Last week, I bought the new Telekinesis CD, Dormarion. It was quite a departure from 12DSL. The first track, "Power Lines" is illustrative of the difference. It begins with lo-fi guitar strumming, then it explodes into a 70's style blues rock jam. However, underneath that Lerner adds some Grandaddy-esque synthesizers. The third track, "Ghosts and Creatures" comes right out of left field. It almost sounds like a song from Doves' Lost Souls album. It's very ethereal and atmospheric. The next song, "Wires" , sounds like Kasabian. It is also co-written by Nada Surf's Matthew Caws. "Lean On Me" is an exquisite power pop gem with ELO leanings. My favorite part is "We could cross the country in our beat-up truck. Stopping every minute because the thing don't run. But I don't care because we're in love." The song "Symphony" is ironically titled, because it's only Lerner strumming an acoustic guitar with no other accompaniment. "Little Hill" is a straight-up guitar rocker and my favorite song on the album. Great bass! I really love this CD. The only minor quibble I have is when he departs from his core songwriting style it's not always convincing. For instance, "Ghosts and Creatures" sounds like a Doves song, but lacks some of the authenticity and gravitas of a Doves song. That may just be me being territorial regarding Doves. It was produced by Spoon drummer Jim Eno, who also played drums on several tracks. I highly recommend these CD's and I plan on checking out his earlier releases, as well. It's encouraging that there are still good, young songwriters out there making music. Peace.
A Living Will For My Music Collection
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Telekinesis
Michael Benjamin Lerner, a.k.a. Telekinesis, is fast becoming one of my favorite songwriters. He is another artist I discovered listening to WRUW, especially Ed's show Cream of Broccoli. The first song I remember hearing was "Car Crash" from 2011's 12 Desperate Straight Lines. It's a fantastic piece of up-tempo indie pop and I went out straight away and bought the CD. "Car Crash" was fairly indicative of the rest of the album, which I would characterize as part indie rock and part indie pop. I know that's a narrow musical spectrum, but it is a really good CD. The fact that 12 Desperate Straight Lines is a consistently aggressive indie rock album is a bit surprising considering it was produced by Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla. How is it that a band named after a crazy strip club scene from The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour film be so God awful boring. Sorry, I digress. Besides "Car Crash", the other standout track from 12DSL is "Please Ask For Help". It's slightly derivative of The Cure, but the lyrics are great. The opening line goes "I'm not gonna let you down, but I'm not gonna help you up".
Last week, I bought the new Telekinesis CD, Dormarion. It was quite a departure from 12DSL. The first track, "Power Lines" is illustrative of the difference. It begins with lo-fi guitar strumming, then it explodes into a 70's style blues rock jam. However, underneath that Lerner adds some Grandaddy-esque synthesizers. The third track, "Ghosts and Creatures" comes right out of left field. It almost sounds like a song from Doves' Lost Souls album. It's very ethereal and atmospheric. The next song, "Wires" , sounds like Kasabian. It is also co-written by Nada Surf's Matthew Caws. "Lean On Me" is an exquisite power pop gem with ELO leanings. My favorite part is "We could cross the country in our beat-up truck. Stopping every minute because the thing don't run. But I don't care because we're in love." The song "Symphony" is ironically titled, because it's only Lerner strumming an acoustic guitar with no other accompaniment. "Little Hill" is a straight-up guitar rocker and my favorite song on the album. Great bass! I really love this CD. The only minor quibble I have is when he departs from his core songwriting style it's not always convincing. For instance, "Ghosts and Creatures" sounds like a Doves song, but lacks some of the authenticity and gravitas of a Doves song. That may just be me being territorial regarding Doves. It was produced by Spoon drummer Jim Eno, who also played drums on several tracks. I highly recommend these CD's and I plan on checking out his earlier releases, as well. It's encouraging that there are still good, young songwriters out there making music. Peace.
Last week, I bought the new Telekinesis CD, Dormarion. It was quite a departure from 12DSL. The first track, "Power Lines" is illustrative of the difference. It begins with lo-fi guitar strumming, then it explodes into a 70's style blues rock jam. However, underneath that Lerner adds some Grandaddy-esque synthesizers. The third track, "Ghosts and Creatures" comes right out of left field. It almost sounds like a song from Doves' Lost Souls album. It's very ethereal and atmospheric. The next song, "Wires" , sounds like Kasabian. It is also co-written by Nada Surf's Matthew Caws. "Lean On Me" is an exquisite power pop gem with ELO leanings. My favorite part is "We could cross the country in our beat-up truck. Stopping every minute because the thing don't run. But I don't care because we're in love." The song "Symphony" is ironically titled, because it's only Lerner strumming an acoustic guitar with no other accompaniment. "Little Hill" is a straight-up guitar rocker and my favorite song on the album. Great bass! I really love this CD. The only minor quibble I have is when he departs from his core songwriting style it's not always convincing. For instance, "Ghosts and Creatures" sounds like a Doves song, but lacks some of the authenticity and gravitas of a Doves song. That may just be me being territorial regarding Doves. It was produced by Spoon drummer Jim Eno, who also played drums on several tracks. I highly recommend these CD's and I plan on checking out his earlier releases, as well. It's encouraging that there are still good, young songwriters out there making music. Peace.
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