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Don
Campau and MJB
"Sinecure" CDR
Semper
Lofi / Lonely
Whistle
Genres: lo-fi, hometaper
Lonely Whistle
PO Box 9162
Santa Rosa, CA
95495
Sep 23 - 29 2002 |
Don
Campau and MJB (aka Michael J. Bowman) are two big
names on the diy hometaper scene, and thus it is no surprise that this
is an extremely impressive release. Although the recording style is
definitely less-than-perfect (it's a lo-fi release for gosh sakes!),
the duo's ideas and musical talents are what really shine.
Instead of striving to fit in, Sinecure eschews all the
regular expectations of a modern "pop" release, instead
vying for a more silly, nonsensical style. As such, the cdr is
littered with humourous phrases and sentence fragments ("This I
will, I will fulfill/I'll be there like a monthly bill/More pungent
than some fresh cut dill..."). Although they do shatter most of
the guidelines of "pop" music, what Don and Michael
do keep intact is the all around catchiness of the music; while the
manner in which it's played may seem bizarre and unfamiliar, most of
it is surprisingly hummable. "Eat Meat" is a good example of
this; with a repeating guitar riff, odd found sounds, drum machines,
and MJB's unique vocals chanting "Eat meat/Drive a car/Get
a job/Watch TV" in order to make an environmental statement, it
all seems very bizarre. And to tell the truth, it is - but that's all
part of the fun. Meanwhile, "Collab" tells the story of a
tape collaboration that, due to unforeseen consequences, takes years
to complete (read: procrastination). The song, which could or could
not be symbolic of the circumstances surrounding Sinecure's
release, is a hummable little ditty that really flaunts the lo-fi
sound well.
Altogether, Sinecure is an album that dares to mess with the
intransigent pop norm. They probably won't make much of a dent, but at
least there's fun to be had.
85%
Matt Shimmer [Vitals:
38 min 3 sec; 9 tracks; distributed by the
label;
released 2002] |
