Tex La Homa - Dazzle Me With Transience
(Superglider)
Marc Gartman - Alls Well That Ends
(Pushpin)
Usually split reviews are done because there's something that links the bands together. No, that is a complete lie. Usually it is because the reviewer is lazy.
In that spirit, Marc Gartman and Tex La Homa have many things in common. Gartman's latest album was made mostly on the piano, and Tex La Homa creates music mostly on keyboards. Listening to the two albums back to back makes the listener reflect on the tone these two styles of piano create, the grand piano giving a sound that is bare and colorful and the electronic keyboard giving a sound that is mellow, reticent, and contemplative. A more important connection, however, is that both artists recently sent me promos that were defective to the point that half of the album cannot be listened to, thus warranting only half a review.
Tex La Homa's (known offstage as Matt Shaw) first full length, Dazzle Me With Transcience, does a good job of expanding the themes and moods created on his previous EPs into a forty-five minute piece of music. Heard in a full album, Shaw's electronic-pop doesn't seem as pop and his spare country-inspired guitar doesn't seem as spare; it all kind of levels off into a slowcore album colored by keyboards along with the everpresent guitar and bass. It's a respectably original variation on the theme, and the music is suitably gentle and soothing, however the songs I find myself responding to most are the ones that break away from this norm. The drum machine beat (surprisingly underutilized on the album) in "Never Gonna Go Away" gives the song life, making it jump up from the album's steady plateau. Likewise, the swelling clouds of guitar feedback in "Launch" gives the listener a sound he isn't expecting, causing him to pay attention to the vocals and acoustic guitar picking that happens underneath. While Dazzle Me With Transcience is an enjoyable downer, it seems like more could be done to vary the sound.
Marc Gartman's latest CDR offering, All's Well That Ends, is noir soundtrack music created largely through straightforward piano playing. Gartman sings on several tracks, but largely this singing is distracting. It is only slightly atonal, however Gartman lacks the confidence in his voice to push through. The same voice, backed with more conviction, would perhaps set the tone for the music, but as it is, Gartman seems timid and the mood of the music is diminished. Gartman's piano playing is not sufficiently colorful to keep interest through an entire full length album, but several guest musicians (clarinet, trumpet, saxophone) are allowed to take the lead. These collaborations only provide a couple bright spots however.
Actually, it's interesting how I find it much harder to respond to the chords from Gartman's baby grand than I do to the hums of Shaw's Casio. While there may be something psychologically that's preventing me from accepting the pure tones of the piano, that doesn't detract from the fact that Shaw's sound is much more fully realized than Gartman's. They are similarly skilled both vocally and technically, but Tex La Homa seems to have a vision behind it, where Gartman's solo work seems more like sketches.
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