The Knife “We Share Our Mother’s Health”
Thursday, February 9, 2006
The beginning of this song is a beginning. Dormant strands of tweaked electronics slowly yawn to life, as if waiting to perform after the researchers have left the lab for the night. Quickly settling into a Caribbean-by-way-of-Wax Trax polyrhythm, it spawns male and female forms. The female begins singing, in a voice at once young, of indescribable ethnicity (the duo is Swedish, but this doesn’t necessarily scan) and irresistably…bratty. Halfway through, the male takes over, taking the song into new territory—a mutant Nordic thunder that sounds like fifty voices combined into one. When they combine forces in the third section, it’s majestic, but all too brief, hissing away into thin air as if someone were coming to discover them.
Because of an inherent allegiance to ever-advancing technology, electronic and dance music has split so many times into so many forms and sub-forms that I gave up on trying to keep track. Like hip-hop, the best writers and critics of electronic music are those who follow it exclusively, and simpletons like me need some reference point as a filter through which to appreciate it—and the looking-backward-to-go-forward approach always appeals to me. The fact that I’m far from an expert on the subject should serve as further evidence that Silent Shout has something special in its appeal—It drew me in with its distinctive (and deceptively complex) approach, and kept me listening in an attempt to parse its debt to prior forms (elsewhere on the record, the icy vocals of Cocteau Twins’ Elisabeth Fraser are referenced). In other words, I’m a dilettante who likes this stuff as pop. With that in mind, “We Share Our Mother’s Health” (mp3) is hands-down not only the best dance track, but also the best song I’ve heard yet this year.
Visit The Knife’s website here.
nice write up.
i also read your post on the whole blog drama and it really changed my outlook on the whole music “blogosphere.” i myself have always tried to make my tastes as evident as possible and not to just be a publicists go-to guy, y’know? i try to make it as interesting as i can, but the fact is, i just don’t completely have the writing capacity to write about music like, you or say, someone like sean from stg can.
but anyway, lovely writing, keep up the great work.
I have to agree – I love this track. It haunted me the first time I heard and show it’s animated video…
Love THE KNIFE – with Confessions of Madonna the most played Album so far.
Marble House should have been a much bigger Hit, igts my Favourite Track, but there had to be more Remixes.
Mothers Health is great, too.
There s great Music from Sweden at this Moments: Sophie Zelmani and others, too.