Having It All [LP]

構成数 : 1枚
合計収録時間 : 00:00:00
It's not every day that you come across an electro-glam-classical-hip-hop opera about self-actualization, but Planningtorock's fantastic debut album, Have It All, maps out this previously unimagined territory. It's especially fitting that Planningtorock is a one-person band, since Berlin-based musician/videographer Jam Rostron's sound is so individual. First of all, there's Rostron's voice: Veering from a low-pitched rasp to a breathy falsetto, it's layered into harmonies and elaborate vocal parts the likes of which haven't been heard since the heyday of musicals (or Queen). Outlandish blasts of brass and crazily rattling xylophones that would do Carl Stalling or Raymond Scott proud, plucked pizzicato bass, sawing strings, and eccentric beats collide around the multiple-personality vocals, adding to Have It All's surreal, but very personal, atmosphere. Though it seems whimsical on the surface, the album is also surprisingly empowering. Have It All announces itself boldly with its first few tracks: "Bolton Wanderer" plays like a getaway theme for like a getaway theme for Rostron's daring escape from "waiting in the wings of life" by moving from Bolton, Lancashire, to Berlin. The song's loping hip-hop rhythm and boogie-woogie piano fuse English eccentricity with a German flair for the theatrical, nodding to both Rostron's roots and their new home. "Changes"' sampled pizzicato strings simmer with impatience as Rostron exults, "I need it/A new day." On "The PTR Show" Rostron notes with deadpan wit, "there is humor and darkness allowed," while the swaggering electronic glam-blues of "Local Foreigner" is a shout out to Planningtorock's adopted city. Crucially, Have It All's take on self-discovery is fresh and bracing rather than sappy or touchy-feely, and even the wildest flights of fancy -- such as "I Wanna Bite Ya," a curious, cheeky shuffle that suggests that cannibalism might be "what happens if sex is not enough," or "Don't Want What You Don't Want," which looks to Queen Elizabeth I for advice -- eventually make sense in Planningtorock's world. Indeed, Have It All is filled with songs that are bored with the ordinary, from the breathless dancefloor workout of the title track to the parting shot of "When Are You Gonna Start," which which challenges to listeners to be as bold as Rostron is. Have It All's way-out, wildly theatrical energy may be too much for some, but the album's individualistic spirit shows that Planningtorock isn't about to make concessions for anybody. ~ Heather Phares