-=RNS Robot=-

Joy Electric
Favorites At Play
Tooth & Nail Records
9 songs / 31:30
www.joyelectric.com

Joy Electric’s covers project Favorites At Play is really good. You should get it.

…

Ronnie Martin applies his vintage-analog-synthesizer-and-vocals-only sound to a batch of mainstream pop songs from the past few years, resulting in an engaging and charming covers album. It’s perhaps an unexpected direction for Martin, who has made no secret of his love of 80s electronic music pioneers like Kraftwerk, The Smiths and The Cure. But then again, everybody’s doing 80s covers these days, so there’s a certain logic in applying the retro JE sound to modern tracks (instead of the obvious new wave stuff). Martin doesn’t go for obscure either; hits as recent (and big) as Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” and The Killers “When We Were Young” get the MOOG treatment.

And it works. Martin stays fairly true to the original arrangements, trusting his unique sound to distinguish his interpretations from the originals. Particularly outstanding are his renditions of Feist’s “1234″ and “Falling Slowly” (from the Once soundtrack). “It Ends Tonight” (All-American Rejects) and “I Miss Boy” (Blink 182) quite honestly seem like perfect fits (pop punk just works for Joy Electric; remember his MxPx cover way back when?). The Nelly Furtado cover (“Say It Right”) takes a more subdued, almost sombre turn, eschewing big beats for layered synths (it’s quite dark, actually). Due to the nature of the project and inevitable mental comparisons listeners will make, Martin’s vocals are on display more so than on any other JE record. He handles the diverse crop of material exceptionally; in fact, this may be some of his best recorded singing, especially on “Falling Slowly” and “Somewhere Only We Know.”

It’s been a while since this reviewer was excited about Joy Electric. Respectful and appreciate of Martin’s vision, sure, but not since Tick Tock Treasury has a Joy Electric album simply been so much fun. Favorites at Play is a consistent, well-crafted project and a welcome addition to the JE discography. It’s not even necessary that a listener be familiar with every track, because Martin puts so much of his own stamp on things. Who knows, you might even like the Joy Electric version more.

Tags: 2009 Releases, Joy Electric, Ronnie Martin, Tooth & Nail Records

This entry was posted on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 4:38 PM and is filed under REVIEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.