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Dance Mother is musical pixie dust illuminated by a warm neon glow. There is a great sense of magic and wonder in Telepathe’s music, their chirping, fairy-like, multi-tracked vocals providing a feeling of childlike awe.
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Throughout, Sitek’s production dusts the stark techno basslines and percussion with ambient touches, and renders them human again, embellishing with swathes of guitars and treated synths, and allowing the vocals to come to the surface; untreated and clear as glass.
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Female duo Melissa Livaudais and Busy Gangnes make stark, witchy electronica that's subtle and exciting, their mantra-like voices drawing you in like a sinister nursery rhyme, with melodies breaking through their oblique, half-muttered lyrics like beams of winter sunlight.
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Even when they occasionally stumble ever so slightly under the weight of their own ambition, the reckless, adventuring spirit that comprises Dance Mother is one of the compelling things that makes it sound like one of the more exciting debut albums to emerge in long while.
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The main criticism of bands built on laptops is that they lack soul but while Telepathe's 'processes' may be intrinsically stylized, tracks like these and the thriving, exhilarating 'Devil's Trident' still carry moments of genuine romance, innocence and drama.
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For all its immediately recognizable debts, "Dance Mother" is something fresh.
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Dance Mother is not, and is clearly not made to be, easy listening - it's an admirably ambitious rather than lovable record, and it doesn't reveal its secrets in a single listen.
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Busy and Melissa have made a record that shimmers with possibilities, mapping out an alien territory that’s eerily inviting. Now it’s time to build on it.
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Telepathe may not be superstars yet, but with Dance Mother--an album short in length but simmering over with ambition--they are certainly on the right track.
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Under The RadarTheir debut album Dsance Mother, produced by TV On The Radio's David Sitek, isn't nearly as discordant as their devisive live shows indicated it might be, distilling eminently accessible songs from the group. [Winter 2009, p.76]
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While it's a little uneven, Dance Mother is often fascinating, and a big step forward for Telepathe without losing what made them distinctive in the first place.
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Dance Mother leaves many unanswered questions. But a safe bet is that Telepathe have more tricks up their sleeves.
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Say what you will about Telepathe’s technical prowess, their songs are pretty uniformly enjoyable.
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Take the repeats out of the equation and you're left with a decidedly mixed bag; just a few of Dance Mother's newbies manage to rival their older siblings' success.