Stars indeed - In this wonderful ensemble, the light hearted approach is delicately balanced with a well sought after deepness: read much emotion, dreamy come downs, a detailed atmospheric touch and at the same time the broad level dream-like moments which leave you wandering in a gentle grace. The vocals are delicate but also touching and crisp. It does have the trip hop edge but will never deter the new comers (much softer than Massive Attack s rawness or Portishead s angst). If you are familiar with Zero 7 s ingenious melodies, this will speak to you. This performance is classic and modern: pop (Elvis, Waiting, Portable living room, gorgeous male vocal ballads, Silver light female whispers caressed by washed out cords), almost tending towards R&B at times (Vers toi which has a Smokey Robinson feel) and avant-garde (As far as you can, I just wanna make you with modern rhythmic timed by piano, Saturn in the rain psychedelic-like waves and steady drum beats). It is the most recommendable of their discography for those who are not familiar with Alpha (Come from Heaven is more trip hop heavy and Impossible thrill has a fuzzier musicality to it). The tunes convey a timeliness melody, readily accessible but to which you always come back to and discover new pleasures: Blue Autumn a catchy female haunt, a melancholic ballad cooing itself to you, is the firmament of a stargazing gem.
a true star drifter - This band has all the elements of spacey yet folkish drifting into the universe kinda sound it is worth the listen and the time to drift into this kind of beat a good album.
Welcome return to form - This CD is very close in quality to Come From Heaven. I had pretty much given up on them after the intervening albums. Still, as good as it is, you have to wonder where they go from here. I really have enough of the ultra cool side of trip hop on my play list now, would I really care about another repeat of this?
Landmark record - I didn t hear of Alpha, until I saw the film, My Life Without Me. Their song, Sometime Later (from the ComeFromHeaven release) played during the credits. It took me a while to discover this, since the film does not have a soundtrack. Their music is somewhat hard to find in conventional music stores, like Best Buy. All I could find was a used copy of Stargazing at an independent record shop. I purchased it immediately, since I had read so may great reviews about it. This group reminds one of Air. Two arrangers/songwriters with an assortment of singers/musicians, and like Air, it makes for incredible background music. You can read a book, clean the house, have a drink with some friends, spend some quality time with a lover and it totally enhances the environment. I ve had several friends ask, Who is this playing? Dreamy, spacey lounge music. I would compare it to jazz, since it is relaxing, yet invigorating. The immediate stand out tracks are Once Around Town and Elvis. Many critics call this music Trip-Hop, which is no surprise since they were signed to the same label as Massive Attack, who are believed to be responsible for beginning the genre. This is the only similarity though.Overall, this is great stuff! If you are interested in this band, I would definitely start with this record. Buy it used, buy it new. You won t be disappointed.
Gazing at the stars and beyond> - The Alpha team has improved on they signature sound with Stargazing , their lastest release which is really a concept album, maintaining a constant theme of yearning for affection among the constellations. I may be looking too deep into this album, but to put it simply, Stargazing is easy listening with occassional momments of quirky fun. Martin Barnard s voice and delivery has improved here on haunting tracks like Lipstick from the Asylum (one of my favorites), Saturn in Rain and Portable Living Room . On Alpha s previous releases Barnard tended to vare off into over emoting crescendos but here he has shown restraint. New coming Kelvin Swaybe is to Alpha as Horace Andy is to Massive Attack, lending his soulful voice that reminds me of oldschool R&B and soul. I think the male vocalist stand out more on this album, where as the female vocalist, Wendy Stubbs and Helen White, tended to stand out more on Come from Heaven and Impossible Thrill , or maybe it just seems that way because Barnard has improved and the addition of Swaybe. Yet Stubbs once around town, & silver light and White s Blue Autumn are bright and sweeping. Thanks again to the dynamic duo of Jenk and Dingley for their amazing musical talents, setting a particular mood and tone to ditinguish each vocalist. Their production is slick and layered and never monotonous, blending in each track nicely as they go from hypnotic swirls to epic soundscapes, to moody blues then quirky & bouncy instrumentals with ease. Fans of Alpha will love this blissful album and I think this is most accessable to new comers. If you are new to Alpha it is safe to start with Stargazing then go back to there dreamy first lp Come From Heaven , then complete your collection with the meandering Impossoble Thrill if you want. If you re looking for smart, mellow Trip-hop you ll enjoy Stargazing till the Perfect End.