When I posted the Headphone Commute’s Best of 2008 list, I received a lot of emails that amounted to ‘You forgot Lulu Rouge!‘ What? Lulu who? Yes, I’m sure there was an album that I missed in 2008 (I missed hundreds of them). But with enough pokes in the same direction I was tempted to find out. And yes, I will admit: I did miss Lulu Rouge, because certainly this act belongs on HC’s Best of 2008 list. I’ve been playing this album for months now, and have rated each track at five stars, so it’s only fair that I finally give it some proper coverage.
How can I describe the dubbed out techno beats that thump their way into my brain and beg to be repeated? How about this: if you loved Trentemøller‘s The Last Resort (Poker Flat / Rough Trade, 2006), you will certainly fall in love with Lulu Rouge… Especially since Anders Trentemøller co-produced a few tracks on Bless You.
Lulu Rouge is actually two friends: Thomas Bertelsen (aka T.O.M and Tom Von Rosen) and Torsten Bo Jacobsen (aka Buda), who have been part of the Scandinavian electronic music scene for some time now. Bertelsen, for example, has been Trentemøller’s partner since the beginning stages of The Last Resort. So there’s that important synergetic connection.
If that doesn’t pique your interest, here are some pretty adjectives for you. On Bless You, the Denmark-based duo blend a refreshing concoction of Basic Channel sound with playful rumbling bass sweeps, pulsating IDM elements, delayed dub chords, catchy organic instrumentations, and DSP heavy vocals with contributors like Mikael Simpson, Alice Carreri Pardeilhan, Tuco, and Scott Martingell aka MC Jabber. The stylistic classification ends up falling somewhere between deep minimal and dub downtempo, but one thing is for sure – it’s a unique album that will keep you cosy throughout all your moments. Maybe it’s time you explored the Scandinavian side of electronica? Highly recommended!
