murder of a wife's lover. Musically, Emiliana Torrini doesn't really try anything new in "Me and Armini," because she's dabbled in almost every kind of pop except symphonic metal (and for all I know she's tried that too). But she does polish up the whole electro/jazz/pop sound to near-perfection while still blending it with folky acoustics, and takes a few musical risks as well. Not that I'm complaining, because pretty much all of those risks pay off and leave you awaiting more. Acoustic guitar takes center stage in this album, strumming gently like a forest creek under Torrini's vocals, with a few exceptions like the electric riffs in "Jungle Drum" and "Gun." And Torrini drapes those deceptively simple-sounding guitar melodies in expansive extras -- jazzy drums, patches of heavy distortion, swathes of shimmering synth, piano and soundclips of tinkly windchimes. One of the most memorable: "Heard It All Before's" thumping organ-keyboard melody getting swallowed by clashing drums and ghostly riffs. Torrini's girlish, chilly elfin vocals are often compared to Bjork, but she frankly sounds a lot more innocent and emotional. And her songs are nice as well, tending to focus on the mysteries and pain of romantic love, and even when she sings "ha... ha... ha.... hear me laughin'" at a former lover's trouble, she sounds mournful. But she can turn on the joy just as quickly with happy bouncy calls of, "Hey there sunshine lift my heart/I know life is long but it goes so fast/I love you never feeling old/You never bought the rubbish that they sold!" With, I might add, the occasional foray into creepyville -- that gleeful front-row seat to manslaughter and the weird obsession with Armini are chilling at times, no matter how pretty her voice is ("Stop your shaking, sweating, whining and regretting/You're making a scene that is going to get you caught..."). "Me and Armini" allows Emiliana Torrini to expand her folk sound and polish it to a jewel-like hue, with some darker facets and delightfully sweet love songs. Definitely a good listen. Customer Rating: Summary: Excellent Genre Striding Album Comment: This is Emiliana Torrini's 6th album although only two were released outside Iceland. Me and Armini really bridges the gap between them with some great pop numbers and some low key acoustic tracks too. Newer to the mix is the more rockier edge in places though and it suits her voice and style. "Big Jumps" was a great choice as a single and reminds me of summer time fun (it also reminds me of "Unemployed in Summertime" however there's absolutely genius in "Jungle Drum" which sounds like a 1960's rock anthem and will be the next single. Its very catchy. Acoustic lovers will enjoy "Bleeder", "Hold Heart" and personal favourite "Beggar's Prayer" which has a beautiful vocal section in the middle with just humming which effects you in a brilliant way. "Gun" shows off a more edgy side to Emiliana we've not seen for a long time as its full of atmosphere and "Ha Ha" is a darker shade of Torrini too. "Dead Duck" is a fantastic piece of studio trickery as it basically goes through all the album sounds in one song. I would recommend this to any Torrini fan no matter which album of hers you preferred and also to anyone who likes their pop a little more involved than the usual chart toppers. 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