As you all may know, we went to see Blue Man Group about a month ago at the Shrine in LA --- one of the opening acts was named Venus Hum --- they struck my curiosity because I had never seen a band come out with the only instruments being TWO, yeah that's right, TWO keyboards and a PowerBook --- talk about the Dawn of Kraftwerk --- well, this trio's music may just be some of the most fun, upbeat music I've heard in a long time --- oh yeah, and they aren't from Finland or some small European techno producing nation --- they're from NASHVILLE, who knew
Venus Hum - Big Beautiful Sky: A-
It's hard to really get your mind and terms around this band --- you listen to them and go, hey this is pretty easy to listen to and has many good and easy hooks and groove (that you can expect from a group that is synth and keys driven, I suppose) --- I think that this is somehow part of my personal reapprochment to the new wave 80s and 90s electronica that I had distanced myself from for the better part of a decade
This is not a disc where you have to invest large amounts of time listening to go, hey this is darn catchy --- I suppose, what it really comes down to is one's tolerance for electronic music --- if you are like my gf, you think this is manna from heaven, and excellent music indeed --- if you are more like me, you can appreciate the inherent goodness of the music, but it's maybe not something you want to listen to everyday
The thing that is most noticeable besides the grooving electronica is the excellence of the vocalist Annette Strean --- if you think Amy from Evanescence or even Tori Amos is just the bee's knees and could not be better, you need to check out this group --- Annette's vocals are mostly ethereal but she can bring down the house with power at times too, and really shines on "Wordless May" and "Alice"
The music is wonderfully diverse, from excellent electronic dance pop tracks like "Hummingbirds", "Montana", "Soul Sloshing" and "Sonic Boom" (which is amazing live), which are all great dance tracks but not stereotypically frenetic (choosing groove over dynamics) --- this reviewer really likes the Depeche Modesque "Lumberjacks", and the slower numbers like "Springtime #2", "Honey", and "Bella Luna" --- which are just really tonally amazing to listen to without the overdo that most electronic bands tend to wallow in when doing ambient music --- and if you want complexity and richness, "Beautiful Spain" and "The Bells" are some of the most lush sounding, sweeping slow tempo compositions in the genre hands down
The question that fills my mind everytime that I listen to it is: What is this band about? They are far more complex than your normal run of the mill dance or electronic fare --- their lead vocalist is simply amazing --- the influences of this CD are many, varied, and add a certain richness and replayability to it -- even though I'm not the biggest electronic fan in the world, I must admit that this CD is simply amazing to listen to
Made with a Mac, ha --- enjoyable to most
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