Search - Sebastian Tellier :: Politics

Satisfying album

Peter G. Buckley | Brooklyn, NY United States | 03/03/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The best track for me was La Ritournelle, a piano and string baleric electronic round, fully orchestrated, perhaps a bit over-produced, but then listening to it at four in the morning it did not seem to matter. It's a good album to loose yourself in. Note that Tellier's work "Fantino" also appeared on the soundtrack to Lost in Translation. He was picked up by Air for their label."

La Ritournelle is the track of the year!

Movement | 08/12/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I heard La Ritournelle at the Big Chill festival and it is beautiful. Smooth strings, hypnotic beats and eerie vocals at the end.



It reminds me of similar material from Glideascope."

Enjoyable but overambitious and confused

Z. Kaplan | Chicago, Il | 10/25/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Politics is its own worst enemy. Tellier tries to do so much here, and more often than not it just doesn't gel together. Certainly it fails to gel as an entire album, which is sad when the concept is so appealing. Sure, it seems somewhat obvious - presenting a view of the world through an intellectually shallow, politically ignorant, everything-is-okay rose-tinted propagandistic lens - but just look at that album art. Shiny, fake, blindingly white teeth and eyes, the colors of a flag on his cheeks, contented smile... and we know from his previous album and the single that preceded the release of Politics, La Ritournelle, that Tellier is a talented musician. And when someone with talent tries to make a very appealing concept album, it should work, right?



Well... here's the thing. When he set out to make an album, he didn't just want one that worked as a humorous concept album, but a good album as well. The problem is that the overly simplistic color scheme with which his protagonists paint the world aren't the best to use for a smart and intriguing album. In satire or parody (besides concept albums), there is always a straight man to frame and contrast the outlandish character or characters with whom he or she shares the stage. We sympathize with the straight man, but in this, we are the straight men, and thus contrast most the songs that work conceptually the best - and are inherently disinclined to enjoy them on a purely musical level.



But, again, Tellier is talented and did want to make a good album. Hence songs like La Ritournelle, the previously mentioned single and a beautiful stand out track on the album. Since it was made outside of the conceptual confines of Politics it is justifiable that it wouldn't fit the mold. But, then, why put it on the album in the first place? Is it inevitable that a band will stick its most popular singles on its upcoming album? I think Underworld provides us proof that this does not always have to be the case.



However, I think that La Ritournelle's placement on the album is less of something we should look at as the focus of the struggle that any artist has in that sort of situation - quality vs. concept - and instead group it together with the songs that were made explicitly for placement on Politics yet have nothing political about them. Slow Lynch, La Tuerie and, to a lesser extent, Bye-Bye, also fit into this category - partly because the latter two are instrumental, but they still break up whatever cohesion Politics has.



And it has little. Wonderafrica, Zombi, Ketchup vs. Genocide and Benny perfectly embody the same spirit as the album art - blind patriotism and ignorance of anything negative. But there are two things wrong with these songs - firstly, Tellier compromises their musical quality in favor of their conceptual strength, and secondly, they all fit so poorly together that it's a wonder they're on the same album. Wonderafrica - a Disney-esque portrait of the continent from which its name derives - is synthetically chipper and full of awe in the way that someone might be in a Zoobooks ad; Zombi features militant radicals overtaking an apparently prominent news station; and Ketchup vs. Genocide is a disco-influenced piece about Native Americans and consumerism. Wonderafrica and Zombi suffer from being just too silly to fully enjoy - the first gets by this a bit by being subtle and just musically appealing enough to be called "not bad," while Zombi... well, Zombi's just bad. It's overt, it's obvious, and it's needlessly silly ("Oh my God! They're using the [satellite] dish as a frisbee!" exclaims the newscaster at one point.)



Ketchup vs. Genocide and Benny, however, are a step above these, and especially above Zombi. KvG, when not sinking too far into cheesy disco, is actually pretty good, albeit a bit confusing in getting its message across. Benny, however, is a rare great point on the album, at which the thematic clarity and musical quality are so perfect and mesh so well together (give or take a few seconds during which the sax is just a tad offbeat - though this might be an artistic, purposeful choice, it's not the best one, in my opinion). Besides Zombi, it's also the only song with contrast (like the straight man example above) - the discontented masses chant their frustration while the oblivious protagonist cheerfully sings in the foreground. It is interesting, smart, well-made and quite enjoyable, and, while it's not beautiful (especially next to La Ritournelle), and definitely an acquired taste, it's the spot at which the album works best at all its levels.



Then there's League Chicanos and Bye-Bye. Tellier gets his message across in LC and the music is quite enjoyable, and they both work, but they don't work together. They just happen to be part of the same song. Bye-Bye is also quite enjoyable musically, but its message is only one that you could understand if you read the comics on which Starship Troopers was based and know that it's a message about political cowardice in the face of a chaotic world.



And it's quite a chaotic world into which Tellier brings us. Unfortunately, though, the good music isn't quite good or consistent enough to save the album, and its failure as a tight, coherent conceptual piece is disappointing enough to cast a shadow on the album. Having a song like Zombi, a song that people like me will be inclined to skip, is bad enough of a mark. Together it's a mess. There's some gold in that mess, true enough, but whether you'll want to sift through to find it is more of a tough call."