Lost and Safe

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The Books

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Usually Ships: 2 - 6 Weeks
Normally: ~~$39.95~~
SmokeCDs Price: $29.95

Disc 1:
#	Track Name	MP3 Sample
1	Be Good to Them Always

2	An Animated Description of Mr. Maps.

3	It Never Changes to Stop

4	If Not Now, Whenever

5	An Owl with Knees

6	Vogt Dig for Kloppervok

7	Smells Like Content

8	A Little Longing Goes Away

9	None But Shining Hours

10	Twelve Fold Chain

11	Venice

Smoke Notes

The duo of Nick Zammuto and Paul du Jong collectively known as "The Books" have been mining a totally unique musical vein since coming out of nowhere in 2002 with their debut "Thought for Food" and its 2003 follow up "The Lemon of Pink". "Lost and Safe" is again a bizarre mix of found sounds, field recordings, voice samples from (what sound like) answer machines, old movies, documentaries and radio broadcasts cut together with soft indie vocals and guitar and given a glitchy electronic treatment (think Mouse on Mars and Matmos) which make categorizing this album a record shop nerd's nightmare.

On "Be Good To Them Always" Zammuto sings melodically and in perfect unison with voice samples taken from forgotten films or news reels, giving these random bytes life and meaning. One in particular would seem to sum up The Books' musical philosophy; "I don't s'pose it matters which way we go". Scarily clever stuff. It's hard to compare The Books to anything else. "It Never Changes to Stop" brings to mind early Papa M (before he started singing) with its cyclic guitar loops and creepy voice samples (in this case it sounds like an overbearing southern school teacher, telling his pupils to "sit perfectly still, be absolutely quiet and close your eyes" eeeww!) and at other times Zummuto's vocals remind me of Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous in his quieter moments. Although I'm sure fans of all the names I've mentioned here will appreciate this album, they are ultimately rather lazy reference points that don't do justice to the uniqueness of The Books. "Lost & Safe" will certainly be on this record shop nerd's "top five albums of the year" list. I cannot recommend this album enough.

Product Details

Artist: The Books
Album: Lost and Safe
Cat #: URA148
Date: 17/05/2005
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Label: Tomlab
Usually Ships: 2 - 6 Weeks
Genres: Alt/Indie/Punk , Electronic
Normally: ~~$39.95~~
SmokeCDs Price: $29.95