Falter Bramnk - Minimal Romance

All Music Guide

Falter Bramnk is the spiritual son of Robert Wyatt simple as that. And like any good son, he rebels against his father, comes back to him for advice, goes his own way, pays homage, rebels again. You can hear it all on Minimal Romance, his second surprisefilled album for the small American imprint Acidsoxx Musicks. Let's deal with the Wyatt influence first: it is particularly potent in "White Knight in the Night" (down to Richard Cuvillier's guest cornet solo, the typical kind of special contribution found on Wyatt's last two albums) and in "Shleep on It (For R.W.)," which also features a very nice Kate Bushlike section. In the other pieces, Frank Lambert whoops, I mean Falter Bramnk lets his unique imagination run wild, and the resulting tunes fall somewhere between Wyatt and Sttellla, or should it be Klimperei and Caravan or even Ludwig von 88 and La Société des timides à la parade des oiseaux? One thing is sure, Minimal Romance delivers a healthy dose of strange, confusing, elusiv...e, refreshing pop. Highlights include the Wyattrelated tracks (he does it SO well), the tongueincheek songs "God's Garden" and "She's Far from the Land" (both composed for centuryold poems), and the acoustic "Fun Desperado." Fans of Wyatt or the toy pop scene the two being unrelated, but intersecting occasionally should lend an ear. Minimal Romance is an excellent production that irradiates creativity. - François Couture, All Music Guide Read more Less