Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Radical Face - Ghost [Morr Music - 2007]

Ben Cooper has previously recorded with Alex Cane as a part of the duo Electric President. This is his second full length solo recording, released under the Radical Face moniker, and the first for Morr Music. Ghost is a well recorded album, and it has an intimate feel which draws you in with the first couple of tracks.

Though Ben Cooper’s past work has been associated with at least partly electronic music, Ghost is more of a mellow pop album. The songs remind me a lot of the Postal Service, and Sufjan Stevens. I expect that people who are into the aforementioned artists might dig this album.

There is one problem with the album though; most of the songs sound similar in tempo and tone. By the end of the album, it even sounds like some of the chord progressions of the previous songs are repeated. When I made notes for each of the songs, this is what I came up with most of the time: slow, mellow beginning (either keyboards or acoustic guitar), strident middle part with gentle vocals relating to personal relationships, ends with kind of a crescendo. There are a couple of other songs that are a bit off of that path, but not far.

Ghost is being touted by the label as Ben Cooper’s attempt to emulate Elliot Smith and Tim Buckley. There’s certainly nothing here resembling the intensity of Tim Buckley, so it’s hard to understand that comparison. The Elliot Smith reference seems a little more apt. Cooper favors a whispery vocal style, which could very well have been influenced by the latter.

If you take the lack of variation out of the equation, Ghost is actually a fairly decent album. The arrangements are well done, and there is a variety of instruments on each track, providing a tapestry of sounds, and an unassuming complexity to these melodic tunes. Too bad it gets a bit boring when listened to all the way through.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Erwin Michelfelder
Latest Reviews

Radical Face - Ghost
Ben Cooper has previously recorded with Alex Cane as a part of the duo Electric President. This is his second full length solo recording, released under the ...
290324   Piranha - Piranha(DVD)
280324   Typhoon Club - Typhoon Club(B...
270324   Jerzy Skolimowski Collection ...
260324   Latex Choker - Sealed
260324   Occlusion - 59: No Input Wall
260324   Nihil Impvlse - Anabasis
260324   Marta Forsberg - Sjunger För...
260324   The New Boy - The New Boy( Th...
250324   The Stargazer’s Assistant - ...
250324   Liza Lim - Annunciation Trip...
Latest Articles

The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial H...
Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex mon...
280324   The Music of Clay Ruby & Buri...
290224   Sutcliffe No More - Normal Ev...
100124   Occlusion - The Operation Is...
181223   Best Of 2023 - Music, Sound &...
051223   Powerhouse Films - Of Magic, ...
181023   IO - Of Sound, Of Art, Of Exp...
210923   Lucky Cerruti - Of Not so Fri...
290823   The Residents - The Trouble W...
110723   Yotzeret Sheydim Interview - ...
250523   TenHornedBeast - Into The Dee...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom