Wilson and Alroy's Record Reviews We listen to the lousy records so you won't have to.

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Deee-Lite


Reviewed on this page:
World Clique - Infinity Within - Dewdrops In The Garden - Future Listening - Sound Museum


Deee-Lite was formed by three East Village clubgoers who slapped together brilliant dance-pop by crosspollinating a zillion different stylistic influences, mostly by means of samples with judicious use of live instruments. They stack disparate elements together almost like the Bomb Squad, but their aim is to be pleasant, rather than disturbing. Like Blondie a decade before, their cultural borrowings were so slick and their hooks so good that they appealed to dance-oriented people across the spectrum - their cartoon videos and outrageous outfits didn't hurt either. Also like Blondie, the band ran out of steam very quickly; Lady Kier and Dmitry seem to have returned to being scenesters, while Towa Tei has embarked on a solo career. (DBW)

Lineup:
Lady Miss Kier, vocals; DJ Towa Towa (Towa Tei), keyboards, samples; DJ Dmitry , keyboards, samples, guitar. Ani added, 1994.


World Clique (1990)
For a self-produced debut, this is extremely confident, unleashing the fully-developed camp-funk Deee-Lite approach upon an unsuspecting public. The single "Groove Is In The Heart" is their masterpiece, with an irresistable looping bass line, a pseudo-raga hip-hop middle (guest rap by Q-Tip), the Horny Horns, Bootsy Collins making off-hand comments, and Lady Kier's soprano hooks on top of everything. The opening "Deee- Lite Theme" is almost as good, with no discernable song structure and a magnificent sax line (where'd they sample that from?), and "Who Was That?" is also a wild ride; otherwise, they mostly settle for catchy but ordinary synth dance music ("Good Beat," "Power Of Love"). The lyrics are sometimes clever and studiously trivial, all silly love songs or smiley-faced positive vibes. (DBW)

Infinity Within (1992)
All of a sudden the Deee-Lite crew got political, and they hit us with a Prince-style laundry-list of social problems ("Fuddy Duddy Judge"), a lovely statement on the environment ("I Had A Dream I Was Falling Through A Hole In The Ozone Layer"), a safe sex anthem ("Rubber Lover"), and the thankfully brief exhortation "Vote Baby Vote." Amazingly, they pull off the transition, partly because the lyrics are cleverer than most social protest, but mostly because their ear for hooks is as good as ever ("Come On In The Dreams Are Fine" is postively euphoric) and the music is denser than before, with lots of real musicians including half of the Funk Mob. Other guests include Arrested Development ("I.F.O") and rappers Michael Franti and Jamal-ski. There are a number of ho-hum tunes on the lengthy disc ("Pussycat Meow," "Electric Shock") but overall it's their most satisfying achievement, well worth tracking down. (DBW)

Dewdrops In The Garden (1994)
Apparently Towa Tei had completely lost interest in the band; he's only credited with co-producing and co-arranging one track, "Call Me," where he manages to make a hook with a touch-tone phone. The rest of the album is drab and listless, without anything catchy going on anywhere. Meanwhile, Kier's gone on a neohippy kick, and writes a pile of light-hearted, frequently risqué love songs that would have gone over fine if the musical backing had been more substantial ("Stay In Bed Forget The Rest," "Bring Me Your Love," "Say Ahhh...") New member Ani doesn't make any contribution that I can discern, and with virtually no guests, the sound is undifferentiated hollow synth-based dance music. Such music has become staggeringly popular in this age of low expectations, and you could claim they helped invent trip hop with this disc. They tack on a lengthy, mostly-silent final track that contains a few frustrating seconds of catchy riff which makes you wish they'd made a full song out of it. (DBW)

Future Listening! (Towa Tei: 1995)
It turns out Towa Tei has a deep interest in Brazilian popular music he never revealed during his Deee-Lite years. Here he wheels out several mixes of his dub and house approach with gentle bossa nova guitar and vocal ("Technova," "Dubnova," "Batucada") plus the mostly acoustic "La Douce Vie" and "Obrigado" (written and performed with Arto Lindsay). It's fresh and remarkably compelling; he also throws in a bunch of understated trance music ("I Want To Relax, Please!") and a tuneful pop song ("Luv Connection") with an enjoyable soul vocal by Joi Cardwell. The tone's far more laid-back than Deee-Lite's work, but it's an inventive, low-key listen. There are hardly any samples, and a whole slew of musicians including Bebel Gilberto (lead vocals), Romero Lubambo (guitar), Yasuaki Shimizu (sax) and Yoshihiko Mori (keyboards). (DBW)

Sampladelic Relic (1996)
A last-gasp collection of remixes and maybe some outtakes. (DBW)

Sound Museum (Towa Tei: 1998)
Towa Tei returns to straightforward synth dance, with some R&B and funk influences, but still much tamer than Deee-Lite's best work. Occasionally he hits on a terrific hook, as on "GBI (German Bold Italic)" with tongue-in-cheek vocals from Kylie Minogue, and the Black Bottom Horns add excitement to the opening title track. Often, though, Tei is content to let a simple synth groove run without anything happening to grab your interest, e.g. the pretty but hollow "Tamilano," "Higher," or "Time After Time," which features strikingly Mariah Carey-like vocals from Viv. In a change of pace, the loop behind guest rappers Biz Markie and Mos Def is annoyingly harsh and repetitive ("BMT"). And the closing "Everything We Do Is Music" puts across his "global village" message in a variety of languages, but without enough musical interest to justify its ten-minute running time. There's one Brazilian-style tune that seems like a leftover from the last album: a samba cover of Hall & Oates' "Private Eyes" sung by Bebel Gilberto that's surprisingly effective. Most tracks peformed by Tei, who produced arranged, and wrote nearly everything. Less depth though a broader appeal than Future Listening. (DBW)


I just wanna hear a good beat.

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