By Keith Walsh
What the world needs right now is a good party. Or, if we can’t manage that in the age of social distancing, we need a good party album at least.
From the first few seconds of “You’ve Been Unboxing Gilles Snowcat,” there’s a clear connection to the party songs of the 80s, from Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” to Peter Gabriel’s “Big Time”. The album is filled with groovy fun moments like those. In the opening track, “Let Me Buy You A Drink,” sweet analog synths strings are followed by playful and dirty funk Moog bass and energetic guitar. Gilles’ voice kicks in, declaring “I’m back, to add substance to my legend.”
Since the late 80s, Gilles has created music across a chameleonic range, all the while living a bohemian life in various parts of Asia and Europe. “Unboxing” is a celebration of this lifestyle, and while that’s true of most of Gilles’ albums, starting with the band Awaken, and then in his solo career, the partying theme is especially strong here, with frequent references to liquor, romance, sex, and hotels. My very unscientific study concludes that there are approximately two times as much vulgarity and three times as many references to sex and liquor in this than in previous Snowcat albums. Gilles’ most recent release, 2017’s single “Bareta” was a cypher to me, as the tracks were sung in Japanese. Prior to that, there was 2015’s live in studio album, “Nama Time,” and many others going back decades. Fitting in nicely is the most laid back tune on the album, a cover of a somewhat recent track by Gille’s heroes the Rolling Stones, “This Place Is Empty.”
The self-referential title of YBUGS is of course an unboxing, or unmasking, of the qualities that make Gilles who he is — a cartoon caricature of an imaginary feline living on the edge of the sex, liquor and rock and roll lifestyle. I asked him about the frequent references to hotels in this and his earlier albums. “Hotels are a fascinating thing, whether you visit them with a one-night stand girl or your wife of 15 years. I love hotels, they’re inspiring and full of hidden stories. Lot of dirty funk has been soaked by the walls.”
The music of this new album is pleasantly commercial, but not without a strong indie edge, including lots of soul and reggae elements, all of it made even more special due to the stellar assemblage of artists, including Paul J. No and JP Benadjer of Lunear. Gilles himself is an expert keyboard player and “You’ve Been Unboxing Gilles’s Snowcat” is an exceptional album for vintage keyboard sounds, clavinet and guitar performances and funk grooves.
When pressed for details about the keyboards used on “You’ve Been Unboxing Gilles Snowcat,” Gilles downplays their role, refusing even to mention brands or specific types. ”About the organ,” he says, “I once brought some magic stuff from Japan, quite obscure machines, great organ and so. The clavinet is more a DIY kind of thing. The more time passes, the less I care about the keyboards, actually. They have to serve the song. I don’t care much if they’re analog or digital or vintage or modern, I just need them to groove….Of course, it’s meaningful and fun to play with old machines, but here it’s not a keyboard album, it’s a groove thing, so it didn’t really matter.”
I asked Gilles what the most challenging aspect of recording the album was. “Usually it’s dealing with musicians’ ego and unusual requests,” he said, “but in the case of ‘You’ve Been Unboxing Gilles Snowcat,’ musicians were pretty cool, so it was dealing with my own ego and indulgence in a cocktail-infused lazy lifestyle. Then it was to decide to stop working on the album and giving it a deadline. It was actually such a big fun recording and experimenting that I didn’t feel like putting an end to it. Once I decided that it had to be ready for September, then everything fell into place.”
Gilles Snowcat in 2010, Using Masks Before They Were Necessary
Gilles’ gruff baritone suits the material well, and his rakish persona carries the album across nine songs in a very fun experience that should stand the test of time beyond our party deprived age. “It’s a groove album, so I guess it’s good for partying, and the after-party too,” he tells me. The lead single, “Tiffany (The Festival Babe)” is a good example.
On whether there was any reason to release the album on the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks of 2001, Gilles comments:. “No symbolism but that day has been a wake-up call to do something more meaningful out of our lives. Each time I lose motivation, I think of 9/11 and those lives that have been lost for absolutely nothing worthwhile, and that I don’t have the right to get soft, it would be an insult for those who lost their life that day.”
(Disclaimer: Gilles asked me to contribute to the album, and I sang background vocals on four songs, and share writing credits on two songs. Gilles also used some recordings of ocean waves I sent from from California, where the vocal tracks were recorded.)
“You’ve Been Unboxing Gilles Snowcat” Features Gilles Snowcat on vocals, various keyboards and electronic groove machines, NikoZark on bass synth, Gabriele Cassano on guitar, Ian Rigillo on guitar, Duke Quarcoo on bass guitar and rhythm design, Myles Simpson on drums, Glen Llewellyn Smith on guitar, J-P Benadjer on bass guitar, Bill Bayer on lead and rhythm guitar, hetpampa on bass guitar, slide guitar, acoustic guitar, Marin on electric guitar, Paul J. No on electric piano, Hudson Silveira on piano, Alex Dumont on rhythm design, Sébastian Bournier on percussion and Keith Walsh on synthesizer and tinkling guitar. Harmony vocals by Elvira Lanza, Pat Lennon, Paul J. No, hetpampa, Renato Ronchetti, Glen Llewellyn Smith, and Keith Walsh. Magic Tricks by Paul J. No and Herman Martin.
finis
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