AK-Momo
- Return To N.Y. -
A Hidden Agenda Record
Download
the mp3 for "Women
To Control".
Gorgeous
debut by duo comprised of AK von Malmborg on
Vocals, Optigan, and Whistling and Mattias Olsson (Nanook
Of The North, Pineforest
Crunch, Änglagård,
etc.) on Optigan, Mellotron, and Orchestran. Recorded at
Mattias' Roth Händle studio
in Stockholm. A positively spellbinding outing highly recommended
to fans of Portishead, Massive Attack, and Kate Bush.
Reviews:
Splendid: "At first, Return To New York
sounds like a mashup project of a decidedly niche variety,
combining Kate
Bush's
tone and
phrasing with the "antique beat" style popularized
by The Real Tuesday Weld...In the end, then, Return's pervasive
feeling of intimacy will keep you coming back for more. The
sensuality of AK's voice, the perfect pairing of rich and delicate
synth tones with her breathy declarations, is impossible to
resist." [read the whole review]
Aversion: "A
pop act equally obsessed with vintage synthesizers as modern
electronic production tweaking, as infatuated with
playful, near-calypso shuffle as Portishead tripped-out soundscapes
might sound like an absurdist fantasy, but Swedes AK-Momo show
the formula works surprisingly well on the duo’s debut." [read
the whole review]
Fufkin.com:"Sounds
a lot like Kate Bush if she decided to sing jazz, backed
only by odd electronic instruments -- the mellotron,
orchestron, and everyone's favorite Mattel instrument, the
Optigan."
UR
Chicago: "AK-Momo's
Return To NY conjures images of Vaudevillian spectacle.
Composed entirely on creaky vintage electronics optigon,
mellotron and orchestron this collection of songs has
a singular quality of weird beauty. The title and frequent
New York references, however, are a little misleading
given
vocalist Anna Karin von Malmborg and multi-instrumentalist
Mattias Olsson hail from Stockholm, Sweden. Authentic
New Yorkers or not, this duo's debut is an unusual
gem: subtle, innovative and strange. Olsson and von
Malmborg
have woven delicate pop around a framework of electronics
that seem to constantly waver on the edge of discord.
Von Malmborg sings with an impossibly clear and high
voice,
yet manages to sound passionate, and, at times, powerful.
Over normal rock or pop music, the baby-doll act can
get pretty grating, but combined with the breathy mellotron,
it lends a sweet and bizarre sophistication.
Von Malmborg often uses that sweetness to set the listener up with a certain
expectation, only to subvert it moments later. On "Women To Control" her
vocals are perfectly feminine and demure, but when she reaches the soaring chorus, "You
want women to control/To fit into an old-fashioned role," it's clear she's
not one of those women. Still, the discontinuity between von Malmborg's childish
voice and worldly lyrics is sometimes a bit jarring, especially on "Only
The Stars," which pits her innocent-sounding intonations against blatantly
sexual references.
But weird moments like that are what make this album unique, and AK-Momo
proves you don't have to scream, threaten or curse to be heard loud and clear." (Adele
Nicholas)
Quotes
floating around in the blog-o-sphere…
"If you liked last year's cocorosie project, then you'll
undoubtedly love this new duo from sweden. their press references
an astonishing list of artists (some of which actually do stand
up): joanna newsom, goldfrapp, bjork, katebush, portishead,
and massive attack. much of the album uses vintage equipment,
and they namecheck the optigan, mellotron and the orchestran.
highly recommended." [Fat Planet]
"AK-MOMO fall into the postmodern camp, setting their
beautiful lullabies to a distant backdrop of vintage optigans
and melotrons that imply a nostalgic past. It's like the musical
equivalent of Guy Maddin's vaseline-lensed movies (ie, The
Saddest Music In The World), but less academic and more poignant." [Fluxblog]
"The vocalist does sound very Kate Bush, and a lot of
the songs have a vaguely noir feel, though the instrumentation
is dinkier than Portishead's (that's not an insult...AK-Momo
are putting the Optigan to good use)." [Mystical Beast]
"It's a sex-wooze kind of record, reminiscent of Felt
Mountain era Goldfrapp: lilting vocals, mellotron flushes and
oodles of scratchy Optigan (seems a lot of this instrument
around at the moment...where do they all get them?)" [An
Idiot's Guide To Dreaming]
From Mattias:
I met AK at the bar Debaser late July
2003. We didn´t really know each other but had met
on several occasions due to mutual friends. We decided there
and then that we should try to record something just for
fun. She told me that she had been working with putting music
to film and that she studied video art so I kind of took
for granted that we would be doing something airy and ambient
or perhaps screamy and distorted…
When we first started I thought it might be a good idea
to show her some of the sounds that I usually work with
and
amongst them was of course the Optigan. She became super
enthusiatic and we started fiddling around with the disc
Classic guitar in 4/4 and within 30 minutes from inserting
the disc we had recorded Greasy spoon. After that I showed
her the Mellotron and did some reverse flute playing. The
next track we recorded was using the romantic strings disc
and we spent a bit more time on that because of the vocal
arrangemnt in the choruses.
We didn´t think too much of it at first. It was just
for plain fun but we booked in a couple of more afternoons
and realized pretty fast that we weren´t making a " demo " or
just noodling…We were making an album…and after
five afternoons we actually had. All the songs were written
there and then. AK had some snippets of lyrics cut
up and ready to go but with no musical framing.
In August AK went back to London and I got back to
my ordinary work with my bands…But in November/december
I started finishing it up…adding some Mellotron and Orchestron
and mixing of course.
One might wonder why this idea didn´t surface earlier
but I think that it has a lot to do with vocal textures and
fitting other sounds around the Optigan. AK's voice
fitted very well in with the Optigan and Mellotron which gave
everything a profile and face more than just some weird collage
typed mess.
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