Sparks - Exotic Creatures Of The Deep [2008/MP3/V0 (VBR)]

Track list: 1. "Intro" - 1:02 2. "Good Morning" - 3:53 3. "Strange Animal" - 5:45 4. "I Can't Believe That You Would Fall for All the Crap in This Song" - 3:54 5. "Let the Monkey Drive" - 4:09 6. "Intro Reprise" - 0:24 7. "I've Never Been High" - 4:31 8. "(She Got Me) Pregnant" - 4:13 9. "Lighten Up, Morrissey" - 4:14 10. "This is the Renaissance" - 3:45 11. "The Director Never Yelled 'Cut'" - 3:54 12. "Photoshop" - 4:01 13. "Likeable" - 6:13 Review by Chris Jones One almost despairs at the thought of reviewing another great Sparks album. 21 albums into one of the most idiosyncratic careers in pop/rock and the Mael brothers remain firmly on the periphery; such is the place to reside when you consistently and annoyingly demonstrate original thinking. The impossibility of pigeonholing the pair makes most people run for the hills. But the brave amongst us know for a fact that next to no one is making such criminally underrated and startlingly original music, in any genre, these days. The last two albums, Lil' Beethoven and Hello Young Lovers, were filled with cod-operatic, Reichian repetitive odes to fickle humanity, love and vanity. Exotic Creatures is filled with yet more biting commentary. The title is presumably a reference to the characters dredged up in the songs therein. There's the guy whose girlfriend rejects him because he's not as deep as Morrissey (Lighten Up Morrissey); the amnesiac party animal who can't remember the identity of the girl next to him (Good Morning); the complete non-party animal (I Never Got High); or even the porn star at the center of The Director Never Yelled 'Cut'. And then there's the evisceration of modern manners. How about Photoshop - a tale of the ease with which we airbrush our past lives, or let The Monkey drive, which may or may not be about srvitude and decadence? There's even a song about the Rennaisance, called simply This Is The Renaissance. Dumb pop, this is not. Stylistically it's slightly more varied than the previous two albums. The same staccato piano and electronica template with multi-tracked choirs of Russell holds sway, but there are also heavy guitars (courtesy of Dean Manta) and even a return to the barbershop and swing pastiches of the 70s glory years. Best of all there's the glitter stomp of the brilliantly-titled I Can't Believe You Would Fall For All The Crap In This Song. But in the end words fail to do justice to the odball greatness of this band. Undoubtedly the live performances of this album will be the usual multimedia extravaganza: Everyone is urged to attend. Such special, intelligent pop cannot bear indifference forever.

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jack7777 (2008-05-27)

You retarded piece of shit, why up this? The Mael brothers really need the money and the chart placing it is getting. No need for idiots like yourself stealing stuff from one of the most idiosyncratic (you can always look that word up) musical duos for the last 37 years. You are really a stupid fuck, aren't you?

gjt1462 (2008-05-27)

Whoa....steady on there son ! I certainly appreciate your fine upload of these musical mavericks.
Cheers, matchless man !

bearkiss (2008-05-27)

thank you matchless man! some of us DO appreciate what you upload!

dextersinister (2008-05-30)

some of us download the music and STILL buy the CDs - so thanks! I've supported Sparks since i bought the LPs of Propaganda & Kimono My House (a fucking classic!) way back in 1974.

matchless_man (2008-06-03)

Thanks for that spoke. Any comments welcome!

Lefuet (2008-06-06)

Chill, Jack. The more people hear the genius of The Sparks, the more albums, downloads and concert tickets they will sell. Smaller idiosyncratic artists benefit greatly from file sharing - this is a proven fact.

taigkyo (2009-10-09)

matchless_man, THANK YOU!!! So good to hear what Sparks have been up to recently. I was so inspired by hearing this that I promptly ordered 3 CD's by the Maels. And I put 2 others on my short list.
For anyone put off by the sticker price of the recent remasters: it was cheaper for me to order from Amazon-UK and have shipped to the USA than to buy from Amazon-USA. (Although, the remastering doesn't sound BETTER imho, it just sounds more contemporary.)
jack7777, Lefuet is correct - MOST of the music artists make MOST of their money from ticket sales. And then from publishing. Albums often are an EXPENSE for the artist. The album is an advertisement for the live show. Music sharing benefits certain types of artists, of which I believe Sparks are one, because it gives added exposure which is FREE for the artist. Where else are people going to hear them.... the RADIO...?? HA HA HA!
The record labels have been trying to find the cause of their declining profits, and instead of taking responsibility for failing to find and develop artists that people feel are worth spending money on, they've just updated the tired and insulting old mantra "home taping is killing the music industry". Remember when cassettes killed the music industry? Yeah, right. Nothing helped propel non-mainstream bands more than being on the mix-tapes you would share with your friends. Well, file-sharing is the new mix-tape my friend.