Pelican City
Rhode Island
Brian Joseph Burton wins at life. I mean more or less everything the man (mouse) gets his furry little grip on turns to gold. So, being a fan of the
Grey Album,
Gnarls Barkley,
Danger Doom, and his work with the
Gorillaz, I pounce on the idea of some new material by this guy. A while back, I was on a trip-hop/post-rock binge, and so I decided to look into some new material within the genres. One of the artists I came across was
Pelican City, and upon discovering it was yet another of
Brian Burton's aliases, I had to check it out.
Upon first listening to the album, I can instantly describe its sound; imagine a downtempo soundtrack to a movie that doesn't exist. Imagine varied instrumentation, with everything from pianos to synths and more often than not guitars being pushed along with a deep, yet never overbearing, drum and bassline. In many ways, the songs are far from being atypical, as trip-hop is more often than not a fairly minimalist genre.
The album succeeds where others have failed; while it is minimalist and downtempo, and therefore can come off at times as being simplistic, the more you listen, the more you hear. The genius of the album lies in its many layers. You'll often find a simple passage is enhanced by the finest bit of detailing, something as simple as a well placed sample or the layering of additional instrumentation. You could definitely say this album is indicative of
Danger Mouse"s future chops as producer. There's a fair amount of variation on the album, though it never strays far from the mould. As I've said, the album simply excels because of how well it's executed. I wouldn't say it's perfect, but damn if it isn't close. To sum it up, this is what you'd get if you were to take
Portishead, remove the vocals, throw in a bit of
Perdition City and add a touch of
Endtroducing with a side-dish of
Danger Mouse's off-beat humour (see: Track 2, a unique take on the Sesame Street theme).
Where the album succeeds:- It works as both a full album and a collection of tracks. While the songs do essentially lead into each other, the album works flawlessly in a shuffle. Each track is both part of a cohesive unit and a singular piece of beauty.
- Much like other classic trip-hop albums, it can be both background ambience and right in the forefront. You can listen while you work and enjoy without distraction, or you can sit with a good pair of headphones and appreciate the intricacies of the production and arrangements
- The very few vocal samples are very well applied, such as the unique, reggaefied Sesame Street sample in the second track, as well as the scratched female vocal samples on The Bordello, which kick in roughly 1:30 seconds in; the smokey vocals scratch their way into becoming just another layer of sounds.
- The album succeeds at being a pseudo-soundtrack to life, which I understand was its goal.
- Its beauty is both apparent and buried within.
What's not so hot:
- The album is too short. 35 minutes falls short of what I'd want.
- While it excels in nearly every respect, it doesn't exactly bring anything new to the table.
Conclusion?
As you can see, the pros definitely out-weigh the cons, so I'll be frank: This is a must own for any fans of trip-hop or downtempo music in general. While the album doesn't necessarily bring anything new to the table, it does a great job at excelling where others have failed: mixing simplicity and depth. The album works on so many levels that I find it hard to find fault in it. A strong album from start to finish,
Pelican City's
Rhode Island is something that must be heard. Chock another one up for Brian Joseph Burton. This album was an early indication of his brilliance to come, though ironically no one really heard it until his name was out there, due to the fact the album was distributed in limited copies.
Verdict
8/10
Why?: It looses points for being way too short, but it"s still un-freaking-believable.
Sunny day - Sweepin' the clouds away,
On my way to where the air is sweet.
Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street.
