Colleen
Colleen et les Boîtes à Musique
Leaf 2006

01. John Levers the Ratchet
02. What Is a Componium? - Part 1
03. Charles's Birthday Card
04. Will You Gamelan for Me?
05. Under the Roof
06. What Is a Componium? - Part 2
07. A Bear Is Trapped
08. Please Gamelan Again
09. Your Heart Is So Loud
10. Calypso in a Box
11. Bicycle Bells
12. Happiness Nuggets
13. I'll Read You a Story

Originally recorded for Radio France Culture's "Atelier de Création Radiophonique", this is composed entirely using music boxes ("boîtes à musique") - from miniatures hidden in 1940s birthday cards to large Victorian ones. Colleen alters them, re-samples and affects their pitch/delay, sometimes jacking so well that they resemble other instruments (harps, xylophones), but her approach remains esentially the same: piling layers of chimes into something mind-pleasing and ear-tickling. It's a clever trick, and although I don't listen to much music that's so flagrantly cute, I can accept it coming from an orchestra of music boxes, which connotes cuteness anyway. Besides, if music is cute, cuteness is rarely the only aspect of it I like, and on this EP, Colleen gives plenty to focus on.

Very generous.

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