Trashmonk - Mona Lisa Overdrive [Japan Bonus Track] (CD)

All Music Guide

In the mid'90s, Nick LairdClowes whose mid'80s band, the Dream Academy, enjoyed a few hits, notably "Life in a Northern Town" decided to take some time off and traveled around India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Tibet for a time. He took with him a dictaphone recorder and made field recordings of what he was hearing all around him, whether it was chirping birds or confused taxi drivers. Returning to his home in England, LairdClowes eventually met up with Alan McGee, who wanted the singer to record a solo album for his Creation Records label. LairdClowes spent the better part of four years recording, resulting in 1999's critically acclaimed Mona Lisa Overdrive, taking its name from a William Gibson cyberpunk scifi novel. The album credited to LairdClowes' newly adopted moniker, Trashmonk was a mixed bag of various cyberfolk sounds and edgier space rockinfluenced songs, many built upon transient electronic noises, spokenword samples, and various instruments blended in with LairdClowes' scrat...chy and understated vocals. "Girl I Used 2 Know" kicks off the album in fine form, with hushed vocals, a stopandstart rhythm, and various electronic noises, similar to what Jason Pierce does with his group Spiritualized, only there's an added Middle Eastern element to this one. "Polygamy" features looped tablas, while "Sapphire" is a pastoral British folk ballad with jazzy guitars. LairdClowes' voice is untreated and laid bare here, sounding influenced by Nick Drake (he is an admitted Nick Drake freak). "High Times" recalls early'70sera John Lennon (whom LairdClowes had worked with early in his musical career), sounding something like Primal Scream transmogrifying the Beatles' "Come Together." Much of the album recalls other modernday cutup artists like Beck, Cornershop, the Beta Band, Badly Drawn Boy, and the aforementioned groups. NoMan's Ben Coleman who has worked with various exmembers of Japan, including Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri, and Mick Karn played electric violin on four tracks. After McGee shuttered the doors of his beloved Creation, he bought the tapes to Mona Lisa Overdrive from the Sony label and gave them back to LairdClowes, who in turn licensed them back to McGee for release in September 2001 on McGee's Poptones imprint. The new reissue contained two bonus tracks and new cover artwork by designer Mike Alway. The album's original closing track, "On the Way Home," was later used during the closing credits of The Invisible Circus, a movie starring Cameron Diaz for which LairdClowes did the music. He also contributed to Diane Keaton's directorial debut, Heaven, in addition to providing music for Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Trains, Planes and Automobiles, both directed by John Hughes. [This Japanese release includes bonus material.] - Bryan Thomas, All Music Guide Read more Less