Mazarin - A Tall-Tale Storyline
(Spin Art)
Few pop bands can pull me away from my usual drone or downbeat music listenings. I don't generally like upbeat pop music, and the few pop bands I do like, I only like because, somehow, they got under my skin and I couldn't stop listening to them. Belle and Sebastian and the Apples in Stereo are two of the few pop bands that I really enjoy. And, like both of those bands, Mazarin has somehow managed to pull me away from my usually mellow music to hook me with their smart, catchy, and well-written pop songs.
Like a caffeine kickstart, "Go Home," starts the album off with a jolt of vigorous upbeat drumming, playful strumming guitars, steady bass, and sparkling keyboard drones and fluctuations. When the song ends with a full 2 and 1/2 minutes of just the fluctuating keyboard drones without losing momentum, I knew I was caught... a band who can mix great pop with more experimentation and full on drone soundscapes, blending them well enough to make think they were always meant to be together (which shouldn't surprise anyone I guess, since Quentin Stoltzfus, the songwriter/singer from Mazarin, is/was the drummer of Philadelphia's drone-improv group, Azusa Plane).
With the use of guitar, bass, vocals, keyboards, tone generators, banjos, bells, autoharp, samples and more, "Suicide Will Make You Happy," "What Sees the Sky," "To Keep Things Moving," "My Favorite Green Hill," and the album's title track, "A Tall-Tale Storyline," keep up this same pattern of clever lyrics, and charming songwriting without getting too samey, too kitschy, or too cliché.
My only complaint with A Tall-Tale Storyline is "Limits of Language," the last song on the record. While earlier in the record, there are some country-twinged instrumental guitar pieces, with "Limits of Language," Marazin crosses a line and becomes a full on country band. The song isn't a bad song at all, but unlike the earlier country-ish pieces, it just stands out like a sore thumb and ends the album in an odd way.
This is easily my favorite pop record of 2001. It's a really great record that sticks with you and raises the bar for other pop groups. I have been listening to it for a few months now, and I am sure it won't leave my player for quite some time.
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