MJ Hibbett and The Validators, Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez
Posted on 29th Jun 09 by Jane Ward | 
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Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez is the new offering from MJ Hibbett and The Validators. MJ (Mark John) is an English singer songwriter who first came to fame in 2000 with the release of Hey Hey 16k, a tribute to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and other home computing systems of the 1980′s. The song reached internet [...]
Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez is the new offering from MJ Hibbett and The Validators. MJ (Mark John) is an English singer songwriter who first came to fame in 2000 with the release of Hey Hey 16k, a tribute to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and other home computing systems of the 1980′s. The song reached internet cult status after being animated by Rob Manuel, co-founder of b3ta.com. It received 2 million downloads in its first two weeks as well as becoming a popular t shirt slogan.
Nine years on and MJ along with his band The Validators are still recording fun, quirky and memorable tracks combining comedy lyrics with morals and catchy tunes that I promise you will never get out of your head.
The first song on the album echoes a sentiment felt by many people the world over Being Happy Doesn’t Make you Stupid. It’s incredibly upbeat with background noises from The Fantastic Four. It’s hard not to dance and laugh at the song, especially during the melody breakdown “hey there emo boy give us all a smile”.
The album invites you to see the world through MJ’s eyes, where even the worst of situations can be laughed at and sung about, no scenario is too close to the skin for discussion
MJ’s lyrics are more anecdotal than anything. Do The Indie Kid tells the story of a trip to a French nightclub and his observation of the lack of enthusiasm from the locals while dancing. The song contains instructions for the listener to dance to indie music in a way made famous in Indie clubs the world over. “Hands behind your back and bounce your hips, move your feet around and do the Indie Kid”. He also mentions his disgust at his elderly family members doing the twist to The Pixies at a wedding.
MJ Himself has been recording since 1983 originally with his first band The Masters of Nothing. This is his fifth album with The Validators since 2000. Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez is a fun album. Even the more somber melodies are accompanied by MJ’s quirky lyrics. We Can Start Having Fun, a song about life getting in the way of living seems solemn “We can start to relax in the next band of tax we’ve children to raise and more bills to pay responsibilities” but like many of the tracks needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. It’s a song about life as we all know it, and he finds a way to make it interesting.
The album invites you to see the world through MJ’s eyes, where even the worst of situations can be laughed at and sung about, no scenario is too close to the skin for discussion. This is evident when at times the album strays over into the realm of political satire. The song Red Black Gold talks of the paranoia and fear of nuclear war “And I thought, well that’s great, that we live in an age where the kids don’t live in certain knowledge. That they’ll all be wiped out beneath a mushroom cloud before they’re halfway through sixth form college”.
Even at its most serious the album us eccentric and enjoyable. It’s definitely worth a listen if you’re in the mood for something different.
Drop-d Rating: 10/10
Tags: Ecoutez et Repetez, mj hibbert and the validators, Regardez