Kevdo

Last year I did something I haven’t done in… well, actually, something I’ve never done. Which was to not buy the new Pet Shop Boys album. Yep, I’ve got every single studio and remix album dating back to their 1986 debut, Please. Of course the group’s heyday was in the late 1980s but I’ve liked all their albums since then, though certainly some (1996’s Bilingual) were better than others (2006’s Fundamental). Some of the recent singles such as “Love, etc.” (2009) and “Miracles” (2003) were among their best ever.

But when I sampled 2012’s Elysium, I was completely underwhelmed. Lots of slow and atmospheric songs that also veered more than typical into “theatrical” style. The songs were not that catchy (which is bad for a pop group). So last Fall, for the first time ever, I didn’t buy the album or even the singles.

I think I might not have been alone because not too long after the release, the Pet Shop Boys announced they would be releasing a new album in summer 2013. After nearly two decades of three or four year gaps between albums, the group would release a new album less than year after their last one. Unprecedented.   (In an interesting aside, No Doubt is following the same plan by going back into the studio after their 2012 album wasn’t well received).

Would the group change tactics for this new album? Well, the album name is Electric, which bodes well for those of us who’ve always preferred the strong dance material to the slower ballads. The first track to be released is an outstanding club track called “Axis.” There’s not a lot of lyrical content there, though it’s always special when keyboardist Chris Lowe makes a rare appearance with vocals (as with most cases, processed vocals). Musically, and visually in the video, this song says to their electronic fans, “we’re back.” It has guys dancing with bull heads! Amazing.

Even better is the second single, “Vocal.”  This is a more traditional pop song but still has a energetic beat. For longtime Pet Heads, it’ll remind you both lyrically and musically of 1989’s underrated single “It’s Alright.”  Hopeful, optimistic, and a song you can dance to. Great stuff.

Electric comes out in July. I’ll be buying it.

It’s only the beginning of June but I can tell you there will be no better album released this year than the debut album of Sweden’s Ixtahuele, Pagan Rites. The band plays Martin Denny-style Exotica music and interestingly the album contains only original songs. Covers are a staple of the genre, so an album of only originals is rare. What’s even more unusual is that these originals are all excellent. The sound is crisp and the band eschews synthesizers and other electronic instrumentation that has crept into many “exotica” records over the past decade.

What Ixtahuele have done is created a sound so similar to the old Martin Denny records that if you played this and said it was a “lost album” by Denny and his group you’d be hard pressed to argue. Not that what Ixtahuele is doing is merely copying the old master. Indeed, it’s refreshing to see a band play the style of music “straight” without trying to slipstream on the ambient or electronic or lounge or burlesque trends that are cousins to the classic “tiki exotica” that Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman, and Robert Drasnin made famous in the 1950s.

As with all great Exotica records, there are a mix of styles represented on Pagan Rites. “Gardens of Mu” is a mellow mix of piano and vibes. “Lotus Eaters” features an “oriental” piano riff while “Orust Luau” features Latin rhythms. The opening track “Black Sand” features animal sounds that would fit in on any Denny album. And “Stone Gods of Bimini” includes chanting and a great percussion break. In other words, all the subgenres that made classic Exotica albums portals into fantastic places real or imagined.

Not everything’s perfect with Ixtahuele, starting with the name that’s fairly impossible to pronounce. And their black tie aethstetic, while a nice departure from the typical Hawaiian shirt motif still is incongruous with the music being played. Still, minor quibbles overall.

The reason this is album of the year is that amongst it’s genre, it’s quite easily the best album in at least five years. And honestly I can see myself putting this on the shelf next to classics by Denny, Lyman, Drasnin, Gene Rains, and Les Baxter and feeling like this belongs in the canon.