aaamusic | On 05, Jul 2010

To be honest, this kind of stunt should be made illegal. An EP that is made up of a song and several remixes of said song shouldn’t be called an EP at all and more a glorified single… however the 15 minute interview with Windmill in which he answers fans questions is quite an inspired idea that isn’t just interesting for Windmill train-spotters. Which is kind of unprecedented.

With my major quibble out of the way it’s time to be an actual music journalist and comment on the song at hand (I know, mad, right?). The bizarrely titled Ellen Save our Energy is taken off Windmills sophomore album “Epcot Starfields” and takes the same Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips inspired quirky pop record with a singer whose nasal tones could grate, and do when spread over a whole album, but within the space of this song, it works perfectly with the themes of marvelling at space as a young child.

I feel the need to clarify the use of the word “quirky” in the above paragraph. Because to many it brings to mind self conscious berks prancing about in lime green jeans talking about badgers and memorising whole series’ of The Mighty Boosh. This is not that kind of quirky. This is quirky in the charming, naïve sense, which is very refreshing in this post-Wombats society.

All in all, a very interesting record, one that is intensely melodic in a way that hasn’t been explored by enough people, the kind of record that won’t capture the imagination of the world, but will change the life of some. And how can you complement a record more?

Author: Will Howard