Junior Electronics - Musotonics

by Andy Cassidy

published: 2 / 4 / 2012

Label: Bureau B
Format: CD

Tntelligent and playful second album from Junior Electronics, the solo work of Stereolab keyboardist Joe Watson

Review

Junior Electronics is the solo work of Stereolab keyboardist Joe Watson. Watson, who has also worked with the High Llamas and Monade, describes this, his second album, as “a collection of musical mesostics*.” When I read this at first, I thought it was terribly pretentious, but having listened to the album I see now that it is an intelligent and witty twist on the process of composition, performance and production. Opening track 'Intimations' has a real High Llamas feel to it. It is poppy, but never naïve or lightweight, its bouncing keyboard backing always staying on the right side of twee. Melodically, the piece leads the listener on a beguilingly charming path, with some truly unexpected twists. 'Else Queen Elsie' takes a gentle funk backing and overlays it with a vocal reminiscent of Syd Barrett. The backing track is supplemented by a wandering synth which, adds a quirky edge to the piece. Musically, the song feels like a retro programmer’s experiment in midi, but somehow it works. 'Fire Island Sand' is an atmospheric piece, beginning with what sounds like an homage to 'Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight)', while the throbbing beat of 'Geostationary Satellite' is guaranteed to set feet tapping. Geeks everywhere will delight in the fact that there is now a song out there about the Clarke orbit – at least I know I will! I couldn’t help wondering whether the use of xylophone on 'Geostationary Satellite' was a nod to Sir Patrick Moore, the British astronomer who is also a superb xylophone player – answers on a postcard, please. This is one of those albums which I will turn to again and again and, I don’t doubt, find something new each time. In essence, it’s a collection of nine fantastic tracks, each one displaying melodic flair, lyrical legerdemain and a spirit of playfulness seldom found in popular music. There are shades of contemporary acts such as Hot Chip, while the songs remind me in places of Stephen Merritt’s often bizarre vignettes. It’s a charming little record, and one I shall enjoy for a long time to come. *A mesostic is a poem in which a vertical word or phrase intersects the horizontal text, for example: hiGh upon a hill there stOod a cow it’s Not there now it must have gonE.

Track Listing:-

1 Intimations
2 Else Queen Elsie
3 Zero Distress
4 Mike Mcconnell
5 Fire Island Sand
6 Geostationary Satellite
7 Faulty Reasoning
8 One Is Conspiracy
9 Heads