Moving Pictures
Joie De Vivre
Shelflife/Harmony
Whoa. To paraphrase Martin Popoff quoting Grave Digger, here I stand, outta my depths, faced with the task of critiquing Moving Pictures’ ever-so-twee Joie De Vivre. Truly, Joie De Vivre is one of those annual records where this writer feels wholly and uncomfortably unqualified to analyze the contents enclosed. And those contents? Largely unplugged (with the occasional keyboard or handclap) cutesy pop with a sprightly female fairy at the mic stand, the eight-song/17-minute mini-album making Frente! sound like power violence. Again, whoa. But is it any good? Hell if I know. I mean, you’re asking a guy who listens to bands with names like Hellhammer, Rotting Christ, and Disembowlment, fer chrissakes. So, I “get” • and actually dig, go figure • Belle And Sebastian’s chamber-pop, but this• well, what do you expect from a record with cross-stitching on its cover? Calling my mom•
Shelflife, 38 St. Marks Place #3, Brooklyn, NY 11217; http://www.shelflife.com
