telefon tel aviv

Immolate Yourself

On wikipedia there are 'facts' pertaining to Joshua Eustis and Charlie Cooper of Telefon Tel Aviv suggesting that the former has the Fibonacci sequence tattooed on his arm while the latter changes outfits three times during live sets. I'd very much like to believe these things to be true, though I suspect at least one of the statements to be mere apocrypha. Regardless, there is something about Telefon Tel Aviv that suggests they'd be a little more flashy and diva-like than your average electronica combo - the music seems to get ever more extrovert as albums go by, and Immolate Yourself most certainly continues along that trajectory. Sonically it's a rather different record from their previous outings and that awe-inspiring edited-to-death aesthetic; instead, gone are the flashy production flourishes and smashed up guitar lines of old, replaced by analogue synth textures and tape loop treatments, resulting in electro-pop anthems like 'Helen Of Troy'. It's no less hi-fi and hi-res than the Telefon Tel Aviv sound we know so well, but there is a more organic sensibility governing these songs. Consequently, melodically and production-wise the aforementioned 'Helen Of Troy' is immense - like The Killers teaming up with A-Ha (can you imagine?) but alas pop stardom seems to remain elusive thanks to some shoddy lyrics and a tentative vocal. Even so, this flies pretty close to realising the Stadium Electronica pipedream. The discerning, brilliantly assembled sound designs keep on coming as the album unfolds, offering up hyper-melodic wonky Italo on 'You Are The Worst Thing In The World' whilst dishing out toughened up New Order-like beats on 'M', even experimenting with surreal soundscaped songs like 'Mostly Translucent'. Undoubtedly Telefon Tel Aviv are producers to be reckoned with, and this latest long-player serves as another convincing illustration of this, shaking up the established formula sufficiently to stay with these seemingly IDM-incompatible times.