I bought this album having never even heard of the band Downtown; in fact, I think I'm now one of the few people who has ever heard of the band Downtown. The story of how I ended up buying this album is sadly far more interesting than the album itself.
Nine years ago I was in Paris just after New Year. The Virgin Megastore on the Champs Elysees had a huge new year sale and pretty much everything in it was €5. I bought nearly 20 cds and a couple of records (it was 2007 and vinyl wasn't so readily available; the selection was thin but I picked up the excellent A Gun Called Tension LP and the less-excellent Make Believe by Weezer). I rummaged around to see if there was anything I else I half-fancied getting but there was little grabbing me. Given everything was so cheap, I decided that I should just chance it and buy something I knew less about. This record looked interesting - the artwork was fancy (a Klimt - my trendy Parisian friend recognised it straight away; I only knew from the signature) and the record label was based in New York - so I threw caution (and £3.35) to the wind and added it to my basket (an actual basket).
I think part of the reason I was so keen to buy something unknown and new was that I really wanted to discover a new band. My friend Vicky had been on holiday a while before and discovered The Postal Service. When she played it to us we all became huge fans. I really hoped that I'd be able to find an unknown band in a record in Paris, love the album and have all my friends love it too. The first part was easy, the second two weren't to be the case with Downtown.
I've not listened to this album in years, but I'm instantly reminded why it did little for me. Twilight starts the album with some weird mix between glitchy electronica and indie, but not in a good way. The singer's voice is a little on the annoying side, but not so much that it itself becomes an interesting part of the music. Lyrically it's pretty appalling too. At nearly an hour long it's also far too long. Alan Moulder and Flood (of Nine Inch Nails and Smashing Pumpkins fame) helped produce a couple of the songs but that doesn't offer much improvement. After a few songs I find I'm not paying any attention to the album at all; nothing stands out, nothing draws you in. There's a lyric/chorus on the last song which consists of just the words "Stay too long", which pretty much how I feel about this album.
I'm not being negative for the sake of it; this album just isn't very good. I looked the band up on Discogs and it looks like this was their sole release, along with a 12" single of the first song. I hope the two guys in the band have gone on to live fulfilling lives outside of the world of weak indie/electronic piss.
Format: Double 12"
Tracks: 12
Cost: £3.35 new
Bought: Virgin Megastore, Paris
When: 10/01/07
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
