Two Hands, One Mouth: Live in Europe

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Two Hands, One Mouth: Live in Europe
Sparks - Two Hands One Mouth.jpg
Live album by
Released18 March 2013
Genre Art pop
Length86 minutes
Label Lil' Beethoven
Sparks chronology
The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman
(2009)
Two Hands, One Mouth: Live in Europe
(2013)
FFS
(2015)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Q (favourable)
Uncut (favourable)
Classic Rock (favourable)
Sunday Mail (favourable) [1]

Two Hands, One Mouth: Live in Europe is an album by American rock/pop group Sparks, released in March 2013. It is their first ever live album, and first double CD album.

Contents

In October 2012, Ron and Russell Mael embarked on the Two Hands, One Mouth Tour, which saw them performing for the first time ever as a duo, with no band. The tour started in Europe with a 18-city leg, and visited Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Ireland. The final concert of the leg was at the sold-out Barbican Centre in London. The tour then took the group to Japan with concerts in Tokyo and Osaka in January 2013. In April 2013, the show was presented for the first time in the United States with two performances at the Coachella Festival, followed by a short leg of concerts in the rest of the country.

Two Hands, One Mouth: Live In Europe was released in March 2013. It contains concert recordings gathered from various cities during the European leg of the tour, in October 2012.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ron Mael or Ron Mael and Russell Mael.

CD 1: The Show
No.TitleOriginally OnLength
1."Sparks Overture" ("I Married Myself"/"Looks, Looks, Looks"/"Good Morning"/"The Number One Song in Heaven"/"This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us"/"Dick Around"/"Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth"/"Something for the Girl With Everything"/"Suburban Homeboy"/"I Married Myself (Reprise)") 3:24
2."Hospitality on Parade" Indiscreet 4:13
3."Metaphor" Hello Young Lovers 4:20
4."Propaganda" Propaganda 0:24
5."At Home, At Work, At Play"Propaganda3:18
6."Sherlock Holmes" Angst in My Pants 3:33
7."Good Morning" Exotic Creatures of the Deep 3:48
8."Under the Table With Her"Indiscreet3:07
9."My Baby's Taking Me Home" Lil' Beethoven 5:10
10."Singing in the Shower" Marc & Robert (Les Rita Mitsouko album)3:26
11."The Wedding of Jacqueline Kennedy to Russell Mael"B-side of "Looks Looks Looks"1:46
12."Excerpts from The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman"" ("I Am Ingmar Bergman"/"Mr. Bergman How Are You?"/"We've Got To Turn Him 'Round"/"He's Home) The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman 6:45
13."Dick Around"Hello Young Lovers2:45
14."Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth"Propaganda2:16
15."This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" Kimono My House 3:09
16."The Rhythm Thief"Lil' Beethoven4:17
17."Suburban Homeboy"Lil' Beethoven3:56
18."When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way'" Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins 6:01
CD 2: The Encore
No.TitleOriginally onLength
1."The Number One Song in Heaven" No. 1 in Heaven 7:01
2."Beat the Clock"No. 1 in Heaven7:17
3."Two Hands One Mouth"Previously unreleased6:06

Personnel

Composed by Ron Mael or by Ron Mael and Russell Mael.

Related Research Articles

Ron Mael American musician and co-founder of the band Sparks

Ronald David Mael is an American musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is the keyboard player and principal songwriter in the band Sparks which he founded with vocalist, occasional songwriter and younger brother Russell Mael in 1971. Mael is known for his quirky and idiosyncratic approach to songwriting, his intricate and rhythmic keyboard playing style and for his deadpan and low key, scowling demeanour onstage often remaining motionless over his keyboard in sharp contrast to Russell's animated and hyperactive frontman antics. Ron Mael is also noted for his conservative clothes and unfashionable moustache. The Mael brothers are the founders of Lil' Beethoven Records.

Russell Mael American musician and co-founder of the band Sparks

Russell Craig Mael is an American singer best known as the lead singer for the band Sparks which he formed in 1971 with his elder brother Ron Mael. Mael is known for his wide vocal range, in particular his far-reaching falsetto. He has a flamboyant and hyperactive stage presence which contrasts sharply with Ron Mael's deadpan scowling. The band released an album with British rock band Franz Ferdinand, as the supergroup FFS, titled FFS, released in 2015. The Mael brothers are the founders of Lil' Beethoven Records.

Sparks (band) American rock and pop band

Sparks is an American pop and rock duo formed by brothers Ron (keyboards) and Russell Mael (vocals) in Los Angeles. The duo is known for their quirky approach to songwriting; their music is often accompanied by sophisticated and acerbic lyrics, often about women, and sometimes containing literary references, and an idiosyncratic, theatrical stage presence, typified by the contrast between Russell's animated, hyperactive frontman antics and Ron's deadpan scowling. Russell Mael has a distinctive wide-ranging voice, while Ron Mael plays keyboards in an intricate and rhythmic style. They have been much more successful in Europe than in their native U.S., though they maintain a loyal cult following in the States.

<i>Kimono My House</i> 1974 studio album by Sparks

Kimono My House is the third album by rock band Sparks. The record was released in May 1974 and is considered to be their commercial breakthrough. It was met with widespread acclaim.

This Town Aint Big Enough for Both of Us 1974 single by Sparks

"This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" is a song by American pop band Sparks. Written by Ron Mael, it is the opening track on their third studio album Kimono My House (1974), and was the lead single from the album. Although it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100, "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" achieved major success in Europe, peaking within the top ten of the charts in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the latter country, the song peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, where it remained for two consecutive weeks. The song has become the highest-charting for Sparks on the UK Singles Chart, held off from the top spot by The Rubettes' bubblegum pop song "Sugar Baby Love".

<i>Sparks</i> (Sparks album) 1971 studio album by Sparks

Sparks, originally titled Halfnelson, is the debut album by the Los Angeles rock band Sparks. The album was first released as Halfnelson, the band's original name, and reissued a year later under the group’s new name.

<i>A Woofer in Tweeters Clothing</i> 1972 studio album by Sparks

A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing is the second studio album by the American rock band Sparks. It was released in 1972 and includes the single "Girl from Germany". It was the last release by the original five-member incarnation of Sparks.

<i>Indiscreet</i> (Sparks album) 1975 studio album by Sparks

Indiscreet is the fifth album by Sparks. It was released in 1975 and later re-released with three bonus tracks. The album was a departure from the glam rock sound of Kimono My House and Propaganda, and emphasised the theatrical elements of their work, with greater use of orchestral arrangements and drawing from non-rock orientated styles such as jazz, big band, swing, vaudeville, and classical music. The album was produced by Tony Visconti, with whom the group reunited in 1997 to produce several tracks for their retrospective album Plagiarism. The song "How Are You Getting Home?" was used in Leos Carax's film Holy Motors.

<i>Big Beat</i> (album) 1976 studio album by Sparks

Big Beat is the sixth album by American rock band Sparks, released in 1976.

<i>Introducing Sparks</i> 1977 studio album by Sparks

Introducing Sparks is the seventh album by the American rock band Sparks, released in 1977 by Columbia Records.

<i>No. 1 in Heaven</i> 1979 studio album by Sparks

Nº 1 in Heaven is the eighth studio album by American rock band Sparks. Recorded with Italian disco producer Giorgio Moroder, the album marked a change of musical direction for the group and became influential on later synth-pop bands.

<i>Whomp That Sucker</i> 1981 studio album by Sparks

Whomp That Sucker is the tenth album by the American rock band Sparks, released in 1981.

<i>Angst in My Pants</i> 1982 studio album by Sparks

Angst in My Pants is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band Sparks. The album was released by Atlantic Records in both the US and UK, and this was the 6th overall label that the band was signed to in the US, and, for the first time since the mid-1970s, the band would be signed the same label in both the US and UK for 3 consecutive albums.

<i>In Outer Space</i> 1983 studio album by Sparks

In Outer Space is the twelfth studio album by American pop band Sparks, released in April 1983 by Atlantic Records. Brothers Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks self-produced the album.

<i>Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins</i> 1994 studio album by Sparks

Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins is the 16th album by American rock band Sparks. It was released in 1994, after an absence from the music industry of 6 years, and marked the duo's transition into a more techno/Eurobeat-influenced sound, which earned them popularity in Germany.

<i>Lil Beethoven</i> 2002 studio album by Sparks

Lil' Beethoven is the 19th album by the American rock band Sparks, released in 2002. The album was a radical musical departure compared to their previous works. The band only used strings, piano, and voices but no beats: the result was both classical and pop music.

<i>Exotic Creatures of the Deep</i> 2008 studio album by Sparks

Exotic Creatures of the Deep is the 21st album by the American rock band Sparks.

<i>The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman</i> 2009 studio album by Sparks

The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman is the 22nd album by American rock group Sparks, released in August 2009. The duo's first work in the radio musical genre, the album is built around an imaginary visit to Hollywood by Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman in the mid-1950s. Its storyline focuses on the divides between European and American culture, between art and commerce. Unlike other Sparks albums, the work is conceived as a single piece, to be listened to as a whole, rather than a collection of stand-alone songs.

<i>Hippopotamus</i> (album) 2017 studio album by Sparks

Hippopotamus is the 23rd studio album by American rock group Sparks. It was released on September 8, 2017, through BMG Rights Management and The End Records, their first record issued on a major label for decades.

<i>A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip</i> 2020 studio album by Sparks

A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip is the 24th studio album by American rock group Sparks. Recorded in gaps between Sparks' film projects, the album uses a full rock-group format to draw on the band's full range of musical styles and was universally acclaimed by critics, who praised both its lyrical and melodic content.

References

  1. "Sparks - Two Hands One Mouth". Sparks Official Website. Retrieved 30 December 2014.