Browse by Artist: IT'S A MUSICAL

Artist:	IT'S A MUSICAL
Title:	The Music Makes Me Sick
Label:	MORR MUSIC (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	MORR 086CD

This is the debut full-length release by Swedish/German duo, It's A Musical. Robert Kretzschmar and Ella Blixt got to know each other on a joint tour with Robert's former band, Lady Boy and Ella's solo project, Bobby Baby in 2006. Ella splits her time between Malmö and Berlin, while Robert studies in the East German city of Cottbus, so It's A Musical is a band between places, as well as between genres. They recorded the songs as they were written in their rooms -- in rough shape, direct, turning somersaults. Four hands on a keyboard, and two jubilant voices. And these are voices that share equal space with each other, intertwining in stunning pop harmony, sung in English. "Lazy" begins as a melancholy piano miniature that expands into a grand, sweeping Burt Bacharach serenade. "Circus" features a waltzing organ and brass confidently bumps against a marching percussion in "Pain." So, what's this music about? Happy things, bad things, like The Carpenters or Jens Lekman -- rough and subtle, virtuoso and amateurish, mischievous and angelic. Sincere, upbeat pop about having no money and having trouble making art.

Artist:	IT'S A MUSICAL
Title:	For Years And Years
Label:	MORR MUSIC (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	MORR 110CD

This is the second full-length release from the Berlin-based duo of It's A Musical aka Ella Blixt aka Bobby Blumm and Robert Kretzschmar. For Years And Years stands for a dozen gorgeous (indie) pop gems; tracks that, even though somewhat laconic, nevertheless manage to uplift the listener; songs so euphoric and stirring, in fact, that last time around, the choosy people at All Music Guide concluded that one "would have to look hard to find a better indie pop album than The Music Makes Me Sick in 2008." Apart from the euphoric choruses, a hidden sense of humor remains another trademark of this band -- and this sense of humor is in large part owed to sharing the microphone. Here's an example: when Robert and Ella deal with the complexities an endlessly extended adolescence entails, especially when it comes to sexual desires and such, the simultaneous delivery of the female and male perspective allows them to circumnavigate even the slightest sense of self-pity or cheap emotionalism. This is one of many things to love about It's A Musical. Even the only cover song, Eleventh Hour's "The Team That Never Wins" (originally from 1997) is presented with a humorous twist, thanks to the mood and vibe It's A Musical chose for the cover: a vibe reminiscent of "Bowie in Berlin," as in: we can't be heroes. Throughout, the album picks up the pace and gains more and more momentum: "Cleverness" is built from vibraphone sounds, organs and drum rolls, and "One Million People" is a catchy piano pop gem that owes as much to Carole King as it does to label mate Masha Qrella. And of course, all these tracks have that certain DIY feel to them, a vibe that makes the listener forget that both Ella and Robert are actually trained multi-instrumentalists, and busy with lots of other projects. Mixed by Norman Nitzsche.

Artist:	IT'S A MUSICAL
Title:	For Years And Years
Label:	MORR MUSIC (GERMANY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	MORR 110LP

LP version. This is the second full-length release from the Berlin-based duo of It's A Musical aka Ella Blixt aka Bobby Blumm and Robert Kretzschmar. For Years And Years stands for a dozen gorgeous (indie) pop gems; tracks that, even though somewhat laconic, nevertheless manage to uplift the listener; songs so euphoric and stirring, in fact, that last time around, the choosy people at All Music Guide concluded that one "would have to look hard to find a better indie pop album than The Music Makes Me Sick in 2008." Apart from the euphoric choruses, a hidden sense of humor remains another trademark of this band -- and this sense of humor is in large part owed to sharing the microphone. Here's an example: when Robert and Ella deal with the complexities an endlessly extended adolescence entails, especially when it comes to sexual desires and such, the simultaneous delivery of the female and male perspective allows them to circumnavigate even the slightest sense of self-pity or cheap emotionalism. This is one of many things to love about It's A Musical. Even the only cover song, Eleventh Hour's "The Team That Never Wins" (originally from 1997) is presented with a humorous twist, thanks to the mood and vibe It's A Musical chose for the cover: a vibe reminiscent of "Bowie in Berlin," as in: we can't be heroes. Throughout, the album picks up the pace and gains more and more momentum: "Cleverness" is built from vibraphone sounds, organs and drum rolls, and "One Million People" is a catchy piano pop gem that owes as much to Carole King as it does to label mate Masha Qrella. And of course, all these tracks have that certain DIY feel to them, a vibe that makes the listener forget that both Ella and Robert are actually trained multi-instrumentalists, and busy with lots of other projects. Mixed by Norman Nitzsche.

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