Turn the Dark Off

Turn the Dark Off is a 1997 album by Howie B. It made #58 on the UK Albums Chart[3] and at the end of that year was voted at #47 on NME's 1997 Critics' Poll.[4]

Turn the Dark Off
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 28, 1997[1]
GenreElectronic[1]
Length51:05[1]
LabelPolydor[2]
Island Records
ProducerHowie B[2]
Howie B chronology
Music for Babies
(1996)
Turn the Dark Off
(1997)
Snatch
(1999)

Background

Turn the Dark Off is a less repetitive work than his first album, Music for Babies.[1] Whereas Music for Babies contained exclusively instrumentals, Turn the Dark Off contains a single vocal track, "Take Your Partner by the Hand". In an interview with Jockey Slut magazine, Howie revealed that the vocals were added upon request; after he had finished the album and had sent the CD out, Robbie Robertson rung Howie up and told him he wanted to add vocals to the song.[5] Other tracks contain assorted grunts and other non-coherent vocal noises.[6]

Prior to release, Howie had worked with U2 for their 1997 album, Pop[1] and with Björk for her third studio album, Post.[7] Howie had previously worked with U2 on their compilation album, Original Soundtracks 1.[8] To produce the album, he used, among other things, a turntable and a Nord Lead.[5]

Singles

"Angels Go Bald:Too" was released as the lead single in July 1997 and charted at #36 on the UK Singles Chart.[3] Three months later, "Switch" was released and suffered from a sophomore slump, stalling at #62.[3] In February 1998, Howie released the one vocal song from the album, "Take Your Partner by the Hand", which charted at #74.[3]

Critical reception

Critical reception was mixed. John Bush of AllMusic said that the album "fits in with the crop of late-'90s big beat maestros; though it doesn't quite outdistance the pack, the album still contains enough of Howie B's studio tweaks to make it worthwhile".[1] Electronicmusic.com concurred, suggesting that it might be "one of the coolest CD's to have in your collection this summer" and that it was "full of wonderful moments".[9] In addition, New Musical Express described it as a high Ennio Morricone-esque "warm, dripping collage of beats and buzzing melodies" that was "a pleasant change of pace from the cut-and-paste formula of other popular rock-techno acts".[4]

However, Jim DeRogatis gave the album a negative review, dismissing it as a "Whitman's Sampler of current electronic sounds", adding that "Howie would have been better off focusing his considerable talents to hone a particular sound, as he did on Music for Babies, rather than dabbling half-heartedly in a lot of them".[10] Matt Diehl was even less kind, finishing a diatribe by calling it a "techno turnoff".[11]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Fizzy in My Mouth/Your Mouth"4:22
2."Hopscotch"5:14
3."Switch"4:59
4."Sore Brown Eyes"4:15
5."Take Your Partner by the Hand"7:22
6."Limbo"4:58
7."Angels Go Bald:Too"5:20
8."Who's Got the Bacon?"4:25
9."Baby Sweetcorn (Come Here)"4:29
10."Butt Meat"5:41
Total length:51:05[1]

References

  1. John Bush (28 July 1997). "Turn the Dark Off - Howie B | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  2. Turn the Dark Off (booklet). Howie B. Polydor Records. 28 July 1997.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. "HOWIE B | Artist". Official Charts. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  4. "Howie B - Turn The Dark Off". Rolling Stone. 16 October 1997. p. 111.
  5. "Howie B.: Turn the Dark Off". The Band. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  6. Turn the Dark Off (booklet). Howie B. Polydor Records. 1997.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. Post (booklet). Björk. One Little Indian. 13 June 1995.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. Original Soundtracks 1 (booklet). Passengers. Island Records. 7 November 1995.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. "Music Review". Electronic Music. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  10. "Turn the Dark Off: Music". Amazon. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  11. "Turn the Dark Off Review | Music Reviews and News | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. 3 March 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
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