Oh dear God, I love this record. I saw the cover and thought “What is that ?” and then never got any further with it because I got flooded with other releases. If you look at the cover and think as I do, this is a record of novelty accordion covers. Well, it’s not. The moustached pimp on the front may well be Jimmy Rosso, but if he makes albums this good, he can look any way he likes. He can also marry my daughter, live in my flat and have everything I own.
Imagine a cross between Thom Yorke’s “Eraser” and James Blake (but with all the shit covers and whiny vocals removed) and you’re halfway there. Part art-electronica, part noise ballad, there isn’t a single note, sound or moment that is anything less than perfect. I don’t really know what else to say. When he wants to do beats he excels. When he wants to disappear into a heart wrenching morass of strings he does it perfectly and when he wants to sing (at any pitch) he does it perfectly. I could listen to this over and over again till the end of time and never, ever get bored. The only negative feelings I have are jealousy (because he’s not on my label) and sadness (because I can’t listen to it all the time). It will join a rarified selection of albums that I, somewhat perversely, will refuse to listen to more than once or twice a year, so that I never, ever get bored of them and they will always sound as brilliant as the day I first heard them.
There is only one thing I have to say as criticism. Jimmy Rosso has no web presence other than on MySpace. As I explained to the mysterious owner of Bearsuit Records, this is a little like writing a note saying “I quite like music”, then putting the note in a bottle and flushing that bottle down the toilet. MySpace is dead and has been for years. To some extent I applaud the concept of keeping this as a private listening experience but it’s too good for that. So go and buy this album and then start eulogizing.
Kim Monaghan
[Sitting Now]
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Jimmy Rosso - "32.32"
If there is a consistent quality which identifies the output of Bearsuit Records it is a refusal to conform. Assembling musicians from around the world, it’s refreshing that independent labels continue to put out music that immediately demands your attention even if the response is not always positive. Jimmy Rosso could be described as a typical Bearsuit artist. As well being a member of punk-rock-classical collective DOLLYman, he is also a composer, cellist, keys player and vocalist. Even taking those facts into account, this electronica-based release is weirder than you can imagine.
‘Anything Goes’ echoes its title as shifting soundscapes merge with mournful strains of cello, distorted vocals and what sounds like a percussion section based on kitchen equipment. The songs or instrumental pieces generally work better when there’s at least one instrument maintaining consistency. ‘Undone’ has such a clarity about it, chiefly thanks to its melancholic cello melody keeping it afloat, ‘Held’ bubbles with mystery courtesy of eerie glitchy beats and atmospherics whilst the brilliant final song ‘Home’ is unusually old-fashioned, warm and comforting. On the flipside of the coin, not even a desolate sequence of piano keys can quite save ‘If There Was A Place’ from a descent into madness but the equally crazed ‘Ripped’ fares better due to its multiple layers of instruments working together in unison.
Most of these tracks work better on record than they have any right to do on paper and Rosso and his producer Owain Rich deserve immense credit for that.
[Leonard's Lair]
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Jimmy Rosso - "32.32"
Početnica za stvaranje jednostavne umjetničke glazbe. Namjenjeno svima koji znaju odsvirati barem 2-3 akorda, znaju pjevati, imaju mašte i poznaju osnove rada sa tonskim PC programima.
Londonski kompozitor, violončelist, klavijaturist i pjevač Jimmy Rosso član je punk-jazz-rock-classical benda DOLLYman. Zasebno od rada u bendu, još iz vremena kada je radio kao učitelj glazbenog odgoja, počeo je pisati solo komade za djecu da im približi pojam glazbene umjetnosti na jednostavniji i prihvatljiviji način, te je ovaj album otprilike zasnovan na tim modelima.
Mnogi bi sad tu nešto počeli filozofirati izmišljajući 'toplu vodu', no klasičarskim riječnikom rečeno, ovo je prilično banalna, ali vrlo lijepa i domišljata glazba. Spoj je klasične i elektronske pop glazbe, uistinu nije naporna niti zahtjevna za slušanje i tumačenje, te je, ruku na srce, idealna za svakog klinca u školi da mu bez ikakvih paradoksa približi stvaranje umjetničke kreacije.
10 vrlo kratkih kompozicija u rasponu od 2 do 4 minuta igra se različitim stilovima i žanrovima, pa tako uvodna "We desperately need friends" donosi plesni electro-industrial s mračnim orkestracijama i spoken-word repeticijama, a već naredna "Anything goes" lagani uvodnik u udaraljkaške egzibicije triangla i kojekakvih mikseva violončela i elektronskih samplova u dinamičkim intervalima sa produkcijski izvrnutim spoken-wordom. "Undone" je bazična tema za solo violončelo i gudački aranžman uz pjevani tekst kojeg je Rosso otpjevao školski harmonično melodijski baršunastim glasom pomalo nalik na Stinga. U drugom dijelu kompozicije nabacao je primamljivi plesni acid-jazz tempo, te potpuno izokrenuo vokale da služe nadogradnji druge melodije, a finiš je satkao od škripe, eksperimenata i škole elektro-akustike. "Heart" s gostovanjem Cress Linsday i Esther Cavett bez ikakvih problema podsjeti na neke eksperimentalne Sylvianove pop radove iz 80-ih, jedna od najduljih "Held" je bazirana na strukturnoj ambijentalnoj piano igri sa gudačima, elektronskim vokalima i ritmičnim fade-in/fade-out eksperimentarijama, dok je najkraća "Susan" (samo 1.30) spoj dubstepa i klavirske etide. "If there was a place" sa jednostavnom piano melodijom je vježba u kojoj se pokazuje način sviranja i melodičnog pjevanja, a da bi bilo intrigantnije, Rosso je u njoj nabacao cijeli kolaž elektronskih ritmova, efekata, pa čak i laganih natruha noise-harsha i prostorne psihodelije. Otprilike slična je i "Ripped" samo što je osnova bazirana na gudačku strukturu s piano minijaturama i elektronskim glasovima. Svakako najljepši komad albuma je završna "Home" prošarana piano melodijom i gudačima s ponešto staccato tehnike, himničnim tekstom, te vokalima dječjeg zbora.
S tehničke strane gledišta, ovo je vrlo jednostavan album s osnovnim glazbenim principima koji uvode u art. Nikako nije sofisticiran, ali daleko od toga da je površan, plitak ili čisto eksperimentalan. Pokazatelj je glazbenog znalca kako se radi umjetnička forma, a da se ne banaliziraju kriteriji. Uostalom, preko ovog djela djeca u školi će prije shvatiti samu poantu umjetnosti nego li preko teških i kompleksnih djela velemajstora klasične glazbe s kojima se učenike bombardira na nastavi. Eh, da sam barem ja imao ovakvog učitelja...
[Terapija]
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Jimmy Rosso is a composer, cellist, keys player, vocalist and a member of punk/jazz/rock/classical collective DOLLYman. Writes Teena Bisgrove. His experiments with electronic music began as a model for the kids he was teaching music to, which then became material for his debut album, "32.32" (BS018 - 2012).
He is also signed to the Scottish indie label, Bearsuit Records, who have built up a reputation for specializing in experimental electronica, ‘32.32’ is a perfect example of this. It is an excellent debut album...
[Amazing Tunes]
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credits
released November 18, 2012
all tracks written, performed and recorded by jimmy rosso
produced by jimmy rosso and owain rich
"heart" features a performance by cress lindsay and esther cavett
"home" features a performance by sarah bonnell junior choir
Bearsuit Records: independent label based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Artists include :
Bunny & The
Invalid Singers / Harold Nono / Ippu Mitsui / Eamon The Destroyer / Haq / Annie & The Station Orchestra / AWSTS / Ageing Children / Senji Niban / Jikan Ga Nai / Whizz Kid / Andrei Rikichi / The Moth Poets..
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