Search - Bitter:Sweet :: Mating Game

A World of Similarity

Benjamin Norman | Washington DC | 08/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album sounds like everything. Alright, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but to anyone who's heard the entire thing all the way through, you can probably agree. But this review isn't for all of you who know what this sounds like, this is for those of you that are sitting at your computer, thinking about purchasing this. Why should you? Why should you indeed. I'll break it down.



1. Kiran Shahani (the male half) used to be part of Supreme Beings of Leisure.



2. Shana Halligan (the female half) has a voice that is sometimes reminiscent of Esthero, sometimes reminiscent of Goldfrapp, and probably a ton of other like-styled singers all balled up into a pretty red-headed package.



3. If you like Esthero, Portishead, Supreme Beings of Leisure, Goldfrapp, Lazy, the Herb Alpert remix project, Fluke, Moloko (or just the singer, Roisin Murphy), you will love this album.



4. Each song caters to a different audience while still remembering everyone who listened to the last song.



While it remains tough to pick a favorite, the song that "broke" me to this group was "Dirty Laundry". Never before have I been so in-touch, so supportive, so...enamored with a self-professed bad girl. Shana coos the line "and when he needs an alibi he can use me...all night" with a feminine shyness that would make Nicole Kidman a la Moulin Rouge blush. And you wouldn't exactly be wrong in calling The Mating Game the hidden soundtrack to Moulin Rouge, either. The entire album plays through like a dirty secret that you're almost eager to share with everyone just so they know how innocent you aren't."

Anyone Got a Martini?

Kenneth E. Knox | Los Angeles, CA United States | 06/11/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Just when you thought you'd heard one too many female-fronted, ambient-infused electronic acts (Oh no! Not another Portishead-inspired British import!), along comes Bitter:Sweet, a two-person, Los Angeles-born act whose sensuously smooth grooves may restore your faith in the increasingly overcrowded genre. Things get off to a rather delicious start with the sultry "Don't Forget to Breathe," which makes great use of singer Shana Halligan's sensual alto (at times, a dead ringer for that of Esthero; at others, Gwen Stefani). The duo then segues into a crazy-sexy-cool collection of mod-rock masterpieces that might easily be home on any Austin Powers (or, indeed, James Bond) soundtrack. Highlights like the jazzy title track and the giddy "Dirty Laundry" showcase Halligan and bandmate Kiran Shahani's knack for accenting their addictive melodies with kitschy sounds and arrangements, while the beguiling drum `n' bass-drenched rhythms of down-tempo numbers like the rock-ier "Overdue," "Our Remains" and (appropriately) "Moody" effortlessly evoke one too many nights spent downing martinis in darkened after-hours lounges. Not that that's a bad thing."

Yummy

J. Arrowood | New York, NY | 05/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the best new artist I've heard in a long long time. Every song is so well crafted.



They have a very unique retro sound, that's fused with breakbeat and drum n bass, a little Brazilian swing and some loungy aspects as well. The whole album has a great vibe and there isn't one bad or out of place song.



There is so much happening sonically; you have to put the album on repeat."