New Wave Outpost Forum

I have their first cd,which I liked,but I never heard anything from their second ,called "Beast Box".Does anyone know how it compares,and is it worth searching out?I'm guessing it's a hard one to find.
I know most people know who Howard Devoto is ,but who is Noko?

I bought Beast Box for $1.00 as a cut-out CD. I didn't know that this was their second release. I can't say I'm a huge fan of it although the title track is quite good. No idea who Noko is either.

Here's what Trouser Press says about both albums:

Five years on, Devoto's next project — Luxuria, a duo with a Liverpudlian musician known as Noko — leads him deep into the waters of overbearing pretension. On Unanswerable Lust, his lyrics quote Proust, spout français, mention Rimbaud and announce such silliness as "I am the street where you live." Even when the music — an unfocused mix of acoustic delicacy and walloping techno-dance crud — takes hold, it's swamped by Devoto's melodramatic quaver.

Beast Box has a higher proportion of quality tracks (credit better songwriting) but the music occasionally slips into a dull void, despite some excellent guitar work by Noko. Worse, Luxuria's dalliance with dance beats (as on "The Beast Box Is Dreaming" and the old "Jezebel") falls flat. But Devoto's specialty — spare, turgid tundras — still pervades tracks like "Stupid Blood," "Ticket" and "We Keep on Getting There," and numerous quietly dramatic touches lurk in the album's shadows.

It's not very expensive if you look on Amazon.com for it, tileboy. Myself, I wasn't very impressed by it (and had never heard the first album), and I really like Howard Devoto.

[quote][i]Originally posted by skinnytie[/i]
<br>It's not very expensive if you look on Amazon.com for it, tileboy. Myself, I wasn't very impressed by it (and had never heard the first album), and I really like Howard Devoto.
[/quote]

I definitely recommend "Unanswerable Lust",thats why I always wondered what "Beast Box" sounded like,so far it's two thumbs down.
If you like Howard Devoto he put out a cd with Pete Shelly in 2002 called "Buzzkunst",not great or terrible ,but some interesting stuff on it.