"Leave me something to remember you by..."
Since the album has come out (finally!) there obviously will be some comments on it from the press, etc. This page is here to give you some extras on Ca Va, including press clippings, recent photographs of the band, anything else that may come up. A treat for you all which I've posted is a sort of a question and answer with Peter and Anthony regarding the new album and Slapp Happy in general. Also, if anyone has heard the CD and would like to write a review of it, PLEASE do and I will post them...thanks!
An introductory impression on the album...by me
Yes yes yes!!! I have received (compliments of Harvey from V2...thank you sooo much!) a beautiful copy of the long awaited album by Slapp Happy, "Ca Va." Yes folks, it is certainly worth the wait and I believe upon first listen you will notice this as well.
First of all, the album is totally different from what I expected, it is not a "Casablanca Moon II" by any stretch of the imagination. The smart riffs and hooks that you have come to expect from Moore and Blegvad are still there. And, of course, Dagmar, but they have included modern touchstones such as drum programming. The production is clean, clear, and beautiful as well. Yes, friends, we are no longer in Canterbury land but we are in the modern age :-). Take a listen to the samples on the main page...
I'm sure you're all wondering as well, "What's up with Dagmar's voice?" "Has it changed?"...well if the last thing you heard was "Hold to the zero burn, Imagine"..yeah. She sings on this in the subdued style that you hear on tracks like "Everybody's Slimmin'" and "Blue Eyed William", but god she still is grand. Her voice sounds absolutely sublime with the music, and occasionally you can hear that characteristic Dagmar wail shining through!
My favorites I have managed to put samples up of: "Scarred For Life" is one of my favorite Slapp Happy songs ever...Dagmar's voice gives me chills here. Another fave of mine is "Child Then", with its cathartic chorus and intelligent lyrics. "Moon Lovers" also manages to slip in as many hooks as it can, and gets away with it :-). But I do have to say that I love the album as a whole, and it has no intention of leaving my CD changer anytime soon!!! A tremendous comeback! As my friend Nishis has said...Buy or Die!!
From Andy Gill's Album Round-Up in The Independent
If I were to tell you that a professor, a cartoonist/lecturer and
an opera singer had together made one of the most beguiling pop records
of the year, you'd doubtless raise a dubious eyebrow; but such is
the case with Slapp Happy's delightful comebackalbum, the belated
follow-up to 1974's rather more strait-laced In Praise Of Learning.
It's interesting how, as Anthony Moore, Peter Blegvad and Dagmar Krause
have grown older, their music has grown more childlike: where once
whimsical themes weretreated with undue seriousness, Ca Va finds the
trio perusing more serious themes - passion, insularity, ageing, demonisation
- from within the comforting folds of a warm, whimsical pop music.
Not that the backings are bland or lacking in interest, by any means.
Blegvad and Moore are both well travelled musical explorers, and
bring a wide, worldly range of styles and sounds - dub melodica, ethereal
saz (an Eastern wind instrument),slowed-down gamelan loops - to bear
on these 12 songs, without letting them dominate proceedings or detract
from the essential openness of the material. The album's most infectious
singalong, "Working At The Ministry", incorporates both saz and marimbainto
its groove, while the unrepentant reminiscence, "Child Then", features
a lovely instrumental break which appropriately recalls the graceful,
innocent psychedelia of Traffic's "Hole In My Shoe".
It's the bittersweet contrast between these gentle settings and the
sometimes sharp, unsettling lyrics that gives Slapp Happy their unique
appeal. And it speaks volumes of Dagmar's quizzical yet passionate
singing style that she can carry lines asemotionally complex as "Leave
me scarred for life, show you really care/You can do it with kindness,
keener than a knife", without adding any undue drama to the sentiment.
Q Magazine's review from July 1998
First album in 20 years for cult trio, much
loved, of course, by John Peel. Bizarrely strong.
It is impossible to overstate the joy with which
news of a new Slapp Happy album will be received
in discerning houses. In the overlong hiatus,
Anthony Moore has written for Pink Floyd, Peter
Blegvad has drawn the Leviathan cartoon for The
Independent On Sunday whilst Dagmar Krause has
pursued various ventures, but the sheer
brilliance of this record makes their hibernation
a cause for regret. Ca Va has all the weird,
naive, sinister charm of their '70s heyday but
adds '90s timbres through loops and textures. The
result is simply wonderful : a rich, strange
collection of some of the best off-centre pop
tunes of this year. It's churlish to single out
individual tracks. If an amalgam of Yoko Ono,
Portishead, the Canterbury sound and the last
Blur album intrigues (and that doesn't do it
justice) seek out this treasure.
**** (out of 5)
Stuart Maconie
An interview with Peter Blegvad and Anthony Moore
Questions by Rene Spencer
1. Why did you decide to regroup, 20 some years after your last record?
PB: For pleasure. A mood of loose, wide-ranging not entirely sober creative
play often prevails when Anthony & I are collaborating (it did in 1972 &
it still does). We can let our guards down & try out even the most
dubious ideas on one another w/out incurring opprobrium. Dagmar shares
our taste for incongruity & the not-too-obvious & her delivery is perfect
for the odd goods we come up with (as well as being a songsmith in her
own write). Composing 'Byron', for instance, & recording it, I confess I
was at times in stitches of evil glee. Anthony's double Theremin part on
"Travel Light" alone justifies the decision to regroup.
2. It seems to me that the early records (e.g., Acnalbasac Noom) set
out
to subvert the idioms of rock music, pushing the envelope to include
features from other types of music, like tango, bossa nova, cabaret,
art
songs. Now, of course, it's 1998, and the idioms have changed. Ca Va
seems to draw on elements of contemporary pop music, such as dance
music,
and infuses them with the peculiar and inimitable Slapp Happy genius.
It
seems a little darker and less deliberately goofy than the earlier
records, too. (I'm sorry -- I obviously haven't organized all my
random
impressions.) What are your thoughts on the sound of the record? What
were
some of its influences? In what ways have you changed as a group since
1975?
PB: I like the warmth & freshness of the sound Laurie got for/from us. The
songs are driven by looped samples, but the overall feel is loose &
organic. Laurie played some percussion & Dagmar played a bit of piano,
but Anthony & I played everything else. We're a little less insecure abt
our musicianship than we were when we pioneered "Naive Rock, the
Douannier Rousseau Sound" in '72, but I don't think we've lost the
quality of being wide open to happy mistakes. Our tastes, & Dagmar's,
remain voraciously eclectic. We don't set out to do it consciously, but
cabaret, tamla, dub, raga-rock, systems/minimalism, environmental sounds,
cocktail jazz, grunge, muzak, blues, all get thrown into the pot. Laurie
Latham & Anthony have had a long working relationship (they've worked
together w/ artistes from the late Viv Stanshall to Cher) & are
conversant with current technologies & idioms in a way that I'm not. The
"contemporary" feel people seem pleasantly surprised to find on "Ca Va"
is down to Moore/Latham, their use of samples, loops, etc.
AM: We havent been a group since 75 so we cant really have changed as a group
at all and in most ways we havent. We have kept in touch though and 1991
found us working together on a televised chamber opera called Camera. On
the other hand there have been years when we dont see too much of each
other.
The greatest influence on the style of the record was the decision by us all
that Peter and I should play all the instruments and thats why no other
musos are credited on the sleeve. This meant that our unique ability not to
be able to play the aforesaid instruments lent a wonderful smokey flavour to
the whole thing (I dont know what I mean either). I have been lazily
swimming around the sampling looping scene so thats where the so called
contemporary vibe ebbs in from.
As for the sound that was down to working with Mr. Laurie Latham who
co-prodded and mixed the tunes. He is made up of lots of warm valves.
3. How did you go about writing songs for this record? Did you have
a set
idea of how you wanted them to sound before you rehearsed them with the
group, or was it more of an organic process? How did you go about
creating
those fabulous arrangements?
PB: I hope I've suggested some answers to these questions already, (?) but I
should stress how valuable Laurie's contribution was. He has a strong
sense of how a song should be structured & came up with arrangement or
rhythm ideas which transformed our first tentative versions always for
the better. Because we're slow, & were busy trying to make a living,
Anthony & I had precious little time to sit down together & compose new
material - we came up with 3 or 4 things I think. Most of the other songs
were already written. Of mine, both "Scarred for Life" & "Travel Light"
were already recorded (they'll be on "Plata" a CD that shld be out in
Sept.)
AM: I am sorry to be so bland in replying to this but I can only say the whole
thing fell out of us like rain. This and all of this is only my opinion of
course.
4. Is the "Partridge" listed for co-songwriting credit Andy Partridge?
PB: Yeah. The Picasso of Pop. Andy & I worked on "Child Then" for a few hours
in his attic 9 years or so ago. It languished on one of dozens of
cassettes of abandoned embryos. It was only when the pressure was on to
come up w/ material for "Ca Va" that I felt impelled to finish it.
5. What was Laurie Latham's role as producer?
PB: Vital. The trio became a quartet. I hope he'll be up for it if we ever
make another.
AM: He is bloody great and because of all those valves I mentioned you can
actually warm your hands on him too.
6. What would you like people to know about Slapp Happy (besides how
great
you are!)?
PB: Don't worry, be Slapp Happy.
AM: Dont really mind either way about this one.
GOOD NEWS!!! The album is currently available now in most territories...and it was released in the US!! You can find it at most stores. For those who still prefer buying online, The Artist Shop, CDNow, and Music Boulevard carry the CD for a paltry cost (I believe it is on sale for $11 or something)... For a current photo of the band, click here.
I just got my hands on the Japanese release of Ca Va (thanks SATOSHI Nishihara!!!!) and not only does it have extra artwork by Peter Blegvad and something called "What is Slapp Happy?", it contains an EXTRA TRACK, "Hello Dagi"!!! This song is amazing, it's pure club music, thumping bass beat and electronic sounds everywhere. It's so much fun to dance to. Dagmar sounds great on it, I love the way she says "Hello." What a great addition to the album, and what a way to end it, too! If you can find the Japanese release, GET IT!!! "Hello Dagi" is worth the price! (hint: you can find the Japanese release at CDEurope, German Music Express and I believe Music Boulevard has it...)
Also released in Japan along with the CD was a promotional postcard, with an unbelievably characteristic picture of the band on it...here it is! More new pics in the photo gallery...
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