All Love's Legal
The English-born artist Janine Rostron conceived her Planningtorock persona in Berlin in the \'90s. Her shows incorporate visuals (masks, video, costumes) into a bewitching brew of electronica, classical music, hip-hop, and whatever else seems to float her way in a creative moment. Her voice naturally evokes artists from Jimmy Somerville (of the great Bronski Beat), Annie Lennox, and her friends and sometimes collaborators The Knife (mostly when she uses electronics to pitch and shift her voice, especially into deep, dark places.) Planningtorock’s music is inarguably unique. Though disco-driven songs like “Living It Out” and the sexually aggressive “I’m Yr Man” allude to dancefloor culture, Rostron manages to avoid dance-music clichés. She dishes out a wide range of beats with some authority and eschews the “electronic music” label by being so much more—cabaret, experimental, and pop elements all color *All Love’s Legal*. From the opening track, “Doorway”—which could fit neatly in a work by TV on the Radio—it’s clear that the third album by this remarkable artist will be an adventure in listening.
On All Love's Legal Planningtorock's Jam Rostron refines her approach, adding or subtracting beats and strings until finding the right tension between her unambiguous gender politics and her unknowable voice.
Jam Rostron offers us her heart on a plate with this daring third album.
Planningtorock's music has always had an empowering streak: Have It All was a journey of self-discovery and creative rebirth, while W explored the potential conflicts between love and self.
Clash album review: we check out the new LP from Planningtorock, 'All Love's Legal'... and discover it's pretty decent.
<p>Jam Rostron's hymn to dance music's gay roots is both cerebral and stirring, writes <strong>Kitty Empire</strong></p>
Planningtorock – aka Jam Rostron – balances earnest political rhetoric with playful, danceable tunes on her second album, writes <strong>Tshepo Mokoena</strong>