Search - Death By Chocolate :: Zap the World

Swinging pop with a surreal '60s edge

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 10/31/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"1960s London swings again on the playground of British vocalist/pop-culturist Angie Tillett and her production team at Terminal Electric Works. This sophomore swirl of pop-art builds sandcastles on obscure '60s covers, fragmentary cultural references and instrumentals that are equal parts neo-psychedelia, spy jazz, and the sort of sunshine instrumental pop resurfaced by the easy listening underground. Think of Kim Fowley, Lalo Schifrin, and Burt Bacharach bumping into Patrick McGoohan, Andy Warhol and Sid & Marty Krofft on Carnaby Street or along the Sunset Strip.The album opens with a cover of a 1967 Electric Prunes' ad for the Vox wah-wah pedal ("you can even make your guitar sound like a sitar!"), cannily inserting "Death by Chocolate" into the product's list of endorsers. The line between collage and collagist is similarly blurred by Tillett's recitation of her swinging-single shopping list to a groovy discothèque backing. Other '60s touchstones include a beat stopping refrain drawn from Dudley Moore's "Bedazzled" dialogue ("'ere, my ice lolly just melted"), an H.R. Pufnstuf song (Witchiepoo's "Zap the World") recast as a capella harmony and jazz odyssey, and a pair of titles from the British film "Smashing Time."Tillett runs through a Seussian alphabet to Ray Manzarek-like accompaniment, and pays tribute to her favorite car (Bentley Corniche), shirt (lime green fitted blouse), art (the Op art works of Bridget Riley), and cereal (Cinnamon Grahams) with short spoken pieces. The words are fanciful, the melodies effervescent, and the result is as seductive as candy."

Death By Chocolate. 60's kisch meets poetry

Wickerlove | Canada | 06/13/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Death By Chocolate is almost a harsh name to represent this type of music, perhaps 'living through caramel' would be more appropriate. The sound basically intertwines the poetic musings of Angela Faye Tillett with kischy 60's grooves, a combination of Stereolab's melodic doo-wop harmonies, The Bees/The High Llamas' retro experimentalism, with a touch of Japanese cheekiness, eg, Pizzicato Five. Glossing over this is the tinted haze of 60's soundtracks, complete with cheezy keyboards, a boxed yet cheery colorful sound. I must admit, although interesting, I'm not exactly a fan of the spoken-word vignettes which dominate half the CD, yet the strength of the music itself is a creative force making it worth a listen. Think beat poetry meets Russ Meyer soundtracks meets Rainbow Quartz label bands."

Strange but tasty retro-ironic pop candy

Scott R. Fordin | NH, USA | 06/21/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's mod London in the 60s! No, wait, it's making fun of mod London in the 60s. But it's not that either... It's an interesting retro-pop album with a happy sense of irony and humor, and it'll alternately keep you engaged, toe tapping, and/or convinced that Ms. Angie Tillett is both precociously clever and quite bonkers. It's candy, philosophy, poetry, the phone book, and psychedelia mixed into fluffy little bits. Very enjoyable, though not necessarily good for you..."