Oh dear God, I love this record. I saw the cover and thought “What is that ?” and then never got any further with it because I got flooded with other releases. If you look at the cover and think as I do, this is a record of novelty accordion covers. Well, it’s not. The moustached pimp on the front may well be Jimmy Rosso, but if he makes albums this good, he can look any way he likes. He can also marry my daughter, live in my flat and have everything I own.
Imagine a cross between Thom Yorke’s “Eraser” and James Blake (but with all the shit covers and whiny vocals removed) and you’re halfway there. Part art-electronica, part noise ballad, there isn’t a single note, sound or moment that is anything less than perfect. I don’t really know what else to say. When he wants to do beats he excels. When he wants to disappear into a heart wrenching morass of strings he does it perfectly and when he wants to sing (at any pitch) he does it perfectly. I could listen to this over and over again till the end of time and never, ever get bored. The only negative feelings I have are jealousy (because he’s not on my label) and sadness (because I can’t listen to it all the time). It will join a rarified selection of albums that I, somewhat perversely, will refuse to listen to more than once or twice a year, so that I never, ever get bored of them and they will always sound as brilliant as the day I first heard them.
There is only one thing I have to say as criticism. Jimmy Rosso has no web presence other than on MySpace. As I explained to the mysterious owner of Bearsuit Records, this is a little like writing a note saying “I quite like music”, then putting the note in a bottle and flushing that bottle down the toilet. MySpace is dead and has been for years. To some extent I applaud the concept of keeping this as a private listening experience but it’s too good for that. So go and buy this album and then start eulogizing.
Kim Monaghan
Wow what a lovely review. Thanks Kim. Really glad you liked the album. Makes it all feel worthwhile having folks like yourself appreciating the music! I’ll try get on to a website soon I promise! All the best Jimmy
Jimmy you’re a genius. Go and get a Soundcloud and a Bandcamp.