Search - Momus :: Little Red Songbook

Controversy, Heresy, and Pop Culture

Christopher Palistrant | seattle, wa USA | 10/20/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Momus, born Nick Currie, uses antedotes from his own life to create three minute, synth/low-fi/circus fueled pop songs. On this album Momus created much controversy. Check out "Harvey K-Tel", a great homage to Harvey Keitel. Many of the songs, as in standard Momus form are paradoys of people he knows or admires. However, apparently not everyone appreciates the joke....thus the lawsuits ensue. One song, "Beethoven's Nineth" is about the transgender artist who composed the soundtrack for Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange." After a settlement totaling more than $30,000 and several lawsuits later this album is hard to come by. Whether you find yourself laughing sardonically at "I Was Born to Be Adored" or getting lost in the Warholesque-mentality of classics like "Coming In a Girl's Mouth," make sure that you pick this up while you still have the chance."

I'd like to thank everyone I have ever slept with.

Ryan Hennessy | Albany, NY | 03/12/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Perverted Scotsman Momus (Nick Currie) is here with 15 new songs for you in his style of "Analog Baroque." I can't go into the depth of this style like I can with Folktronic, but I can tell you that the style kind of originates with Walter Carlos, the man who did the film score for A Clockwork Orange. He made a record called Switched On Bach which remade a bunch of old Bach music with Moog synthesizers. It's a juxtaposition of Rococo ideas with the technology of today. Momus is the newest in a line of artists to create music in this style, although he goes about it differently. The music is hardly what I'd call baroque. It's Casio pop played on synthesized harpsicords. It ends up more like a tribute to the real analog baroque artists, trying to make something that harks back to Walter Carlos and Jean-Michel Jarre.The lyrics are obviously going to be pure Momus. As always, he aims to make you think and laugh at what you're actually thinking about. The best example of that is track 9, soon to be classic...On a less dirty part of the cd, Momus wonders what would happen if MC Escher became a rapper because he already had the name going for him. It's an extremely catchy hip hop song that more than wanders from the Analog Baroque theme. According to Momus, every MC loves rapping about how he's the best MC around, but if that were true, then each would be better than the next, and it would be like one of those MC Escher drawings of the neverending staircase.Unfortunately, with this album more than any other, Momus puts brain way ahead of body. He has the ability to branch out musically and a lot of different interesting things, as shown with Ping Pong and Stars Forever, but on this one he kind of pigeonholes himself with the Analog Baroque idea. It only gets him so far, and it gets tiresome after a few songs. Luckily, this album contains Momus' downright sexy "Born To Be Adored." Having nothing to do with analog baroque, it samples an old soul song throughout it, has a slow beat and a plainitive piano melody. Momus sings over in a quiet voice about all the reasons he's so adorable. In terms of lyrics this might be my favorite Momus song. There's lots of creative rhyming. "My favorite color is the emerald green / Chuck the football king goes when his beauty queen / comes to me when she's chucked him in / I was born to be adored by women."Unluckily, because of legal complications, you cannot buy the version of this album with "Walter Carlos" on it anymore. It's a great song about gender misidentification."

While the album is great ... important information for the b

G. Edge | Portland, OR | 09/20/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Momus is a classic musician. A great wit pervades almost all of his songs, and penetrating lyrics are in everything else. I highly recommend his music to anyone who has not heard it, but be warned it is deemed quite offensive to most.



HOWEVER, the reason for this review is that I purchased the item viewed on this page and it does NOT come with the tracks promised. Unfortunately only the first fifteen tracks are included with kareoke versions of nine of the others. This is NOT what I paid $22.50 for, and I don't want anyone else fooled."