Another Mellow Spring
(Cyber Octave)
Marrying the best technology from the disparate analog and digital worlds, the modish Parisian trio Mellow offers up some unabashedly groovy synth-flavored pop on their debut disc, Another Mellow Spring. Ah, the wheels are already turning in your head; you�re thinking, �French electronica? Why, Mellow must be a mere facsimile of my beloved Air!�
Yes, Mellow does borrow liberally from the Air cookbook whilst whipping up their frog-pop pastiche, but they also offer the listener a tad more energy, a little lush guitar picking, and some sweet Ringo Starr-esque drumming. In fact, it�s the live drums that set Mellow apart from most electronic bands that you�ll hear on Astralwerks these days�let�s see some more of this!
At any rate, this band lives up to its name. The soft, lilting melodies of �Instant Love,� complete with Magical Mystery Tour horns will lull you down sweetly. �Mellow (Part One)� is an exploration in percussion and keyboard textures, while �Mellow (Organic Version)� grooves along to a bouncing Moog line, a few apropos R2-D2 sounding squeals, and some tasteful stereo panning.
�Paris Sous La Neige,� like vintage, Parklife era Blur (but minus the guitar cacophony) will have you and your friends head-bobbin� with abandon in your car. It also showcases Patrick Woodcock�s understated, pseudo-lounge vocal handiwork, which suffers on other tracks when digitally processed beyond recognition.
Top it all off with a few pages of far out, psychedelic artwork in the liner notes and you�ve got a very promising debut album, to say the least.
By Casey Lombardo
Long Beach Union
Originally printed 3.26.01
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