Album review: Sparks, Two Hands One Mouth: Live in Europe (Lil Beethoven)

Sparks, Two Hands One Mouth: Live in Europe (Lil Beethoven)

Extraordinarily, in a career 22 albums long, this is the first live recording that Sparks have released – and it's typical of their quixotic charm that, despite being famous for the ambitious complexity of their arrangements, it should feature pared-down settings of one voice accompanied by just one keyboard.

This allows one to more clearly discern the artful design of their songs, from Ron Mael's opening barroom-piano overture of classic Sparks themes, through a comic operetta about “Hospitality on Parade” and excerpts from their radio play The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, to the show's highlight hits, notably “This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us”.

Download: This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both of Us; Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth; The Number One Song in Heaven