Artist: Dan Deacon
Album: Bromst
Year: 2009
Grade: 4 pretzels
Dan Deacon is an artist that I just never felt compelled to listen to. A couple of years ago, his commercial debut album, Spiderman Of The Rings, was getting all kinds of attention from the media powers that be, but I never found a single review of the album that made me want to listen to it. The words “colorful,” “whimsical” and “dance party” appeared far too often. As I’ve mentioned many times in the past, I’m a morose young male, who needs an appropriate life soundtrack to match. I have no time for hyper-colorful electronic shenanigans and…dare I say it?...fun. However, when Deacon’s second album, Bromst, was released back in March, the same music media firestorm surrounded it and I felt I could ignore Mr. Deacon no longer.
Well, I was in for one hell of a surprise. I was not greeted by the “happy-pastel-funtimes-wagon” I was told to expect. I was barely even greeted by danceable music. Instead, Bromst overwhelmed me with a furious torrent of electronic squiggles, pounding bass and warped vocals distorted to the point where it sounds like there are tiny little orange goblins in my headphones screaming at me. A little more research into the album has taught me that Bromst is somewhat of a departure from Deacon’s previous work, but there still seems to be absolutely no precedent for something this batshit insane.
Now, beneath all the lunacy, there’s some pretty ambitious stuff going on with this music. My main impression of Bromst casts Deacon as a sort of savant electronic modernist composer. The tracks on the album are so carefully arranged and layered, they sound more like off-the-wall classical music made with synths and a player piano than indie dance jams. Deacon seems to have the kind of electronic virtuosity that begs comparisons to Brian Eno. While he may not have any of Eno’s inherently British restraint and calm, Deacon sounds like he makes up for it by recording mind-bendingly fast electronics.
There’s also an impressive range on the album. Deacon is capable of recording something as ridiculous and silly as “Woof Woof” before turning around and recording the subdued and frankly beautiful “Surprise Stefani”. The album is also an impressive and coherent whole, with virtually no weak moments or filler tracks. So, this all begs the question: why haven’t I given it a proper 4.5 or 5 pretzel review, so it can be added to my 2009 Favorites? I’ve had nothing by praise for the album thus far. My only gripe against Bromst is that it lacks that special, magic quality that keeps me coming back to listen to it. I can start the album up and be impressed by all the electro-wizardry and beeps and shit, but it doesn’t have any songs that I simply have to play every day for the next eight months. I appreciate Bromst, but I’m not sure how much I enjoy it. The technical skill and creativity that went into recording this album cannot be ignored, but it will never be my favorite.
Well, I was in for one hell of a surprise. I was not greeted by the “happy-pastel-funtimes-wagon” I was told to expect. I was barely even greeted by danceable music. Instead, Bromst overwhelmed me with a furious torrent of electronic squiggles, pounding bass and warped vocals distorted to the point where it sounds like there are tiny little orange goblins in my headphones screaming at me. A little more research into the album has taught me that Bromst is somewhat of a departure from Deacon’s previous work, but there still seems to be absolutely no precedent for something this batshit insane.
Now, beneath all the lunacy, there’s some pretty ambitious stuff going on with this music. My main impression of Bromst casts Deacon as a sort of savant electronic modernist composer. The tracks on the album are so carefully arranged and layered, they sound more like off-the-wall classical music made with synths and a player piano than indie dance jams. Deacon seems to have the kind of electronic virtuosity that begs comparisons to Brian Eno. While he may not have any of Eno’s inherently British restraint and calm, Deacon sounds like he makes up for it by recording mind-bendingly fast electronics.
There’s also an impressive range on the album. Deacon is capable of recording something as ridiculous and silly as “Woof Woof” before turning around and recording the subdued and frankly beautiful “Surprise Stefani”. The album is also an impressive and coherent whole, with virtually no weak moments or filler tracks. So, this all begs the question: why haven’t I given it a proper 4.5 or 5 pretzel review, so it can be added to my 2009 Favorites? I’ve had nothing by praise for the album thus far. My only gripe against Bromst is that it lacks that special, magic quality that keeps me coming back to listen to it. I can start the album up and be impressed by all the electro-wizardry and beeps and shit, but it doesn’t have any songs that I simply have to play every day for the next eight months. I appreciate Bromst, but I’m not sure how much I enjoy it. The technical skill and creativity that went into recording this album cannot be ignored, but it will never be my favorite.
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