Gonzales is a skilled pianist. While he remains clearly pop-minded throughout Ivory Tower,
the thread that holds together these songs into a somewhat cohesive album is the jumpy,
pulsating piano play of the artist formerly known as Jason Beck - now officially renamed
Chilly Gonzales. It is what adequately strings together an otherwise inconsistent back-and-
forth between electro-pop gems and introspective monologues. Gonzales, when he takes up the
mic, is known for acting out a cheap and humoristic persona, a falsely naive hip-hop parody
of sorts. Whether it blends well into the album, that is a matter of taste, and I haven't
quite well responded to it - but then again! It's an acquired taste, give it time. Still, on
the whole, Ivory Tower is a jumpy, bouncy, bright moment of electro-pop, and the album
redeems its weak moments with songs you and your most hipster friends won't resist dancing
to. Recommended tracks: I Am Europe, Smothered Mate, Never Stop, Pixel Paxil, You Can Dance. |
