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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Over The Border | |||
| 2. I ve Got Your Music | |||
| 3. Heading For The Fair | |||
| 4. Last Days Of Disco | |||
| 5. Tonight | |||
| 6. Answer Song | |||
| 7. Record Doctor | |||
| 8. Popular | |||
| 9. 25 Years | |||
| 10. Dj | |||
See all 13 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Tonight (2 Bears) | |||
| 2. Last Days Of Disco (Erol Alkan) | |||
| 3. DJ (Stay+) | |||
| 4. I've Got Your Music (Golden Filter) | |||
| 5. Popular (Tom Middleton) | |||
| 6. Heading For The Fair (The Time Space Machine) | |||
| 7. Tonight (Club Clique) | |||
| 8. Answer Song (White Horses) | |||
| 9. Haunted Jukebox (Summer Camp) | |||
| 10. I've Got Your Music (Kisses) | |||
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See all 12 tracks on this disc
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Product Description
Review
The last time they bestowed a full new album on the public was 2005’s Tales from Turnpike House, which had the feeling of a finale about it, especially with its bonus children’s EP. But to those who’ve been thinking that perhaps it’s time to stop getting over-excited about Phil Oakey’s hair, SL2 and David Essex over the past few years: chin up. Put the growing up on hold for a while, as not only have Saint Etienne seen fit to return, but they’ve done so with a stunner.
Words and Music by Saint Etienne (that’s the full title, as suggested by Lawrence Hayward of Felt) sees Pete, Bob and Sarah looking back on a life lived through music, its importance and the daft things it leads a fan to do. Epic opener Over the Border discusses travelling to Peter Gabriel’s house, the labels of love, Smash Hits, "the strange and important sound of the synthesiser," and whether Marc Bolan would still be relevant to a grown woman married with kids.
Produced by a dream team of Ian Catt, The KLF and Sugababes producer (and one-time Rubette) Nick Coler, Tim Powell and Richard X, Words and Music… is a fantastic and warm collection of jubilant happy/sad pop moments, delivering all that Saint Etienne are known for. It’s a set which reminds the listener that the magic is always with them – whether it’s about a chap who has all the answers via the medium of a tune (Record Doctor), the giddy excitement of getting ready to see your favourite band (Tonight), the power of a DJ (um, DJ) or even chatting about vintage pop on internet message boards (Popular). Mortality gets a look in with 25 Years, which will prompt many a listener to take a sad gulp.
Words and Music… offers rewarding assurance that whatever life throws at you, music is quite often the best and only answer. It’s had you, and you’ve had it, for life. To paraphrase one notable pop sage: only when you’re dancing, can you feel this free. Or to paraphrase another: first love never ever dies. Wonderful stuff.
--Ian Wade
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
CD Description
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Customer Reviews
The band have always come up with stunning singles, but their albums could be a little patchy at times - experiments that just didn't quite work or melodies that didn't quite fulfill their potential. The last album was one of their most consistently strong to date, and this new release follows in the same vein. There are highs of course: gorgeous bittersweet opener Over The Border and uplifting pop rushes Tonight and DJ for instance. However there are no tracks where I felt my finger creeping towards the skip button on repeated listenings. The mood is mainly upbeat, albeit with touches of nostalgic regret, and the sound is mostly Saint Etienne's patented blend of effervescent pop influences from the Sixties to the Noughties, although there's a moving folk ballad, I Threw It All Away, towards the end - and there's more than enough variety in the melodies to prevent any suggestion of repetition.
The theme of the album is music - the effect our favourite music has upon us, the memories it evokes, the emotions it stirs...and the question of what role music plays in our lives as we get older - can it still stir and excite us as it once did? I think I can safely say, as long as Saint Etienne keep making great records like this, the answer is definitely yes.
(Also, it's just silly this isn't available in the U.S. as of this writing while Katy Perry's last album gets 10 different editions. Come on, folks.)
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