I was recently introduced to Gotye by the husband/wife musical blogging duo YourZenMine who were generous enough to send me Gotye's 2006 album, Like Drawing Blood. Given Wally De Backer's rather transient nature, the story behind the recording of the album reads like lost chapters from John Birmingham's He Died With a Felafel In His Hand- as the album was recorded in various Melbourne bedrooms between 2003 and 2005.
Gotye (pronounced go-ti-yay, like you would pronounce the French "Gaultier") is Belgian born, Australian bred Wally De Backer and while somewhat unknown here in the United States, De Backer is an ARIA award winning singer-songwriter who derives his music (self-admittedly) about 99% from sampling.
Like Drawing Blood is a delightful lo-fi album with a decidedly indie feel that is thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish. De Backer's voice is very listenable and well suited to his music. The mastering however is purely brilliant and betrays the lo-fi nature of the recording of the album giving this lo-fi gem a well polished hi-fi feel.
There's an ambience to the music that feels perfect for long relaxed drives with the windows down. While the CD is still only available as an import here in the United States it is available for download from Amazon's mp3 store for a very reasonable $6.99. The album is well worth such a reasonable price tag. Given its accessibility and pop sensibilities I'd argue that this is the perfect "gateway" album to either introduce new listeners to electronica or to win over listeners who in the past have been rather apathetic to the genre.
Related Links
Hearts a Mess video
Learnalilgivinanlovin' video
Like Drawing Blood (YourZenMine review)
Like Drawing Blood (wikipedia)
Gotye (official website)
Gotye (wikipedia)
1 comment:
Hey, thanks so much for the shout-out. We are so pleased you enjoyed Gotye enough to write this review. Hopefully it will turn others on to this great Aussie artist.
YourZ
Post a Comment