Decca
2004
Classified
About This Album
It's telling that Bond decided to cover the flutter disco classic "Fly Robin Fly" for Classified, its third official album. An irresistibly flaky studio confection of chirping strings and lighthearted beats, "Fly" was essentially a 1975 blueprint for the Bond girls' 21st century sound. Naturally, they handle it with professional charm. Backed by capable beats and processed guitar, violinists Eos Chater and Haylie Ecker, violist Tania Davis, and cellist Gay-Yee Westerhoff reproduce the track perfectly, right down to the vocal interjections (handled by Chater and Westerhoff). Yes, it's fluff. But so was the original, and it was a worldwide smash. Like the sweet violins cascading through the disco era, or Welsh whelp Charlotte Church transposing her soprano over show tunes and pop, Bond's classical skills are just arrows in their quivers as macro-pop interpreters on the world stage. Classified's set list of softballs and wide-angle international flair bears this out. The keening strings and pulsing beats of "Explosive" and the likely named "Samba" are lit with a Latin flame; "Hungarian" amplifies its gypsy qualities with relentless electronic rhythms; and "Lullaby" crosses the familiar sway of Pachelbel's Canon in D with cut-up pop resembling Madonna's "Don't Tell Me.
Track List (try tracks 2,7,8,11 and 13)

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