posted 11/18/2008 (Tue) @ 01:42 am
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she - Coloris (2008)
Electronica / Dance / Funk
Distort Into she
- Coloris
- Circuit Lover
- Orbit
- Gum
- Tokyo Nights
- Monochrome
- Fuse
- Autumn In Space
- In Time
- Destination Luna4
- Together
- Touch And Go
- Reality
- Distort Into Me
Quick! Someone bust out a case of Bawls! After several more laid-back, contemplative forays into the more low-key side of electronica from she, Coloris marks a return to the anthemic immediacy of Pioneer. While the bitpop of she’s debut, a seamless fusion of Gameboy and laptop, is of a decidedly different tone, Coloris kicks the energy level back up to spec with tidal waves of bass-heavy, caffeinated dance-funk.
“she music gonna make you go faster,” she promises on “Fuse”—yeah, you read it right, Coloris has got vocals. Or rather, extensive (and sometimes irritating) vocal sampling. On the bright side, if you’re already into the whole stylized, chiaroscuro manga girl promo art for Coloris and other she releases, chances are you won’t mind the vocals much.
“Coloris” is the she song the ThinkGeek crowd has really been waiting to hear. A much-needed dose of funked-up, booty-shaking headbanging, it gets the record off to a fabulous, rollicking start. Unfortunately, nothing else quite approaches the title track’s energy level.
Phat synth bass and more conventionally cringeworthy DJ vox sampling win “Circuit Lover” the “Most Likely To Be Heard In a Dance Club” award. Leaning more toward the “lo-fi” (and by extension, bitpop) end of the spectrum, “Autumn in Space” sputters like an arcade game starting up, but eventually tries on some earthy slap bass. If you know that “S3M” isn’t the Year 3000 Bug, don’t miss its retro sawtooth solo.
she molds and melds sounds together without a trace of the gauche “mash-up” feel employed by many modern electronic artists. The kaleidoscopic “Gum” slip-slides on a slick, fat low end rife with splintered vocal and synth samples, before settling into a comfortable, but dizzying Doppler-effected groove sprinkled with pretty keyboard work. “Orbit” and “Monochrome” are chilled-out chunks of slow dance, basted with synth and boasting some of the prettier vocalizing of the album.
Coloris is a faster-paced turn for she. Pioneer is still the clear winner from the back catalog as far as rocking out with your Sega out goes (and still this reviewer’s personal favorite), but Coloris will satisfy the electro listeners happily residing in 2008. It might even make a couple people dance. Get your camera phones ready.
Links
Official site / Download [FREE] (along with 7 other she releases)
Myspace
iTunes
Note: As of January 21, 2009, Coloris is being sold on Pony Canyon, a Japanese record label. As such it is no longer up for free download. However, the rest of the she back catalog is available, and definitely worth a look. -ed
Tags: best of 2008 candidates, bitpop, coloris, dance, electro, electronica, funk, she
2 comments on this article
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fuse links | Digg hot tags Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 1:42 pm[...] Vote she - Coloris (2008) [FREE MUSIC] [...]
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Three Star Smash » Archives » she’s Coloris on CD January 21 Says:
February 19th, 2009 at 6:05 pm[...] come to my attention that his 2008 album Coloris has been sold on physical CD by Japanese label Pony Canyon since January 21. I mention it because [...]
