Mael Sparks

Bookended as it is by Russell Mael's wordless chorale vocals that help kick off the opening "Intro" and which recur in the soothing but strange conclusion to the final song, "Likeable," not to mention similar moments throughout the album, it's almost too easy to summarize Exotic Creatures of the Deep as Sparks' most involved tribute to the Beach Boys, late-'60s version. But as with nearly everything the band's ever done, one can't sum up an album quite as simply as that, and Exotic Creatures, if not as completely explosive as Hello Young Lovers at its heights, finds the rude creative health of the Maels still firing on all cylinders.

Hello Young Lovers is the 20th studio album by Sparks and was originally released on 6th February 2005. The album was the most commercially popular Sparks album since the 1970s. Hello Young Lovers has been newly remastered for this CD reissue, which contains sought after bonus material!

This performance DVD was filmed in March of 2004 at the Södra Teatern in Stockholm, Sweden, and captures the wonderfully quirky duo of Sparks at its best. This sibling act, comprised of brothers Ron and Russell Mael, has been making its perverse little brand of music since 1970, and comes off here just as sarcastic, funny, smart and insightful as ever.

Sparks' 12th album got off to the best possible start when the first single, "Cool Places," a breakneckedly breezy duet with the Go-Go's' Jane Wiedlin, spun off to become the Mael brothers' first ever Top 50 hit in their American homeland. It would also be their last, but an entire generation of new fans arose regardless to pursue the siblings through both their future convolutions and their past ones too. In Outer Space's almost ruthless distillation of all that had gone before was, then, an ideal place for them to start. Like the duo's Giorgio Moroder era, In Outer Space represented a creative rejuvenation that its immediate predecessors had scarcely dared hint at.

The second Giorgio Moroder collaboration of Sparks' career doesn't have quite the emphasis on Moroder trademarks compared to its predecessor; he has only two songwriting credits here, while the Mael brothers take most of them alone. Still, the breakout single "When I'm with You" and "Just Because You Love Me" have an ineffable disco stomp and the requisite cymbal slaps on the offbeat, while "Noisy Boys" and "Stereo" have an experimental, laddish feel that looks past disco into '80s synth-pop and new romantic. Though disco fans can feel safe with No. 1 in Heaven, those more interested in new wave would be well served to pick up Terminal Jive first.

What better way to promote Sparks' spinning blender of demented pop than Propaganda? The band's fourth album (and second with producer Muff Winwood) is chock-full of great ideas, including the overseas hits "Something for the Girl With Everything" and "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth." With Russell Mael delivering the lyrics in his rapid-fire falsetto, the lyric sheet is a necessary compass, as the clever wordplay is a key to discovering what these pranksters are up to. Ron Mael's skewed take on relationships ("At Home, at Work, at Play," "Don't Leave Me Alone With Her") are nearly upstaged by the hyperactive arrangements, but when the words and the music click, it's pure magic. In fact, "Bon Voyage" might be the most sublime song they've ever written, teetering between genuine pathos for and lampooning of the plight of those left behind by Noah and his ark.

Within the first track of their debut album – the crisp, minimal pounder "Wonder Girl," featuring Russell Mael's falsetto already engaged in swooping acrobatics and Ron Mael's sparkling piano work to the fore, singing ever-so-slightly-weird lyrics about love that couldn't quite be taken at face value – Sparks established themselves so perfectly that arguably the rest of the brothers' long career has been a continual refinement from that basic formula…

Sparks - Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat (1984) {2013 Repertoire Records Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (image)+CUE+LOG -> 527 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 158 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 46 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2013 Repertoire Records / Warner | REP 5287
Rock / Pop Rock / New Wave / Dance Rock / Synth Pop

Conjuring fresh and original material out of thin air can be as tricky as pulling rabbits out a hat. But that’s just what Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks have been doing throughout their extraordinary career. The talented duo came to fame with ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us’ in 1974 and went to create many more hit singles and extraordinary albums. ‘Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat’ is a fine example of their post-disco period, when they were moving into the realms of novelty electronica pop. And if that sounds a convoluted description of their art, that’s because Sparks have always been difficult to categorise - so why bother categorising! Just enjoy these eleven quirky and entrancing performances from a 1984 album that has Ron Mael let loose on hi-tech synthesizers and Russell singing with all his high pitched charm.