Clockwork Orchestra - Friends Without Names

  by Dave Goodwin

published: 14 / 11 / 2012

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The Clockwork Orchestra has got to be the smallest orchestra on the planet, the universe even as it is the project of one man-band and Dublin-based singer-songwriter and bedroom producer, Paul Mangan. 'Friends Without Names' is a strange one. I've a childhood full to the brim of eighties synth, and I've always found it better when it is stripped down and not too over complicated. Sometimes in this album there seems to be too much going on. But having said that there are some great moments buried in Mangan's debut album. Right from the start there is a distinct fairy tale/nursery rhyme theme running through it. On one hand it is a bit too cheesy sometimes, on the other you could say that there is a bountiful of masterstrokes hidden behind the fairground rides and pixie toadstools. 'As The Whirligig Spins' works for me because it is a little more sparse than other tracks, along with the start of 'Zebedee', which with all its Depeche Mode twinklings has all the credentials to be a classic cult club sound. The thing is has Paul Mangan produced this album to be a cult club sound or something else? For me its harbouring between the two. It's a little too "musical toy" to be labeled as a club sound for me. It's more of a psychedelic synth pop musical journey. Close your eyes at times, especially in the magical 'Mummer' and you could be absolutely anywhere and when it drifts out and in to 'Black Ice' I could stand corrected about the club sound as it is a frenzied beat-ridden dancer of a track. On the negative side, while it lends itself to being a little disjointed in places, it also has a lack of flow to it, and a sound that can't seem to make up its mind what it is. I have some real obscure stuff in my record collection from the eighties and you might want to put this in that bracket. My point, however, is that it was done before in the eighties. There are, however, some wonderful moments in here if you can stick around to find them.

Track Listing:-

1 The Book That Won't Be Read
2 Metamorphosis
3 Accident
4 Paper Purse
5 As the Whirligig Spins
6 Strawberries and Blueberries
7 Talking to the Flowers
8 Zebedee
9 Skeleton Skeleton
10 Miss World
11 Mummer
12 Black Ice

Band Links:-

http://clockworkorchestra.bandcamp.com/
http://www.clockworkorchestra.com/
https://www.facebook.com/clockworkorchestra
https://www.youtube.com/user/ClockworkOrchestra
http://www.songkick.com/artists/5563948-clockwork-orchestra
https://twitter.com/paulmanganart

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