| Oooh La La! | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 11, 2010 | |||
| Recorded | Water Music, Hoboken, New Jersey | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 36:33 | |||
| Label |
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| Producer | Stewart Lerman | |||
| Crash Test Dummies chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Oooh La La | ||||
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Oooh La La! is the ninth and most recent studio album by Crash Test Dummies, released 11 May 2010 on Deep Fried Records, distributed by MRI Records. [1] The songs on the album are inspired by the Optigan and Omnichord toy instruments.
The seeds for Oooh La La! were first planted when Brad Roberts and producer Stewart Lerman (Antony & the Johnsons, The Roches) became infatuated with vintage analog musical toys, particularly one manufactured by the Mattel company called the Optigan (an acronym for "optical organ"). Using celluloid discs, the Optigan projects the sounds of other instruments with different sets of keys triggering chords and individual notes. The discs, with names like "Nashville," "Swing It!" and "Guitar Boogie," rotate to produce different arrays of sounds. The process is eerily similar to the digital sampling that is so common today, but the antiquated analog system produces quite a different effect. "Because we wrote using these discs, we were inspired to do things that we wouldn't have done," Roberts points out. "I don't write big band style, but all of a sudden I had this big band [on disc], so I'm writing in a genre that I normally wouldn't be writing in. I can't say enough about how great it is to write on these toys." [2]
Brad Roberts originally stated that he planned to release the album as a digital-only release, since he couldn't afford the CD distribution costs (and he believed that CDs would be out of date by 2015). [3] However, plans were later changed and Roberts signed a distribution deal with MRI Records, which distributed the album via Sony's RED Distribution division. [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [4] |
| Blogcritics | (Positive) [5] |
| Consequence of Sound |  [6] |
| The Dallas Morning News | (B) [7] |
| The Globe and Mail | [8] |
| Metro Canada | [9] |
| The Washington Post | (Positive) [10] |
| Winnipeg Free Press | [11] |
The album received mixed to positive reviews upon its release. Matt Melis of Consequence of Sound gave the album 3½ out of 5 stars and commented on the extremely upbeat nature of the album stating that "it’s hard to believe this is the same man who wrote songs like At My Funeral and The Unforgiven Ones". [6] Mario Tarradell of The Dallas Morning News gave the album a "B" and praised the album's use of toy instruments as ingenious. [7] Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail gave the album 2½ out of 4 stars describing the album as "all good fun, except for the skedaddling country-swing of What I’m Famous For, where Roberts shows off the worst John Wayne imitation ever." [8] Catherine P. Lewis of The Washington Post says that "Oooh La La! is not likely to add a second hit to the Dummies' legacy, but this quirky instrumentation certainly makes for a group that's enjoying itself." [10] Jill Wilson of the Winnipeg Free Press gave the album 3 out of 5 stars and says that while the use of the Optigan is as gimmicky as it sounds, "fans of the band's early work may appreciate its offbeat qualities, not to mention Roberts' knack for appealing melodies and the album's orchestral feel." However, she also make a criticism that "Roberts too often pushes that mannered baritone of his into forced lows, as on the otherwise lovely '30s-tinged Not Today Baby, which is reduced to novelty status by his vocal mugging" [11]
Graham Rockingham of Metro Canada gave the album 2½ out of 5 stars and, while he appreciated gentle folk rockers like Songbird, he states that "the project quickly goes off course as the Dummies try to adapt their trademark sound to something approaching retro riverboat cabaret." [9]
All tracks are written by Brad Roberts and Stewart Lerman.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Songbird" | 3:45 |
| 2. | "You Said You'd Meet Me (In California)" (Early version previously appeared as a bonus track on The Best of Crash Test Dummies .) | 3:25 |
| 3. | "And It's Beautiful" | 3:25 |
| 4. | "Paralyzed" | 3:32 |
| 5. | "The In-Between Place" | 2:50 |
| 6. | "Not Today Baby" | 3:10 |
| 7. | "Heart Of Stone" | 4:52 |
| 8. | "Lake Bras d'Or" | 2:25 |
| 9. | "What I'm Famous for" | 2:57 |
| 10. | "Now You See Her" | 4:06 |
| 11. | "Put a Face" | 2:06 |
According to the official Crash Test Dummies website: [12]
Crash Test Dummies are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The Optigan is an electronic keyboard instrument designed for the consumer market. The name stems from the instrument's reliance on pre-recorded optical soundtracks to reproduce sound. Later versions were sold under the name Orchestron.
Bradley Kenneth Roberts is the lead singer and guitarist for the Canadian folk-rock band Crash Test Dummies. He sings in the bass-baritone range. The band is best known internationally for their 1993 album God Shuffled His Feet and single "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" and best known in Canada for the 1991 single "Superman's Song".
God Shuffled His Feet is the second album by Canadian band Crash Test Dummies, released in 1993. It features their most popular single, "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm". The cover art superimposes the band members' faces over the figures of Titian's painting Bacchus and Ariadne. It was their most successful album commercially, as it sold over eight million copies worldwide.
“Headline News” is a parody song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of the Crash Test Dummies’ 1993 hit “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm”. It was released as the lead-off single for the compilation box set Permanent Record: Al in the Box on September 27, 1994. The song was written after Yankovic's label insisted he craft a new song to promote the album; Yankovic in turn combined the music of the Crash Test Dummies’ song with three news stories that were popular in late 1993 and early 1994.
A Worm's Life is the third album by Canadian band Crash Test Dummies, released in 1996. It was the follow-up to the band's triple-platinum God Shuffled His Feet. By February 1999, A Worm's Life had sold more than 1 million copies worldwide.
I Don't Care That You Don't Mind is the fifth studio album by Crash Test Dummies. The album began as a solo album for Brad Roberts, while he was recuperating in the town of Argyle, Nova Scotia after suffering a near-fatal car accident in September 2000. Crash Test Dummies' name was put on the album after the band agreed to tour the album.
Songs of the Unforgiven is the eighth studio album recorded by Crash Test Dummies, released in 2004.
The Ghosts That Haunt Me is the 1991 debut album by the Canadian folk rock group Crash Test Dummies. It featured their hit "Superman's Song".
Give Yourself a Hand is the fourth album by Crash Test Dummies, released in 1999 through ViK. Recordings. It is their final album for BMG. The album spawned a quirky hit "Keep a Lid on Things". The Times review of the album described it as "the best music of their career...an album of rare wit and vitality."
Jingle All the Way is a 2002 Christmas album by Crash Test Dummies.
Puss 'N' Boots is the seventh studio album by Crash Test Dummies, released in 2003. The album began life as a Brad Roberts solo project. While the lyrics were written by Brad Roberts, most of the music was written by Stuart Cameron. Ellen Reid sang backing vocals and Dan Roberts played bass, though much of the music was performed by other musicians.
Ellen Lorraine Reid is a Canadian musician. She provides backing vocals, piano, keyboards and accordion for the Canadian rock band Crash Test Dummies.
Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions is a 1999 duet album by American singer, songwriter, and producer Linda Ronstadt and singer, songwriter, and guitarist Emmylou Harris, who had previously collaborated on two albums with Dolly Parton.
Crash Test Dude: Brad Roberts Live Singing Your Favorite Hits is a live album performed by Crash Test Dummies lead singer Brad Roberts during his solo acoustic tour following the Give Yourself a Hand tour. The album was released, along with an accompanying rockumentary film, exclusively through the MapleMusic.com e-commerce portal.
And It's Beautiful is a song by Canadian group Crash Test Dummies and was the promotional single from their 2010 album Oooh La La!. Brad Roberts describes the song as the first love song he has ever written, with the song being more happy and upbeat than the band's previous material.
"Now You See Her, Now You Don't" is a song by Canadian group Crash Test Dummies and was the second promotional single from their 2010 album Oooh La La!. As with most songs from the album, the song is based on an Optigan melody, with this song emulating a Big band swing style.
Demo-litions: Cast-off Recordings 1996–97 is a 2011 compilation album by the Crash Test Dummies. It consists of unreleased demos made during the songwriting process that eventually resulted in the album Give Yourself a Hand. The album was self-released via the band's website on April 19, 2011 as both a limited edition CD and MP3 download.
50 Song Memoir is the eleventh studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields, released on March 10, 2017. 50 Song Memoir is an autobiographical concept album that chronicles the first 50 years of lyricist Stephin Merritt's life, with one song for each year that he has lived.
Quickies is the twelfth studio album by The Magnetic Fields. The album consists of 28 songs, each of which is between 0:17 and 2:35 in length. For the album's conceit, Magnetic Fields singer and songwriter Stephin Merritt was influenced by the short fiction of Lydia Davis and the writing of his own book of Scrabble poetry.
