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"Côte d'Azoour..."Oh, the shapes that mouth must be making to produce such lucious vowels.Performed on a Paris sidewalk on a sunny afternoon.
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The Divine Comedy
Victory for the Comic Muse
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AMG Review of Victory for the Comic Muse
Tim DiGravina
All Music GuideTo say that any Divine Comedy album feels calculated is somewhat pointless, given that Neil Hannon's cheeky musical alter ego is a nostalgic figure caught in a 1930s time warp to begin with. It's all about affection, as it were. And Victory for the Comic Muse is almost mathematical in its calculation: open with a jaunty number to get the audience excited; slow it down for four consecutive reflective allads to suggest maturity; split the album in half with a piano instrumental like an old movie intermission; inject some life into the proceedings with four sprightly, comic selections; and close with a tearjerker. Such a structure means the album feels like two separate entities, almost like two EP collections jammed together representing two distinctly different phases of Hannon's career. The ELO-like opener, "To Die a Virgin," seems to be another stab at "Generation Sex" territory, right down to its Fellini-esque opening samples. The slower numbers that follow are pleasant enough, with some alternately witty and touching lyrics. The second half starts with some welcome drive, as Hannon tackles the Associates song "Party Fears Two" with whimsical aplomb. "Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World" presents the early Hannon eye twinkle and is reminiscent of previous creations like "Bernice Bobs Her Hair." Here Hannon suggests he needs a TV investigation just to understand his girlfriend. Victory for the Comic Muse has funny moments, sad asides, and some of the now standard Nyman minimalist moments, although there are stronger entries in the Divine Comedy's overall discography.
Most Sinful Lips
I Tweet the Tunes
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I have been listening to music -- really, well and truly -- but all of that evidence is on my Twitter feed. So, today, I've gone from morose......to wistfully day-dreamy.You see, the boyfriend nearly set the kitchen on fire. Again. He doesn't learn well. Heart of gold, but still.So I plugged New Order into Pandora and had about a morning of that before shifting gears to Neil Hannon. I may not h...
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MOG it up!
A Pre-Shore Mix
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Today's been a fog: yesterday evening, I was wrestling with stuffed ears and a foul mood. A dram of Laphroiag and a good night's sleep later, the mood has improved but the mind is still checked out. Well, mood is still touched a bit from relationship frustrations. Call this an allergy-boyfriend hangover.So I'm trying to remind myself that we'll be taking a few days off and going to the bungalow ne
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MOG it up!
Most Sinful Lips
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"Côte d'Azoour..."Oh, the shapes that mouth must be making to produce such lucious vowels.Performed on a Paris sidewalk on a sunny afternoon.
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To Die A Virgin
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Caught this track from The Divine Comedy on Later... the way I seem to be getting new(?) music lately (other than Rhapsody and my Mog-droogies, natch) and was digging it instantly.Anyone ever catch Neil and any of the band's incarnations live?
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HOORAY!
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I can't stop listening to this song! It's quirky, hilarious and fun. Not to mention The Divine Comedy has got madd skillz and dude can sing. They had a competition for fans to create their own video for this song and this is my favorite, even with the creepy Robert Palmer "Addicted to Love" parts. Go to Hypemachine to find this track and others. I was quite surprised to learn that this band has...
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 "Victory for the Comic Muse")
