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Kevin Macdonald is back again with a stripped bare collection of four-track demos culled from his extremely prolific brain. These twelve songs run the gamut of light and dark, of sweet and heavy. Macdonald's uncanny knack for a tuneful melody and clever wordplay evokes the very kind of musical ideas that Difford and Tillbrook would continually wet their beds over. Despite the lo-fi leanings of this process, these twelve songs are thoughtfully presented, with lush arrangements, intricate rhythms skillfully programmed onto drum machine, and delicious counterpoint between guitar and bass. Though I'm not the biggest drum machine fan, I never find myself wishing for a "real band" rendering of these pop nuggets, instead relishing them in this far from unfinished embryonic state. This is the kind of blend of musical prowess and pop chocobliss that makes my ears squeal with delight. The only other local band that I can think of that approaches this level of musical brilliance is Baby Ray. Imagine how pleasantly surprised I was to find that Erich Groat shares a writing credit on two songs. If pop music could be this brilliant more often, the music industry would have the massive coronary it so richly deserves, making way for people who actually give two shits about music to finally run the freakin' show!! This CD is absolutely irresistibly brilliant! |