Ô Paradis – El Juego Negro

When you write about music for years, you could get the urge to be more actively involved in the production process yourself. Perhaps that’s why Nathalie and Ian of Heimdallr webzine started their own label: Autre Que. They managed to have an interesting first release: an EP by Catalonian artist Ô Paradis, with Juergen Weber of Novy Svet as special guest.

The severy limited single is pressed on thick white vinyl and contains four tracks, to be played at 33 rpm. On the cover you see an image of black wings, also the title of the first tracks. The combination of Ô Paradis and Novy Svet makes me think of terms like postmodernism or even anarchism. These artists don’t care much for genre conventions and give the impression they could get away with every style of music, from pop till chanson, from cabaret till tango, from rock ‘n roll to martial folk.

‘Black wings’ makes me think strongly of Tom Waits, with strange chaotic ‘kettle music’ and very Waits-like vocals by Juergen Weber. ’30 Monedas’ is a nice uptempo piece, with typical melancholic Catalan vocals and an uplifting marching rhythm.

The B-side starts with ‘El que no conoce Dios’, a slow and dark moody ballad with half-spoken vocals, which could very well be used in a late night scene of a Jim Jarmusch movie. The last track of this single is called ‘Funtime’, loosely based on the Iggy and the Stooges track with the same title. A funny and sexy piece, which will be appreciated by fans of Bain Wolfkind / Novo Homo.

A highly entertaining single, get it while you can!

artist: O Paradis
label: Autre Que
details: 7" ep, 4 tracks, 2005 (222 copies)