Review: Patrik Tanner – Quills

Patrik Tanner – Quills
2009, Dark One Entertainment

St. Louis Park, Minnesota's Patrik Tanner is relatively young for a man with eight albums under his belt. The native of Sweden who moved to the US at a young age transcends genre on his latest effort, Quills, released on September 12, 2009. Highly personal and introspective, Quills recalls memories of the music of Tanner's youth as well as drawing a life full of influences and sounds. Written, played and produced by Tanner, Quills will wend its way into your consciousness with songs firmly rooted in memory and reverie but always looking forward.

Quills opens with The Next Available Agent, a sauntering instrumental that sets the tone for the album. There is a theatric feel here, like Tanner envisioned you finding a seat and getting comfortable while he prepares you to listen to all he has to say. Eleven is a powerful piano-based tune about being on the verge of something but taking the time to enjoy where you are, like the conflict between pushing to be an adult yet enjoying being a child. A Moment In Time is a sweet singer/songwriter moment about memory and how it can both overpower and engender regret. Like Platform Shoes is a highly personal song of remembrance looking back on loved ones and times gone by. The song is highly sentimental and full of meaning, although it may evade some listeners. Our Vacation Starts Now serves as a brief and quirky instrumental intermezzo, leading into phase two of Quills.

My Boy is a touching song from a father to his unborn son; it's a beautiful tribute to a love that often gets under-represented in song and art. Beautiful Then looks forward into a future more aesthetic and full of goodness than the perceived moment; Tanner imagines himself dead and creating beauty below in the grass he feeds. It is a stark and depressive outlook set to a bright and sunny piano part that simultaneously makes it easier to hear and yet somehow more disturbing. Staying Up Late underlines the effects of depression and confusion on thoughts and actions; this seems to be the underlying element of the disc: the death of Tanner's mother and the grieving/healing process. Rebuild The Titanic is all about going back in time so you can end the suffering sooner, likely a fitting end to the album, although Tanner gives an instrumental outro called Still Holding that harkens back to the old days of radio dramas.

Sorrow. Anger. Fear. Frustration. These are the emotions wrapped up in Patrik Tanner's Quills. It is a bleak album with occasionally uplifting sounds. I didn't enjoy it. I respect it. It's a serious work with strong songwriting, excellent musicianship and vocals that are more than pleasant to listen to; but the subject matter is too dark and twisted for my tastes. Some of you may like it. Imagine Robert Smith on pep pills.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

To learn more about Patrik Tanner and Quills check out http://www.patriktanner.com/ or http://www.ptquills.com/. You can purchase Quills as either a CD or download through CDBaby.com.

Review: Kites & Crows - Lifeboat EP

Kites & Crows - Lifeboat EP
2008, Kites & Crows

Ashland, Oregon’s Kites & Crows started out as the musical extension of singer/songwriter Mysha Caruso but has grown into something more. In the process of creating their debut, the Lifeboat EP, something special happened. While Caruso is still the driving force as lead singer/songwriter/guitar player, the rest of Kites & Crows seem always to find their voice instrumentally and enhance Caruso’s creations beyond what they might have been alone. Call it singer/songwriter/ensemble, call it 21st century folk; call it whatever you want. Kites & Crows is creating incredibly wild and original folk sounds less than 100 miles from the left coast.

Lifeboat opens with Way Down The Line, an understated Americana tune that came across as very stoic and dry. Kites & Crows open up a bit on End Of The Road, a great Folk/Americana piece with simple and memorable melody. Mysha Caruso's vocals here are spot on. Weathervane has a Celtic feel to it; a love song based more in reality than in starry-eyed romance. Weathervane is touching in a cynical fashion. More To The Story is a wonderful song about starting over written in subtle and searching tones that ask voiceless questions. More To The Story will stay with you long after The Lifeboat EP is done playing. Don't Hold Me Down explores the need to touch base at home once in a while contrasted with the need to go out and make your place in the world. The two don't need to be mutually exclusive, and the narrator here is asking freedom to do both. Backroad Pioneer closes out the Lifeboat EP with a classic sounding bit of folk songwriting.

Kites & Crows have a very reserved sound, yet tell stories to song set with brilliant nuance and subtle conviction. Lifeboat EP is an experience you will remember. Vocalist Caruso is a pleasure to listen to, and I suspect this is a CD you'll keep coming back to.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Kites & Crows at www.myspace.com/kitescrows. You can purchase a copy of The Lifeboat EP at www.cdbaby.com/kitescrows.

Review: Brydan Smith - Blue Skies EP

Brydan Smith - Blue Skies EP
2009, Brydan Smith

Brydan Smith is a Burlington, Ontario, Canada-based singer-songwriter with a penchant for serious, reserved songwriting and a pleasant voice. His debut CD, Blue Skies EP, will spark comparison to Ray LaMontagne, Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, The Decemberists and perhaps even Nick Drake. Brydan Smith was inspired to pursue a career in music after seeing LaMontagne live a few years back, hoping someday to touch listeners the way LaMontagne’s music touched him.

Blue Skies opens with the title track, a pleasant listen that just didn't leave much of an impression other than the fact that Smith sounds a lot like Jack Johnson. Whiskey Dreams is a low-key folk tune about the urge to drown worries while working to climb out of the bottle and trying to live again. The song is very real to life and doesn't really convey a lot of hope that things will work out. Come Down features a soulful but repressed vocal from Smith. It's a great listen, although I'd like to hear Smith come out of his shell a bit more on the vocal line. Marianne is very similar in presentation; it's almost as if Smith the singer is holding back. The song itself is a beautiful tune, but the presentation here just doesn't quite do it justice; almost like a spoken word tune with accidental fluctuations in pitch. Bring Us Down doesn't change the direction of the album at all as the closer, sticking with a similarly monochromatic scheme.

Brydan Smith has a decent voice and a lot to say, but song construction and melody lines are too similar from song to song, and too compressed in range and dynamics to be very listenable over the course of an album or even an EP. There's almost a sense of monotone (ala Steven Wright) that pervades Blue Skies, a title that one might suggest is meant to portray hope for the future or better days ahead. Smith is a talented lyricist, but the presentation of the songs can be tough to tackle.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Brydan Smith at www.myspace.com/brydansmith, where you can purchase tracks from the Blue Skies EP. No word yet on CD distribution.