REVIEWS :: ARCO VALLEY



FOR THE RECORD
Leaving his Children behind, Andi's first LP in 3 years is a delight for anyone with 'commercial' tastes. Produced by Mick Ronson, the sound is very 1970's glam/kitsch, almost Vaudevillian and Cabaret, with it's Berlinesque images. 'Arco Valley' reveals many styles and influences - and with Andi's unique, almost asexual voice it caters for a more European audience. 'Queen of Broken Dreams' begs to be a gigantic hit.

20/20 MAGAZINE
However chic it may have become to write off David Bowie as a bearded old fart, there's no denying the enormity of his influence on an entire generation of aspiring rock 'n' roll stars ever since he laid down the blueprint on Ziggy Stardust. The latest to make the wild mutation is Andi Sex Gang who has gone further than most and teamed up with Ziggys' old mucker Mick Ronson to produce an album that sounds like a cross between Bowie and Bolan and is really quite entertaining in its way. Occasionally it's hilarious when Andi claims on Power Waits to 'live for the future, not the past' while sounding wildly 70's. Elsewhere, lyrical nods to Bowie abound: 'Station Five, why don't you Station Five', 'I'll sing my song the loudest for Christian Circus Joe', 'Match me Sam for my shaking hands' all sound vaguely familiar. Plus there's some exaggerated Euro stuff: a ridiculous accent on 'Les Amants D'un Jour' and a song called 'Belgique Blue'. On the cover Andi stands wrapped in a leather trench coat staring into a vague future through shades not dissimilar to the ones Thomas Jerome Newton wore. Quelle shriek.

Q MAGAZINE (REVIEW BY GRAEME KAY)
If you wanted to make an album which reflected "the trash aesthetic" of 70's glam-rock, you would probably consider the benefits of roping in one of that era's prime movers. And so it seems would this member of Goth rockers Sex Gang Children. On his first release since 1985, he's recruited Mick Ronson to take care of guitar, bass, keyboards and general knob twiddling duties. The result captures the spirit of the times perfectly. 'Les Amants D'un Jour' and 'Belgique Blue' are decadent pseudo-Brel death songs that remind one of Ronson's erstwhile employer Aladdin Sane, and 'Seven Ways To Kill A Man', 'Rock Revo' and 'Queen of Broken Dreams' wouldn't have sounded out of place sliding off the edge of Marc Bolan's Gibson. ***

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