That'll be Ron's hands and Russell's mouth, as captured on tape when the Mael brothers toured as a duo for the first time without band or computer back-up, resulting in Sparks' first live album.
Stripped of video backdrops and pop showmanship, the wilful artiness of their songs is not diminished in the slightest.
The Les Mis theatricality of Hospitality On Parade, the Weimar cabaret outlandishness of Propaganda, the demented parlour soiree style of Under The Table With Her, the arthouse pop operatics of The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman – here we have a band whose eccentricities have been the essential part of their being for four decades.
The album is split into a 65-minute main set and, on a separate disc, a three-song encore which swaps the dominant piano sound for a synth stutter through The Number One Song In Heaven and Beat The Clock. There's definitely something lacking in the pared-back arrangements – far too much repetitive piano vamp, for one thing – and this wouldn't be the best way into the songs for a Sparks newcomer. Instead, it's a souvenir from the appreciative siblings for their long-term fans.
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