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Rating: In 2001, a group from Manchester debuts in the music world: they are I Am Kloot. Now, let's not try to find the meaning of the name which is in Dutch, otherwise the most sensitive might get offended. However, "Natural History" is an album that is very much appreciated for its fresh sound, its good music, and especially its excellent musicians. The singer's voice is more drawling than that of Liam Gallagher from Oasis and their sound nods to blues and jazz, not forgetting the foundations of indie-rock though. One of the most frequent nonsense spoken about I Am Kloot is that they are part of the new acoustic movement (see "Kings of Convenience") but it is absolutely not true, because their music is acoustic yes, but more substantial, less shabby, and structurally more complex!
"To You" the opening track welcomes us with well-curated drums, a pulsating bass, and a chorus that would sweep anyone away, "Twist" with its jazz-swing soul and the voice that desperately sings under the notes of a genuinely jazz bass "This blood on your legs... I love you". The musical interlude of "Loch" with those excellent brushstrokes of guitar which in four minutes do not tire in the slightest, quite the opposite! "Dark Star" with its irresistible bahbahbahbahdarara and "Sunlight Hits The Snow" takes us back to idyllic landscapes for less than 3 minutes. How can we not mention also the wonderful "Storm Warning" and "Stop," witnesses of a great blues in the manner of the Beatles (see "I Want You" featured in Abbey Road). A great, beautiful closing then with "Because" which is nothing but a crescendo of music: with a beautiful, extraordinary lyric, it ends like a lit candle then extinguished by rain that suddenly arrives on a sunny day.
There are really few criticisms to be made for this small debut-masterpiece, one of the few is the cover which in my opinion is quite awful but nothing more for this Manchester group that will later gift us with an equally beautiful album (I Am Kloot, 2003) and another released this year (Gods And Monsters, 2005) a bit complex but nonetheless extraordinary.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 Twist (02:57)
Twisted on destiny, fate and three wishes
We fuck and we fight, someone else does the dishes,
And meantime my memory reminisces and twists,
There was a time when we were filled with laughter,
Haplessly hoping happy ever after,
Did we string up a heart, let it swing from the rafters
And bleed.
There's blood on your legs ,I love you
There's blood on your legs, I love you
There's blood on your legs, I love you
Evoke the rich tapestry of love and devotion,
Emote the sweet saccharine of all that devotion,
Forget all about that and fall in this ocean with me,
With me.
Twist, snap, I love you
Twist, snap, I love you
Twist, snap, I love you
Da da da�
There's blood on your legs, I love you
There's blood on your legs, I love you
There's blood on your legs, I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
04 86 TV's (02:55)
I feel so straight, look so slow
Just you wait till I get you home
I saw you laughing on a tv show
What did i think you'd know
The colours bleeds to black
Say you can't let go
Then you're never coming back
You watch yourself when you talk to me
Cos I've got you on 86 tv's
And all those words that they made up for me
Aren't what i thought they'd be
The radios are red, made a mess of me
And so i'm walking home instead
Sweet like apples, I pulled you
Reminds me of the things we said we'd do
But all those words that they made up for you
Would never pull you through
The greed and all the gain
Made a mess of you, now we'll never be the same
I'd love to say I like to thank them all
But I have not the gall
The wisdom or the guile
We walked into that ball
And then we disappeared in style
On 86 tv's, On 86 tv's, On 86 tv's, On 86 tv's
You watch yourself when you talk to me
05 Bigger Wheels (03:29)
Healers, dealer, skinflick traders, save my skin for
Later or else you won't get free,
Your dim and dismal, loves gone rotten, grim and
Greedy and best forgotten, yet still you say to me
There are bigger wheels than this, wider skies of blue.
Hookers, lookers, pink skinned babies here's a list
Of maybes I have saved for you
Your mad, appalling love and laughter,
Stuck here for ever after
Swimming all around you
There are bigger wheels than this, wider skies of blue.
There are bigger deals, there are bigger wheels
Than you get through.
Healers, dealer, skinflick traders, save my skin for
Later or else you won't get free,
Your dim and dismal, loves gone rotten, grim and
Greedy and best forgotten, and yet still you say to me
There are bigger wheels than this, wider skies of blue.
There are bigger deals, there are bigger wheels
Than you get through.
Hookers, lookers, pink skinned babies here's a list
Of maybes I have saved for you.
08 Dark Star (02:22)
A dark star follows me tonight
Filled with horror and delight
She's come to make another son
A brother for the other one, who's gone
The black storm on the pillow there,
Is the colour of her hair
Held by some strange gravity are my dark star and me.
A dark star follows you tonight, you're filled
With horror and delight
You've come to make another son,
A brother for the other one
I hold a picture of your face, in my memory in embrace
With you I find I can't replace
My dark star.
11 No Fear of Falling (02:10)
Through my sleepless days I've found
That in my dreamless sleep I'm bound
To one night hear the sound of your calling
Do not stumble through tonight, have no fear of falling.
And if nobody got lost and if no-one pays the cost
The price of this you may surmise is ever after
You won't stumble through tonight drowning
In their laughter
You won't stumble through tonight drowning
In their laughter.
In these moments we awake,
Our heads clear of the mistakes
How we never hit the brakes or felt it stalling
Just don't stumble through tonight, have no fear of falling
Don't stumble through tonight, have nor fear of falling.
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