Author: HalouFormat: ImportRelease Date: 23-10-2001Details: Amazon.ca On their second album, Wiser, San Francisco's Halou display respect for the conventions of trip-hop while subtly twisting them. Able to shift convincingly from the distorted beats of "Before There Was Color" to the quiet, barely pulsing assurances of "Oceanside," the trio uses that flexibility to make a dreamy, intriguingly paced album that doesn't ignore the music's spikier implications. Rebecca Coseboom's vocals occasionally suggest Garbage's Shirley Manson (the buzzing title track in which she spies "assholes everywhere") and Portishead's Beth Gibbons ("Political"), but ultimately stand as her own thing; by the last few cuts, she's all but whispering in your ear. Even her repetition of the simple question, "How does it feel to know that you are loved so much?" (on "I'll Carry You") eventually moves from calming to something much less definable. The wash of My Bloody Valentine-style guitars on "We Only Love You" adds to the sense of a topsy-turvy ride. More ethereal than romantic, Halou's sound nonetheless gets under your skin. --Rickey WrightUPC: 067003023429EAN: 0067003023429Languages: EnglishBinding: Audio CDItem Condition: New
