Artist: Minilogue
Title: Elephant's Parade
Label: Wagon Repair Records
By: Jason Calvert | 11 April 2007
Tracklist:

• A: Elephant's Parade
• B: Bird Song

Minilogue "Elephant's Parade"

The duo from Sweden are back, this time on Mathew Jonson's chic Wagon Repair label. The pair are constantly pushing the minimal boundaries with their work, and I'm always on the lookout for something new from them. So does this one live up to my expectations?

'Elephant's Parade' is a blippy affair, which really bangs once it gets going! A lot of minimal tends not to go anywhere, except if it's done by Minilogue, which is one of the main reasons I'm a fan of their work. A playful bassline works up to the middle of the track, and on either side of it we have some tough yet minimalist percussion, along with many scattered effects and sounds. An interesting and highly playful track, and whilst I'm sure a lot of pure minimalists won't like this one, I think it's great!

'Birdsong' takes more of a back seat to its flipside. It has a very subtle sense of beauty to it which I have only encountered in Minilogue productions, so fans of their previous work will love this one. Things never get too hectic or over-complicated, but the track has just enough of everything to hold itself up strong. A great contrast to 'Elephant's Parade', and this gives the release a well rounded feel overall.

Whilst neither of these tracks compare to some of the duo's previous work like 'The Leopard', this is no reason to discard them. The tracks aren't overly hard hitting, but have a certain charm about them which is hard to dislike. In the minimal scene there is often a lot of rubbish to sort through before you can find something nice, and I think we have a good example here of some of the better minimal which is out there.