Name: La Variete
Brand: Cherry Red (UK)
SKU: 1380897
Availability: OutOfStock

La Variete

Rating

Album: La Variete
#	Song Title	Time
1)	End of the Affair, The
2)	Weekend Stroll
3)	Summerdays
4)	Carnival Headache
5)	Drum Beat for Baby
6)	Life in the Day Of..., Pt. 1, A
7)	Life in the Day Of..., Pt. 2, A
8)	Sleepy Theory
9)	Woman's Eyes
10)	Weekend Off
11)	Red Planes
12)	Nostalgia
13)	Red Planes
14)	Nostalgia
15)	Summerdays
16)	View from Her Room, A
17)	Leaves of Spring
18)	Past Meets Present
19)	Midnight Slows
20)	Drum Beat for Baby
21)	Drumbeat for Baby

Album: La Variete
#	Song Title	Time
1)	End of the Affair, The
2)	Weekend Stroll
3)	Summerdays
4)	Carnival Headache
5)	Drum Beat for Baby
6)	Life in the Day Of..., Pt. 1, A
7)	Life in the Day Of..., Pt. 2, A
8)	Sleepy Theory
9)	Woman's Eyes
10)	Weekend Off
11)	Red Planes
12)	Nostalgia
13)	Red Planes
14)	Nostalgia
15)	Summerdays
16)	View from Her Room, A
17)	Leaves of Spring
18)	Past Meets Present
19)	Midnight Slows
20)	Drum Beat for Baby
21)	Drumbeat for Baby

Performer Notes

CD contains 4 bonus tracks.
Personnel: Alison Statton (vocals); Spike (guitar, viola, strings); Simon Booth (guitar); Dave Harwood (violin, strings, double bass); Larry Stabbins (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Olaf Vas (baritone saxophone); Harry Beckett (flugelhorn); Annie Whitehead (trombone); Salah Dawson Miller (percussion).
Audio Mixer: Norman Mighell.
Liner Note Authors: Spike; Simon Booth; Alison Statton.
Recording information: Power Plant Studio, Weillesden (07/1982-08/1982).
Author: Alison Statton.
Arrangers: Spike; Simon Booth; Simon Jeffes; Weekend; Alison Statton.
The airy arrangements and exotic rhythms throughout La Variet‚ sound like low-budget approximations of Antonio Carlos Jobim, although "A Life in the Day Of...Pt. 1 & 2" is a stab at African high life, and "Nostalgia" minus the vocals could be one of U2's early instrumental B-sides. In short, the album is nothing like what you would expect from former Young Marble Giants vocalist Alison Statton, excepting the song "Drum Beat for Baby," which mimics the unique sound of her previous band. Interestingly, Young Marble Giants' main man Stuart Moxham has nothing to do with that track, but he and his brother Phil contribute a couple of compositions, one of which is the Gist's "Carnival Headache." La Variet‚ is an impressive achievement, but is too stylistically diverse to make much sense, and at times the individual tracks seem like genre exercises. It's a bad sign that "Drum Beat for Baby," a deliberate stylistic throwback, is the strongest cut on the album. ~ Greg Adams

Professional Reviews

Mojo (Publisher) (p.117) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Their greatest asset was Alison Statton's singing....The LP itself has worn well, largely due to producer Robin Millar's naturalism..."