Telepopmusik - Angel Milk
Published March 23, 2005
| Grade: B | Genre:
Trip Hop
Summary: Angel Milk is music to calm the nerves. It's that sound you hear in the background of a trendy coffee shop that evens the mood and has you in your own world. | |
If you think you've never heard of Telepopmusik, chances are you've seen the Mitsubishi SUV commercial featuring the hypnotic, "Just Breathe." The beautiful and multi-layered club mix generated ample buzz and garnered new fans for the French Trio of Fabrice Dumont, Stephan Haeri (aka 2Square), and Christophe Hetier (aka Antipop).
Telepopmusik is back with a new album, Angel Milk, focusing more on their strengths of melody and airy voices while taking a step back to honor the influential sounds of Blues and Big Band Jazz.
2002's Genetic World never could live up to the hype that "Just Breathe" showered onto them. It lost track of the sound that attracted so many new listeners. There downfall was too much British Rap and spoken word and not enough of the Billie Holiday-esque singing that perfectly fit their sound.
Angel Milk is a lesson learned as Telepopmusik answers the critics who said they couldn't move past "Breathe." The first track "Don't Look Back" lulls us into submission and has us in a trance. A lover's command to move forward and to not look back suggests a time to move on. "Breathe" is over and life continues.
The album's anthem of love and empowerment continues on through "Into Everything," but then takes an interesting turn with "Love's Almighty" which sounds more like something that would be fitting of James Bond when he had that 60s swagger.
Of course, it's hard to let go of bad habits as evident with the forgettable rap stylings of "Hollywood on my Toothpaste" and "Last Train to Anywhere" which take us nowhere. Don't worry, Angel Milk quickly gets back on track, and induces blissful peace to calm the soul.
Had it not been for the last two tracks, Angel Milk would have received higher marks for Telepopmusik. After telling us that "we're on our own and to have fun," "Another Day" goes silent a quarter of the way through and leads into "15 minutes" of more silence. The brief spoken verse about meditation symbolized by "flying," which intros "15 minutes," sounds more pretentious than profound and has no place on the album. If it makes sense to you, please explain it to me by leaving a comment at the end of the page.
Angel Milk is music to calm the nerves. It's that sound you hear in the background of a trendy coffee shop that evens the mood and has you in your own world.
Be sure to add it to your "Chill" collection.
For more music critiques by this reviewer, please visit PM Media Review.
- Telepopmusik - Angel Milk
- Published: March 23, 2005
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Electronica
- Writer: Patrick Vu
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Comments
Amazing what selling "just breathe" to the Mitusbishi commercial, did for this band.
It turned them from a dime-a-dozen band into hotly anticipated act. A lot of bands are going to look at this and really reconsider whether they will sell their music for corporate advertising.
PErsonally I don't like when they do because I feel like it cheapens the music and from that point on I don't associate it with my world, but with the world of that commercial. I hate that, everytime I play "breathe" I think of it as a car commercial song.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I still think of the Mitsubishi Commercial as well. Although the practice has become more and more acceptable over the passed few years and always gives me a new band to look into. The line between "selling out" and spreading new music has become a bit skewed, hasn't it?
Agreed, I was gonna mention that as well.
I spend alot of time looking into new music so I haven't disconvered so many bands through advertisments, as I have recognized alot of great band's music on advertisments.
Spiritualized, Air, Gomez, Teleopopmusak, nick drake, red house painters, and on and on...
Now with "the O.C." television series, there is even more corporate sellouts, yet the music is undeniably good, and many kids are finding this to be thier introduction to good music.
I've re-evealuated my take on the whole mix between music and commercial enterprise. haven't made a decision either way....
I'm intruding here to let you know I posted your review of this to the Advance.net Web sites.
The review can be found at a few different places on the Advance network around the country, but here's one of them.
Thank you
- Temple Stark
hi, this is angela from telepopmusik and i keep coming across a lot of people with comments about bands selling out to commercials..i myself have always hated the practise especially when it is for something really horrific like air freshner ....telepop really did hold out and turned down so many massive commercials for ads like merril lynch etc..the mitsibushi had already been very supportive of using new music and as it was a car commercial well shot and fun to look at it didnt quite drag up the ususal comparisons of sellingout to toothpaste or something..it was kinda more sexy ..cars and girls ...blah blah..
here's the stunning truth most of us are forced to do this as right now i wouldnt be sitting in tel aviv working wiith telepop to start a tour as we would have sold maybe 20 ooo records instead of 300 ooo that the commercial helped to sell....the sad fact is there is no such thingas a music business any more..its over ..finito and done...its filled with bean counters who need to make every penny back they've spent on promotion usually within the first three months of record coming out ..this only happens once evry hundred years with a record like Nora Jones...even Moby would have sold next to nothing without the commercial...sting should be ashamed of himself...selling out when he has more money than god ,,,,there is a limit i think...the simple truth is without mitsibushi helping us as they did and dirty vegas we'd all be working in bars and you wouldnt have the luxury of reviewong a second album...sad but true..there is no mtv anymore its all hideous mind numbing reality shows and hip hop....thats it
we have to use commercials like a video opportunity for the band ....all we can wish for is that there is some integrity attached to the product..mitsibushi were fantastic and even invited us to do a big show in puerto rico and made sure all their clients knew who we were..
A big high five to them is what i say ,,,and to all other commercials supporting new music and keepinng it alive .....and us to keep make music
sincerely angela mccluskey
telepopmusik
"We have to use commercials like a video opportunity for the band." That's a very interesting thought, Angela. You're right, you can't find videos on MTV anymore, so commercials are a good source to discover new bands. Just recently I discovered Citizen Pope through a Pontiac commercial and am addicted. Like you, I was also bittered towards bands that took part in this practice. However, these days, because it's become so common, I'm able find a good chunk of new music through this medium. As you said, as long as there is some integrity and that corporate America respects the artist's work so as to not stip it of it's credibility, then I'm all for it...as long as you're not bombarded with it like you were by U2's Vertigo/iPod :) I'm glad you and Telepopmusik have been able to better your lives and work because of it. Let us know when you guys are coming to Atlanta, GA.
Oops, that's Citizen Cope not Pope. Sorry about that, Clarence :)
its very sad that people think that "just breathe" could overshadow the potent melody and beautiful mixture of sounds that create telepopmusik's other songs. its not one single track that makes the group or its cd's. its the art of each having its single sound , yet mixing and colliding with ease and beauty with the rest.





about the "15 minutes". Do you now this citation of a french autor "after a mozart symphony, the silence wich follows is again of mozart" :) beautifull, no?
(maybe the translation of the citation is not correct but you understqnd the sens no?)