Collette Carter

More lovely electro-pop from the duo of Rod Sledge and his girlfriend Wilynda. With the current musical landscape being much more accepting of new wave-influenced electronics, Collette Carter are in a good company, with bands like Vitesse, Barcelona, and countless others from around the globe giving likeminded artists and fans the confidence to be proud of their early OMD or Depeche Mode records. On The New Stroboscopic, things are kept extremely subtle; the synthesised instrumentation is minimal and without Wilynda's ethereal vocals and pop song structure this would fit cleanly into the intelligent dance music world amongst labels like Warp and Rephlex. That said, this is not really dance music, nor is it pure electronic music, this is a slice of future pop that makes its nods to the past, especially on "Insincere Mix," which goes so far as to delicately drift into the refrain of "Video Killed the Radio Star." Vintage keys add warm organic overtones to the thin, programmed rhythms, especially on the outstanding "Silverlake." Things even get a little jazzy on "Tank Tops and Flip Flops," with snippets of drum and bass loops in the background. The only drawbacks are that the album doesn't have a huge musical reach and Wilynda's vocals can be somewhat listless. Still, this is music that isn't designed to challenge the system; this is music to enjoy for its pure pop sensibilities. It is in this respect that Collette Carter has succeeded.