‹ A Slew of Featurettes from Burn After Reading •
On the Sunday Music Spotlight we’ve had lots of groups who use MySpace to get the word out. We’ve even had groups whose members live in different countries. But Smile Down Upon Us ups the ante a bit. Not only do they use MySpace for publicity, they actually MET on MySpace. And not only do they live in different countries, they live on opposite ends of the world, and they’ve never actually met face-to-face. Yes, that’s right, they’ve never met in person. They’re truly the epitome of the possibilities collaboration via the internet. Oh yeah, and their music is good too.
The tale of this internet-age collaboration begins in London. Keiron Phelan, part of the duo Phelan Sheppard, had a little time on his hands while his partner, David Sheppard, was off writing a book. While poking around MySpace he found Japanese artist moomLooo and was impressed enough with her work to drop her a line. She wrote him back and the two started exchanging ideas. He wrestled Sheppard away from his Brian Eno biography and into a studio in the basement of a ukulele shop. They recorded tracks in ProTools and sent them off to moomLooo in Japan. She added her parts, files went back and forth, and 14 months later an album was born.
Listening to Smile Down Upon Us you’d never guess that the musicians knew nothing about each other when they created it. You would just think it was made by an eclectic band, keen on using a wide range of instruments and musical styles. This diversity adds to the distinctive vocal work moomLooo adds to the mix. She sounds at times like Bjork, able to capture a childlike innocence in her voice. The combination is full of paradoxes: it kind of sounds like other avant-garde pop groups, but manages to remain distinctive. It makes great background music, yet holds up to close listening. And it makes you want to know more about a band that doesn’t even know each other.
“My Body Continents”
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One of the more up-tempo songs on the album, “My Body Continents” showcases the layering that runs through the majority of the songs.
“Child’s Walk”
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If this song was an instrumental it would be very good. The flute, guitar, organ, and drum intro is great. But then the vocals kick in about 2 minutes in and push it from very good to great.
Videos
“A Girl of Skin Couloured Blanket”
“Rayla No Lullaby”
Links
Buy Smile Down Upon Us
Official Site
Smile Down Upon Us on MySpace
Phelan and Sheppard on MySpace
moomLooo on MySpace
