Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
A side project conceived by The Auteurs' Luke Haines and John Moore, formerly of The Jesus & Mary Chain, England Made Me is an evil pleasure indeed. Vocalist Sarah Nixey sounds like a head girl captured and brainwashed by the malevolent male duo, made to intone their deadpan, amoral lyrics ("I trapped a spider underneath the glass/I kept it for a week to see how long it would last") over creeping, spidery guitars and the odd, sinister overdub. England Made Me is more darkly comic than chilling in its nihilism ("Life is unfair/Kill yourself or get used to it," sings Nixey on "Child Psychology") while their bleak take on "Uptown Top Ranking" by one hit wonders Althea & Donna is like a photographic negative of the original. It reflects Haines' perverse obession with 1970s kitsch as does the album cover, a shot of glam-wrestler Adrian Street posing incongruously with his coal miner father. Exposure to that bizarre decade in English culture, he implies, made of him the deformedly ironic creature he is today. --David Stubbs
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Yalson.
Format:Audio CD
I first heard Black Box Recorder on a pre-release sampler for 'England Made Me'. My friend was a journalist, and used to get advance copies of stuff he liked. We were both huge Auteurs fans, so the prospect of a new project by La Haine had him putting in a request for a tape at the first opportunity. The tape featured about six songs, and by the time we'd got to 'Uptown Top Ranking', the fourth or so on the tape, we were weeping with laughter. Don't let anyone tell you that Haines has no sense of humour, as this album has it in spades. The music is claustrophobic and airless, but Sarah Nixey comes across as a petulant drama-school teenager delivering Morrissey lyrics. I still giggle even now when I hear the line from 'Child Psychology' about the "plastic Christmas tree that played 'Silent Night' over and over again". The whole record just drips with loathing and sarcasm, like a stalker sing-talking the back catalogue of Saint Etienne.
Special mentions too for the crisp, beautiful 'Swinging' and 'It's Only The End Of The World', which are amongst the best songs that Haines has ever written.
Cold genius, delivered deadpan.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I first heard the song 'Child Psychology' at my 'cool' friends flat and was hooked. This was about 2 years ago and it was an arse to actually locate the album in a record shop! Since then it has become my favourite album and continues to improve with each listen. The lyrics are superb - especially 'It's only the end of the world' with it's superb heart beat drums, and although it is a very dark album it does leave you feeling oddly satisfied at the end. The spikey lyrics delivered in Sarah Nixey's flat monotone are intelligent and sarcastic. I'd love to see this band live - could they maintain their ennui on stage but they are ridiculously difficult to get information on?!
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
There is no joy in this album, but if melancholic songs with poignant, meaningful lyrics are your thing, then this album is certainly worth a try. Including in their number Luke Haines out of the much underated Auteurs, Black Box Recorder have produced a real gem of an album. If you have heard their latest single 'Facts of Life' on the radio, the songs on this album are in a similar style but darker. Don't be put off.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 22 reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Loses 2 stars for atrocious sleeves
The Black Box Recorder are half the Jesus & Mary Chain and half the Auteurs.Not that that's any recommendation but using a girl singer (Sarah Nixey) makes all the difference. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Richard
5.0 out of 5 stars
Third and final instalment of Luke Haines' dark-pop trilogy.
England Made Me was the first album released by Black Box Recorder, an indie-pop super group comprising of the former Auteurs' chief-in-residence Luke Haines, ex-Jesus and... Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2006 by Jonathan James Romley
2.0 out of 5 stars
Very quirky, very English, not very good
Luke Haines and John Moore should be respected for eschewing normal conventions of production and song construction. Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2003
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
