Yes, yes, I’ve reviewed this album before in this space. But the Deluxe Edition of The Knife’s 2006 album, Silent Shout has more than enough bonus material to justify another look in its direction. (And no, just in case Beyoncé has you all worried now, none of it consists of The Knife singing pointless Spanish-language remakes of their material, as funny as I think that would be.)
The new, revised Silent Shout is a three-disc affair, though it’s selling for single-disc prices. Essentially, in addition to the original album, it contains both the DVD and audio versions of the import-only live disc Silent Shout: An Audio Visual Experiment (here retitled “An Audiovisual Experience), as well as all of the band’s videos, including those that had previously showed up on When I Found The Knife. For their fans, at least, The Knife are nothing if not generous — the sum total of all this extra material is at least twice as long as the original album.
And it’s not like it’s filler either. The filmed version of the concert, featuring the duo wearing stylized monkey suits, surrounded by Andreas Nilsson’s stunning and disturbing projected visuals, is simply breathtaking. The shifting, distorted images, many of them adapted from the band’s dreamlike videos, are the perfect match for The Knife’s arctic fracture-pop. I’m sure it was more visceral live, but even on film, it’s a dramatic, even emotional experience.
The rest of the videos are great as well. They’re not all of equal value, to be sure, but it’s nice to have them all in one place. Plus, the best of them really are first rate — I think that my favorite is the nightmarish art-house animation of “We Share Our Mothers’ Health,” which is easily one of the more unsettling music videos I’ve ever seen. The animated mockumentary “When I Found The Knife” is a pleasant bonus as well; it’s of no value if you’re a music historian, but if you want to know how The Knife perceive themselves, it’s invaluable.
I was glad that they included the audio version of the concert, mostly because bands not doing so is a big pet peeve of mine. Stripped of the visuals, however, it’s somewhat less revelatory; “Pass This On,” which has had most of its rhythm track removed, sounds strangely punchless, and the less-processed vocals on “We Share Our Mothers’ Health” lose a fair amount of the menace. There’s nothing here that’s better than the recorded versions, though a few of the reinterpretations, such as the minimalist take on “Marble House,” manage to be interesting.
But that’s a small quibble. For the amount of material here, this album is fantastically inexpensive. The album itself remains utterly brilliant, most of the videos are quite good, and the concert film is a fascinating experiment.
Release date: July 17, 2007
Label: Rabid/Mute
Rating: 9/10
2 Comments »
I know! I wish this weren’t quite so refreshing, if you know what I mean…more bands should be so nice.
And I just invested a significant portion of a check I just got in the Knife’s back catalog…I highly recommend trying again. I’m afraid to play them at home anymore, because I’ve played them so much, and I don’t want Jenny to get upset…
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Comment by amber — September 4, 2007 @ 6:58 pm
i hadn’t heard that they were doing this. i wish more bands would do something similar - everyone is leaving fan geeks high and dry these days.
that being said, i could never get into the knife. which is weird, considering my tastes. maybe i should try again.