GILLES SNOWCAT: You've Been Unboxing... (POP,Blues): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Gilles Snowcat is not the first gringo to come along: he had his moments of glory as the keyboardist of the Belgian group Awaken. Quite popular in Japan, this band plays with styles to offer engaging covers of musical standards. With "You've Been Unboxing", the keyboardist releases his third solo album with a host of guests (including members of the prog band Lunear).

The kino-funk in which Gilles Snowcat evolves is marked by veiled nocturnal atmospheres where bodies brush against each other and lips abandon themselves. These ''love songs at nightfall'' are enhanced by the suave and magnetic voice of its performer. The listening of the first tracks plunges the listener in a funky and colored universe, full of female voices, well put forward by a clear and flashy production. The musician has at his disposal all the instruments of the genre, bass, clavinet, organs, crystalline pianos but also waves noises and guitars, adventurous on 'Tulip's Trap' or bluesy on 'Sleep In Closet', which remind the golden age of funk while standing out intelligently. 'Let Me Buy You A Drink' has a rich sonic texture that distantly recalls some of Frank Zappa's experimentation. 'Hot Towel (From The Funky Hotel)', the longest track of the album, curiously leans more towards reggae, enriched in its repetitive rhythm by the decisive contributions of the piano. The underlying erotic dimension is not only obvious and these songs could easily illustrate some scenes of films of the same kind.

However, the kino-funk atmosphere fades and boredom can take over on some tracks, especially on the second part of the album. 'Hot Towel' described above for its qualities has some dispensable lengths. Gilles Snowcat tries however with a certain success to open his music towards something else with a pinch of reggae or with the Caribbean ''Tiffany (The Festival Babe)'', or a contrario by adding a darker dimension in '(You've Been Drinking) My Limoncello'. Only regret, the progressive dimension present on the previous opuses is here absent.

"You've Been Unboxing'' is the effective soundtrack of your small intimate stories at nightfall. If the listening of the album will not make you go up to the seventh sky, with its original funky formula, it brings some freshness so that the amateurs of funk or journeys in elsewhere will have largely for their account. - Official website

GILLES SNOWCAT

YOU'VE BEEN UNBOXING...

AUTRE LABEL

POP