Editorial Reviews
The Driver is Dead
The Driver is Dead, Music, Ai Phoenix
Dream Magazine, forthcoming issue, Jan 2004
"Sullen, sweet, downcast, and euphoric." —George Parsons, Dream Magazine
fuzzlogic.com
"thin veils of silk wave elegantly, slow-motion-like in the air" Håvard Oppøyen, fuzzlogic.com
Average customer rating: 
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The Driver is Dead
Manufacturer: autonomy recordings ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Alternative Rock
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
ASIN: B0000ZH11Q Release Date: 2003-11-15 |
Tracks:
Album Description
,W¬?_|ix's second record, "The Driver is Dead" is a shivering collection of moving lullabies, precious longings, and stripped down pop complete with contemplative guitars, gentle bass, atmospheric pump organ and low key percussion seasoned with the heartfelt sadness violin and the sound of a passing ambulance. never ceasing to mesmerize, "The Driver is Dead" is the perfect soundtrack for a road trip through the frozen icy blue paradise of the northern hemispheric regions that has crystalized in the form of the retro ultra-hipsters Kings of Convenience and the smoke filled rock of Madrugada. Ai Phoenix's simple melodies and song structures are endlessly rewarding, bouyed by twinkling guitars, droning harmonium, sobbing slide and skin tingling chord progressions. singer Mona Mork's voice has an urgency like a whispered warning in your ear. her subdued, low-key vocals (which are sung entirely in English) demand attention as she recounts a nightmare of environmental catastrophe in "Wishinglot" and pays tribute to the wordless perceptual wonders of the interplay between "Snow and Light" in the artic polar regions.Customer Reviews:
new review from Mass Transfer magazine.......2003-12-10
The best way to describe the sound of Norway's Ai Phoenix is that it's somewhere within the realm of Mazzy Star, Movietone and the Velvet Underground (with Nico) - music just lurking out from behind the shadows, led by an obscured female voice narrating the scene. The title, "The Driver Is Dead", already paints a bleak picture, and for the most part this collection of 15 tracks fill in the details, with a few upbeat moments, such as the song "This Is Close", and the interestingly titled instrumental "Killer Killer Radio Thriller". The disc was originally released in 2000 on the Racing Junior label in Norway, and was recently re-issued by Autonomy Recordings - probably because this stuff needs to be heard by a wider audience. "If You Ever Saw Her Name" brings them ever closer to the Movietone vibe with wispered lyrics, loose drumming and ambient intonations. The band wears bleakness on their sleeves in the song "Institution" - dark, forboding, plodding along as if actually marching through an institution, complete with background sounds like the voices inside your head. Redemption is found in the closing track "Hey, The Driver's Dead, We Cry", which is almost requiem-like in its delivery. This re-issue of material has only piqued my interest in the band more, and I'm looking forward to hearing newer music from this Norweigian outfit.
-Ryan Anderson
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