Album Reviews: 24th March 2022: The Dizzying Parade, Tim Arnold, Tanoki, Anri Abernathy, Children of Adam Band

indie/lo-fi

If a smorgasbord of lo-fi, indie, electronica, and pop sounds appetizing to you, it's likely you'll enjoy The Dizzying Parade by Mirfield artist Good Good Blood. Beatle-esque A Clean Slate is a successful amalgam of the album's better moments; the considered melody repeated with effect over buoys of cymbals and piano. Flatter outings such as Kith and Kin and Reframe, though useful for establishing tone, seem like unnecessary filler when ideas and technique are on display in abundance on other tracks. Title track The Dizzying Parade is interesting for its blending of rhythmic electronics and indie-rock, as well the obscure lyrics which allude to the Talking Heads with French refrain 'Qu'est-ce que c'est?' Album highlight All We Ever Wanted is a more than satisfactory ending to the uneven listen preceding it. Bon Iver is channeled through the production, falsetto vocals, and acoustic twangs. An attractive melody bobs underneath a rejection of the writer's objet petit a. The final section of the song, and album, end with a jarring and somewhat unpleasant abandonment of tune or melody. Dizzying indeed.

★★★

Maybe Magic - Tim Arnold

folk/singer-songwriter

On Guides, the opening track to Tim Arnold's Maybe Magic, pop culture references and scintillating imagery are cleverly arranged around virtuoso guitar licks and bursts of unashamed attitude, all leading to a big chorus. It's a wonderful and peppy start to this otherwise maudlin affair. Despite being the 23rd album from this prolific artist, there is a child-like sense of play to the songs, underpinned by a relentless commitment to optimism and interest in word play. Hypnogogic Logic, is a brilliant acoustic guitar instrumental; the frantic panning effects and deliberate finger-tapping style painting a more introspective moment than any of the lyrics on the album manage.

★★½

Tanoki - File New

electronic

Irish electronic wizard Tanoki blends acoustic loops, spliced-up drums, spoken word samples, and guest vocals with surprisingly clean and effective results. Though the mix comes across as overloaded and undercooked on tracks such as 'Loading' and 'It Has Begun', these care-free tracks still manage to provide an exciting and interesting listen. 'Towers Will Fall' borrows from the math-rock meets electronica of early pioneers 65 Days of Static; VST's building around a looped rhythm and guitar riff to an epic and focused, ending. Prime for advertising placement, these tracks employ simple and familiar melodies injected with a twist of modern production. 'Ghost In The Machine' is a brooding and solemn piece that puts mood over melody, while closing track 'Hotline' is a more bright and peppy affair, ending the album on a positive and promising note.

★★★

Anri Abernathy - Relief

bedroom pop

Anri Abernathy has a lot of tricks in her tool kit. From sunny musical movements that sound like they could be coming from a Gameboy Advance (c), to proudly autotuned and textured vocals, Abernathy injects a playful optimism into the music and vocals. This album is quite a joyful listening experience, and while there are some imperfections (like all honest expressions of emotions have), these rough edges only end up succeeding in being endearing. Album highlights 'it's not my fault' and 'thoughts like white noise' merge glitchy drums, mellow acoustics, curious instrumentation, and deeply personal lyrics to paint a nostalgic ode the hopeful attitude that marked the era this album seems to have come from. 'companionship' mixes urban 80's soundscapes and piano with lyrics that couldn't be anymore 'heart on your sleeve'. A sweet listen.

★★★

Children of Adam Band - Timbuktu

world/fusion

"The time is now or never" is the call to arms opening this ambitious, eighteen track world music celebration of "the universal commonality of humanity and the need for tolerance, acceptance, and respect of all peoples." The Children of Adam are a fascinating group. Based in Philadelphia, they extol an 'art as healing' approach to music they call PMB, or Positive Message Bearing Music. This is the second installment in the PMB series, and features contributions from ten musicians. Based on a solid foundation of complex yet danceable percussion and adventurous bass, trumpets, guitars and voices imbue the tracks with a relentless childlike optimism. There is a theatrical element to tracks like 'Faruq - Light of truth', and 'Pandemic Prayer' that may aggravate more serious world music listeners, however, there are enough good tracks ('Timbuktu' and 'Searching') on this bloated collection to warrant a listen.

★★½