Lamb
Country of origin:
England
Type of music generally:
Evocative/eclectic ethereal ectronica/jazz/pop
Status:
Most recent release, The Secret of Letting Go (2019)
See also:
Lamb's siteLou Rhodes' solo site; Andy Barlow's new project is Hoof
Comparisons:
Portishead, Sneaker Pimps
Covers/own material:
Own
General comments:
Electronica, but melodic and musically intriguing in the Portishead vein, and oh, that voice and the powerful songs she sings! Not quite as torchy as Portishead and a little more upbeat and energetic. Strong material, knockout voice, overall music that will last longer than most of the rest of the bands doing the electronica + vocals thing. The first and second are definitely my favourites (the fourth follows them closely)—the third is less edgy, more pop. (Neile)This one was a real surprise. In the glut of trip hop and electronica Lamb is a true standout. Louise Rhodes' vocals combined with dramatic trip hop and drum 'n' bass beats create a slightly more upbeat Portishead. And, any Lamb fan should check out 808 States' new album, Don Solaris, where Louise provides guest vocals on "Azura." (stuart@sph.emory.edu)
Olive might have popularised the genre, but Lamb still sets the standard of drums 'n' bass and pop vocals. (beckwith@ime.net)
Lamb are simply fantastic. Louise's vocals are fantastic, and the music is really interesting and innovative. They are jungle-based, so nearly all their songs have a strong and *interesting* percussion beat (not pounding, but shifting, shuffling and breaking all over the place). "Gorecki" is one of my favourite songs in the world. (afinney@ozonline.com.au)
Though I wasn't as impressed with their latest I think that their first and second CDs were quite nice. (iflin@speakeasy.net)
Comments about live performance:
Until you hear her do this live as I did this summer, and blow you (and about 1000 other people) away totally. It is not only her, but the whole band rocks (with the bass player being the best thing :)—just the small thing during the presentation of the bandmembers by Lou where both the trumpet player and bass player do solos but the drummer just walks up to the drumset and hits the cymbal once and that's it (everyone was expecting something spectacular after the other solos :).
Together with Velvet Belly my all-time favorite live band. With the welcome they got this time I reckon they will come back very soon, and then we won't let them just come back on stage 2 times :) (onealien@mo.himolde.no)The capsule review: if any of the dates on their tour are going to be anywhere near you, you *must* go. They were incredible.
I don't know what I was expecting—something more like Portishead, I guess, with a bored singer going through the motions while an enigmatic personage hid in the back fiddling with knobs all night. What I got was a rollicking quintet that looked like it might be more at home thrashing out punk tunes, making wonderful sounds with real instruments as well as technology, squeezing every ounce of energy out of the crowd then tossing it back fivefold. It was, simply, a mind-numbingly wonderful show. And Loud! Yack. At one point my Sox cap literally almost flew off my head, the bass was resonating so intently. Tasty.
The band was having a *ton* of fun. There were some technical difficulties starting out, but they handled it with all good humor, and once they got going they never looked back. I don't know the names of anyone in the band, but the bass player was a freak of nature—he played an electric upright bass, and we were all wondering aloud by the end of the night what a duel between he and Lindsey Horner would be like. The drummer was really good, and the horn player (Laurence Fishburne's missing twin—we kept expecting to hear an announcement that we had fallen into the Matrix and wouldn't be able to get out) was great too, adding just the right wailing, well, bleats to the tunes in all the right spots. The technology guy (the one turning all the knobs) was actually fun to watch—he had a large amount of toys around him, and he did cool things with all of them. For a couple songs he came out to the front of the stage and played a couple hand drums, too, which was cool. And the singer—I liked her voice in person much better than on the record (and I like it on the record too). She looked kind of like Mary Ramsey, which was disconcerting, especially when she cracked a joke.
They played quite a bit from Fear of Fours, and listening to it afterwards I have a renewed appreciation for it. I hadn't been able to figure out most of the lyrics from the disc, but live I could tell what the songs were about.
The club was packed, too—we had gotten there near first in line and ended up pretty close to the stage, which was a good thing. Everyone was really into it, and didn't quite need all the encouragement they were getting from the band, but it was fun anyway. There was much screaming throughout, but since the band had clearly asked for it, I didn't mind and was even happy to oblige.
All in all, an amazing experience, not to be missed. That's an order. :)
I think they're the prime example of a band whose show finally made me "get it". I thought their albums were ok, but nothing special. Then I saw them play. Yow!!! I finally started to hear Fear Of Fours for what it was, when the power of their live show literally knocked my Sox hat right off my head. That is up there as one of the most memorable live experiences of the past few years. (9/99, meth@smoe.org)They were quite wonderful but so bone-shaking loud that I could barely hear Lou's vocals. But wow they were jumping, and it was especially great to see people who were happy to be onstage and not afraid that it was uncool to smile and have a good time. That they did, and so did we. (10/99, Neile)
Recommended first album:
A hard call, but I consider lamb a masterpiece; fear of fours is merely brilliant. (Neile)
Recordings:
- lamb (1996)
- fear of fours (1999)
- what sound (2001)
- Between Darkness and Wonder (2003)
- Best Kept Secrets: The Best of Lamb 1996-2004 (2004)
- lamb:remixed (2005)
- 5 (2011)
- Live at KOKO (live, 2011)
- Live at the Paradiso, 2004 (live, 2012)
- Backspace Unwind (2014)
- The Secret of Letting Go (2019)
lamb
Release info:
1996—Mercury/Polygram—31453 2968-2
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Andy Barlow, Lou Rhodes
Guest artists:
Paddy Steer—double bass
Ian Thorne—double bass
The Chainsaw Sisters—cellos
Steve Christian—guitar
Graham Massey—vibraphone
Produced by:
Lamb
Comments:
it is really good. it's like the lead singer from portishead, with more interesting trip-hoppy music. music is a bit harder, but i like it. and the woman's voice is really good. (clsriram@phoenix.Princeton.EDU)This one really caught my ears this year and didn't let them go. By far my favourite debut of the year. I play this and play this and play this and can't seem to tire of it. The songs have the emotive strength of Beth Gibbons' of Portishead, but are just enough more upbeat and evoke a greater variety of emotions that I find this is something I want to listen to more often. (Neile)
If you haven't got this first, self-titled album, RUN and get it, it's brilliant, and "Gorecki" is one of my favourite songs ever. (afinney@ozonline.com.au)
I like it, sure—but it doesn't *grab* me. One exception is "Gorecki"—for me that's one track that immediately stands out. Now that I've heard the original I think the dance remix version that I first came to know and like from Fear of Fours doesn't do it justice. (afries@zip.com.au)
The first cd is a lot darker than fear of fours. I think something was going on in the both members' lives that comes out in the music, something inchoate and never directly spoken of, but undeniably *there*. Oh, I don't think it's as tortured as, say, the first Throwing Muses cd, but there is an disturbing element that keeps me from playing it all the time. But it is undeniably a beautiful piece of work. (ethereal_lad@livejournal.com)
"Zero" is I think the only really lyrically-dark song on the album, and they offset it from the rest of the songs by arranging it for strings alone, and leaving the samplers in the refrigerator...but all of the other lyrics are very much just kind of different pop, Lou is singing about love in all of the songs, and optimistically, as well...even "Trans Fatty Acid", with its shrieking factory noises, is like, "our love is strong enough to weather the rain to weather the snow to weather the storm", and "Feela" is just kind of rueful, not dark..."this could have been something this could have been really something", it's not too deathly...the beats are, certainly...well, not in "Feela", there are no beats in that song to speak of...but anyhow...I don't know, dark music doesn't make the whole shebang a big wad of darkness.... (John.Drummond)
fear of fours
Release info:
1999—Fontana/Mercury—314 546 417-2 (U.S.) 314 558 821-2 (Canada)
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended for ectronica fans
Group members:
Lou Rhodes
Andy Barlow
Guest artists:
Jon Thorne—double bass
Kevin Davy—trumpet
Mikey Wilson—drums
Crispin "Spry" Robinson—percussion on track 10
Jimi Goodwin—guitar on track 2
Graham Clarke—violin on track 11
The Chainsaw Strings—tracks 5, 7, 14
Niroshini Thambar, Neil Catchpole, Ann Wood, Alison Dods, Matthew Ward—violin
John Rayson, Helen Kamminga, Neil Catchpole—viola
Katheryn Locke, Tanera Dawkins, Cathy Rimer—cello
Jon Thorne, Alan Gibson—double bass
Ben Park—baritone saxophone on track 5
David Clack—horn on track 5
Alice Kinloch—trombone, sausaphone on track 5
Produced by:
lamb
Comments:
It's more jazzy than a lot of the material on the first Lamb album, and they seem to be following in the Portishead tradition of messing around with the vocals.... Louise Rhodes' voice is high and kind of pinched in the song, much like Beth Gibbons' in a bunch of the tracks on Portishead. Anyhow, it rocks, and if any of y'all dig Lamb as much as I do, run out and grab the single too.
this new album... I love it, it's like they just figured out how to streamline the whole process, and Lou just started singing in a somewhat happier way...but the lyrical content hasn't changed as such, it's just grown a bit, now her conceits are bit more pronounced, the lyrics end up fitting the songs specifically much more, rather than just being similar rhythm-wise...I think there's a big difference between the musical contents of the album as far as style goes...their jazz side really is much more prominent on some songs here (for those of y'all who are compulsive single-collectors, one of the "b side" singles has a completely amazing different version of the song, it's called the "Lounge mix", though Lou recorded a new vocal for it and everything, it's the version I think they should have been put on the album, personally), and a lot of artists seem to do this...on their first albums early in their career, they have a style that is all their own, they do things "their way", something that is advanced musically, but not any specific style, and then as they mature, they start mining older forms, they turn to things like jazz and blues and older-school rock...it's the whole "well, their style is difficult to describe", because there really isn't a specific style, they're not blues or jazz or drum'n'bass or any of that specific stuff...they're just making the music they make, it comes out of their personal little filters however it comes out...but the new Lamb album draws much more noticeably (and I'd say more successfully) from jazz and (though I'm loathe to use this term) contemporary classical á la "bonfire" and "lullaby"...I think their use of Caribbean rhythms and percussion in "here" is brilliant brilliant brilliant...I think the albums are different enough that I can't compare them, and though I'll admit I really did want another Lamb, they've moved in a much stronger direction.... I think if they tried to just write "Gorecki" all over again, it'd have been a disaster. instead, they wrote "five" and "alien" and "b line", and it's all amazing and it works. I love it. I haven't listened to the first album since I got the new one, I'm not sure why...I've just been loving "Fear of Fours" way too much to go back down that road yet...I'm sure it'll sound much different too, after having been cast in the light of the new album. (John.Drummond)I really like it. It reminds me very much of the last Moloko album I'm not a doctor. The voice and the singing is very much the same, the breakbeats and the bass lines are very similar. Both are excellent albums. One of my favourite albums of 1999. (Dirk.Kastens@rz.Uni-Osnabrueck.DE)
For my money Fear of Fours is much stronger than their first release. It's made of similar ingredients, but they add up to something even better and more exciting. It grabbed me and holds me still while my initial reaction to the first one is so far rather more subdued....
I also find it more well-rounded and pleasing than lamb. I'd even go as far as to say "Consistently brilliant"! Fans of Portishead, Lida Husik and Happy Rhodes' Many World Are Born Tonight—pay attention to this one! Portishead might be the closest reference but while they built their tunes around samples galore and spooky atmospherics, Lamb use more rhythm and occasional "real" instruments; in fact, some of my favourite moments on this record are those with very real, fat, thumping double bass (played by John Thorne) dominating electronic landscapes.... On a couple of tracks a trumpet appears as well. Then there is Lou Rhodes' voice—yep, another talented Rhodes! Again, comparison with Portishead's Beth Gibbons would not be out of place. Husky, remarkable voice. Maybe not especially great or even pretty (well, that's a matter of taste), but distinct. For all the studio technology that surely went into making of this record it is totally down to earth and human. Usually misery produces better art than contentment, but Fear of Fours is an exception, as it seems based mostly around their relationships and domestic bliss (lucky them!). The opening lines provide a clear statement of the mission:There's so many things that we miss in our everyday livesI really like this album. Both thumbs way up!
we're so busy hustling, bustling, chasing faraway dreams
we forget the little things
like blue skies, green eyes and our baby growing....
I love the textures, arrangements and vocals on this record, that's right—I *love* Lou Rhodes' voice. The way she sings "Lullaby" sends shivers down my spine! And that double bass, ah—this is heaven! The consensus on Ecto seems to be that their first one was better but all I can say is for whatever reason I truly bonded with Fear of Fours while their first remains just "very good" in my book. My favourite album of 1999. (afries@zip.com.au)Yes indeed, Fear Of Fours is an excellent release. I'd say that nothing *quite* stands out like "Gorecki", but overall its more well-rounded and consistently pleasing. Especially (early favourites) "B-Line", "Bonfire", "Softly", "Fly", "Lullabye" and the eight-minute onslaught of "Ear Parcel". I would definitely say that I prefer Fear Of Fours, but the extent to which this is true may or may not be because of its newness. Certainly when I bought Lamb I was struck by "Gorecki", and then it took a week or two to get into (and finally adore) songs like "God Bless", "Zero" and "Gold". On the other hand nothing really struck me from Fear Of Fours on first listen, but by the third I was well and truly hooked on everything. (afinney@ozonline.com.au)
I'm going to be the exception here, and have to say that while I love Fear Of Fours it didn't stand up to as many totally obsessive repeated plays as Lamb. It's hard to pin down why, but I actually got tired of many songs on Fear Of Fours when I went through my stage of playing it at least once a day for weeks on end, while I can still do that with Lamb (and still do, even after three years!). I also find Lou Rhodes' vocals higher and more pinched than on the first disc and while I still love her voice, I prefer the first style. HOWEVER, this should not in any way be taken as a lack of endorsement for this album—I adore it, and this has confirmed for me that lamb is one of my favourite groups. I'll be listening to and loving this album for years to come. And frequently, just not as frequently as I listen to Lamb. (Neile)
Mmmm. Tasty. I heard an awful lot of hype before I heard the album, and I too was a little put-off by Lou's vocals. Give 'em a chance to work their way into your head. It's such a fabulous album, and the vocal stylings are a big part of that for me.
I happened to listen to Fear of Fours at the office again today, and was struck by how much of it is about Lou's pregnancy and baby.
And how can you not love "Ear Parcel"? (burka@jeffrey.net)I LOVE it. It's a little different from the first one, but just as good. It's a little more moody and a *little* less rhythmically intense. If you liked lamb, you will not be disappointed. It has been worth waiting for. (drewh@bitwise.com)
I listen to the new Lamb album more than the first one; but I think the first cd is more of a masterpiece, if that makes any sense. Fear of Fours is a fun cd, and it was great to walk around Greenwich Village (where I first got) listening to it. (ethereal_lad@livejournal.com)
i have to agree with the general consensus that it isn't as good as the first one, but it is pretty darn good. i still need to listen to it more to get a good grasp of it though. (iflin@speakeasy.net)
Seeing Lamb live really gave me an increased appreciation for this album. It's not something I think to put into the player, though. It's missing that certain something that demands attention. Still, when I do hear it I love it. (meth@smoe.org)
So I finally listened to fear of fours. I'd heard so much about it from ecto, and half of me thought I would really like it and half thought I would really hate it, but I had to find out, so I bought it (with the remix cd, same price, which I haven't listened to yet) a week or maybe 2 ago, and just worked up the nerve to listen to it last night. Quite interesting. I've never heard any other Lamb work. I really like the music but the vocals are disturbing. It's definitely the kind of thing that would have to grow on a person (or at least a person like me) but I can't tell yet whether it will or not.
Later: Just rediscovered this album. It's pretty cool. Different. Needs more listens, but it will get them. (JoAnn Whetsell)Portishead's evil twin? Snapped my head around when I heard it. (jzitt@humansystems.com)
I think this is a very good album, but not as good as Lamb. I've been listening to Lamb quite a lot ever since Neile wore me down with her constant endorsements, and now that Fear of Fours is out I still prefer to listen to Lamb. For me I think the reason is mainly Lou's changed vocal stylings... sometimes change is bad. (mcurry@io.com)
Interesting album, though hasn't really grown on me yet. (jjhanson@att.net)
what sound
Release info:
2001—Mercury—314586432
Availability:
Europe and Canada
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Andy Barlow
Louise Rhodes
Guest artists:
Jimi Goodwin—guitar
The London Session Orchestra—strings
Arto Lindsay—guitar, electric guitar
Mikey Wilson—drums
Me'shell NdegéOcello—bass
Guy Sigsworth—bass line
Oddur Mar Runarsson—acoustic guitar
Michael Franti—additional vocals
Tony Vega of Scratch Perverts—scratching
Jan Linnik—Trippy K beatbox
Imani & Safiya Robinson, Sam & Amy Biggins, Wesley Etienne, Tabith & Josephine Taylor, James & Benjamin McKone (with special thanks to Tigga): kids
Ned (Egg) Scott—additional keyboards
Produced by:
Various songs produced by Lamb, others by Lamb & Guy Stigsworth
Comments:
One of my favourites of the year. So what is it like? Well, it is still Lamb although there have been some changes. Now the sound is a little bit more stripped-down, production less layered. That thumping upright bass so prominent on Fear of Fours is sadly absent this time, though the odd time signatures remain. "Gabriel" is gorgeous in a "Gorecki" kind of way, but even though all the ingredients are there, it doesn't affect me quite the same way. That in fact might be the perfect summary of my whole experience so far. These are the early days yet and other subtleties might reveal themselves with repeated listening, but so far it just doesn't have the same "Wow factor" that Fear of Fours held for me. On that one I was never bored for a second. This time around there moments (for example on "Sweet") when I catch myself thinking "hmmm... honestly, this drags on a bit, doesn't it?" "One" emerges as one of my favourites, with its middle eastern melody, and a riff that I suspect reminds me of some long-forgotten Tangerine Dream concert, building up to a huge crescendo. "Gabriel" is also one of the highlights here, Lou's voice rich with that gorgeous quiver....
This time around apparently Andy and Lou loosened their control a bit, allowing more collaboration with other producers and the guest musicians who included Michael Franti and Me'shell NdegéOcello. Lyrically, they seem to follow their theme of celebration of small things and fulfillment of love...not a lot of angst here :)
Finally, the disk itself is one of those annoying "enhanced multi-media" jobs that seem to serve no other purpose than to frustrate me by making access to the actual tracks more difficult. And the Australian version comes with the bonus disk of remixes; not being one of the greatest fans of the concept of remix, I haven't even gotten around to listening to them yet, but just reading the cover I can tell you the bonus tracks are: "B-line", "Gold", "God Bless", "Trans Fatty Acid" and "Cotton Wool".
And my final rating? Hmm...let's say, 8/10. This is undoubtedly a good, even great record, it's just that I measure it against the impossibly high standard: Fear of Fours is one of my favourite records of all time, so perhaps some disappointment was inevitable. But I fully expect to grow to like this one more, once I learn to take it on its own merit, rather than constantly comparing it to Fear of Fours. And in any case, this is my problem—don't let it put YOU off! (afries@zip.com.au)Slightly more pop and less intense than their previous albums, especially lyrically, this is still a strong and wonderful album. Lamb just never disappoints me—their music is always strongly, obsessively listenable, full of fascinating sounds and Lou Rhodes' odd and lovely vocals. What a delight! I don't think it will catch up to how much I loved their first two albums, though. (Neile)
Sparser sound on this album, but I don't think those songs could have been done in any other way. (onealien@mo.himolde.no)
What Sound has finally grown on me...still don't like it quite as well as the first two, but it's definitely better than I was thinking at first.... (burka@jeffrey.net)
Between Darkness and Wonder
Release info:
2003—Mercury Records
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Andy Barlow—sounds, arrangements
Lou Rhodes Robinson—vocals, guitar
Guest artists:
Matt Robertson—additional bass, piano
Spry Robinson—congas, percussion
Joel Derouin, Michele Richards, Charlie Bisharat, Sara Parkins—violins
Bob Becker, David Campbell—violas
Larry Corbett—cello
Joe Thorne—double bass
Nicolaj Bjerre—drums
Oddur Runarsson—guitar, backing vocals
Stephanie Bennett—harp
Rita Frenzel, Natasha Gant, Taly Forel, Uzo Nwanaga, Mark Bjornsgaard—choir
Hilarie Penda—bass
Chi 2 strings:
Liz Liew, Sara Liew—violins, backing vocals
Pauline Kirke—cello, backing vocals
Produced by:
Lamb
Comments:
I really love Between Darkness and Wonder and find it a real return to form, after the more pop What Sound. No, it's not as raw as their first two albums; it's more subtle than that. I think it's as good as the first two—just less noisy about its excellence. It's a slow-down-and-listen album rather than a knock-you-off-your-feet album like the first two. But it's still terrific. (Neile)yes, it is tasty :) (gordoja@optonline.net)
Best Kept Secrets: The Best of Lamb 1996-2004
Release info:
2004—Mercury Records/KOCH Records—KOC-CD-9601
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Andy Barlow—sounds, string arrangement (11, 14), harp arrangement (14)
Lou Rhodes—vocals, guitar (14)
Guest artists:
Graham Massey—vibes (3)
Paddy Steer—double bass (3)
Kathryn Locke, Tanera Dawkins—cello (4, 8)
Jon Thorne—double bass (5-8), bass (13)
Jimi Goodwin—guitar (6, 9)
Michael Lawrence—drums (6)
Cathy Rimer—cello (8)
Helen Kamminga, John Rayson—viola (8)
Anne Wood, Alison Dods, Matthew Ward, Nell Catchpole, Niroshini Thambar—violin (8)
Alan Gibson—double bass (8)
Guy Sigsworth—bass line (9)
Arto Lindsay—guitar (10)
Wil Malone—string arrangement and conducting (11)
The London Session Orchestra—strings (11)
Matt Robertson—piano (12), additional bass (14, 16)
Spry Robinson—congas (12)
Nikolaj Bjerre—drums (13, 15)
Oddur Runarsson—guitars (13-15)
David Campbell—string and harp arrangement (14), viola (14, 16)
Stephanie Bennett—harp (14)
Joel Derouin, Michele Richards, Charlie Bisharat, Sarah Parkins—violins (14, 16)
Bob Becker—viola (14, 16)
Larry Corbett—cello (14, 16)
Rita Frenzel, Natasha Gant, Taly Forel, Uzo Nwanaga, Mark Bjornsgaard—choir (14)
Chi2 Strings—string arrangement and backing vocals (15)
Liz Liew, Sarah Liew—violins (15)
Pauline Kirkej—cello (15)
Produced by:
Lamb, Guy Sigsworth (9-11)
Comments:
I only have one Lamb album, Fear of Fours, but this compilation certainly makes me wish I had more. And isn't that the point? As an introduction to their work I think it works really well, offering a range of their version of trip-hop/electronica and the evolution of their music from more intense to more mellow and melancholy. Their 4 albums are about equally represented with about 4 songs each. The bonus DVD of 7 videos (6 of the 7 appear on the cd) is quite good too and will make the album more attractive to people who already own all of their albums since all the songs have been previously released. My only complaint, and it's really more of a quibble, is that at 1 hour 11 minutes, the disc is a bit long. (JoAnn Whetsell)
5
Release info:
2011—strata—strata005s
Availability:
See Lamb's site
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Lou Rhodes—vocals, guitar
Andy Barlow—beats, synths, samples, keys
Jon Thorne—double bass (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10)
Guest artists:
Everton Nelson, Emil Chakolov, Emlyn singleton, Nina Foster, Max Baillie, Chris Worsey, John Thorn, Danny Keane, Oli Langford—strings (4, 9, 10)
Danny Keane—string arrangments (4, 9, 10): additional piano (10); Rhodes (7)
Yoav—additional guitar (3)
Produced by:
Andy Barlow
Comments:
A wonderful return! While they still sound very much like lamb, their sound has obviously been influenced (and refreshed and renewed) by Andy Barlow and Lou Rhodes' interim projects. A mix of slow, gorgeous tracks and lovely rocking ones. Welcome back, lamb! (Neile)One of the best albums of the year. (gordoja@optonline.net, jonwesleyhuff@gmail.com, onyx@vianet.ca)
Further info:
In 2004 Lamb also released an album in the Back to Mine series (where artists collect some of their favourite tracks, subtitled The Voodoo Sessions.
Thanks to JoAnn Whetsell for work on this entry.
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