The ArchAndroid (2010), 8/10 >The post-disco burner Make

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The ArchAndroid (2010), 8/10

>The post-disco burner Make The Bus, a creation of Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes that exudes a bit of Pet Shop Boys-ian grandeur, is paired with the exotic ballet Wondaland, sung in a shrill voice, that harks back to Kate Bush and to synth-pop of the 1980s. Just when she seems to have exhausted all existing as well as non-existing genres, she intones the medieval-tinged hymn of 57821, one of the most poignant moments in the recording history of her generation. After a less successful tribute to Stevie Wonder's brainy soul music (Say You'll Go), she ends the album with the eight-minute BabopbyeYa in the manner of a late-night torch singer except that she's backed by a blaring symphony orchestra and that the music rapidly decays into a Brazilian samba, loose cacophony, a spoken-word recitation against a solemn female choir, and jazzy chamber music. The album is a breathless, dizzy run through the annals of pop, rock and soul (credit also producers Charles "Chuck Lightning" Joseph II and Nathaniel "Nate 'Rocket' Wonder'" Irvin III). That it remains cohesive despite all the jumps back and forth in time is a miracle. It feels like a stylistic tsunami, but one that builds instead of devastating.