La Nouvelle Pauvrete

Jan Jelinek sputters, stutters, and scratches his way through mind-bending, down-tempo sound textures built against ethereal vintage moans, bleeps, and rings. La Nouvelle Pauvreté is a quiet landmark for electro-acoustic music that demands heterogeneity from the album's sources and structures. Creating ambient abstractions that flirt with pop -- like on the oddly uplifting and ominous "Music to Interrogate By" -- Jelinek rejects the self-restriction that often characterizes electronic music. "Trust the Words of Stevie" grinds like Microstoria with Serge Gainsbourg whispering lyrics over the top. "It's, And's and But's" seems to take an old soul tune and re-sculpt it as glitch-pop. The album ends with the dark, loping "A Waste Land," but what Jelinek does that is so beautiful and masterful is layer soft, charming vocals that seem counter to the mood of the music, creating a paradoxical feeling -- both disturbed and optimistic. ~ Charles Spano|