Velocifero | 
 enlarge | Artist: Ladytron
Label: Nettwerk Records
Category: Music
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $12.28
You Save: $5.70 (32%)
New (39) Used (11) Collectible (1) from $10.44
Avg. Customer Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 3125
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.3
MPN: 30790
UPC: 067003079020
EAN: 0067003079020
ASIN: B0017V7GLC
Release Date: June 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Factory Sealed
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| Tracks:
| • | Black Cat | | • | Ghosts | | • | I'm Not Scared | | • | Runaway | | • | Season of Illusions | | • | Burning Up | | • | Kletva - Ladytron, Marichkov, Kiril | | • | They Gave You a Heart, They Gave You a Name | | • | Predict the Day | | • | The Lovers | | • | Deep Blue | | • | Tomorrow | | • | Versus |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
Double vinyl for the band's 2008 studio album. Ladytron are an Electronic Pop band originally based in Liverpool, England, although members originate from Sofia and Glasgow as well as Liverpool itself. The band has been active since 1999, releasing four full-length albums. Ladytron tour extensively around the world, both with live shows and DJ sets. Ladytron have produced remixes for many artists including Placebo, Blondie, Gang of Four, David Gahan, Goldfrapp, Bloc Party, Kings of Convenience, Indochine, Apoptygma Berzerk, She Wants Revenge, Soulwax, Nine Inch Nails and Simian.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
 Much more consistent than their previous albums. December 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Every new Ladytron album replaces the one before it. After I heard Witching Hour, I practically stopped listening to Light And Magic, but now that Velocifero is out, I won't be returning to Witching Hour much. At the same time, Ladytron have made absolutely no changes to their basic style. Nearly every song has all of their trademarks: droning, chugging one-note keyboard lines, loud clumsy beats, Helen Marnie's witchy cooing and/or Mira Aroyo's vampish monotone.
So what's special about Velocifero? Well, it just sounds better. "I'm Not Scared" is a rewrite of "High Rise," built on the same kind of monotonous chug, but it roars out of the speakers with an energy unlike anything on Witching Hour. I don't know how much influence NIN's Alessandro Cortini had on the production, but in any case, it's emblematic that they chose him -- this is their heaviest album, with lots of distorted bass and occasional industrial-tinged beats. The mechanical thump and hiss of the drums in "Runaway" and "Deep Blue" wouldn't be too inappropriate for one of KMFDM's more danceable songs from the late eighties. Ladytron's remix of NIN's "The Beginning Of The End" was the best track on Year Zero Remixed, and it seems that they've put that experience to good use.
The music is more detailed, in general. "Black Cat" uses the typical drone-and-thump template from Witching Hour, but there are now some chiming keyboards in the background, and a discernible lead instrument that interplays with the lead vocal. "I'm Not Scared" actually has a keyboard solo -- sure, it basically just follows the vocal line, but for Ladytron, that's already pushing the boundaries. These may sound like minor changes, but they really add variety to the album.
It also helps that Mira Aroyo finally gets some good music to sing over. (She's always been Ladytron's secret weapon: erratic, but when her songs are good, they're the band's best.) The aforementioned "Black Cat" is her best turn, if not ever, then at least since "Flicking Your Switch" on Light And Magic. Her icy declamation is perfect for Velocifero's dark bass sound. She has another fantastic appearance on "Kletva," the only song on the album that doesn't use the typical drone-and-thump template, probably because it's a cover. The music sounds very pretty and child-like, but Aroyo's performance gives it a slightly world-weary air. It's a wonderfully understated song, one of the band's all-time best. Aroyo's English-language performances are weaker -- "Season Of Illusions" sounds virtually identical to a bunch of other songs, and "Deep Blue" is excruciatingly repetitive. But when she's on, she's really on.
By contrast, Helen Marnie's voice is occasionally overwhelmed by the production, but she also has a couple of stand-out moments, both of which seem to lift their musical content from sixties songs -- namely, the choruses of "Runaway" and "The Lovers." I wish I could remember the song where the rhythm from "The Lovers" comes from, but in any case, it's a great, anthemic hook. The short songs on Velocifero tend to be the better ones. Also, band member Daniel Hunt, mute until now, gets his first vocal appearance in a duet with Marnie on "Versus." He actually does pretty well, and for some reason reminds me of the guy who guested on Bjork's "The Dull Flame Of Desire."
Ladytron's lyrics, unfortunately, are still pretty bad, though probably better than before. The music does mitigate them somewhat, however. A repetitive song like "Predict The Day" (or "Burning Up" -- the catchiness of the line "I wrote a protest song about you" makes me rue its meaninglessness) where the lyrics mostly consist of a couple of chanted lines, would have been unlistenable filler on Light And Magic, but here it has a jagged bass outro that gives it considerable energy. The single "Ghosts," likewise, is carried mostly by the bass. That only goes so far, of course: "Deep Blue" has a pretty good industrial-disco backdrop, but the maniacal insistence on the line, "Deep Blue, I want to give it all to you" really grates.
It's not that they've overcome all their shortcomings. Ladytron are still a very, very repetitive band, even more than many of their contemporaries, and their songs tend to rely on the same musical elements. Some of the songs may be salvaged by the production, but they all use pretty much the same tricks in the same way, and often sound extremely similar. But this is probably the best they can do without making fundamental changes to their style. And, again, Velocifero improves on Witching Hour nearly track for track: "Black Cat" is better than "High Rise," "Tomorrow" is better than "Beauty x2" or "All The Way," and even filler like "Season Of Illusions" is better than the analogous filler "AMTV" or "Fighting In Built Up Areas." It certainly contains more good songs than any other Ladytron album to date.
Song of the year on this album! October 30, 2008
If you ever thought hmm...female voices with Depeche Mode. Hooks, firmly in place, mikes and synths plugged with amps set at '11'. Place the needle at the beginning of "Burning Up". And there you go and you're welcome. Oh yeah, the rest of the album rocks, too.
 wow. October 30, 2008
ummm... I thought it was going to be difficult to better than Witching Hour, but this album is HUGE sounding!!! I absolutely love it.
Something Old, Something New: The Beauty of Growth without Mainstreaming October 28, 2008
While searching the vast emptiness of e-space, I came across this lovely little thing called "A release from Ladytron I did not have" and smiled because I hadn't the foggiest that a new album was coming out. The press on the album was not heavy at all, the clubs were not thumping to these sounds in the same way that Lights and Magic and 604 had been embraced, and the buzz simply wasn't there. In a way that seemed a little bad, but in a way it made me happy because Ladytron has done some of their best work "off the grid." When they were referenced in movies, for instance, a lot of people simply called them "that club band." That was good, too, because they had a following that did not know who they were and, in electronica, it is better to exist without a face because this means that your music is talking.
And talk this album does.
I've heard many comparisons to some of Ladytron's other works and, to a point, I can see it. They haven't strayed away from the vocals that make them uniquely Ladytron, and they haven't tried to redo what made them who they are. They still have the beats that get stuck in your head, they still have catchy loops, and they still know how to please and audience. The one thing they have done is add a little more to some of their tracks, building on the older stuff but still leaving the older arrays in play. So, in a way, this is the progression one would expect in they have listened to Ladytron for a while now.
If you liked Ladytron before, this is a good continuation of what you've known and have loved. You'll get all the good stuff, will listen to it a lot, and will still have music from a band that lets their sounds speak for itself. If you do not like Ladytron it works much the same way: You might want to check the album out to see if you've perhaps missed out on something very soothing to the audio aspects of the self, but you shouldn't be disappointed if you still do not like them. And, if you are new, try out some older albums first, work your way here, and enjoy.
Personally I think Ladytron is one of those bands that has been overlooked because of their "club" label and that's sad because, in the end, people miss out. If there's one thing that people need in life, it is to not miss out on anything attuned to any form of audio-related bliss.
Lovely torture October 24, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is Ladytrons best collection of tunes, period.
Once you hear many of these songs you will not be able to
extricate them from your joy center in your brain.
Lovely torture it is. You will love it; these bested any
effort of previous cds.
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