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The Winston Giles OrchestraSoundtracks For Sunrise Playup Music/MRA Although somewhat maligned throughout the 'eighties, and relegated curiously to one-hit-wonder status by the mid-'nineties, it seemed obvious by the time they released 'The Soft Bulletin' in 1999 that The Flaming Lips would one day become one of the world's most influential bands. And certainly the 'Lips, and in particular the larger-than-life techniques of long-time producer Dave Fridmann (who has also worked with Mercury Rev and Mogwai), has been a rather sizeable influence on The Winston Giles Orchestra. With 'Soundtracks For Sunrise', Giles has taken the sound of 2002's 'Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots', removed a large part of that band's numerous peculiarities, and delivered a mostly synthesised record of orchestral happiness. While the album makes a decent soundtrack as a whole, to look at each track individually may miss the point. Of course, it would be remiss of me not to point out that Welcome To The Hotel could actually be a Flaming Lips song (perhaps Buggin', with a few subtle alterations), and that the strange sample at the front of A Little Song, presumably derived from a children's music lesson, is really, really irritating. The rest of the album does its job quite well, but only rarely invites itself to be examined in any more than a purely superficial manner. So, purely superficially, 'Soundtracks For Sunrise' is an impressive and very listener-friendly piece of work; the kind of music that leaks through your brain into your other senses. You can almost see this music; you can even almost smell it. Pick the right moment, and you won't be disappointed.  |
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