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B I G B R O T H E R Released: 2000 Label: Incidental Music Track listing: Big Brother, The Ecstasy Of Youth And Death Click on highlighted tracks to listen. R E V I E W S SPLENDID MAGAZINE Before launching into his current project, Futurewhirl, Bard Titlestad released music as Oberon. This sci-fi looking 7" boasts one Titlestad original along with a David Bowie cover, circa the Diamond Dogs days. Oddly enough, Bard chose to put the cover on Side A. Bowie's "Big Brother" gets an atmospheric makeover, but retains its '70s prog-rock traits. Accented vocals, grinding guitar and bursts of horns pay homage to the original, but Bard marks the tune with his own musical formula: dreamy and deliberate changes flow effortlessly into a pool of new-ageiness. "Big Brother" is a grand orchestration of instruments, but its presentation is calm and composed. The song sounds like it was recorded on some big-bucks equipment, too -- it's exceptionally well-produced and mixed for a 7" release, and would fit in well on any big-budget Bowie tribute album. "Big Brother"'s upbeat, rocking approach is not typical of Bard's sound, but the melancholy vocals and wistful rhythms of "The Ecstasy of Youth and Death" are a definite precursor to Futurewhirl. Delicate singing and gentle acoustic guitar eventually give way to a spacious but sleepy-sounding composition that brings to mind a space-traveling new wave ship with Kitaro in the pilot's seat. I prefer "Big Brother"'s more upbeat take, but "Ecstasy" is a sure thing for anyone looking to get lost in a musical dream world. BLISSAQUAMARINE.NET Oberon is the former project of Bard Titlestad, who now records as Future Whirl. Oberon was mainly dark folk/neoclassical music, with additional elements of psychedelia and various other genres, but here Bard surprises us with a cover of David Bowie's Big Brother, which is best described as a darker and more original variety of glam (more original as it is a song with two distinct sections rather than following a predictable song structure), complete with a brass section. The Ecstasy of Youth and Death returns to a sound more typical of Oberon; a very well-crafted and very beautiful song which is equally atmospheric and melodic. There will be more on Future Whirl soon in Aquamarine. Although Oberon is Bard's previous project, you can still buy the records, and I recommend that you do! ILLVMINATIONS MMAGAZINE While i was expecting an effort from the collaborative project Atavist, Bard Titlestad breaks the silence under the banner of his main project Oberon. [ which has deserved a long rest after the unleashing of the brilliant "Mysteries" ] Well, "Big Brother" is not the release to satisfy the listeners' expectations focused on a full-lenght, instead, it's a single release filling the blank between two albums. The record contains two tracks : A cover version of David Bowie's "Big Brother" and "The Ecstacy of Youth and Death". In "Big Brother", wah-wah guitars, short, melodious solos, rhyming verses, horns, drum loops and backing choruses trace a Rock'n Roll'ish accent that has not touched Oberon's way so far. It's interesting to encounter Bard's turbulent style of singing, which in fact, discloses the emotional edge of this song. On the contrary to the energetic "Big Brother", Side B track "The Ecstacy of Youth and Death" is a delicate ballad in the vein of "Mysteries" : it packs all the qualities Oberon is famous for : gentle arpeggios, chords; delicate piano lines; hazy, fluid synths and a an elegant voice singing in the most dreamy fashion. To me, what makes Oberon's music stronger and more profound than the rest of the akin tunes is it's sincerity and poetic magnetism : Bard Titlestad's songs are compositionally traditional and melancholic in the utmost sense. Yet drenched in a pastorale incense instead of metropolitain nihilism which today's art-rock swims into; they reflect the very personal feelings of their composer and remain highly unique. BLACK MAGAZIN Keine Angst, das BIG BROTHER-Fieber hat Norwegen noch nicht ergriffen ... unser alter Bekannter Bard Titlestad hat sich hier nur einem gleichnamigen Stück von DAVID BOWIE angenommen und neu eingespielt. Die Musik hat dann auch wirklich einen sehr starken Retro-Charakter und erinnert ein wenig an die guten, aber längst vergangenen 70er Jahre. Bards stimme klingt im Vergleich mit Mr. Bowie nicht ganz so spröde und zu kommt der Song ingesamt viel euphorischer rüber. Die B-seite der Single enthält eine Eigenkomposition, die Bard bzw. OBERON in altbekannter melancholischer Weltschmerz-Manier zeigt "The Ecstasy Of Youth And Death" passt wunderbar in die herbstliche und vorweinachtliche Zeit, in der es wieder vermehrt zu Suizidversuchen kommt, weil die Menshckeit mit soviel Fröhlichkeit und Oberonflächlichkeit nicht zurecht kommt. Hut ab, lieber Bard, nach so langer Zeit ein Lebenszeichen von Dir, das hat mich wirclich sehr gefreut und das dargebotende, musikalische Material gefällt mir ausnahmslos und erreichte mich zu einer Zeit, als ich einen Song wie "The Ecstasy Of Youth And Death" gut gebrauchen konnte. Deshalb auch meine Wertung: 9 von 10 mögliche Punkten Lieber Weinachtsmann beschere mir für's nächtes Jahr ein Fulltime Album mit neuem Material von OBERON. Thomas Wacker VER SACRUM Oberon, il progetto solista di Bard Titlestad, è una vecchia conoscenza di Ver Sacrum e per saperne di più su questo artista norvegese vi rimandiamo all'intervista <../oberon.html> pubblicata qui sul nostro sito. Ho passato diverse notti a "chattare" con Bard, a parlare di musica e cinema. Non mi ha perciò stupito vedere che in questo singolo Bard abbia voluto rendere omaggio a David Bowie riprendendone una canzone. Grande appassionato del rock degli anni '70, nella sua versione di "Big Brother" Oberon sceglie arrangiamenti ricchi e barocchi, con chitarre, elettriche ed acustiche, e fiati, qualcosa che i boweiani più appassionati (e ce ne sono tantissimi fra le "oscure " file) non mancheranno di apprezzare. La b-side, The Ecstasy of youth and death, è invece il ritorno alle atmosfere wave, malinconiche e languide, già apprezzate nelle precedenti opere di Oberon: tastiere, chitarre acustiche e la romantica voce di Bard. Christian Dex METAL.DE Nein, keine Angst, Oberon schrieben keine Hymne auf die unsägliche Fernsehshow, die halb Deutschland in ein kulturelle und intellektuelles Nichts stürzt. Vielmehr versucht sich der Norweger auf dieser 7" an einem alten David Bowie Song und das sogar sehr ansprechend. Er schafft es sogar einen leichten Folkore-Ansatz in diesen Klassiker einzubringen, was dem Lied sogar sehr gut steht. Des weiteren gibt es mit "The Ecstasy of Youth and Death" noch ein neues Stück zu hören, welches konsequent die bisherige Gratwanderung zwischen Wave, Pop, Rock und Folk fortsetzt und somit eigentlich sehr viel Interesse an dem nächsten Werk weckt. Eine schöne Single, die man sich ruhigen Gewissens zulegen kann.