Antigone, Antigoneland

Posted by Justin on February 10th, 2010 | 2 Comments

Antigoneland is one of my favorite albums of 2009. Again, no one else probably heard it. Or at least they didn’t in the US. It is a funky-ass album of killer hooks, grooves, synths and is one of those albums that seemingly encapsulates an entire evening. It’s also one of the few albums I can play through in its entirety. Think Kylie meets Roisin meets Alison Goldfrapp. What a melting pot that is.

Infusing her jazz background into disco, Antigone worked with Justin Shave (a regular collaborator with Darren Hayes) to put together this 11 track download-only release. Why download only? Antigone has said that she wanted to let the music promote itself, and moved back to Australia last year after a residence in London to concentrate on a number of different projects. If you love pop music that sounds like dance and dance music that sounds like pop, you’ll probably like Antigone.

Despite the first single, More Man than Man, coming out in 2008 – the track sounds as fresh as ever, much like the rest of the album. Not burdened down by current product gimmicks or sounds, the album is pretty abstract which lends itself to being ‘timeless’ as far as listen-ability.

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Now, I’d post the videos – but they are literally shit. But then again, with no budget and no real intent of becoming a video ‘star,’ Antigone’s music doesn’t need it. Promiscuity came out in April of last year as the second single and is a really odd song, with a lulling beat and melody until the decisive chorus.

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MuuMuse interviewed Antigone in March ’09 and her description of the album was spot-on:

The playlist makes AntigoneLand a metaphor for a night out – it starts as you get ready at home with some cocktails, moves to the bar for some chair dancing, escalates into some serious shape throwing, becomes horizontal as you seduce your favourite dancer and winds up with snuggles into the morning light. It’s about women, men, sex, growth, the world.

I’d recommend tracks, but honestly – the whole thing is good. Get a copy at Itunes and let it play while you get ready for a night out. I dare you not to feel sexier.

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