Trouble Over Tokyo - Pyramides
Schoenwetter Schallplattent, 2008
Somewhere out there in an alternate universe, the bassist from Radiohead (Colin Greenwood) came into the recording studio, where Thom Yorke was playing a dead kipper to the band, and said, “Haha! Hey, guys, guess what I just heard!? Some British indie tosser is going to record an album with Justin Timberlake!” and then the whole band laughed at the ridiculousness of the idea. But the bassist from Radiohead (Colin Greenwood), whilst clutching at his sides, lest they split, caught a glimpse of Thom’s eyes and saw the humiliation and embarrassment that tore through them, and then he knew. He knew. Not for the first time, Thom’s timid nature cost him an unique collaboration, and the world of music suffered just that little bit (although, admittedly, not much.)
Luckily enough, there are many alternate universes, and in one of them Thom Yorke and Justin Timberlake were involved in a horrific genetic accident a la The Fly and came out melded in some glorious pop mutation. Also, they were Belgian (but singing in English and living in London) and named Christopher “Toph” Taylor. Science does that sometimes.
Trouble Over Tokyo, then, is the name of Taylor’s project. It takes the introspective nature of British indie, dabs in electronica-goodness and slathers a good helping of thumping beats, falsetto vocals and generally amazingly pop sensibilities (from Belgium. Again, science). Pyramides is a hard album to place: Save Us starts out like an outtake from The Eraser, with a simple piano melody played out over electric drumbeats. Taylor’s voice is strangely powerful here, especially on the second verse—probably one of the most emotive vocals laid down in the past year. But by the time you get there, something in the back of your head is thinking, “this ain’t quite raite, lads.” All you wanted was a nice album containing indie-ballads about a man who likes a lady, and maybe some gentle ‘la-ing’ would be nice too. The first two tracks have pretty much delivered that, although you’re wondering why you’re compelled to twitch your body so much. Then The Liar strikes in with a violent violin intro and swooping vocals, track three, and here’s the chorus with jerky singing, layed vocals, echos, dancing bass, off-beat dru—shit, we’ve been had, guys, this is a fucking pop album.
Once you’ve reached that point, you might as well give in. Taylor certainly does. By the time we reach My Anxiety (containing some of the finest “whoops” ever caught on record) the record has become a self-parody of angsty R&B. Digital melancholia. A slice of pop pie coupled with the cream of depression. Because, if there was one thing to make Trouble Over Tokyo’s alternate universe collapse into our world, it must’ve been all this angst. On the first few tracks it’s barely noticeable. It becomes annoying around My Anxiety but that track’s so deliriously fun with it, so you can forgive it. But by the end of it, you just want to hug the poor guy and buy him an ice-cream and tell him to forget about the poor girl. This is an album where you’ll probably stop listening around track 7, only to come back later and accidentally here those last few songs and realise they’re just as good. But it’s such a tiring journey to get there, what with all this torment.
It’s by no means a perfect album. Slotting as it does between Thom Yorke and Justin Timberlake, there’s always the chance that it’ll slide too far in one direction—most often in the direction of Mr. Yorke, but by that point there’s still an undercurrent of Mr. Trousersnake that the pop bits stand out like some musical Uncanny Valley. And Eyes Off Me is just that awful bit of beauty teetering on the edge of cringing embarrassment. Maybe for the next album, he’ll have a nice girlfriend who wears woolly cardigans and flowery dresses and he’ll have a song about how awesome kisses are, and this limited run will be some sort of collector’s album. I certainly hope so, because while this album never fully embraces you, it gives a lingering kiss on the cheek that makes you wistfully think, what if?
7/10
Review by David
Tracklist
1. Start Making Noise
2. Save Us
3. The Liar
4. 4,228
5. Eyes Off Me
6. Washing Away
7. My Anxiety
8. No Handed (Part II)
9. The Dark Below
10. Pyramids
