Toog
Easy Toog For Beginners
Le Grand Magistery
Oui, Oui, J’aime beaucoup les chansons de Toog! Toog, a.k.a. Gilles Weinzaepflen, plays a lovely, dreamy variety of soft electropop, a la Air crossed with Stereolab, and a sprinkle or two of Beck, for good measure; the amusing thing is that half of the lyrics are in French, while the other half come in English. It makes for an interesting mix, though, and I like the sound of French, so my opinion will probably be biased.
I could see the enchanting “Sure Le Terrain de Foot” popping up on the radio, but it would probably be French radio, which I can’t pick up anyway. This song, in particular, is contagious, with its flitty little electronic noises, warm acoustic guitar, sassy drum machine beat, and longingly delivered lyrics! The lyrics, while provided in the liner sleeve, are written in a font that has to be size -20 or something, so I can’t tell you, at all, about the content, lyrically, of these songs.
I also thoroughly enjoyed “A New Job,” which contains a repetitive vocal sample over warm bass in the beginning. The song moves to a very eerie piano line, with Toog speaking French atop the fright! Then comes a beautiful piano chorus that’s so pretty that I want to cry! This song is truly wonderful, and I am completely in love with it! “A New Job” is all over the place and completely typifies the arrangements on Easy Toog For Beginners.
If you are eccentric enough to enjoy Beck, Stereolab, Portishead, or Edith Piaf, go ahead and give Toog a try. I really enjoyed this, but again, I’m a sucker for music in French. This is a truly bizarre and unique artist, in the same was that Bjork is, so for curiosity’s sake, give this a try!
