Mute U.S.
2006
The Knife
About This Album
Although it inevitably falls somewhat short of the excellent and utterly original albums that followed it, the Knife's self-titled (and originally self-released) 2001 debut does more than merely hint at the duo's potential. For one thing, it reveals that their strange and idiosyncratic sensibility was fully apparent right from the beginning -- this couldn't possibly be mistaken for the work of any other band. In fact, within The Knife's considerable emotional range, and featuring the same inventive approach to synth programming and textural exploration, it already contains all the stylistic and musical elements that the duo would develop further on their later albums, encompassing both the glistening, off-kilter dance-pop of Deep Cuts and the frosty, otherworldly darkness of Silent Shout. And then of course there's Karin Dreijer's voice, which isn't subjected to nearly as much processing and digital manipulation here as it would be in their later work (except on the absurd, Darth Vader-referencing "A Lung"), but it's a formidable and curiously affecting instrument even in its unadulterated state. There are even some directly traceable elements for the trainspotters -- the dubby drip-like clicks that open Shout's "Like a Pen" are audible on the instrumental "Zapata," while the gently anthemic "Parade" features the lyric "we raise our heads for the color red," which would reappear as one of the more inscrutable lines in "Heartbeats.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,4 and 9)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

 
report abuse