JOHN CALE

Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood

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Having tried every other genre imaginable—his spectrum spans avant-garde classical to the proto-punk of the Velvet Underground—John Cale has finally made his goth-pop album. With its tense beats and spooky electronics, Shifty Adventures suggests Cale has been on a serious Depeche Mode or Joy Division kick. His drab singing recalls the latter’s Ian Curtis—if not Paul Banks, frontman for latter-day followers Interpol—and on “December Rains” and “Mothra,” he drops doom on the dance floor, tarting up his vocals with some unexpected Auto-Tune. Cale occasionally glances backward—check the viola drone on “Vampire Café”—but by the penultimate “Midnight Feast,” he’s adrift on warped synth tones, making yacht rock for the River Styx.

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