Have It All

• Artist: Planningtorock
• Rating:
• Release Date: June 27, 2006
• Type: Lyrics are included with the album
• Genre: Electronica

Review

It's not every day that you come across an electro-glam-classical-hip-hop opera about self-actualization, but Planningtorock's fantastic debut album, Have It All, maps out this previously unimagined territory. Planningtorock (aka Berlin-based musician/videographer Janine Rostron)'s live performances take this concept even further, with Rostron interacting with videotaped versions of herself as different characters, à la Tracy + the Plastics, so in some ways, Have It All ends up being like a soundtrack from her concerts. It's especially fitting that Planningtorock is a one-woman band, since Rostron's sound is so individual. First of all, there's her voice, which veers from a raspy, almost-androgynous alto to a super-girly falsetto, which is layered into harmonies and elaborate vocal parts the likes of which haven't been heard since the heyday of musicals (or Queen). Outlandish blasts of brass and crazily rattling xylophones that would do Carl Stalling or Raymond Scott proud, plucked pizzicato bass, sawing strings, and eccentric beats collide around her multiple-personality vocals, adding to Have It All's surreal, but very personal, atmosphere. Though it seems whimsical on the surface, the album is also surprisingly empowering. Have It All announces itself boldly with its first few tracks: "Bolton Wanderer" plays like a getaway theme for Rostron, in which she escapes from "waiting in the wings of life" by moving from Bolton, Lancashire, to Berlin. The song's loping hip-hop rhythm and boogie-woogie piano fuse English eccentricity with a German flair for the theatrical, nodding to both her roots and her new home. "Changes"' sampled pizzicato strings simmer with impatience as Rostron exults, "I need it/A new day." On "The PTR Show" she notes with deadpan wit, "there is humor and darkness allowed," while the swaggering electronic glam-blues of "Local Foreigner" is a shout out to her adopted city. Crucially, Have It All's take on self-discovery is fresh and bracing rather than sappy or touchy-feely, and even the wildest flights of fancy -- such as "I Wanna Bite Ya," a curious, cheeky shuffle that suggests that cannibalism might be "what happens if sex is not enough," or "Don't Want What You Don't Want," which looks to Queen Elizabeth I for advice -- eventually make sense in Planningtorock's world. Indeed, Have It All is filled with songs that are bored with the ordinary, from the breathless dancefloor workout of the title track to the parting shot of "When Are You Gonna Start," which feels like a challenge to PTR's listeners to go out and be as bold as she is. Have It All's way-out, wildly theatrical energy may be too over-the-top for some, but the album's individualistic spirit shows that Rostron isn't about to make concessions for anybody. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
The PTR Show	Planningtorock	Planningtorock	(1:15)
Bolton Wanderer	Planningtorock	Planningtorock	(3:38)
Changes	Planningtorock	Planningtorock	(3:37)
Local Foreigner	Planningtorock	Planningtorock	(3:12)
Hiding Where I'll Find Me	Planningtorock	Planningtorock	(2:48)
Take It Away	Planningtorock	Planningtorock	(1:56)
Don't Want What You Don't What	Planningtorock	Planningtorock	(4:01)
Never Going Back	Planningtorock	Planningtorock	(4:38)
I Wanna Bite Ya	Planningtorock	Planningtorock	(3:21)
Think That Thought	Planningtorock	Planningtorock	(3:04)
Have It All	Planningtorock	Planningtorock	(3:16)
When Are You Gonna Start	Planningtorock	Planningtorock	(3:00)

Credits

Cornelius Rapp (Mixing)