Micachu And The Shapes with the London Sinfonietta – 'Chopped And Screwed' review
It’s almost standard now for pop musicians of a more art-school experimentalist bent to attempt a “classical” album. Accordingly, it was only a matter of time before hoover-botherer Michachu (and her Shapes) came knocking, and Chopped & Screwed is the product of their collaboration with the London Sinfonietta, presented in the shape of a live concert recording.
While the involvement of contemporary classical musicians is a fair excuse for abandoning the strictures of pop music – which Chopped & Screwed does almost entirely – there’s little excuse for the lack of invention and coherence that’s also evident here. For the most part, the suite strives for an intensity that it doesn’t often muster, and rarely sustains it when it does.
The overall impression is of both sides of the collaboration over-reaching themselves: the recording is flat, the playing awkward and nervous, and the result drab.
4/10
