.co.uk Nottingham's Bent are like the funny uncle of the chill-out world--scruffy, eccentric, often embarrassing, but lovable all the same. The Everlasting Blink, the duo's second album, is like a similarly oddball relative; interestingly strange, but not the kind of thing you'd want to live with for any length of time. It's every bit as beautiful as the likes of Lemon Jelly and Zero 7, but with a roughness and fuzziness that makes it impossible to dislike. In Bent's world, smooth grooves and multicoloured soundscapes are replaced by dodgy samples from cheesy charity-shop records, crisp beats and cheap ambient synth sounds. Their debut album, 2001's Programmed to Love, took this spiky cut-and-paste approach to extremes, with intensely laidback cuts next to odd electronic work-outs. On the other hand, The Everlasting Blink is a much smoother proposition--just as silly and cheesy, but with altogether better production and less freaky weird-outs. It's full of glimmering trinkets of sonic loveliness; gems such as the poppy "Beautiful Otherness" (featuring the Beloved's Jon Marsh on vocals); lead single "Magic Love"; semi-acoustic country sing-a-longs and quirky electronic interludes. For those who've already fallen in love with Bent, this is nothing new; for those yet to convert, it should be a revelation. --Matt Anniss Review Bent's debut album Programmed To Love came bursting out into our living rooms three years ago. With choice tunes like "I Love My Man", "Always" and "Swollen", it heralded a new direction in leftfield dance, and in turn welcomed a new addition to the coffee table CD collection. Those Sunday Best tracks are now considered classics thanks to their over exposure on the latest All-Back-To-Mine-For-The-Greatest-Chillout-Album-In-The-World-Ever collection.The Nottingham duo's new album, The Everlasting Blink, is by Simon Mills and Nail Tolliday's own admission their first album proper; their aforementioned debut to their minds more a collection of tracks. Regardless, the culmination of years of trawling second-hand record shops and car boot sales in search of the ultimate sample have produced a record that is firmly tongue-in-cheek and full of surprises.Whilst the band are keen to stress this is not a concept album, there is a distinct theme with eerie soundtrack beds, kitsch sci-fi flavours and loved-up, down tempo beats en masse. Similarly, collaborations are aplenty: 1970s icon David Essex adds his two-pennys-worth to the Spanish guitar-kissed "Stay The Same", and country star Billie Jo Spears is to "So Long Without You" what Tammy Wynette was to the KLF's hoedown "Justified And Ancient".The ethereal tones of the Beloved's Jon Marsh makes an appearance on the drifting string-soaked "Beautiful Otherness", while Captain & Tennille are expertly sampled to provide the musical inspiration on the beautifully lush 'n' dreamy lead-single "Magic Love". This is by far the album's standout track and with Ashley Beedle's remix makes the song an early contender for single of the year.As a whole the chill beats and blissed out musicianship work well together and further highlight why Bent are the dons of eclectic cool and a slightly less pretentious alternative to, say, Air. Well worth getting your hands on. --Jack Smith Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off in a new window
A**7
get bent
the most successful band from nottingham are paper lace ,and while billy dont be a hero is a lovely pop song it cant hold a candle to bents best tracks ,its a complete mystery to me why these guys arent MASSIVE ,but then again best kept secrets and all that ,this is my favourite bent LP ,though i love them all ,the track so long without you gives me goosebumps ,country and western meets balearic beats just magical ,everyone should have at least one bent LP in thier collection its music that snuggles your ears................
M**N
Five Stars
Arials is a better disc but it's very close.
L**Y
Light listening
What a refreshing change
D**Y
Five Stars
Bent have been consistantly great over the years and never fail to deliver
G**D
NEARLY 5/5
NEARLY 5/5 I have to say 4/5 as I LOOOOOVE BENT a great deal as I guess some tunes were ok but others were amazing so it couldn't be 5/5 for me. When you listen to this a few times though it does work and grow on you a lot and they are geniuses I think. If you have never heard of bent try buying their other album 'Ariels' to see the very best of their ability to mix moving vocals with great production and also look at other works such as 'Programmed to love'. Also 'The Art Of Chill' by Bent is an amazing collection of the finest chilled tracks.
M**S
Bootifull
Amazon had been recommending this album for me for weeks, but as Im a bit wary of groups I havent heard of, I ignored their pleas, and it was only when I saw it on-sale elsewhere that I bought it.WHAT WAS I THINKING! I was kicking myself for days, that I ignored the amazon tribe, cos this CD is GGrrrreat.It starts with a sample from Tomita and I thought for a moment that they had put the wrong CD in the case, but it just got better.The tunes are dancy, but not in a Cream/Fabric vein. It reminded me of Royskopp, and Banco De Gaia, but a bit more mainstream. Possibly closer to I Monster, or Mint Royale.The best track has to be Ordinary Day, Im not sure of the sample, but I have been singing it to myself all morning.
D**W
Good for Bent, but perhaps not their strongest album.
This album is very much in the same vein as Bent's early albums (particularly reminiscent of "Programmed To Love") and it contains a couple of stand-out tracks ("Beautiful Otherness" and my personal favourite, "An Ordinary Day"). Superior to "Intercept!" for sheer catchiness of the tunes but I must confess the twangy guitar country music vibe a couple of the songs have wears a little thin. Still worth getting if you're a fan. I also recently discovered a free sampler DJ set on their my space page which should be worth a listen...
M**N
The second coming
I discovered Bent early last year, thought I had found something new, soon realised I had been pretty slow. That aside the first album was a joy. In a pretty mixed up world it is refreshing to hear a pair of artists making soothing, stirring and downright enjoyable soundscapes.This second outing offers more of the same with some fantastic use of old artists on 'guest' sampled vocals. Nana Mouskouri makes a welcome return, joined by Billie Jo Spears, Captain and Tennille and even David Essex! Inspired.The leaning towards country music is done is such a way as to leave you wanting to open up to a long neglected genre. BJ Cole's pedal Steel playing is wonderful. Whereas Goldfrapp use a Theremin to inject a haunting side to their ballads, Bent have found just the musician to polish their sound.Bent's new album is a must. If you like Lemon Jelly you'll love this.
な**ぱ
『Magic Love』、これに尽きる！
表題の通りです、もうこれを聞け、という話です！すごくキャッチーな曲なのですが、耳から離れません。もうずーっと聞いてられますｗBentのおすすめアルバムは???、と聞かれたら私はこのアルバムを勧めるでしょう。いや、どれもおススメですが、あえて決めるなら、ですよ決して後悔しませんから、聞くべきです!!!
A**E
Approachable and mysterious
I really love this album. My tastes run the gamut from Madonna to Van Halen to Mahler (you name it, pretty much). What I listen to most of the time is more current stuff, from dance/club stuff to college radio stuff and Bent, through this record in particular, seem to have this amazing balance that I don't have to be in any particular mood to enjoy. I've listened to it on and off over the last 5 years...it's so soothing, and still growing on me.
K**L
Love it
I love this CD!
J**A
What a disappointment
Recently I realized how often I listened to Bent's first album, so I bought Everlasting Blink. What a disappointment, gone were the sensuous vocals, cool riffs, and vibey flow of the first album. I just think Everlasting Blink is a bit of a bore, nothing jumped out at me, sounded very much like generic electronica muzak. Bummer!
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2 months ago
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