Search - My Scarlet Life :: Trypnotica

Truly Amazing

Lori M. Netahlo | Evanston, IL USA | 02/26/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A friend that I work with turned me on to this band, who he has seen many times perform in the Chicago area. Light some incense and candles and be truly amazed by some beautiful vocals and very different melodies."

This is their best album.

jim glite | Chicago, Illinois | 10/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"THE ULTIMATE IN TRIP-HOP!This is the one to start with. Kinda like Portishead, kinda like Switchblade Symphony in some ways. It has a world music/experimental avant garde feel to it. It's a shame that they aren't still around. I saw them several times in Chicago- which I believe is where they're from. Every show was great! Jute sounds a little like MSL. It's fronted by an ex-band member (Julie)."Mourning" is my favorite song on the album. "Valley of Rage" is also excellent. The whole CD is good. There isn't an unpopped kernel on it! I think Goth folk would like this album.It's in my top ten for all my CD's."

A lost entry in the triphop genre!

G. Phelps | Seattle, WA | 07/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Portishead invented the genre and remains the Queen, but bands like Mono, Morcheeba and Hooverphonic have spuriously overtaken the "triphop" title because they're British and this is uniquely British music-that is, until you hear the heartland's My Scarlet Life.



America's Chicago was not supposed to produce "true" triphop and that's why this band was unfairly overlooked. It's not "girl-goth" as the cover image suggests, nor is it celtic new-agey, as the song titles bring to mind ("Myst," "Spirit Song"). It was the ONLY American triphop unitl 2000's Supreme Beings Of Leisure.



The Amazon listing leaves off all the song titles' subtitles, which give you a clue to the complexity of the music you are about to hear: "Saxifrage (Plants Can Think)," "Mourning (Innocence, Sorrow, Purity)."



This complexity is carried out in the lush orchestrations, subtle sound effects and dual vocals of these lyrically bewitching songs. But they save the best for last in "All the Tears (I Feel too Alive)", a nearly TEN MINUTE mantra that ebbs and flows like an ocean of tears. You'll want to put this one on repeat for hours on end!



If you are already mesmerized by My Scarlet Life, you may also enjoy "What If" by Imaginary Friends, a CD that came out FOUR days before this one in 1997!! Though not a triphop band, several songs mirror MSL's dual-female vocals and ethereal guitar work, especially "Sacraficial Lamb" and "Give in to the Rain," which was used last year in a national TV commercial for Gateway computers!"