Slapp Happy — Acnalbasac Noom
(Tapete TR356, 1973/2016, CD/LP)
by Jon Davis, 2007-03-01:
by Henry Schneider, 2017-01-21:
After recording Sort Of, a second album emerged but Polydor pulled the plug and Uwe Nettelbeck signed both Faust and Slapp Happy to the burgeoning Virgin label in the UK. They re-recorded the music with UK musicians along with all the studio bells and whistles for the 1974 release Slapp Happy aka Casablanca Moon. The original tapes were buried in the vault, eventually seeing the light of day in 1980 as Acnalbasac Noom. 36 years later Tapete Records is reissuing this album as both an LP and CD with four bonus tracks on the CD. As with Sort Of, I believe that the Tapete reissue is the same as the earlier Voiceprint reissue. A big difference between Sort Of, where the vocal duties were equally shared across the disc, and Acnalbasac Noom is that Dagmar Krause sings lead on all but the bonus tracks. Dagmar’s voice is rightly noted as an acquired taste, but on Acnalbasac Noom her vocal stylings are still “mainstream” and easy on the ears, reminding me of Annisette Koppel from The Savage Rose. The songs on the album are a continuation of Anthony Moore’s take on the music of the time. The lyrics on some of the songs are so dense with words that they must have been extremely challenging to sing and be satisfied with the take. Once again there is a mixture of cabaret, Euro-pop, country rock, rockabilly, and prog rock. There is even a 16 second track of silence “Blank” that must be a reference to John Cage. The one track that seems really out of place is the bonus track “Everybody’s Slimmin’.” This is a pseudo-disco / New Wave / Hip Hop / Rap song with crazy twisted lyrics with a great dance beat, somewhat in the style of M and “Pop Music.” Of these two albums, Sort Of is the better. While not an essential album from the early 70s, any fan of Slapp Happy, Henry Cow, Art Bears, etc. would find Acnalbasac Noom a welcome addition to their collection.
Filed under: Reissues , 2016 releases, 1973 releases
Related artist(s): Peter Blegvad, Anthony Moore, Slapp Happy
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