Saint Etienne
(Heavenly)
On these shores, at least, Saint Etienne's career trajectory has frequently appeared stasis-bound. The British trio rarely (if ever) performs in the U.S., and the last time there was any appreciable press coverage was back around the turn of the decade when they were signed to Sub Pop; since then there have been various American releases, but considering the negligible marketing that accompanied 2002's Finisterre and 2006's Tales from Turnpike House (issued here, respectively, on Beggar's Banquet and Savoy Jazz), the casual stateside consumer might even have presumed that the group had broken up.
O ye of little faith.
2009 has arguably been Saint Etienne's busiest year ever overseas, with regular concert and/or deejaying appearances and a veritable deluge of archival releases dotting the past 12 months, including a two-CD/one-DVD best-of (London Conversations), remastered/expanded Deluxe Editions of four albums (1991's Foxbase Alpha, 1993's So Tough, 1997's Continental, 2000's Sound of Water) and, most recently, a digital-only live EP, Trumpton Comes Alive, given away free to fans. To cap things off, now arrives Foxbase Beta, which as its title hints at, is a song-by-song remix of Foxbase Alpha, crafted by noted producer and remixer Richard X (a/k/a Richard Philips, who initially gained notoriety under the name Girls On Top, later going on to work with everyone from Sugababes, M.I.A. and Gwen Stefani to Nine Inch Nails, New Order and Depeche Mode).
Richard X came into the St. E fold via the track "Method of Modern Love," one of three new recordings included on London Conversations; apparently both band and man were already mutual fans, and the collaboration blossomed into an unprecedented level of trust on the part of St. E, who in the past have worked with numerous remixers (1996's Casino Classics featured reworkings by Chemical Brothers, Aphex Twin, Trouser Enthusiasts and others) but never handed over an entire portfolio to a single auteur.
Here, Richard X is credited as having "re-produced" the 13 Alpha tunes, and that's not necessarily a minor distinction, for Beta doesn't really scan like a collection of alternate interpretations of songs but rather a parallel-universe version of a single, organic work - a "new" album in the truest sense. Rather than absorbing Beta through the prism of a familiar artifact from the early ‘90s - the liner notes to the Deluxe Edition of Alpha described the original LP as "record collection pop in its truest sense... House and girl-groups and soul and dub; lovers rock and indie-pop and cocktail jazz and soundtracks: all guests at the same party" - it's easy to listen to it on its own terms, from start to finish, as a record sounding thoroughly "of" 2009. Whether basking in the hypnotic, subtly orchestral dubadelica of "Carnt Sleep" (it's not too far removed from Feist's dreamy minimalism) or getting sucked into the widescreen vortex that is "Like The Swallow" (which weds what appears to be a children's choir to Sarah Cracknell's vocal - subtle echoes of the Clash's "Hitsville U.K." - in one of the year's most emotional instances of sonic cinema), you'll find Foxbase Beta to be an immersive experience, and a delightful one to boot.
Not that you won't catch yourself playing trainspotter at times, and for longtime fans familiar with the 1991 album, it's a whale of a lot of fun - starting at the very beginning, with the original spoken-in-French intro track "This Is Radio Etienne" recast as a kind of Monty Python-meets-Who Sell Out jape. The new "She's The One" is louder, brasher, with an electro underpinning, but it retains its memorable Cracknell vocal hook. Likewise, although "Girl VII" now hews closer to trance than disco, the midsong segment, duly pumped up, will trigger subliminal memories of vogueing in clubs to Madonna's "Vogue," ahem, Etienne's Alpha. The way key elements of "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" have been foregrounded by Richard X, like the handclaps, funk bassline and Cracknell's spoken part, may send the listener scrambling for a copy of Alpha to see exactly what is and what is not actually being "remembered."
And the tune that put the band on the map in the first place, their hit cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," isn't radically reworked here, more "enhanced" with an insistent throb and sundry keyboard filigrees, so it remains a satisfying entry point for even newcomers to the St. E aesthetic. Which is, to non-newcomers, one that continues to offer endless pleasure, going on some two decades now and counting.
Cracknell herself, in the liner notes to London Conversations, allowed how, "At the moment, we're working at a slower pace. I'm contented with that. We're still wanting to try out new things, [however], we're still enjoying the process."
Considering the "slow pace" that 2009's work regimen has yielded for St. E, here's to two more decades.
***
Consumer Note: Foxbase Beta is apparently being sold exclusively in Britain via Rough Trade (it's not showing up on searches at other online retailers), although sharp-eyed fans who signed up through the group's Lovers Unite fanclub were able to purchase a two-CD version, numbered and limited to 3000 copies. The extra disc includes a 49-minute "Foxbase Beta Commentary" featuring founding members Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs joined by Richard X engaged in, you guessed it, a track-by-track commentary on the tunes, their origins, and their 2009 reworkings (their explanation for "This Is Radio Etienne" is pretty funny). Then, as outlined in a press release from the band a couple of months ago, come three unreleased recordings from the original album sessions: "a just discovered coda to ‘Girl VII' (we'd forgotten it existed), a summery instrumental called ‘Richard III,' and the first, very different, take of ‘Kiss And Make Up,' which was the very first Saint Etienne recording. We cut it one afternoon in January 1990, and then ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart' in the evening."
Rounding things out is an uncredited fifth track, an 18-second snippet that sounds a bit like a child's music box, but those paying close attention to the track commentary will have noted that the men mention how it's a recording of an ice cream van that was in the vicinity of their poorly-soundproofed recording studio! Disc Two isn't necessarily essential - "Richard III" is indeed quite summery, though, and mixtape-worthy - but for Saint Etienne completists, they'll want to have it.
Incidentally, the covers for both Alpha and Beta appear below - St. E has always taken a lot of pride in the sleeve artwork, and this little bit of self-referentiality smartly slots into that tradition.
Standout Tracks: "Like the Swallow," "Girl VII," "Richard III" (previously unreleased) FRED MILLS
