Jesse Jarnow

“jungle drum” – emiliana torrini

“Jungle Drum” – Emiliana Torrini (sorry, nastygrammed by Rough Trade–first time ever!–despite the fact that this is the album’s single! WTF? See below. Good promotion, dudes.)
from Me and Armini (Rough Trade) (out 9/8)

(file expires August 25th)

I have a silly crush on this song. It’s not particularly complicated, but at least one–if not both–of the chorus’s twin hooks were stuck in my head for better parts of a glorious New York weekend. There are all kinds of little appeals: Emiliana Torrini’s ESL cuteness, the kitschy escapism of drums in the jungle, the perky electro groove, the soaring title refrain, and–of course–the onomatopoeic thump of Torrini excitedly sounding a cartoon heart-pulse. The modulation for the final chorus is rather pleasant, too. It feels kind of like a reduced version of Björk or MIA’s foreign otherness: a whiff of the weird to propel it, but–unlike those two–hardly challenging pop’s international, institutional grammar. Who cares, really? It’s just a silly crush.

2 Comments

  1. dan symons says: - reply

    Hello
    I identify myself as an authorized representative of the copyright owner of an exclusive right which is being infringed.
    My contact information is
    Dan Symons
    Marketing Manager
    Rough Trade Records
    C/o Beggars Group Ltd
    17-19 Alma Road
    London
    SW18 1AA
    UK
    +44 208 870 9912
    [email protected]
    The works that we believe are being infringed are owned by Rough Trade Records who are part of the Beggars Group of labels.
    Please remove the link for Emiliana Torrini ‘Jungle Drum’
    Thanks for you help
    Dan

  2. Randy Ray says: - reply

    Dear Dan –
    He’s doing you and the artist a favor by giving their music a platform.
    Get out of the music biz stone age, and recognize a worthy shout out from a well-respected scribe when you see one.
    At the end of the day, you could do a hell of a lot worse than having Mr. Jarnow pay his respects by getting people to listen to your artist.
    – Randy Ray

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