Idlewild -- The Remote Part

7/10

During my final third of college, I often felt overwhelming feelings of victory. This was mainly because I knew that I had successfully completed five semesters of Spanish and would never have to attempt to speak that language again. Now that I'm back and getting a second major, that victory seems like even less of a big deal. At the time, though, I felt like I could rip the ears off a gundark. Idlewild's "A Modern Way of Letting Go" was the perfect musical expression of those feelings.

After jamming out to this song many times in the KLSU booth with my fellow DJ's, I decided to buy the album it came from so that I could RTFO anytime. Unfortunately, The Remote Part doesn't really RTFO.
Well, that's not necessarily true. Four of The Remote Part's eleven songs rock out. The other seven are either ballads, or mid-tempo anthem attempts. Granted, Idlewild wears their Scottishness on their sleeves, and the ballads can sometimes be very beautiful. Unfortunately, though, The Remote Part ends up being a decent album instead of an awesome album because of these songs. Now, here's a video where they dress up in wild west garb, just like Scottish people always do.

Finally, I started this review with a reference to linguistics, and linguistics are something quite important to this band. Just look at the track titles. Your opinion of lines like, "Isn't it romantic to be romantic, when you don't understand what you love," might heavily affect your opinion of The Remote Part, as well.
Hasta luego.

2002 Parlophone
1. You Held the World in Your Arms 3:21
2 .A Modern Way of Letting Go 2:23
3. American English 4:34
4. I Never Wanted 3:55
5. (I Am) What I Am Not 2:43
6. Live in a Hiding Place 3:16
7. Out of Routine 3:09
8. Century After Century 4:01
9. Tell Me Ten Words 3:46
10. Stay the Same 3:11
11. In Remote Part/Scottish Fiction 3:55