Motorama - Calendar

by Maarten Schiethart

published: 27 / 1 / 2013

Label: Talitres
Format: CD

Flawed but unexpectedly exquisite debut album, sung in English, from Russian gothic pop outfit, Motorama

Review

'Calendar' is Russian gothic pop music that's ever so melodic, and yet can't seem to decide between sounding like New Order or Yo La Tengo. Motorama still deliver unexpectedly exquisite pop music. As might be expected, their words which have been assembled and derived from the English vocabulary mean little. Moreover their languishing melodies veer towards the universe of entire clumsiness, and that is exactly where you find 'Rose in the Vase',the finest song off this, after all, rather lovely album. This evident weakness is changed into a weapon. The stand out tune is 'Two Stones'. 'Two Stones' has ever so graceful a ditty melody. Combining some of the best twang echoes ever recorded, the song travels slowly on your mind, yet on 'During the Years' an until now held back Big Country mindset falls into place. Compassionate, and it must be noted, disorientated, the 'Calendar' album runs its course at this point. The virtues of synth pop music, no matter how subdued, remain unmatched by Finnish band Rubik's album 'Solar', which still makes the finest example of 21st century pop music so far. They may be Russians, but, let there be no mistake, Motorama count amongst Scandinavia's finest.