Mirror
Mirror

By Ian Gormely

If M83's Before the Dawn Heals Us was the soundtrack to a French noir thriller, then this is the Broadway musical. Mirror is the name and soundtrack of a multi-media project assembled by former Slow front-man Thomas Anselmi. Anselmi was able to recruit a wide array of artists — teen actress Frances Lawson, former Bowie pianist Mike Garson, Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan — to help shape his dark electro-pop, which is about as far away from Slow's riot-inducing rock as you can get. Gahan's "Nostalgia," which could easily fit onto any of Depeche Mode's records during their turn of the '90s peak, and the Lawson sung "Nowhere" are stunning highlights, torch songs ready for your next break-up mixtape. But front-loading the album with this one-two punch reveals the sameness that plagues Mirror's other seven tracks. Their melancholy plodding becomes tiresome as tracks begin to bleed into one another and by the halfway mark, you're already scouring your playlist for something with a little more vitality. Anselmi's visuals might have carried these songs in a live performance setting but without them, most of Mirror lies dead in the water. (Independent)

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The All American Rejects - When The World Comes Down
Au Revoir Borealis - Dark Enough For Stars
Benjy Ferree - Come Back to the Five and Dime, Bobby Dee Bobby Dee
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Boom Pam - Puerto Rican Nights
The BPA - I Think We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat
Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream
Colossal Yes - Charlemagne’s Big Thaw
Contrived - Blank, Blank, Blank
Cut Off Your Hands - You & I
The Escape Frame - The Escape Frame
Faded Paper Figures - Dynamo
The Famines - 2X7
Funeral for a Friend - Memory and Humanity
Goblin Cock - Come With Me If You Want To Live
Gregory And The Hawk - Moenie and Kitchi
The Hylozoists - L’Ile de Sept Villes
In-Flight Safety - We Are An Empire, My Dear
Iran - Dissolver
Jason Bajada - Loveshit
John Frusciante - The Empyrean
Ketch Harbour Wolves - Dead Calm Horizon
The Lanterns - Apocalypse Youth
Lily Allen - It’s Not Me, It’s You
The Lonely Island - Incredibad
Loney Dear - Dear John
Made In Mexico - Guerillaton
Middle States - Happy Fun Party
Mike Bones - A Fool For Everyone
Now, Now Every Children - Cars
O’Luge - Movements
Panic at the Disco - Live in Chicago
Point Juncture WA - Heart To Elk
Sholi - Sholi
Swervedriver - Raise/Mezcal Head
Various Artists - Just Like Heaven: A Tribute to The Cure
Volcano Suns - All-Night Lotus Party
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