Daphni & Owen Pallett - Julia

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  • Part of what was impressive about Dan Snaith's JIAOLONG was the number of indie-dude-does-dance-album pitfalls it didn't fall into. There was no excessive focus on melody, no hangdog confessions, no lack of groove or fun. The latest single from Snaith's Daphni project is a collaboration with another established indie figure, Owen Pallett, and it complicates things. Wonderful as it can be, it's difficult to think of anything less suited to a dance floor transposition than Pallett's brand of fiddly symphonic pop. Nor is there much call for a violin in the club (outside of a Philly string section, that is). Fortunately, these two tracks aren't nearly as offensive as they could've been. I mean, yes, rendering a UK funky-style semitonal melody on a real violin rather than a brash synth-string patch, as these two do on "Julia," does miss the point a little. But Snaith's oddball techno backing more or less makes up for it, while a periodic upward swooping bassline shows his intimate knowledge of dance floor mechanics. "Tiberius" is odder but less coherent. Pallett supplies a bunch of effects—scratchy stepladder melodies, glowering drones, glissandi—which are laid out in succession over a heads-down techno beat. At times the combination is impressively pungent, at others kind of annoying. Snaith is maybe best off forging ahead on his own, but this is an intriguing detour along the way.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Julia B1 Tiberius
RA