White Town - Women In Technology
A lonely guy, all alone in his bedroom with only a PC, a keyboard, guitar and his imagination for company. The writer, computer, performer and ‘everything else’ behind one of the records of the year, the instant number one smash ‘Your Woman’. Jyoti Mishra, the man behind White Town, and a bit of a star these days.
His story has appeared in all the papers from the NME and the Sun to the Times, as well as being repeated many times on TV and the radio. It’s the indie dream come true of a complete unknown making a low budget, lo-fi record, so good that it bursts from obscurity to earn its place at the top of the charts. Credit is due to DJ Mark Radcliffe, the first to introduce the nation’s airwaves to the irresistibly catchy ‘Your Woman’. The rest, as they say, is history.
This bags the question: is White Town to be a one hit wonder, destined to be nothing more than a footnote in a ‘Best of ‘97’ compilation, and return to obscurity having had its 15 minutes of fame, or is there more? A few listens to ‘Women In Technology’ should calm any fears and assure the listener that Jyoti Mishra has enough songs up his sleeve to avoid the bargain bins for a while.
‘Once I flew’ is a nice little song which roughly translated says, "every dog has its day", but with much greater eloquence and poignancy. The arrangement, as on most of this album, is quite sparse, combining a simple drum pattern with a catchy-yet-moody synth line. ‘Thursday Night At The Blue Note’ is an up beat number which sounds reminiscent of the early days of ‘80s synth pop, a heady cocktail of Kraftwerk, Human League and Gary Numan served with a dash of eastern spice. There are a couple of one-man-and-his-guitar numbers about loneliness, insecurity and rejection, but they try to retain an optimism which gazes out of the bedsit window towards a Spring garden.
Jyoti provides vocals for all the songs except ‘Wanted’, featuring the voice of Ann Pearson, which acts as a nice counterpoint to all the male insecurity prevailing on most of the songs. There are a few times when the mood does get a little too bleak or when the music strays too close to keyboard demonstration tune territory, but that’s a minor quibble. On the whole, a charming album which makes you feel better for having listened to it.(7)
Sid
