Fischerspooner – Albums Collection 2001-2009 [4CD]

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Fischerspooner – Albums Collection 2001-2009 [4CD]

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Collection includes 3 studio albums and 1 DJ Mix compilation by New York electroclash duo Fischerspooner.

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Fischerspooner – Albums Collection 2001-2009 [4CD]

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The new wave/electro-pop troupe Fischerspooner were formed in New York City in 1998 and have come to incorporate multimedia, strange handmade costumes, dancing, and performance art. Originally a duo formed by classically trained musician Warren Fischer and video artist and experimental theater performer Casey Spooner for an impromptu rendition of their makeshift track "Indian Cab Fever" at the Astor Place Starbucks, the group grew to over 20 performers, mostly dancers and guest vocalists. These singers have included Cindy Greene, Lizzy Yoder (also of Sweet Thunder), and Korean pop recording artist Mona Trona. The group uses the stage antics of David Bowie and traditional mainstream pop vocalists, along with the campy electronics of Giorgio Moroder or Depeche Mode and vocoders of Trans Am. By the time of their 2000 eponymous debut, Fischerspooner were a certifiable sensation in downtown New York City art galleries and clubs. The single "Emerge" topped European charts, invited a six-song remix EP, and won Fischer and Spooner invitations to international fashion, art, and society happenings. The 2002 album #1 was a re-envisioning of their debut with yet another mix of "Emerge," this time more sedate and electro, following the trend of the times. The duo returned in 2005 with second album Odyssey, on which hitmaker Linda Perry, intellectual Susan Sontag, and Madonna producer Mirwais all made appearances.

Biography by Daphne Carr, Allmusic.com

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Fischerspooner – Albums Collection 2001-2009 [4CD]

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#1 is the sound of 1980 as filtered by two new wave revivalists in 2002. The nine songs here have been remastered and resequenced from Casey Spooner and Warren Fischer's original take on a debut (released in 2001 on International DJ Gigolos). Though they're known primarily for their campy, elaborate live-concerts-as-dramas, Fischerspooner prove themselves to be as talented working studio boards as they are at staging those Ziggy Stardust-style freak-outs. Many listeners will be surprised by the emotional depth of the album, especially since most will have been introduced first to the ravey "Emerge." Their cover of Wire's "15th" might not be as suitable for the dancefloor, but it's a perfect, energetic electro-pop creation and quite possibly the album's high point. And while there are plenty of moments where one wonders if Fischerspooner is channeling the Human League, Information Society, Giorgio Moroder, or Yaz, it might just be the slow songs that best showcase the duo's talent. Unlike fellow nostalgia-mongers Ladytron, it's obvious that Fischerspooner have a foot in the past and the present. The sweet, minimal "Ersatz" blends Eno, Add N to (X), and Autechre all at once. "Tone Poem" recalls and equals any one of Martin Gore's fragile ballads. Other songs simmer with modern techno glitches, mix diva vocals with vocoder rants, and paint vistas that haven't been visited since the '80s. Remarkably varied, lush, and fascinating from start to finish, #1 is a great album. [Includes two hidden bonus tracks, "Megacolon" and a Junkie XL remix of "Emerge."]

Review by Tim DiGravina, Allmusic.com

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Fischerspooner – Albums Collection 2001-2009 [4CD]

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With the Scissor Sisters taking their campy rock revolution manifesto and running all the way up the charts with it, Fischerspooner returned in 2005 with surprisingly little hype, save that their sophomore release is "more organic" and "more rock." Odyssey is about as "rock" as New Order's synthier releases, but they're right when they say "more organic," in so much as Fischerspooner sound like a band here, one that's able to accommodate guests and deliver Linda Perry songs with conviction. Hitmaker Perry works with the duo on three breezy, "human" numbers here – the hippy-trippy "Happy," the even more so "All We Are," and the widescreen road number "A Kick in the Teeth" – and while they're all very pleasing, it's the handclapping funkster "Never Win" that helps the band overcome the sophomore jinx more than anything else on the album. It's the duo's "Get the Party Started," just a lot less brash and without Perry's help. If there's a "rock" influence to be found, it's in the record's pacing. Track one recalls the familiar ("Just Let Go" could be "Emerge"'s little brother), track two proves they're up to something different, track three pulls you back with an obvious hit, and then everything bounces between insular, reflective, and ambitious with spot-on pop about every third number. It feels incredibly comfortable for anyone who's enjoyed a classically constructed rock album, but the tones and temperament are still synth pop and no lover of the genre will feel betrayed. Add a cerebral set of lyrics from David Byrne for "Get Confused," a minimalist and wry poem from Susan Sontag for "We Need a War," call producer Mirwais for some help, and tack a clever Boredoms cover to the end and you've got a smart and totally successful way to follow up a "revolution or bust" debut. Odyssey is filled with vivid melodies, well-constructed soundscapes, and just the right amount of slick strangeness, but what really makes it great is that with an album so solid, it's hard to sneer at Fischerspooner. Their fabulous electro-clash revolution didn't wipe away mundane pop as promised, but Odyssey makes their transition from flag-waving fashionistas to serious, rewarding band smooth and entirely believable.

Review by David Jeffries, Allmusic.com

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Fischerspooner – Albums Collection 2001-2009 [4CD]

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Welcome To The Other Side! Introducing the next generation of city guides. The Other Side series uncovers the hidden gems of the world's great cities and puts them at your fingertips…and your earlobes. Utilizing the cutting edge DualDisc format, each edition of The Other Side features both a CD album compiled and mixed by a native audio pioneer, and a DVD hosted by the artist featuring an array of clips from each city's underground hot spots, including restaurants, bars, shops and clubs. The first 3 editions of The Other Side are Fischerspooner's New York, Damian Lazarus' London and Black Strobe's Paris.

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Fischerspooner – Albums Collection 2001-2009 [4CD]

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Fischerspooner's woozy, percolating keyboard riffs and stylized camp theatrics were considerably more striking in 2001, when the group first emerged, than they are at the tail-end of a decade that's long since done the '80s-resuscitating synth-wave thing to death. Fischerspooner have been largely disregarded since the beleaguered electro-clash beachhead of their debut, despite (or perhaps because of) an entirely respectable sophomore effort, Odyssey, in 2005. But their pop-friendly brand of nu-electro has exerted such an influence on the sounds of the 2000s that this self-released third album, another four years down the line, winds up sounding unremarkably pedestrian (instead of, say, garishly dated, which is how it might have sounded ten years ago.) Which is not to say it's without its charms. Fischerspooner have always been more song-oriented than many of their contemporaries, closer in spirit to a pop/rock band than an electronic dance production outfit (it was the layered vocal hooks, as much as their trademark oscillating bassline, that made "Emerge" such a compelling signature), but they've also always reveled in superficiality, and both of those tendencies are very much apparent here. In musical terms, that means that most of Entertainment is built around the vocals, which is perfectly fine as long as you don't pay too much attention to the actual words. It works out great on upbeat, blithely meaningless cuts like the strutting glam-funk opener "The Best Revenge," which features Bowie sideman Robert Aaron on sax and trumpet, the intriguing, recession-ready electro-clash throwback "Money Can't Dance," and especially the peppy "Supply and Demand," which could pass for vintage Vince Clarke. The vague pseudo-politicking of "Infidels of the World Unite" and the vapid robotomorphism of "We Are Electric" are somewhat more tiresome, while the darker "Amuse Bouche" and "Door Train Home" come off as dreary, dirgelike trudges. The album's nadir, however, is the asinine "Danse en France," proof that inane lyrics are definitely not made better in translation, even if the Frenchmen over at Kitsuné records thought this was worth releasing as a single. A mixed bag, then, but with enough classicist synth pop pleasures to satisfy the committed and the curious. It's far from revolutionary and it's certainly not deep, but as often as not, Entertainment at least manages to live up to its title.

Review by K. Ross Hoffman, Allmusic.com