The Caretaker is a long-running project by electronic musician James Leyland Kirby, who also records as V/Vm. His work under the Caretaker moniker has been characterised as exploring memory, nostalgia, and melancholia. Initially the project was inspired by the haunted ballroom scene in the 1980 film The Shining, with his first several releases consisting of treated and manipulated samples of '30s ballroom pop recordings.
This collection compiles music and films by Art of Noise from the period 1995 to 2000, and is mostly comprised of previously unreleased material, including the album 'balance - music for the eye' and the Producer's Cut of 'The Seduction of Claude Debussy' on CD, and two unreleased complete concerts on the DVD, filmed in London at Coexistence studio and Shepherds Bush Empire in 2000.
At the End of a Perfect Day is a title that is all too apropos, since the music that fills the album is comprised of mellow ballads that are both relaxing and serene. The songs are typical of his soothing style, sung in de Burgh's suave demeanor making their simplistic makeup sound that much better. Without the narrative allure found in Spanish Train, de Burgh uses his haunting voice to enhance these average-sounding pieces, resulting in only a couple of mediocre standouts. The charming "Broken Wings has de Burgh's lonely voice fluttering amidst lyrics about his lost love. While the words may seem a little honeyed, his sedating air throughout the song's entirety is front and center.
After giving themselves room to roam with an acoustic album, a cover album, solo albums, and a slew of live albums, Erasure return to their comfort zone of distrust, disgust, and despair set mostly to a disco beat with the occasional ballad. Think fan favorite Wild! but with more maturity and depth and you're pretty close to painting a perfect picture of their 2007 effort, Light at the End of the World…