AA.VV.
Crooning on Venus

One of the cosmological cornerstones that the interpretation of the stars verifies is that the small mirrors the large, and the inside the outside. Based on the evidence of "Crooning on Venus," not only Venus but all the planets and other galaxies must have their own bizarre forms of life, so odd and bare are the music pieces presented here.

The erroneous notion that all aspiring singers have a poster of Mariah Carey and one of Gloria Estefan above their headboard is immediately dismissed by Nico's angular lullaby, by the precognitive insights of Liz Fraser, by John Martyn's affectionate murmurs... There are 35 alien voices in this double collection, each shedding more light on the vast inner world than the record production of a hundred perfect voices. Why? The reason is the same as why one does not marry the Venus de Milo but a woman with a button nose and whose legs are far from turning people's heads on the street: because it is true. Already by the second listen, "Crooning on Venus" becomes one of the most significant albums in any collection for the multiplicity of perspectives it offers on the theme of singing.

David Toop, who thus followed up the ambient collection and the book published in 1996 titled "Ocean of Sound," has marvelously stitched together episodes of strange and extraordinary inner life. And why one sings becomes ultimately evident: the heart has a voice, the motions of the soul have a voice, the cataclysms that occur daily within each person need to speak to the mind, to the limbs – to others, even – of their affairs. The merit of Toop lies in his ability to capture, even in well-known tracks ("Falling" by Julie Cruise, "Protection" by Massive Attack with Tracey Thorn, "Brilliant Trees" by David Sylvian, "Taita Inty" by Yma Sumac, "Starsailor" by Tim Buckley), the alien element, the unusual twist, the otherworldly quality. And in having mixed, in this surprising theme park, beautiful and bizarre music into two suites that invite again and again. The arrangements are often even more incredible than the voices.

These songs, expressions of the tenacity of human convictions, speak to every tormented soul in the universe, whatever astrological sign they belong to. All planets have a voice and all, alternating as here, sing in us the song of life.