Spin (p.108) - "[They] drift off into heavily EQ'd cymbals and pastel-gray synth-string washes..." -- Grade: B-
Telepopmusik: 2square (guitar, keyboards, computer); Fabrice Dumont (double bass); Antipop (sound effects, Theremin).
Additional personnel include: Deborah Anderson, Angela McCluskey, Mau (vocals); Damon Brown (trumpet, flugelhorn); Paul Cantelon (piano); Sebastien Buffet (drums, bowls, percussion).
The cover art for Telepopmusik's ANGEL MILK--an enormous panda bear playing a bugle in a mist-shrouded forest--is nearly worth the album's price by itself. But the strange, dream-like sensations evoked by this image are carried through on each of the record's 15 tracks. Like their countrymen Air, Telepopmusik gives a fresh twist to French electronica, located somewhere between ambient, trip-hop, and space-age lounge pop. Cool synths, pulsing rhythms, and various samples and digital treatments make for a breezy, sophisticated outing.
Comprised of soundscapists Fabrice Dumont, Christophe Hetier, and Stephan Haeri, Telepopmusik creates a sonic canvas that is plenty seductive, but it is the addition of guest vocalists (including Angela McCluskey) that really distinguishes the release. In particular, the slinky, reedy voice of Deborah Anderson stands out on the thumping, post-disco "Into Everything" and the ballad "Close." Elsewhere, Telepopmusik are by turns symphonic ("Nothing's Burning") and trance-inducing ("Last Train to Wherever"), but no matter what the mood, this French outfit has made an instantly alluring album of 21st-century pop with ANGEL MILK.