Release Date: Feb 20, 2007
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Record label: Thrill Jockey
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The impish Bobby Conn's latest concept album is a homage to the cult of celebrity. Conceived as a soundtrack, it's like Fame: The Movie as envisioned by Ken Russell, a strange but picturesque vision of hair-metal guitars, birdsong, lyrics sung in Latin and songs about toe-sucking. As usual, it's Conn's tongue-in-cheek humour that lets him get away with it all; from the wry self-indulgence of eight-minute instrumental Vanitas to the swift kick to a pop-star ego in Mr Lucky, he has a lot of fun.
Fascinating, perplexing, sometimes off-putting but more often funny, Bobby Conn continues to chart a very unusual path through contemporary music. His King for a Day, the sixth solo album following the break-up of the late-'80s Conducent, is, as always, something of a concept piece, with several cuts aimed squarely at celebrity culture. Where 2004's prog-inflected The Homeland concerned itself with the deceptions of warmongers, King for a Day is all about Tom, Katie and Suri.
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