(Chrysalis/EMI)
A bonafide Internet user hits the jackpot, and thus establishes himself as a net.legend...
30 year old Jyoti Mishra has been working as the main focus of the English band White Town since the late 1980s. Early gigs supporting bands such as Primal Scream and the Sea Urchins were the precursor to independent singles on his own Satya label, and eventually on the Parasol label. Several White Town songs appeared on independent compilations, and his debut full length, Socialism, Sexism and Sexuality didn't generate much interest outside of his native land. Up until this point, White Town's tale sounds like hundreds of other independent bands who can only see their name in the trades if they purchase an ad.
But something went terribly wrong - or right, in this case. Mishra soon decided that "I was fed up with playing the guitar...I started moving more into a sample-based synthy direction", and recorded new songs, including the wonderfully infectious "Your Woman". Released as part of a four-song EP (_Abort, Retry, Fail?) in England, radio programmers loved it. And this rags-to-riches tale started to blossom Mishra from a caterpillar into a butterfly.
Defying all odds and debuting at #1 in the UK, "Your Woman" includes a sample of a 1932 jazz hit, Lew Stone and the Monseigneur Band's "My Woman". The sample (not unlike what the Squirrel Nut Zippers are using, but from the original release), hooks up with the Buggles radio static on "Video Killed The Radio Star" and a healthy dose of keyboards similar to St. Etienne to create a track which might just be heard on American radio all through the spring months.
"Your Woman" was truly a DIY project - recorded in Mishra's spare room, and this was a deliberate action on his part. "The whole point of me recording at home," states Mishra, "is to stay out of all the airless, artless studios scattered around the country where music is machined to some technical level of acceptability. Consequently, Women In Technology is *full* of clicks, pops, earth hums, and bum notes."
However, just as Soho failed to clear proper credits from the Smiths with "Hippychick" (and wound up giving 25% of their sales to Morrissey and Marr for "How Soon Is Now"), Mishra learned the unfortunate rule of clearing samples first. Now, as he recalls, "30% of the royalties (from "Your Woman") go to the publishing company."
The unfortunate part of the album is that, not unlike the Primitive Radio Gods' "Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand" (which sampled B.B. King), people who buy Women In Technology to hear 12 songs identical to "Your Woman" will likely be disappointed.
Much of Women In Technology has a Johnny Hates Jazz meets the Dream Academy feel to it - slower, synthesizer-driven tracks. Some of the slower tracks from Cause & Effect's Trip would blend nicely with this collection. Probably the best example of this is on the soft "A Week Next June", where Mishra's vocals sound a bit like Paul McCartney on this nearly-acoustic track.
"Going Nowhere Somehow" is another track which immediately catches the listener's ear with a unique sound similar to the slower side of KLF (think: Chill Out). But in a world of niche-marketing and radio programming, it probably *won't* be the listener who has heard "Your Woman".
What does the future hold in store for Mishra? He's currently being courted by Madonna's Maverick label - and the most recent artist that she took such a strong personal interest in was a Canadian named Morrissette. Took home a couple music awards here and there. He's also decided to cover the Magnetic Fields "Famous" for his next EP. And, in between jetting to the U.S. and Europe, you might just catch him on the Internet...
